When Galway Bay FM held what they call their most recent Santa Show Swap Day – when programme presenters move slot and into unfamiliar territory for a day – Jon Richards got to fulfil a lifelong radio ambition. . .and complete the set at the same time.

Because the man who tops and tails Galway’s day with his traffic reports – and who is by day the station’s Programme Director – has, as one of the original team members from 35 years ago, filled every slot on the schedule . . . apart from news!

“It was a lifelong dream, to read the news – it was the only thing I hadn’t done and Bernadette (Prendergast, the head of news) accommodated me on our Swap Day. I got a great kick out of it!” he laughs.

Not alone has he filled every time slot during the day but he also spends much of his time voicing ads and promos – all over very long days.

One of the original team at the station from its inception in 1989 – along with Bernadette Prendergast, Donal Mahon and Martina Walsh – Jon readily admits he has never known anything else except working in radio.

“I start at 6.30am; out on the bike ten to seven, five to seven, and on the bike until nine; work in the office until a quarter to five and then I’m out doing traffic until six and then I come back and work until seven or eight. So I guess it is a vocation.”

Caption: Jon Richards, with his trusty motorbike outside Galway Bay FM this week. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.

Read the full interview in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.