Clonmellon podcast wins a global following
Two men have taken their passion for guiding tourists around Ireland and transformed into an informative and full-filled podcast, for Clonmellon Community Radio.
The Breakfast Show with Mike and Dave (Michael Hogan and Dave Yeates) has gone from strength to strength since it first aired in July.
What the pair did not expect, however, is that it would gain such a following, not only locally but across the globe.
“I just got a ping from someone in Illinois telling us that they love the show,” Dave told the Westmeath Examiner.
“People are now listening to us in 18 countries – Russia and Kathmandu, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil – the list goes on,” he says.
As well as giving information about what’s happening in and around the area, there is plenty of fun and banter as the pair discuss hidden gems to visit around Ireland, and take listeners through the quirkiest parts of the weekly newspapers.
Dave explained how the pair, who are originally from County Dublin and have been the best of friends for more than 20 years, came to live in north Westmeath.
“Mike moved to Mullagh around 10 years ago, I made Kilskyre my home about three and half years ago,” said Dave.
“The man behind the community radio is another Dublin man, Steve McKenna, who lives in Clonmellon.
“He felt, as do I, that the community just embraced us, they were so welcoming, and he wanted to give something back to the community.
“You know, everybody talks about how rural communities can be so clannish but it’s completely the opposite.
“I moved to Kilskyre three and half years ago. I had lots of family living nearby, my parents live in Mullingar, and I’ve never looked back.”
Both Dave and Mike were in the tourism industry for “decades”, but when Covid-19 and lockdown hit, the work dried up.
“I would have brought thousands of tourists, mainly Americans, all across Ireland, but of course that all stopped.
“I saw posters up in the local shop advertising for people to come on the radio.
"Steve started the station only in the new year. I got in touch with Steve and pitched an idea for the show. I talked to Mike about it, and look – I knew how to use a microphone, but that was about it.
“But it was something to do, it was better than sitting at home twiddling my thumbs.
“There’s only so much Netflix and so many movies you can watch. So we set up a small studio in the house and took it from there.”
Dave said he and Mike peruse the national papers and local papers of a Sunday, and then broadcast live every Monday morning for two hours.
“We start off with a bit of fun and banter, and then go to the papers.
“We stay away from Covid stories altogether. If we have to mention it at all, we call it the ‘C-word’.
“The mainstream media is too full of talk about it and I think most people want to switch off from that.
“We do a community piece, telling people what’s going on and where.
“One of the funniest stories we ever did was that we touched base with a guy who owns an Irish pub in the Himalayas, outside Kathmandu. It’s unbelievable!
"We’re now going to send him out a parcel with the local GAA jerseys, from Clonmellon and here.”
If you want to catch The Breakfast Show podcast live, go to clonmelloncommunityradio.com, on Monday mornings, or catch the podcast online from the same address.