Dublin fans get access to Notre Dame Football all season long with the Notre Dame Report

 

Notre Dame fans have flooded Ireland for Saturday's matchup, but interest in the Fighting Irish in Dublin goes beyond game week.

In fact, Dubliners can tune their local radio dials to find Notre Dame Football all season long.

Declan Hughes has been a sports radio host in Dublin for 14 years, and during that time, he found a growing interest in American football, starting with the NFL and eventually Notre Dame.

"Over the years, then cable channels became more widely available. And they started showing ESPN on the college's action as well. And that's where the actual interest in the American football came from. We also have a chapter of the Notre Dame alumni living over here."

As that interest grew, Declan discovered a need for Notre Dame programming on the radio.

That's when he was introduced to an American journalist who just so happened to cover the Fighting Irish in South Bend: Len Clark.

In 2017, he attended a conference in Dublin, met some new friends and before he knew it, he was on Irish radio.

"We hit it off and she goes, you've got to meet Declan. He lives, eats, drinks sports. He would be great. I called Declan up, the next thing you know, we've got a show on Dublin City FM called the Notre Dame Report."

The radio show is now in its 6th season, and Dublin City FM is the largest community radio station in Ireland, reaching more than 300,000 listeners and countless more via YouTube.