Mr. Se?n Finnan:

I thank the committee for this opportunity to speak. To give some background on Dublin Digital Radio, we are a community Internet radio station. First, that means we broadcast exclusively via the Internet rather than over the air on FM. Second, as a community Internet radio station, we are independent, not-for-profit, and run by and for our community of interest. The station seeks to provide a platform for music, artists, and conversations that are not given voice in the established media. Our community is made up of people interested in, among other things: new currents in contemporary media and sound cultures; experimental and left-of-field music; DJs, musicians, labels and collectives from communities around Ireland and abroad, with a particular focus on electronic music; radio art, sound art and radio plays; and those who are interested in broadcasting, community radio and independent media. While we specialise in contemporary electronic music, the radio shows we broadcast give a platform to the music-makers, musicians, artists, producers and labels that contribute to creating a vibrant cultural space in Ireland.

We started Dublin Digital Radio in 2016 because we were frustrated that the wealth of this high-quality, interesting and innovative music that we were coming across was not really given a space on national airwaves. We wanted to create a station that gave space to the variety of innovative music as we felt it deserved an audience. Our objective is to create both a domestic and international audience for contemporary Irish music and sound art. We consider ourselves a nurturer of this music in Ireland and a space for artists to share their work, find an audience for their shows, create networks between the different nodes of music creators here and abroad, and to make people aware of the richness of Ireland's electronic music heritage.

Since its founding in 2016 the station has been awarded best Internet radio station in the world by Mixcloud while our work has been lauded in national and international press. The station has been described by Ms Una Mullally of The Irish Timesas one of the most important cultural entities in the country.

As a community Internet radio station we are legally incorporated as a company limited by guarantee, CLG, and operate with a co-operative ethos. The station's operations are funded entirely by resident and listener donations. This is supplemented by any income we get from the regular events we host. In the past two years we have also received grant funding for three specific events and we ask all radio hosts to pay €5 per month towards the station's upkeep but we do not prevent people from doing shows if they are unable to pay so this ties into our community ethos. We consider the people who make regular donations to the station to be our members. All are invited and encouraged to get involved in the station through day-to-day volunteering or by attending and participating at the annual general meeting, AGM, and other events. The station is operated entirely by volunteers and is overseen by a steering committee that is voted in at the AGM.

Our volunteer model and outward-facing approach to new volunteers has served us extremely well over the past six years. It has helped to ensure the station keeps going as well as ensuring a diversity of experience and perspectives are involved in the station, the programming of the station, and the station's day-to-day operations. Our ambition is to keep expanding our membership so as to be able to hire a station manager who can manage some of the day-to-day administration because the station has grown substantially since its founding in 2016 and is operated by a core group of approximately 30 volunteers. However, this work is not sustainable in the long term and balancing the day-to-day operations of the station with long-term objectives can be difficult for a group of volunteers.

This is why we welcome the Future of Media Commission's recommendation to establish a community media grant scheme. We believe community media does invaluable work in fostering communities of interest and creating space for new cultural and artistic work. As much of this work cannot, in its early stages, be supported by the market, it is imperative the Government recognises the value of the community media sector and responds in kind through the establishment of the community media grant scheme that would supplement our membership model and not undermine it.

We also welcome the commission's recommendation to establish community media hubs. In our experience, through endeavours such as our monthly open studio days where we provide access to our facilities and host workshops on how to use our equipment, we can see the immense value production training and community interaction can have for both the media organisations and the members of the public. Community media spaces can be indispensable in creating spaces for media literacy, cultural exchange, media production skills, and community building. We also note the relative accessibility and cheap nature of Internet radio production and believe it can be an invaluable way for communities to create radio and build their own means to share news, stories and their culture that is independent of the monopolisation of the internet by the social media giants.