Funding offers – NRS Round 2
More than €4.4m in funding has been offered to the media sector under Round 2 of the News Reporting Scheme.
The Scheme, which supports the coverage of news matters which are under-reported or are at risk of under-reporting, is now in its second year following the highly successful inaugural round of funding.
A total of 80 content projects, including a number of long-form in-depth investigative series, have been offered funding under NRS2, across print, online and commercial radio.
The funding offers and recipients are outlined below.
| Outlet | Platform | Project Name | Funding Offer* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limerick Post | Print and/or online | Limerick in Focus | € 16,294 |
| Limerick Post | Print and/or online | Ryder Cup 2027: The Limerick Legacy | € 26,988 |
| Westmeath Examiner | Print and/or online | ‘Waiting Without Work: The Mental Health Impact of Work Permit Restrictions on IPAS Residents’ | € 28,760 |
| Offaly Independent | Print and/or online | Home Is Where the Hearth Is | € 23,749 |
| Irish Examiner | Print and/or online | Women’s National Health Survey 2027 | € 40,994 |
| The Clare Echo | Print and/or online | Level Playing Field: Exploring Clare’s Changing Communities Through Sport | € 20,133 |
| Galway Advertiser | Print and/or online | Sobal (www.sobal.ie) | € 85,897 |
| Dublin Gazette | Print and/or online | Marginalised and Underrepresented Communities | € 25,000 |
| Iconic Media | Print and/or online | Fact Checking Team Iconic Media | € 123,933 |
| Iconic Media | Print and/or online | Special Investigations Team | € 119,427 |
| Irish Examiner | Print and/or online | Rural Ireland Thinks Survey – 2027 | € 40,994 |
| The Western People | Print and/or online | Not just sales – the important social and human role played by cattle marts in the West of Ireland | € 42,247 |
| Wexford People | Print and/or online | First Port of Call – Inside Rosslare customs and border control | € 19,351 |
| Kerryman | Print and/or online | A Labour of Love: Kerry’s flourishing traditional music scene | € 18,259 |
| Village Magazine | Print and/or online | How Ireland Works: The Formulation and Application of Public Policy | € 32,538 |
| Susan O’Shea | Freelance Journalist | Beyond the Map | € 24,047 |
| Roscommon Herald | Print and/or online | Storms and rain – exploring why Roscommon experiences such heavy impacts | € 42,247 |
| Roscommon Herald | Print and/or online | Stories from Roscommon’s living memory, 1930s–1960s | € 30,000 |
| Carlow Nationalist | Print and/or online | The Beet Factory in Carlow – how it drove the economy, its social and economic legacy | € 30,000 |
| The Western People | Print and/or online | Domestic violence – lack of safe refuges in the North West | € 42,247 |
| Waterford News and Star | Print and/or online | The Travelling Community in Waterford | € 42,247 |
| The Munster Express | Print and/or online | Farming Forum – Rural Awareness | € 30,352 |
| Westmeath Topic | Print and/or online | Midlands Rural Affairs and Culture Reporting Initiative | € 49,588 |
| Afloat.ie | Print and/or online | Reporting Ireland’s Coastal Change | € 35,452 |
| Limerick Post | Print and/or online | Limerick Lives, Limerick Issues | € 11,893 |
| The Connaught Telegraph | Print and/or online | A study: Mayo Gaeltacht communities at a crossroads | € 17,423 |
| The Anglo Celt | Print and/or online | Ag Comhrá – Tell me something | € 19,421 |
| Westmeath Independent | Print and/or online | River Shannon flooding in the midlands: an analysis | € 19,581 |
| Meath Chronicle | Print and/or online | Who Cares About Our Carers? Meath’s Hidden Heartache and Carer Shortage | € 28,389 |
| The Tuam Herald | Print and/or online | Baile Chláir: The reawakening of Ireland’s hidden Gaeltacht | € 26,621 |
| Meath Chronicle | Print and/or online | “Left Behind”: Rural Loneliness & Social Isolation in Ireland | € 70,862 |
| Iconic Media | Print and/or online | The Border Communities Reporting Project | € 168,000 |
| TheJournal.ie | Print and/or online | A National Story: Promoting Gaeltacht and Gaeilge issues to headline news | € 105,877 |
| Drogheda Life | Print and/or online | The Care Gap: A multimedia investigation into Childcare and the Working Day across Drogheda and the North East | € 73,970 |
| Farming Independent | Print and/or online | New Roots: The migrant workforce behind Irish agriculture | € 22,880 |
| Hot Press | Print and/or online | Inside The Business of Irish Music | € 50,339 |
| Tuairisc Bheo Teoranta | Print and/or online | Fíric | € 39,283 |
| South Belfast News | Print and/or online | Solutions Reporting Journalism | € 68,574 |
| Bauer Audio Ireland Limited | Commercial radio | News, Minority Sports, Irish Language | € 386,023 |
| Radio Nova | Commercial radio | The Nova Fact Checker | € 20,000 |
| 96FM | Commercial radio | Cork in Focus | € 71,473 |
| East Coast FM | Commercial radio | Window on Wicklow | € 88,915 |
| Galway Bay FM | Commercial radio | In the Loop and Guth na Gaillimhe | € 103,502 |
| Highland Radio Ltd | Commercial radio | Behind The Ballot | € 24,144 |
| Highland Radio Ltd | Commercial radio | Mo Shaol le Gaeilge, Comhrá agus Craic | € 29,830 |
| Northern Sound FM | Commercial radio | The Roving Reporter | € 95,238 |
| Shannonside FM | Commercial radio | The Roving Reporter | € 96,520 |
| C103 | Commercial radio | C103 Countywide | € 95,849 |
| Raidio na Life | Community radio | An Comhad Glas | € 17,842 |
| Sunshine 106.8 | Commercial radio | The Bright Side — Sustainability for Dublin | € 41,591 |
| FM104 | Commercial radio | The Green Shift | € 43,026 |
| FM104 | Commercial radio | Under the Influence | € 45,049 |
| Classic Hits | Commercial radio | Community Voices in Ireland | € 25,000 |
| Q102 | Commercial radio | Guthanna na Cathrach | € 43,311 |
| Q102 | Commercial radio | Dublin Today – Your Dublin | € 105,593 |
| Clare FM | Commercial radio | “The Future of….” Series 2 | € 50,375 |
| Clare FM | Commercial radio | “Clare Sport Investigates” | € 15,160 |
| Clare FM | Commercial radio | The Under-Reported | € 50,375 |
| Midwest Radio | Commercial radio | Next Generation Mayo | € 69,855 |
| Tipp FM | Commercial radio | The Under-Reported | € 51,552 |
| Tipp FM | Commercial radio | Making Ends Meet | € 26,509 |
| LMFM Radio | Commercial radio | 50 Challenges | € 88,511 |
| LMFM Radio | Commercial radio | The Arts Hour on LMFM | € 40,831 |
| KCLR 96FM | Commercial radio | KCLR Public Interest Reporting | € 81,046 |
| Live 95 Limerick | Commercial radio | Behind the Curtains (Series 2) | € 75,337 |
| Midlands 103 | Commercial radio | Shine A Light | € 44,465 |
| Midlands 103 | Commercial radio | Backstage | € 44,465 |
| Midlands 103 | Commercial radio | Community News Spotlights | € 65,943 |
| Ocean FM | Commercial radio | A Slice of Life | € 101,887 |
| Onic Audio Limited | Commercial radio | The Infinite Scroll: Auditing Ireland’s Digital Dependency | € 19,960 |
| Onic Audio Limited | Commercial radio | AIL: Irish Rugby’s Production Line | € 37,107 |
| Onic Audio Limited | Commercial radio | Narco Coast – The MV Matthew Cartel Story | € 21,584 |
| Onic Audio Limited | Commercial radio | The Diagnosis Gap: Women’s Health in Ireland | € 19,416 |
| C103 | Commercial radio | For The Love of Sport | € 81,470 |
| Radio Kerry | Commercial radio | Community and Insights Journalism | € 95,266 |
| South East Radio | Commercial radio | Let’s Go Green | € 44,465 |
| South East Radio | Commercial radio | Community News Spotlights | € 66,811 |
| South East Radio | Commercial radio | Shine A Light | € 44,792 |
| Live 95 Limerick | Commercial radio | Unsung Heroes: Limerick’s Sporting Volunteers (Series 2) | € 29,847 |
| WLR FM | Commercial radio | Waterford 360 on WLR | € 102,476 |
*Funding offers are in principle only and are subject to acceptance and contracting.