Some 5,500 people turned out in Sligo town yesterday to protest against the revoking of their local radio station's licence for the north-west in favour of Ocean FM.
People travelled from Counties Sligo, Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo and North Roscommon, to take part in the demonstration against the loss of the licence of North West Radio in their "Save Our Station" campaign.
They marched from Sligo courthouse to the Wine Street car-park, where they had gathered to hear local artists and bands whose music is aired on the local radio station.
The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) awarded the north-west radio licence to Ocean FM, which is made up of a consortium of local businessmen.
The revocation of North West Radio's licence has angered listeners in the region. The local station has been on air for 14 years.
Mr Tim Mulcahy, one of the organisers of the campaign from south Sligo, said of the BCI, three voted for and three against, with the chairman giving the casting vote.
Ocean FM, in its submission, had said that the listeners of North West Radio were older, conservative and from a lower social class and that implied they were not as intelligent as others, he said.
"That really upset and angered a lot of people. It was mentioned several times at the protest. Why should we be dictated to by people in Dublin? They don't know what's happening in our region. It's a disgrace," he said.
The protesters were calling for an appeal mechanism to be established. It had been proposed by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, but nothing had happened.
"This Government is always telling us about healthy competition and how good it is, so why not award the licence to North West Radio and Ocean as well. Let's have the competition and leave it to the listeners," he said.
Also at the protest was Labour Alderman, Mr Declan Bree of Sligo County Council, who said local people were very angry about it. They wanted the independent appeals process put in place, with immediate effect.
"Essentially we're saying that we want the licence returned to North West Radio and want the appeals process put in place," he said.
Mr Bree has put down a notice of motion for debate on the issue today at the Sligo County Council meeting.