Radio blackout leaves locals without a voice as station closes after 14 years

A MAJOR part of the south-east faces a local radio blackout from tonight as one of the country’s most successful community station goes off the air.

Radio Kilkenny closes today, with the loss of 30 jobs, and it will be several months before the new station which won the new franchise licence for the Kilkenny/Carlow area last year goes on the air, leaving the two counties without a local voice.

Kilkenny/Carlow Local Radio (KCLR) had hoped to go on the air once Radio Kilkenny shut down. But a protracted legal action, which included the threat of a Supreme Court challenge to its license loss, delayed the process and made recruiting and fixing a start date impossible.