WLR FM honoured with Civic Reception by Waterford County Council.

Civic Receptions are honours handed out sparingly by Councils or by Governments.  Waterford City and County Council has honoured WLR FM for their four in a row Local Station of the Year accolade at the IMRO Radio Awards. The reception which took place on Friday 31st March 2023, recognised the stations unprecedented success at the radio awards.  The motion was proposed by Cllr. Jason Murphy and seconded by Cllr. Lola O’Sullivan. Mayor of Waterford City and County Cllr. John O’Leary paid tribute to WLR FM Managing Director Des Whelan and his team on the station’s accomplishments.

Councillor John O'Leary, Mayor of Waterford said the achivement by WLR FM was unbelievable, a record breaking achievement that will probably never be achieved by a local radio station again.  Councillor O'Leary said that the strategy adopted by WLR FM of 'immersing itself in the community', and in doing this the station has developed numerous community initiatives over the last number of years to highlight all that is positive about Waterford.

Councillor Jason Murphy said it was an honour for him as Metropolitian Mayor to propose the motion for the Civic reception for WLR FM.  He said that WLR FM has had a huge impact on the people of Waterford, it has been a constant companion for the citizens in Wateford and it has provided many of us with the sounds of our lives and it has served us with the highest standards in broadcasting.  Councillor Murphy wished Des Whelan and his team continued success over many years to come.

According to Cllir. Lola O'Sullivan the team at WLR FM have developed the station to such a level that is now the fabric of daily life in the city and county.  The team in WLR FM have a real passion for Waterford and the stations website gives people from Waterford who are all over the world the opportunity to catch up on Waterford news whenever and wherever they like.

Numerous Councillors spoke at the event and highlighted the importance of local radio and commended the high level of standards that the team and management in WLR FM hold themselves accountable too.  The sterling work of the station during the pandemic has highlighted and it was the hard work of the station during the pandemic was recognised at the event. The station was also described as 'being your friend' in Waterford.

Managing Director of WLR FM, Des Whelan said that the reception was wonderful, humbling and moving and that it was fantastic to be recognised by the people in your own county.  He commented that the opportunity to operate as a pirate station gave them huge opportunities to be ahead, to be the first at everything and get things right and also to make the mistakes.  Tributes were also paid to Billy McCarthy and Kevin Casey for their huge contributions to the station.  Des also highlighted the commitment of the station to Waterford and this is something that the station has always remained loyal too.  He recalled setting up the pirate station in his house with his brother which then developed into WLR FM which was good fun and he remarked that the station is very much a team approach and that he is really lucky to be doing what he is doing in his home county and he commended the brilliant team that he works with every day. 

During the same week WLR won one of the top awards from the first ever Irish Audio Awards. The ceremony took place in Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin on Thursday night, hosted by Newstalk broadcaster and journalist, Seán Moncrieff.

The Déise Today Climate Change Special (which also won an IMRO Radio Award in 2022) was crowned the winner of the Broadcaster Category.

Continued success to WLR FM.