Name: Tomas Mac Con Iomaire
Location: Carraroe
Occupation: Radio Producer
Favourite thing about Galway: The fact that despite all the development in the city, you can stroll along by the sea from Salthill to the Docks.

Worst thing about Galway: The lack of marine facilities. We are living on the sea and yet we still don't have a proper marina.

After working with Raidio na Gaeltachta for over 30 years, Tomas Mac Con Iomaire has gone back to basics to give people an insight into the tough times faced in Connemara in the 1970s.

Casla native Tomas Mac Con Iomaire was one of the pioneers of local news in the West of Ireland. Shortly after completing his Leaving Certificate in the early seventies, he decided his interests lay in journalism. After a few failed attempts to break into the Irish press, he finally got his chance in 1974 when he was one of three people selected by Raidio na Gaeltachta to set up a local news service in Connemara.

At the time, there were only two radio stations in operation in Ireland – Raidio na Gaeltachta and Radio Eireann. As a result, there was no template for the fledgling team to follow, so they had to hit the ground running.

"It was a very exciting time, as everything we did, I suppose, was trial and error! We were going out into the public trying to drum up a bit of news and between the Gardai, local schoolteachers and the odd community representative, we managed to pull it together. Because there were only two stations then, it was much different than if we were doing the same thing today. Now there are over 50 different stations broadcasting, so it's nothing new anymore, but back then it was so different and exciting."

Tomas instantly took to the job and it wasn't long before he began ascending through the ranks. After some time, he took over as Head of News before progressing to Head of Programming and Deputy Director. In 2000, he became the first man from the West to become Director of the Raidio na Gaeltachta.

While Tomas enjoyed his time in management, he eventually began to miss working hands-on in broadcasting and, in 2006, he decided to return to where he started and make a radio series on schools around the country.

"I wrote to all the second level schools around the country and then picked 20 from that, five in each province. I decided to make a 30-minute programme on each, so I let them do the preparation and then went in to the studio to record. It was great to go back to what I was doing at the start and a very rewarding experience."

Tomas has since undertaken a number of other projects, including a history of Ireland that was broadcast on eight different radio stations and his current undertaking, a documentary series on the Gaeltacht Civil Rights Movement.

Pobal ar Aire: Gluaiseacht Chearta Sibhialta na Gaeltachta 1969 -2009 began on Raidio na Gaeltachta in late September and will run into the new year. Having been present at the first meeting of the Movement, the subject is something that Tomas is very passionate about.