Limerick Live 95

Limerick Live is the most listened to radio station in County Limerick in the Shannon region of Ireland. As of 2025, more than 77% of Limerick adults tuned in daily and the station registered more than 88,000 weekly listeners. Limerick Live broadcasts on frequencies 95 (Limerick City) and 95.3 (Newcastle West), playing a mix of popular music spanning from the 1990s until today. The station was established in 1997 under the company name, Treaty Radio Ltd. Treaty Radio was initially supported by a consortium of investors, including PJ O'Riordan, Alan McEvoy, Martin Ryan, and Liam Woulfe. The station received its first broadcast license after Radio Limerick One lost its license due to breaches of contract (Radio Limerick One continued broadcasting as a pirate radio station until the early 2000s).
Limerick Live 95’s original moniker was ‘New95’, and the first song ever broadcast was ‘Dreams’ by the Irish band, The Cranberries (original investor PJ O’Riordan was the brother of Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan). The station’s name changed to the current, ‘Limerick’s Live 95FM’, in 2000. Limerick Live 95 is currently operating on a ten year broadcasting license that lasts until October 2027.
In addition to contemporary music, Limerick Live 95 provides news and sports content. Popular shows include The Breakfast Show with Mark Whelan & Catriona Tierney and Limerick Today with Joe Nash. Several shows are also available in podcast format, and the station provides news content and live streaming services on its website and the Onic Player App.
Ownership of Live 95 first changed in 2002 when Belfast-based UTV (Ulster TV) purchased the station for approximately €16m. At the time, original investors PJ O'Riordan, Alan McEvoy, Liam Woulfe, and Martin Ryan each held approximately 20% of the shares (though Woulfe was the largest shareholder with 21%).
UTV invested heavily in the station, helping increase its local market share from approximately 30% to 50% by 2007. UTV rebranded its radio business as the Wireless Group in early 2016. After selling its television assets (including its ITV franchise and UTV Ireland) to ITV plc, the company dropped the UTV Media name and adopted Wireless Group plc as its trading name from March 1, 2016 following completion of that sale at the end of February 2016.
In 2016, the WG’s holdings were purchased for £UK220.3m by News UK & Ireland Ltd., which is ultimately owned by US-based News Corporation (News Corp). News Corp’s largest single shareholder is Lachlan Murdoch. In 2025, News UK & Ireland Ltd. rebranded its Wireless Ireland Radio subsidiary as Onic Audio Limited.
In addition to Live95, Onic also operates six other Irish radio stations, including FM104, Q102, and LMFM. Onic also operates the commercial sales house, Urban Media, which works with two stations outside the Onic Group, Galway Bay FM and WLR. As of 2025, Onic stations reach 775,000 listeners weekly, representing 10.6% of the Irish radio market. Onic Audio Limited employs more than 200 staff in Ireland and recorded revenues of €23.375m in 2024, up from €22.4m in 2023.
Key Facts
| Audience Share | 30.6% Local (Limerick) Audience Share (JNLR/Ipsos 2026 January 2025 to December 2025) |
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| Ownership Type | Private |
| Content Type | Free |
| Data Publicly Available | ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc. |
Ownership
| Ownership Structure | Limerick’s Live 95 is operated by Treaty Radio Limited, which is owned by Onic. Onic was previously known as Wireless Ireland (ROI) Limited but rebranded in 2025. Onic is owned by News UK & Ireland, which is ultimately owned by US-based News Corporation (News Corp), a global media conglomerate listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. |
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| Voting Rights | Voting rights at News Corp are governed by a dual-class share structure, in which Class B shares carry full voting rights and are predominantly controlled by the Murdoch family, while Class A shares carry no voting rights. As of September 2025, Murdoch-affiliated entities hold approximately 72 million Class B shares, representing around 39% of all Class B shares outstanding, giving the family effective control over the company. |
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Operating Company
Facts
| Founding Year | 1997 Live 95 FM gained its first broadcasting license after another station, Radio Limerick One, breached its contract. |
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| Contact | Radio House Richmond Court, Dock Road Limerick info@live95.ie +353 (0) 61 461 900 www.live95.ie |
| Revenue | Missing Data |
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| Operating Profit | Missing Data |
| Advertising (in % of total funding) | Missing Data |
| Market Share | Missing Data |




