At a time when Omagh would appear to be on the cusp of significant development, it seems timely that the town should host its own Community Radio station Strule FM in the four week run-up to Christmas.

Strule FM, which will be broadcasting from the Strule Arts Centre to the Omagh town district on 106.8, is the latest member of the Community Radio network, one of the fastest growing areas of modern broadcasting.

Starting on Thursday, November 27 and ending on December 23, Strule FM will broadcast between 11am-2pm and 6pm-8pm, Monday to Saturday, and 9am-12 noon and 6pm-8pm on Sunday, with a schedule that reflects the wide range of interest groups in the Omagh area.

Strule FM has an intriguing team of presenters and back-room personnel, which is reflected in a varied mix of programmes. The experience of Andy Gordon, who holds down the Sunday morning slot – while also attempting to keep a rein on long-time sidekick Charlie Taggart on Saturday evenings – is balanced by the youth and enthusiasm of a team of presenters from Omagh College each Wednesday evening and the newly forged partnership of Emma Teague and Brian McNamee on the Friday evening show.

A slightly more relaxed ambience can be expected from Declan Forde and Don McGurgan in their selection of music and guests for Tuesday evenings. A particularly interesting feature promises to be selections from Don's impressive archive of interviews with local people since the early 70s, covering events reaching back to the First World War.

Thursday evening features local soprano Gerarda McCann, reprising her experience in radio in Australia, and since 'there's no show like a Joe show', Joe Culby anchors the Saturday morning slot with a closely guarded secret format which promises to be at the very least, very interesting. Dr Anthony McCann will be canvassing opinion on local matters on Monday evenings, preceded by Harry Mullin dealing with all things traditional.

What, no news, no sport, no weather? Good question, but Strule FM will also be broadcasting during the day between 11am and 2pm, so if you really want to know what the weather's like, anchormen Andy and Declan will look out the window and tell you.

Look out for the final schedules in the local papers and on www.strulefm.com which will also have details on how to contact the presenters to raise any issues or provide information on upcoming events.