Priest launches ‘pirate’ station to broadcast Mass to parishioners

AN east Clare priest has launched a “pirate” radio service to bring the Gospel to his housebound parishioners every Sunday morning.

Fr Brendan Quinlivan is to broadcast 11 o’clock Mass for a second time this Sunday from Feakle church after receiving “a very positive feedback” to last Sunday’s first broadcast to homes in the area.

A number of elderly people in the parish are housebound and unable to get to church and with the combination of an aerial and a transmitter, Fr Quinlivan is broadcasting Mass to homes within an 8km radius on the FM frequency at FM104.3.

Fr Quinlivan said yesterday: “It is connecting people to the parish who have always been part of the parish. It is a way of saying ‘you’re still part of what goes on in the parish’ and allows them to get Mass.”

The parish priest said that the radio service is a means of combating rural isolation in the area, remarking that RTÉ doesn’t broadcast Sunday Mass any more on the FM frequency.

Local councillor Pat Hayes (FF) said: “It is a great initiative, particularly in the winter time when it is harder for older people to get out.

“Older people feel that they have missed something, that their weekend has not been fulfilled if they are unable to get to Mass. It is very valuable what Fr Quinlivan is doing.”

However, Fr Quinlivan is running the gauntlet of the authorities by operating the service without a licence.

“I don’t have a licence, but the service is for less than one hour each week. It is on a very limited scale and for a very small purpose,” he said.

A spokesman for the regulator, Comreg said however, that “any broadcast on the FM frequency without a licence is illegal”.

“Anyone who doesn’t have a licence to broadcast may be causing interference.”

Unauthorised broadcasting on the FM band can cause interference with the emergency services and air traffic control.

As Fr Quinlivan’s broadcast can reach to homes within an 8km radius, it is also reaching 8km into the air, it said.

Comreg said that, since 2006, it has a Wireless Public Address System that allows retransmission of services and other events to local communities on a shortwave frequency. However, the system requires householders to purchase receiving devices which retail for around €40.

A spokesman for Age Action Ireland said yesterday: “It is very important for the elderly to have their religious services.”