EUROPE IN MY BACKYARD - Radio reporting on the European cohesion policy
Produced by Near FM and broadcast on 10 community radio stations in Ireland, Europe in my Backyard is an informative radio programme dedicated to the analysis, debate and reflection on how European funds influence the daily life of our citizens and the economic and social fabric of our country.
Europe in my Backyard attempts to address these issues beyond figures and statistics and does so by gathering the opinions of experts in the field and providing the testimonies of professionals from public bodies, universities, the media, the social fabric and small and medium-sized enterprises who manage, administer and use these funds from Europe.
Europe in my Backyard is the Irish edition of the European radio campaign in the project. Five other radio broadcasters also network their own version of this radio programme in regions of Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, Spain and Germany. In total there are 120 programmes in six languages with an estimated potential audience of more than four million listeners.
Our programme is broadcast on 90.3 Near FM every week on Thursdays from 4.30 to 5.00pm, and is produced by Paula Wiseman.
Airtime: 20 weeks
First broadcast: February 10th 2022
Last broadcast: July 14th 2022
Bord Iascaigh Mhara/ BIM &Goatsbridge Trout Farm in Kilkenny - Programme 20
In this last episode in the series, Paula Wiseman chats with Caroline Bocquel, Director of Corporate Services at Bord Iascaigh Mhara/ BIM about the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and the work BIM are doing to help businesses to thrive and grow.
In the second half of the programme, Paula Wiseman chats with Mag Kirwan from the Goatsbridge Trout Farm in Kilkenny. She tells the story of the farm and the many and wide benefits of trout as a food. She also talks about the help they’ve received from EMFAF and how invaluable the funding was to them as a business.
Blue Green Regional assembly & OceanDEMO - Programme 19
In this episode, Paula Wiseman chats with Bryan Riney from the Southern Regional Assembly. Bryan spoke about the work he does at the SRA and about the Blue Green City Project he is involved with.
In the second half, Paula chatted with Dr Tom Dooley, Head of the School of Engineering at Dundalk Institute of Technology and the Principal Investigator on the OceanDEMO Project. He spoke about the work happening on the project and about how invaluable the funding from the EU is to them.
Foundation Project and INTERREG - Programme 18
Dr John Hobbs, project coordinator for the Foundation Project on INTERREG funding and Dr Barrai Hennebry, the Project Manager for the Foundation Project about the importance of having a solid framework of help and knowledge from the other partners across Europe for this project.
FarmPEAT project and ‘Love Your Wellies’ Initiative - Programme 17
Caroline Lalor and Bernie Duffy about the FarmPEAT Project in WestMeath and Paddy Malone and Emma Byrne about the ‘Love Your Wellies’ Initiative as part of the FarmPEAT Project.
Irish Regions European Office and The Nore Vision Project - Programme 16
Teresa Lennon, Head of Irish Regions European Office and Irish Delegation to the Committee of the Regions. Declan Rice, CEO of Kilkenny LEADER Partnership about the Nore Vision project.
Fund of European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEADF) and Aisling Project - Programme 15
Charlie Martin from the Department of Social Protection about the FEAD (The Fund of European Aid to the Most Deprived) and food and material assistance to charities in Ireland and Mícheál Clear, project manager at the Aisling Project.
Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly and Let’s Play Rush project - Programme 14
Travis O’Doherty, EU programme manager and team leader at Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly about the URBACT Programme and Aoife Sheridan, CEO for Economic Development for Fingal County Council about the ‘Let’s Play Rush’ project.
Councilor Dan Boyle and Mi-WOW project - Programme 13
Councillor Dan Boyle about Ireland’s place in the EU and Soumya Joseph from Mi-WOW Project on facilitating migrant women to learn new skills and access employment opportunities in Ireland.
Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Farm4more Project - Programme 12
Gerry Clabby of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications & National Contact Point for EU LIFE Programme on cohesion policies and Professor Kevin Mcdonnell from the School of Agriculture and Food Science about the Farm4more Project.
Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alison Gilliland and Project Architect for the Dun Laoghaire Baths - Programme 11
Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alison Gilliland about the cohesion policy and the ways in which Dublin/ Ireland benefits from the fund and Bob Hannan, project Architect for the Dun Laoghaire Baths renovation project.
POBAL and Northside Partnership - Programme 10
Donnacha McSorley, Development Coordinator, Social Inclusion and Equality Team at POBAL. About the work of POBAL and in which way they assist organizations with funding which comes from the EU and Paul Hayes, the Education coordinator with the Northside Partnership.
Irish Member of the European Parliament Ciaran Cuffe, Dodder Valley Greenway project - Programme 9
Dublin Green MEP, Ciaran Cuffe about the environmental side of Cohesion Policy and ways in which the EU is helping people to save energy and live in a more affordable manner and Ronan Carroll, the Project Manager of the Dodder Valley Greenway project about the Greenway and ways in which it will benefit the people of Dublin with new bridges, path and cycleways etc. As well as being in a beautiful setting, the Greenway will also connect people and take them away from the busy cityscape to relax and unwind.
Irish Member of the European Parliament Ciaran Cuffe, Codema – Energy Efficiency Agency Dublin - Programme 8
Dublin Green MEP, Ciaran Cuffe about Cohesion Policy from a Green Party perspective and how money from the EU is helping Ireland become a greener and more energy efficient country and Donna Gartland, CEO of Codema on the work Codema is doing through various EU funded projects to help people and companies manage their Energy usage on a day to day basis.
European Commission Representation in Ireland, FUSE project - Programme 7
Barbara Nolan, the Head of the European Commission Representation in Ireland about the impact that money from the EU has on projects across Ireland and the European Union and Mario Vottero, Director of Strategy, Business Intelligence & Operations at ReThink Ireland about the FUSE Project.
SOLAS, Youthreach - Programme 6
Maria Walshe, Director of Branding, Communications and FET Strategy Implementation at SOLAS on courses to upskill the workforce through training and education and Louise Cole, co-ordinator with Youthreach Bray & Wicklow about training and education courses and opportunities they offer to early school leavers.
EU Structural Funds, PEACE & Cohesion Policy Unit, Springboard. - Programme 5
Michael McGrath, Assistant Principal Officer EU Structural Funds, PEACE & Cohesion Policy Unit and Kevin Lynch, Head of Animation at Colaiste Dhulaigh, College of Further Eduction about their course that is part of Springboard.
Dŵr Uisce – Distributing our Water Resources - Programme 4
Professor Aonghus McNabola about ‘Dŵr Uisce – Distributing our Water Resources: Utilizing Integrated, Smart and low-Carbon Energy’, on improving the efficiency of water distribution in Ireland and Wales and ollow on projects that developed from this project.
Interreg North-West Europe, Mental Health Reform - Programme 3
Sarah Davoren, National Contact Point for Interreg North-West Europe, Southern Regional Assembly about investing funding into Irish and other EU country regions and Dominika Topolska, Innovation Programme Coordinator for Mental Health Reform talking about the eMEN project.
European Movement Ireland, Dublin City Volunteers Centre - Programme 2
Ciaran O’Driscoll, European Movement Ireland, Policy and research office on strengthening the connection between sectors of Irish society and Europe and Franzi O’Donnell from Dublin City Volunteers Centre and the outcomes and impact of the Get Connected project.
The Wheel, Age & Opportunity - Programme 1
Emma Murtagh, European Programme Manager at ‘The Wheel, on their work and role in regards to EU Cohesion Policy funded projects in Ireland and Ciaran McKinney, Engage Programme Manager at ‘Age & Opportunity’ about the Engage Programme.
