Non-christian denominations should be adequately catered for on a new religious Dublin radio station, the Independent Radio and Television Commission stressed yesterday.
The IRTC heard public oral submissions from two applicants for a licence for the Dublin city and county AM religious service radio station and from four applicants for a licence for the Dublin city FM special interest music service. The decisions will be made on April 30th.
Yesterday, after the two applicants for the religious station licence, Solas AM and Liquid AM, had made their submissions, the IRTC chairman, Mr Conor Maguire, said it had a concern that non-Christian denominations should be catered for.
For Solas AM, Mr Michael Carroll, a former director of programming in RTE, said there were eight directors, of whom five were Catholic, two Church of Ireland and one Baptist. The object of the station would be to reflect the importance of religion in the lives of the potential audience. The music and speech content would be divided fifty-fifty.
Mr Maguire asked: "What provision is there in programming for non-Christian denominations?"
Mr Carroll replied: "There would be no air time initially in terms of dedicated programming."
Mr Dave Heffernan of Liquid AM said it would be a high-energy youth culture station. There would be contemporary Christian music and talk shows with "slightly zany, off-the-wall believers". News would have a Christian perspective. Trustees were cross-denominational and from all generations.
Mr Maguire asked how he could convince the IRTC that it had a truly broad Christian and non-Christian content.
Mr Heffernan said he could not. It did have an expert on other religions and it would respond to the growing number of other religions by seasonal programmes, for instance, at the time of Ramadan.
The first applicant for the special-interest music station was Country FM. Mr Joe Moran, chairman, said country and Irish music fans were the largest group of any music enthusiasts in Dublin city and county currently not served by a radio service.
Mr David Harvey, television presenter, making the submission for Star FM, said the station would address the needs and tastes of a vast number of country and Irish music fans. It would be populist and mainstream and "completing the jigsaw of listener choice in Dublin".
Phantom FM would cater for an alternative rock audience, Mr Simon Maher, chairman, told the IRTC.
Jazz FM would provide all jazz-related music, including mainstream, blues, soul, rhythm n'blues, reggae, motown, swing, salsa, according to Mr Jack McGowran, director.