Mullingar man’s radio role in US

A US based Mullingar native has got a new job as a radio presenter on one of the largest radio stations in the Deep South.

Odran ‘Odi’ Fitzgerald is the newest addition to News/Talk 98.9fm Word’s weekend roster.

It is the robotic engineer’s maiden foray into the world of radio presenting since he transferred from Mergon’s plant in Castlepollard to its sister facility in South Carolina in 2017, but he has plenty of experience to fall back on, he told the Westmeath Examiner.

“I started my radio journey in Flirt FM, Galway college radio, and I then went to Athlone Community Radio. Under the watchful eye of Mary Lennon, I honed my skills, broadcasting three shows a week.

“I then moved on to Midlands 103 as an outside broadcaster engineer. That took me on along further under the guidance of Will Falkner, I was interviewing the man/woman on the street and got comfortable with the broadcasting and engineering side of radio.

“After Midlands 103, I moved to iRadio and started working with Fergal D’Arcy on the afternoon show – that was where I learned to release my inner ‘little bit crazy’ and how to engage fully with the listener, and Fergal explained how to do the research for a show and keep the show fun.”

Now married to South Carolina native Lauren and a proud dad to son Lochlan, Odi, who left Mergon last year for another engineering role, decided to look into getting back into radio when he received his Green Card in March of this year.

“When I got my Green Card I was able to work in other sectors, not just engineering, and radio and media has always been a huge passion of mine.

“When I moved to America, I had to put my media adventures on the back burner, but I did start up my podcast, The Odran Fitzgerald podcast.

“A few months ago I saw that a radio station here in South Carolina were looking for weekend talent so I got in contact with them and they asked for my demo tape. This got me to the interview stage. After that I was offered the opportunity to work as a producer and on-air presenter.”

Odi is enjoying his new role with the station and has received positive feedback from his colleagues and listeners. As someone who enjoys being busy, he says that he is thrilled to be back on the airwaves and is excited to see what the future holds.

“I can be found on News/Talk 98.9fm WORD on Saturday nights at 7pm and I can be heard on some of the shows during the week producing for different presenters,” he said.

“The station is part of the Audacy Group and broadcast on 100,000kw of power, meaning it can be heard across four or five states with a huge audience, and on the Audacy app across the nation.”