Belfield FM


Belfield FM is University College Dublin's student radio station. The station began broadcasting in 1990. It was initially run as a part of the UCD Students' Union, under the remit of the entertainments office, before becoming an independent entity within the Students' Union. Belfield FM disaffiliated with the SU at the end of the 2011/2012 college year, and is now run independently within the UCD Societies Council framework. The station forms part of UCD's student media network, along with The University Observer, The College Tribune, and UCD TV. The station is run by volunteer staff and contributors who work on the production and hosting of the station's shows. The station broadcasts on week-days.

Awards

Belfield FM have participated in the National Student Media Awards and have won a number of awards. These included a People's Choice Award for William McCartney in 2018, a Radio Journalist award for Patrick Power in 2019, and a People's Choice Award for Aisling Grennan in 2019.

Controversies

In 2015 the Societies Council temporarily closed the station due to it being unsupervised for lengths of time.
During the 2018 National Student Media Awards' People's Choice Award, the online polls were reported to have been tampered with, and the votes for each candidate were locked and equalised. William McCartney, the station manager at the time, ultimately won.
In late 2018, "Keepin' it Country" was criticised by the College Tribune for inappropriate comments regarding named students live on air, and the show's podcasts were subsequently removed. In the subsequent semester of broadcasting, the controversial show was absent from the schedule of programming.
In 2019, the show "Up Late with Dave" featured an interview with John Connors to discuss the travelling community in Ireland. During the interview, Connors supposedly raised concerns of a disconnect between the travelling community and Pavee Point. The station later published an apology on their website.