A new religious radio station with "a distinctive Christian voice" is expected to be broadcasting in Dublin city and county early next year.
Solas AM, the directors of which include the former GAA president, Mr Jack Boothman, was granted one of two new local Dublin radio licences awarded yesterday by the Independent Radio and Television Commission.
The commission awarded a Special Interest Music licence to Star FM, which will broadcast "country and Irish" music in Dublin city on the FM band.
The IRTC's chairman, Mr Conor J. Maguire SC, announcing the decision in the licence competition, said: "The standard of submissions was extremely high, but Star FM and Solas AM stood out as the correct choices."
He stressed that diversity of choice for the Dublin listener was the key question in picking the successful applicants from the six shortlisted out of a total of 13 original applications.
With 50 per cent music and 50 per cent "debate and dialogue", including reports on church events, Solas AM will be a "broad-based Christian service for the church-going community in Dublin", according to one of its directors, Mr Declan Cronin.
Its eight-member board comprises five high-profile lay Roman Catholics, two representatives of the Church of Ireland and one Baptist minister. The chairman of the board, Mr Oliver Maloney, is a former director-general of RTE.
The others include Mr Michael Carroll, former director of radio programmes at RTE, Mr Liam Nolan, broadcaster and journalist, and Mr Peter Kerridge, who is a director of London-based Christian radio station Premier Radio.
The Dublin Diocese of the Catholic Church, which has no official involvement in Solas AM, withdrew its bid following the IRTC's decision to allocate the religious service an AM licence rather than a place on the higher-quality FM band.
Solas intends to fund the service partly through a £25 annual membership fee, which according to Mr Maguire would not contravene IRTC rules.
The two new licences represent the final phase of a programme of licensing for independent radio stations in the capital.
Backers of Star FM include Mr David Harvey, Crimeline presenter and owner of the Eclipse television production company, and Mr Paul Coulson, chief executive of Yeoman International.
Mr Maguire said the question of pirate radio stations still broadcasting illegally would be addressed in the near future.