Father Eugene Boland has honour of launching new podcast series

A popular Co Tyrone priest is the first guest on a new podcast series.

The series is an initiative by the Strabane Community Unemployment Group (SCUG).

The group launched its first podcast, ‘Now that We Have You,’ recently with retired parish priest Fr Eugene Boland as its inaugural guest.

The project is made possible through National Lottery funding received two and a half years ago, which enabled the development of a digital hub at SCUG’s Upper Main Street premises.

This hub is now the foundation for a creative platform aimed at amplifying local voices and addressing community issues.

Tim Jenkins, SCUG’s digital coordinator, conceptualized the podcast after completing studies in Community Radio Newsgathering at the North West Regional College (NWRC).

He saw it as a unique opportunity to provide unemployed residents of Strabane with valuable skills while giving them a voice.

“I started thinking about producing our own podcast to offer the unemployed people of Strabane an opportunity to learn how to create and develop their own podcasts, giving them a platform to communicate their opinions on local topics and issues like cost of living, employment, housing, and community development,” Tim said.

“We had Fr Boland as our first guest, a giant in the local community and very well-loved by everyone, reflecting on his life in the priesthood, as PP in Strabane, and life in general. It went very well, and the podcast has over 50 downloads.”

Tim went on to say that, in the New Year, SCUG is hoping to run a podcasting workshop where members of the public will have the opportunity to, in Tim’s words, “take the reins” by learning the intricacies of podcasting, researching, and newsgathering to create a digital archive and historical record of Strabane.

He concluded: “Whether it’s football, painting, cooking, or stamp collecting, the public can now ‘cast’ their views into the ether for all to enjoy.”