Dublin Digital RadioDublin Digital Radio

Sean Finnan and Brian McNamara drove home from the Open Ear festival in 2016 irritated by what was coming out of the car radio, and set about building the station they could not find. McNamara had spent time around a community station in Berlin, which made the idea seem less mad; ddr. began as a weekend-only stream from a closet at the offices of Rabble, the leftist paper, and grew as its audience did. Ten years on it is non-commercial, member-funded and steered by the people who pay for it.

Over 175 residents hold the grid and pick their own hours, so ambient, drone, techno and house sit beside Irish-language talk, poetry and Ethiopian grooves. Don Rosco's Burn em all is a footwork hour, No Place like Drone is what it sounds like, and Fire Draw Near takes Irish traditional song seriously. Queering the Airwaves comes back each Pride, and Open Studio teaches anyone to make radio.