“Hi to John in Red Bank…Josephine in the South of Sunny Spain would love to hear Johnny Mc Evoy singing the Boston Burglar…Tell my cousin Jim who is tuned in in Ontario, Canada that I will see him in Ireland in October…and to Brigid in Hamburg congratulations on the birth of your baby boy from all the family at home.”

Something seem a little bit strange about the above broadcasts? Well, it’s just a regular day in the life of Midwestirishradio.com a brand new fully dedicated Irish Radio service available on the net. Broadcast from state-of-the-art studios in a little corner of Mayo in a town called Ballyhaunis, Midwestirishradio is a refreshing little piece of home, tucked away neatly in a corner of the vast machine that is the internet. Whether it’s the sweet voice of Mary Black, The gruff tones of Ronnie Drew or the haunting sounds of Clannad then this is the place for you, broadcast around the globe in crystal clear stereo.


From left to right: Tony Allen, Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher (Junior Minister), Mick Foster and Paul Claffey (Chief Executive) on opening day at Midwest Irish Radio.

Midwestirishradio is the sister station of Midwest Radio the 2nd most listened to local radio station in Ireland. Speaking on behalf of Midwest Radio Chief Executive Paul Claffey said that the internet radio station was now completely ‘stand alone’ and the response from emigrants around the world in the pilot stages of the service was highly encouraging. “We expected the huge response we are getting from Irish people around the world, but what has surprised us are the massive amounts of e-mails coming in from people in all corners of the world that have no connection of any description with Ireland, yet are embracing the service for its musical content.” What is unique about the service is that it features all genres of Irish music 24 hrs a day to include folk, ballad, traditional, pop, middle-of-the-road and country and is intermingled with live broadcasters to ensure a live ‘feel’ to proceedings. “This project is not for the faint hearted. Naturally it is putting an extra strain on our resources but we firmly believe in the concept and that this is the way forward. The broadcasting industry is ever changing. Our new studios offer us the perfect infrastructure to progress our ideas and internet radio has massive potential” added Mr Claffey.

The Minister for the Marine Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher who launched the service at the end of May 2005 was loud in his praise of the fact that Midwestirishradio were the first station in the world to launch such a service and that their “commitment and bravery” would be rewarded in the years ahead. Mr Gallagher continued to say “Midwest Radio has never feared the unknown in the past, and I am sure they will relish the prospects of making this internet service an overwhelming success. I am delighted to see Mid West Irish Radio take the lead in progressing this concept and no doubt other players in the field will be watching its progress very closely.”

Internet radio is one of the smaller industries currently sweeping the web and in the days of registering, credit cards, and spam it is quite refreshing that at one click of a button, Irish music is streaming from your computer in crystal clear stereo. I think their tag line says it all “Midwestirishradio making a small world even smaller...”

Click here to listen to Midwest Irish Radio