Walk For The Wireless - RosFM Fundraiser

RosFM is a community radio station based in Roscommon Town, Co. Roscommon, Ireland.

We are holding a sponsored walk called Walk For The Wireless that takes place starting from Casey’s, Athlone Road, Roscommon Town, Co. Roscommon on Saturday, October 30th, 2021.

RosFM Fundraiser
RosFM is run by volunteers and relies on the sponsorship of shows and advertising to meet it’s running costs. However there is an annual shortfall and the station runs an annual fund-raising event. This year there will be a special sponsored walk “WALK FOR THE WIRELESS” on Saturday October 30th at 11am.

The walk will start at Casey’s Garage and will be around the town of Roscommon and will be about 6k. There is a special ‘go-fund me’ page on Facebook and social media with a QR code for ease of payment. We will also have sponsorship cards and everyone is welcome to take part on the day

This is a chance to support RosFM at the start of an exciting new era for the station. If you can’t take part on the day the link to donate is: www.rosfm.ie/walk

OB Unit
The newly re-furbished outside broadcast united is now available to businesses, community groups, clubs and societies in the area for live broadcasts. Contact the station at [email redacted] or call us on [phone redacted]181



Seamus Duke New Station Manager
I want to pay tribute to the volunteers and the board who have kept RosFM on air over the years and particularly over the past 18 months. It was a very difficult task given the Covid situation and the restrictions on everyone.

My task is to attract more volunteers to the station and to produce a schedule of programmes that is exciting for the local community and which complies with the community and disability ethos of the station.

I began at RosFM as a volunteer last year presenting ‘The Rossie Way’ programme with Dan Dooner and I will continue that programme every Monday and Friday. We also have a new show ‘Good Morning Roscommon’ every Wednesday between 9am and 11 when we look at all the current news stories in the local area and we also have a profile interview with a well known local person each week.

There are a number of new shows on the schedule including a traditional Irish music programme on Wednesdays at 6pm presented by Therese Hanly, a book review programme on Thursdays at 11.30am. There’s a unique programme on Monday’s between 9am and 10am when we interview people who are living with dementia and alzheimers about their memories of years gone by.

Margaret McHugh will be concentrating on community groups and events on Tuesday mornings between 9am and 11am and Ballygar man Damien Finneran keeps the community ethos going on Thursdays between 9am and 10am.

Danny Kiernan, Louis Fargo and Joe Bambrick are also new on the schedule with exciting new programmes, and when you add that to our well established presenters like Martina Dockery, Robbie Dwyer, Aidan Raftery, Joe Rynne, Padraig Devaney, Tony Fallon, Susan Smyth, Niamh Loftus, Mike Nolan, Flin Kane, Jim McCausland, Daniela Stocia, Shane Browne and many more it all adds up to an exciting mix of styles and interests for the listeners.

Since taking over as station manager I have received great help from Bernie Kearney and the board and also Shane Browne and Martina Dockery and I thank them for making the transition much easier for me.

We have many exciting plans for the future including being out and about in the community and we intend to establish a link with the local second level schools to revive a transition year initiative to produce and present their own programmes.

The new schedule is a work in progress but we have now a wide range of interesting programmes that includes current affairs, history, sport, the arts, books, interviews with local people and community groups and people who have come in to our community from abroad, and of course people with disabilities and the groups who represent them. Indeed we want to reach out to every local group in the area and we welcome suggestions and ideas from the public and community groups who can contact me at the station Monday to Friday.

Bernie Kearney Chairman of the Board of Directors
RosFM Community Radio has been in operation since in 2004, and was established by Roscommon Partnership. The station was set up with a disability ethos and a buddy system and it’s aim was to give people a chance to get familiar with community radio and also help to train them for radio.

From 2004 to May 2016, we had different schemes which enabled us to have staff, but over the years the service was almost totally dependent on volunteers. Many different people were involved in fundraising for the station and I would sincerely like to thank both staff and volunteers who helped us over the years. Without them it would not have been possible to run the station.

Since 2016 we have been totally dependent on volunteers broadcasting 20 hours weekly. I couldn’t overstate the contribution made by our wonderful volunteers over the years and we will be depending them to secure the future of the station .

In August 2020 we had a meeting with Minister Heather Humphreys, which was organised by Senator Eugene Murphy, at the time we were making an application to Pobal for a Manager and 2 part-time workers. Noel Connolly and myself attended this meeting.

From August 2020 to June 2021 we received a lot of help and guidance for our application for staff and Sound and Vision funding. We also had a lot of co-operation since 2016 from Philip Cooper in the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and especially from Mary Lennon of the Community Radio organisation CRAOL.

During the covid 19 virus Roscommon Leader Partnership provided a lot of support to Community Groups and we want to thank everyone that was involved, and also to James Donlon, Damien Lohan, consultants Orla Leyden, and Orla Casey who provided expert help and also our solicitor Peter Jones who has been very helpful over the years.

In 2020 we were on the lookout for an OB unit and with the help of Cyril Cunningham we secured a vehicle from the Brothers of Charity. Joe Cunniffe, our sound engineer, fitted out the unit. We secured a grant for 3,200E from RLP to carry out the work we also received grant from Roscommon County Council for computers. These are the grants that helped to modernise our station.

In March 2020 Seamus Duke came on board with us as a volunteer, and presented the Rossie Way programme and he has since been appointed as station manager. Seamus has a lot of radio and media experience and of course is a local from Roscommon town and we are confident that he will lead the station to a new standard. There is an exciting new schedule of programmes and we are looking to the future with confidence.

Thanks to all our sponsors over the years for their support and a big thank you to Jim McCausland Manager at Casey’s who are our main sponsors.

Even though Pobal provides funding for our Manager and 2 part-time staff, we have to generate income to meet Pobal requirements . Therefore we are appealing for extra sponsors and we have a fund raiser coming up soon too which we hope will be well supported. I want to finish by thanking everyone for their help in the past and look forward to a secure future for the station.

RosFM appeal for sponsors
RosFM have a number of opportunities for local businesses and groups to advertise with the station and to sponsor shows at very competitive rates. The number to call is [phone redacted]181 [email redacted] or call to our studios on the Athlone Road in Roscommon town any day, Monday to Friday and talk to Bernie Kearney, Seamus Duke, Martina Dockery of any member of staff.