Newry Social Enterprise Soars Into The Airwaves

"It came out of The Irish Trust's involvement with independent television & radio programming and their role in lobbying for community radio in the late 90s," Darren said. "Radio does not have to exist solely to make money and in 2004 it was announced that stations across the UK would be granted community licences."

"One of the key aspects of the project is that if anybody in the community wants to make radio or television programmes we provide the training for free," said Darren.

"It's all about the social gain. Any profits go straight back into the radio and television stations or fund community initiatives. We have no shareholders to make rich and our Directors are all unpaid. It is essentially about transferring skills and enhancing the role of community associations and SMEs, especially other Social Enterprises.”"Businesses that can't really afford to advertise themselves can come on and talk about how their services benefit the community.” Darren continued “there are many young people, including those who are economically and socially deprived, who can benefit from the station and a number of volunteers have already undergone training."Iur FM and Newry.TV are about reflecting the concerns of the community," Darren said, "the community producing programmes themselves reflecting the interests of their local community."

”Initially we will be producing three programmes each week, a light entertainment show which we are currently filming every Sunday in the Canal Court Hotel, a Magazine programme featuring events and people from around the area and a current affairs programme which will give the local community the opportunity to put questions to our local Councillors and learn more about the news in the region. Like the radio station there is free training for volunteers and as these volunteers increase in number so will the number of programmes produced weekly. People don’t need any experience to get involved, they just need to be keen to learn and work as part of an enthusiastic team."

“We are really grateful for the support we have received from Invest Northern Ireland’s Social Entrepreneurship Programme, Social Economy Newry & Mourne, Unltd and Stephen McClelland and Pauline Coghlan from Newry & Mourne Enterprise Agency.

“Services like these can have a transforming effect on local communities, but they are expensive to maintain and so it is heartening to see the number of local business who are coming forward to lend their support.”