Open It Out

I never forget my early days as a snotty nosed teenager- fixated with the inner workings of a newsroom. It wasn’t that I was freakishly concerned with how the story was made- I was more encapsulated by how a person could get to be on TV or radio. My first time in a radio newsroom I was made keenly aware that it wasn’t all about look; it was more about the context of a story which mattered the most. I was 17 when i first came across an equally geeky individual, Adam Ledwith, who shared my passion for the look of Sky News- back when they where good. I wasn’t at the time directly working within the newsroom but I found myself finding home at the political correspondents desk to answer and make calls for the late night talk show I interned on. At 17, I thought I knew it all; it was all about image right? Wrong. You had to actually write news which tough work, broadcasting it was even tougher. Over the course of two years I learned alot- from the construction of a story to the importan

Well Easter is here again and another nice long bank holiday in front of us! For some reason I seem to be getting fearful due to the fact that I have nothing planned to do over the weekend! I know a lot of people have plans, nothing crazy but going home to family etc. I live near my family so going home to see them is not out of the ordinary!Why so fearful to just 'be'? I think it is because I am always running around and when I have time off I feel like I have nothing to do and that I should be doing something! These weekend do not come around often enough and there is always a feeling that you should make the most of them, go away, take a day trip. Can I just put my feet up and take it easy? Should I be going on some lovely long killer hike...eh maybe not! Does anyone else ever have a problem with switching off and just taking a weekend like this and just go with the flow? It is something I need to work on.....I will keep you posted!

Well what can I say Open FM is going smoothly and looking great, all down to a fantastic team that I can happily say have given me the chance to get involved! So firstly let me introduce myself my name is Jill and I am starting a new career in the world of journalism! Currently I am working at everything I can possible do in 24 hours but loving it all the same and I feel Open FM is a great way to escape it all. My career path started and still is in the world of art, not an artists myself I never had the creative flair for it, I decided to get involved in the business side of it all. I studied for an MA in Art Business in London and also worked in different art organisations over there. I thought coming back to work in the arts sector in Ireland a year and a half ago was a brilliant idea.....little did I know like everyone else that the big 'R' word was looming in the distance and money and buyers became scarce in this sector. This led to one of the best moves I have ever m

From the outset the opening premise was clear: what she wanted was love, what she desired was a guy and somehow it was to be kept a secret. The throbbing beat of the song kicks in much like a car backfiring followed by smoke escaping into the night sky which illuminates a revolving disco ball.  For gays, Donna Summers was that revolving disco ball centred just right in the tapestry of studio 54. Her music spoke to the gay audience like no other- it was by far gay people’s first encounter of music which spoke to them. “Among the most loyal members of Summer’s fan base were gays” says author of Popular Music in America: the beat goes on Michael Campbell. He accounts how Summer’s with her ‘wispy’ voice and her desire to explore new areas of music managed to bring home the ‘erotic dimension of love’ which compounded gay audiences across the globe.   Gay people took a particular liking to Summer’s style, innuendos and continuous search for forbidden love- the quest it seemed started

Thanks to OpenFM , I finally made the decision to get my ass in to gear and drag myself and my other half along to the George on Sunday night. I felt it was about time and now being involved with the new station I thought I'd be a bad gay if I couldn't relate to the infamous Sunday Bingo @ The George . Okay, fair enough I'm only out of the closet 5 years, although what has stopped me from experiencing one of the most well known nights out in the gay world in Dublin. Like any good Catholic visits the pilgrimage at Knock, its our Pink Duty to see the Bingo night and drag soiree that follows. So off we went. To say I was surprised would be to put it mildly. Funny, I get older and life seems to do that to me more and more. It was great. As anyone that knows me, I'm not the biggest fan of the George for a night out, although I will definitely by making more Sunday visits. The show began an hour later than I had heard, kicking of at 10pm. Shirley Temple Bar

I was pretty late coming out. Officially, the 23rd of June 2005, at the age of 31. Most of my close friends all knew, although for me it was like shedding a great weight from my shoulders. Something I had shrouded myself in for years. The word GAY held me still and in some way paralysed me for so many years. I believe now, looking back that I had internalised homophobia. I remember I'd flinch at the word. I'd constantly questioned whether I was normal or some sort of freak that was going against nature. Its bizarre how much time we can waste caught inside our own prison, or more appropriately, in this case the closest. So, it all came about one Summer Solstice on top of the Hill of Tara. I had gone there in the late evening with my house-mates. It was the first time I had experienced Tara at this super special occasion. There was such a vibrance and energy about the place. Kids running in circles and people everywhere smiling and chatting. Its quite a magical feelin