Raidió Fáilte celebrates 40 years of Gaeilge on the airwaves

Northern Ireland’s only Irish language radio station is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Raidió Fáilte has gone from humble beginnings to broadcasting to the world from its base in west Belfast.

It started as a pirate radio station, and first broadcast on St Patrick’s Day in 1985.

The founders had big plans to provide a service to Belfast’s growing Irish language community, but had to do so without any official support or funding.

After decades in makeshift studios, seven years ago the station moved to new state of the art offices on Falls Road in Belfast’s Gaeltacht quarter.

“What we were doing was revolutionary because there was no community radio available in 1985, in Irish or English,” he said.

"Initially we set out to use the radio station as a lever to pressure the authorities to provide a proper service and when they didn’t, we just had to do it ourselves.

“Thank goodness the authorities didn’t do it because it’s now a much healthier situation that this community has created it, has sustained it and will continue to sustain it into the future.”

Raidió Fáilte broadcasts to the greater Belfast area 24-hours a day and is available online worldwide.

It has been party time over the past few days as the station celebrates its 40th anniversary at a time when demand for the service is growing due to growing numbers of Irish speakers across Belfast.

“You can’t get into an Irish language class in Belfast, they’re full,” said station manager Cillian Breatnach.

"If that’s the case people want access to the language in other ways. We’ve seen a massive increase in the last 18 months through our website, through the interaction people are having with us.

“We are struggling to keep up with demand and to be honest we could do a lot more if we had the funding”.

There is also a community café and the complex operates on a social enterprise basis with any profits reinvested back into developing its services and facilities.

One of the trainees, April Ní Ír, chose to go there for work experience as part of her university course.

“It was a really big opportunity for me to come here and get that experience,” she said.

“Since being here I’ve learned a lot of skills that I would be able to apply in the future if I want to maybe apply for a job in the media or somewhere else in radio”.

The anniversary comes at a time of mixed fortunes for the Irish language community.

Earlier this month, the Stormont Executive made good on a long overdue commitment to recruit an Irish language commissioner tasked with promoting and protecting the language.

But a refusal by the DUP to approve a new formula for cross border funding means Foras na Gaeilge is having to make cuts of over €800,000 to schemes supporting the language across the island of Ireland.

Irish is once again at the centre of a political dispute.