In January 2020 the Studio had to close as there was a structural fault found in the building which housed our Studio. This meant that no one could enter the building so at that point we started to work from home. Luckily we all ready had some computer systems in place to facilitate working remotely so we could program up the on air system with pre recorded and up load new home recorded shows . Covid restrictions were introduced In March 2020 and working from home became the norm for many.
We continued to work in this maner until Christmas 2021 expecting restrictions to be lifted soon allowing for a new studio to be build and fitted out and to get back to our pre Covid service. Unfortunately this did not transpire and at Christmas 2021 it was decided that all presenters would present a special show for broadcast over the Christmas season. The station had a full schedule of new shows for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. This proved to be very popular with our listeners so early in 2021 with the Covid situation worsening the station manager decided to look at the possibility of doing what every other station was doing at the time an started developing the ability for presenters to present live shows remotely. By the end of February 2021 we had the systems in place to allow us do this.
We plan to continue to use and develop this system as it gives presenters with busy lives of their own the ability to staff the station without having the cost or too much drain on their time as they can do it from the comfort of their own home with a very small financial outlay. From a health and safety point of view it is also beneficial as it lowers the footfall at the studio site as Covid continues to be a concern.
At present we have 20 Voluntary presenters from all over Ireland and the U.K operating from their own home studio's, bedrooms , sheds etc. Most present their shows via our remote live tracking system and a few, mostly specialist shows, produce recorded shows on a weekly basis for us . A new Studio has been built are we are in the process of fitting that out. We are looking forward to getting back there too .
We greatly appreciate the time and effort every one of these volunteers put into the station on a weekly basis. Not only have they kept the station on Air with variety of entertaining radio shows they continue to improves the service with their professionalism and expertise. I am very proud of the standard of presenters we have, from household names to people who started with us with no presenting experience but who have availed of our training and have attained a high standard.