Captain's Log: Day 9 - Red FM and Ol' Blarney

This morning we visited the most popular radio station in Ireland, Red FM. The station targets the 15-35 market with their musical and program choices.

I was very surprised how similar Red FM was to an American radio station in nearly every way. Red FM plays similar music, has similar contests and promotions, and even similar equipment.


We heard from their Irish language programmer Eilish Berry about how she prepares and produces the required amount of Irish language programming for the station. She was very interesting but was occasionally hard to follow because English is almost a second language to her because she did all of her school subjects in Gaelic.

Eilish told us that the Irish language was incredibly complex and difficult to learn and that almost nobody in Ireland can understand it or speak it. She does all the programming for the station and her job is very important because she is one of the few in the country who can do it.

Colm O'Sullivan, the Program Director and Assistant CEO of the station, also offered input on his radio station and radio as a whole in Ireland.

The main difference is the restrictions placed on the radio stations in Ireland. They are not allowed to advertise alcohol in any capacity. The radio station is also not allowed to hold promotions at pubs, bars, or nightclubs that serve alcohol. I have found the Irish are very conservative towards their media despite the fact that their social life is centered around the pub and a pint of Guinness. It is much easier to swear on live radio than to advertise a local pub.

After Red FM, we hopped on the bus and headed off to the world famous Blarney Castle. The castle was very impressive and was over 13 stories tall. However, I was disappointed with how commercialized the castle has become. I understand that you need to make money to keep the castle in working condition but having a gift shop in the basement of the 1000 year old castle feels like a sell out to me.

Besides that, the castle was amazing. There was a series of caves in the foundations of the castle that were quite fun to explore. The line to kiss the Blarney stone was a long one that winded up and the castle staircase. The staircase was almost vertical and it was a nerve wracking climb to the top. Kissing the stone itself was not as scary to me because I knew that thousands of people before me have done it so there was no fear of falling.

After Blarney, we made our way back to Cobh and went off to explore the town. We ate some good old fashioned greasy American burgers and walked up the steepest hill in the town for no reason. Good day.