November 30, 2024

Irish Radio will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026. To mark this anniversary, ICR are issuing a special issue that will critically reflect on the development of radio in Ireland.

Abstracts for articles on any aspect of radio in Ireland over the past 100 years are invited.

A number of potential topics are listed below but please feel free to submit an abstract for articles beyond the scope of this list. Articles may review any aspect of the development of radio over the entire period or may concentrate on one genre, one station or one event in any time frame. 

There is scope for a wide variety of topics but all articles should be grounded in original research and should offer more than a description of events and programming. The study of radio, like the medium itself, has been neglected in academia for too long and this issue is an attempt to fill a major gap in Irish Media Studies. 

Abstracts should be between 300 and 500 words and should outline the key points/findings, including a single sentence stating why this paper would form an important contribution to the existing literature on radio in Ireland, scant though that is.

Articles will be between 4,000 to 6,000 words and will be peer reviewed. 

Deadlines:

• November 30, 2024: Submission of abstract directly to the editor at Rosemary.Day@mic.ul.ie. 
  

Please do not use the facility on TUDublin’s website or the ICR email address.

• January 10, 2025: Response from the editor  
  
• May 30, 2025: Submission of full draft article for peer review 
  
• October 30, 2025: Submission of revised and final draft of article
  

Guidelines from ICR are available here: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/icr/

Please feel free to consult with the editor by email at Rosemary.day@mic.ul.ie at any stage.

Suggestions for topics that may be of interest to you and could form the basis of an article include:

• Foundation of RTE
  
• RTE radio at critical points
  
• RTE radio as public service broadcaster
  
• Development of any genre of radio programming e.g. documentary; news and current affairs; drama; magazine; sports; music in all its forms…..
  
• Specific programmes and programme topics e.g. religious programming; agricultural shows; ecology programmes; educational programming……
  
• Cult of celebrity e.g. talk show hosts; shock jocks…
  
• Pirate radio
  
• Dawn of independent radio 
  
• Commercial independent radio – national, regional, local
  
• Community radio
  
• Technological developments
  
• Finance e.g. advertising; sponsored programmes; radio bingo!
  
• Employment practices
  
• Women and radio
  
• Diversity and radio
  
• Radio for development
  
• Relations with the BBC and or other stations
  
• Listeners – the process of listening
  
• Nostalgia
  
• Radio and politics
  
• Radio and identity
  
• Radio and culture
  
• Radio and society
  
• The future of radio
  
• Podcasting and radio
  
• Audience participation