LAST UPDATE | 11 hrs ago

WHETHER IT IS endless traffic jams, the long commutes or the spin across town to catch the last of the January sales, driving in Ireland these days can really test your patience.

One comfort is being able to quickly switch on your choice of good quality local and national radio stations, whether for the GAA, rugby or football news, to hear about the bad weather, listen to a chat show or even a bit of politics.

Irish people are huge radio listeners in the car. Approximately half of Irish adults listen to audio in the car daily, with radio still the dominant format. These figures are up from 34% in 2021. The steep growth seems to be because of longer commuting and changing family routines after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Indeed, in the increasingly individualistic world we are in today, live radio still binds a huge amount of Irish people in shared sporting, cultural and political experiences. Over 70% of Irish audio listening time today is to live radio.

But the much-loved, reliable and free in-car radio is in danger. New electric car makers such as Tesla often do not include them as standard, preferring to cut deals with global tech giants to stream content directly into your car. They are spending big money lobbying against radio in the US, for example, which will be repeated in Europe.

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Modern EV dashboards don't want FM channels. Alamy Stock........

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