Broadcasting radio into the heart of Europe would provide a useful information source for Irish people in Europe, says Éan member Enda O’Kane in an article that has appeared in Business Travel magazine.
He notes:
DRM is now used worldwide by 32 broadcasters and more than 40 hours of English language programmes are broadcast across Europe.
An Irish radio service into the heart of Europe would help fuel our tourism industry and would serve to call back Irish emigrants, as well as inciting visits from those foreign to our country… It would provide a badly needed travel information service to our business community that is otherwise unavailable. The Internet cannot provide a listening experience to people on the move. Neither is the RTE Astra service recievable by motorists, or accessible in hotels and apartments across the EU.
Enda notes that RTE already owns the broadcast infrastructure, and says that for €4 million, the former Athlone medium wave site could be adapted to digital short wave to meet the needs of Irish citizens across the EU.
For more infomation on DRM, including sound recordings, broadcast schedules and information on receivers, visit drm.org.