TV & Radio

It seems as though iRadio, the station for 18-35 year-olds in the West of Ireland has come under fire on Facebook after a particular statement regarding suicide was made on air.

Suicide is a terrible tragedy and the number of people dying because of it has risen over the past few years. It’s one of those things that we don’t joke about – unless you’re Frankie Boyle – because you can never be sure who has had their life affected by suicide.

However, one caller to ‘iGo Home with Fergal Darcy’ yesterday caused a bit of a storm over on iRadio’s Facebook page. Unfortunately, we didn’t hear what exactly was said and there’s no podcast of the particular show to listen back to, but judging by the comments on Facebook, what was said was somewhat upsetting.

Here’s what iRadio posted on their Facebook page yesterday: “If you're here to read about recent comments regarding a call on air today - these are the facts: Fergal Darcy is in fact an ambassador for depression and suicide and is working this week to promote the turn2me charity.

“iRadio as an organisation is actively promoting such charities and has This week we are the only radio station that is really behind promoting World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th. It's easy to rant on Facebook and it's easy to comment negatively on such comments - however, sometimes it's worth finding out the facts first.

“The particular call today was with a person who was not in work at the time in a call centre, she agreed to take part to highlight depression issues in a unique way that could be relevant to our audience.

“At no stage did the presenter poke fun at or make little of depression or suicide related issues.”

You can read the resulting comments to the above post over on iRadio’s Facebook page.

Shortly after the above statement was posted, iRadio posted again saying “we will broadcast a full and comprehensive statement tomorrow, Thursday August 30, at 3pm’.

So, tune in to iRadio here at 3pm today (August 30) if you want to find out the latest on the matter.