“Religious broadcasts for our time” is the title of the seminar promoted in recent days at Maynooth by the Council of the Churches of Ireland for television and radiophonic affairs (ICCTRA). Over 40 delegates representing the member Churches of ICCTRA, including 6 representatives for the Catholic Church, 2 for the Church of Ireland, and one each for the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, and for the Irish Council of Churches, attended the meeting. Brenda Drumm, head of the Catholic Office for Communications and honorary secretary of ICCTRA, presented the findings of a survey conducted on behalf of ICCTRA in June 2005 on religious broadcasts on independent, local and commercial radio stations in the Republic of Ireland. 57% of the radio broadcasters that participated in the survey declared they broadcast one or more religious programmes per week for a total of 26 hours of religious scheduling. Many radio stations hope for greater support by the Churches in the production of radio programmes. According to Pat Coyle, journalist and director of the Jesuit Centre of Communication, “as journalists and presenters of religious programmes, we must understand our public. The Irish like to reflect and ruminate on religious themes; they want to be educated, informed and, at the same time, entertained when they listen to the radio”. “Research and programming are essential to maintain high the level of broadcasts”, said Eileen Good, director of RNN (Religious News Network), convinced that “the Churches must make their own voices heard, in particular on local radio. Not because local radio is simpler – she explained – but because it devotes more time that the thirty seconds offered by a national station to pose a question”. “Radio programming is essential for the mission of the Church”, said Dan Carroll, head of the Communications Office of the diocese of Ossory and presenter of a programme with a religious background.
