The Steering Committee

Overview

The Steering Committee (SC) is a small group of members who are volunteering regularly with the station and take on the broader oversight of the station. It is fundamentally guided by and is accountable to the wider ddr. membership.

It has responsibility for developing and enacting longer term strategic decisions in line with motions voted for by members and ddr.’s guiding principles. In addition it is responsible for undertaking certain financial, legal and administrative activities within the organisation as well as providing oversight and guidance to the operations teams.

Membership of the SC is voted for by the members of ddr. at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The SC consists of between six and twelve members- members are assigned responsibilities based on the roles outlined in the next section.

The Responsibilities of the Steering Committee

The core responsibilities of the SC are - Governance, Finance & Secretarial. The responsibilities of these roles are further defined below. These roles cover the legal and administrative functions of the station.

In addition, members of the SC outline and take oversight of the key activities of the station including the station’s working groups and take responsibility to maintain good communicative health between all teams within the organisation.

These roles can be changed at AGMs as new SC members are elected by the membership.

Members of the Steering Committee must carry out their duties in line with ddr.’s guiding principles, and ensure there is good communications between the SC, volunteer working groups and members of ddr.

Governance

• Oversight of legal obligations of the station
• Administrative tasks associated with the Companies Registration Office including; ensuring directors and secretary are registered with CRO, ensuring accounts are filed with CRO.
• Communicating governance issues to members and volunteers
• Oversight of implementation of motions voted upon at AGM/EGM
• Oversight of disputes/breaches of code of conduct/disciplinary issues/safeguarding
• Responsibility for termination procedures relating to Steering Committee members
• Ensuring principles of Apartheid Free Zone are implemented

Finance

• Responsibility for the general financial health of the station and communication of this to members
• Ensuring financial decisions are made according to ddr. finance procedures
• Oversight of fundraising activities of the station including member subscriptions
• Day to day management of bank accounts/Paypal/Sage/accounts email
• Annual preparation of accounts to send to accountants
• Annual preparation of budget for inclusion in annual report and AGM

Secretarial

• Organising of AGM/EGM and issuing Annual Report / info pack /minutes
• Setting dates for General Meetings and Steering Committee meetings, and ensuring these dates are clearly communicated to members
• Setting agenda for these meetings/ensuring there is a set agenda
• Organising rotating chairs for SC and General Meetings
• Organising a minute taker at meetings and ensuring these minutes are available to members
• Circulating the minutes of the previous AGM and ensuring that the business of the Steering Committee is handed over to the new members, including any ongoing actions or projects
• Responsibility for ensuring key admin tasks are done, either by members of the Steering Committee themselves or by recruited volunteers. These tasks include but are not limited to: management of main email inbox, management of Slack, management of Google Workspace, password management and updating the master spreadsheet

Volunteer Coordination

• Oversight of Volunteer coordination including recruitment, onboarding and capacity
• Exploring development and training opportunities for volunteers and overseeing a training policy

Fundraising & Capacity Building

• Oversight of fundraising activities, including reviewing and approving fundraising campaigns, events and grants in line with station strategy and guiding principles
• Identifying and overseeing opportunities for ddr. to grow, build relationships, and strengthen its community presence

Programming

• Maintaining and coordinating a Programming Team of min. 4 to optimal 8 volunteers who are responsible for the execution of programming duties (such as weekly inbox and Radio Cult rota, new show selection process and handover/collaboration with Studio & Comms team, collaborations with other entities i.e. external and guest streams)
• Ensuring that programming of the station is in line with guiding principles and programming policy
• Oversight of programming activities to ensure they are aligned with the strategic planning and volunteer capacity
• Updating of Programming Strategy and Process as needed

Communication

• Implement and oversee a comms strategy that is consistent for different stakeholders and contexts - including residents, members, website and beyond

Events & Outreach

• Ensure that ddr. develop a programme of events throughout the year and supporting volunteers to develop a diverse event programme
• Building and maintaining good working relationships with spaces and groups in the city that ddr. work and collaborate with
• Ensuring that ddr. events are financially viable

The Steering Committee is not strictly limited to the above duties and additional and exceptional activities may be undertaken in line with ongoing events.

The Legal Status of the Steering Committee

Dublin Digital Radio is a Company Limited by Guarantee. As a CLG there are a number of legal obligations that need to be met- refer to this document for further details. It is the responsibility of the Steering Committee to fulfil these legal obligations.

The decisions made (or not made) by the Steering Committee may also have legal implications. All members of the Steering Committee should be registered as Company Directors with the CRO at the start of each term- a Company Secretary must also be registered with the CRO.

Steering Committee Activities

SC members are expected to keep up to date with Slack discussions and attend meetings regularly, on top of the general ddr. meetings and fulfilling any tasks they take on that arise from the meetings or Slack discussion.

Meetings

The SC must meet once a month- the date and time of this recurring meeting must be agreed upon by the new SC in or before the first meeting of the term.

A standard agenda should be followed, focusing on the duties of the SC described above, making key strategic decisions, and progress on implementing members motions and strategic goals.

Decisions at the SC will be made by consensus of the SC. The quorum for SC meetings is 50%.

In the case that consensus cannot be reached, a decision will be made through a consent mechanism. In this case any objections to the proposal are recorded and these objections are discussed in the context of the organisation’s principles - any objection that a member determines to be in opposition to the principles of the organisation is determined to be a ‘strong objection’. Each strong objection is discussed in-turn and/or the proposal altered. In the case that no strong objection remains then the proposal can be accepted.

In the case that a member of the SC is consistently in disagreement with the other members of the SC over a period of three months or more a meeting will be held to discuss this grievance. If the disagreement cannot be resolved, an EGM will be called to enable a new SC election.

The minutes of all meetings will be recorded and made available to the members of the organisation, including on the website. Minutes are saved here.

Steering Committee Membership

Eligibility

Any member who has been involved in the organisation for at least 3 months can nominate themselves, whether they are a volunteer, member or resident. We would especially encourage those joining the Steering Committee to be volunteering with the station already so they have a good overview of how it runs. Having previous high level experience within another volunteer organisation or professional experience of any of the areas of responsibility would also be useful, especially if you have not previously volunteered with ddr.

Anyone considering joining the Steering Committee should be prepared to commit enough time to ensure the Committee can operate as outlined in this document. This varies across the course of the year, but an average of 10-12 hours per month would be typical. This would not include any other volunteer time that may be spent on non Steering committee functions.

Election

Voting on the Steering Committee takes place at the AGM via anonymous electronic voting. Any eligible member can nominate themselves as a candidate by filling out an online nomination form. Nominations will be circulated to ddr. members for consideration in advance of the AGM. Candidates will be asked to introduce themselves at the AGM and make a short statement about why they should be on the Steering Committee.

Voting will take place in accordance with the process outlined in the AGM Procedures: ddr. AGM explainer 2026

Each member of the Steering Committee should be assigned to a particular role/responsibility - this does not need to be done at an AGM but should be done at the first Steering Committee meeting.

Consideration should be given to the fact that some roles are more time intensive and may require more capacity- for example governance. This may change from year to year depending on the strategic goals of the station or the motions voted on by members.

The Committee must elect the positions of Secretary and Chairperson from its membership. It must also select the Directors, to be notified to the Companies Registration Office (CRO). If a new Secretary and Directors are appointed, the relevant legal documents and bank account details need to be updated and changes in personnel (directors, secretary) must be notified to the CRO.

Membership of the SC consists of one year (running from AGM to following AGM). Membership of the SC is possible for a maximum of three consecutive years. At least one person should change each year. In the event that there are less than 6 people elected to the SC, members can either vote at the AGM to approve the formation of a Committee with a reduced number, or agree to electing SC members who have served for more than 3 years.

Termination

Should a member fail to attend three consecutive meetings or more than four meetings in six months the remainder of the SC can elect to have the member removed from the SC.

Should a member be deemed to be in breach of the organisation’s principles and code of conduct the remainder of the SC can elect to have the member removed from the SC.

Should a member of the SC leave/be removed during the term between AGMs the remaining members of the SC can appoint an interim member whose membership will run until the following AGM.

In the case that half of the members of the SC propose to disband the SC, a new SC must be elected by means of an extraordinary general meeting (EGM).

Steering Committee Handover

The outgoing Steering Committee are responsible for circulating the minutes of the previous AGM and ensuring that the business of the Steering Committee is handed over to the new members, including any ongoing actions or projects. A handover meeting should be arranged to facilitate this process. A summary document showing the key handover activities and documents is here

ddr. Steering Committee handover document

Steering Committee Code of Conduct

Accountability - I am accountable to the steering committee and the members of ddr. and my actions and decisions and those of ddr. should stand up to scrutiny by members, supporters, stakeholders, regulatory authorities.

Commitment - I will do my best to carry out my duties in ddr. in a professional and timely manner and to support others in doing the same. I will prepare for and attend meetings to ensure I am contributing to the committee’s work.

Collective Responsibility - I understand the steering committee operates with a collective responsibility for the decisions it makes. That means even if absent for a decision I am responsible for it and if in disagreement with a decision I am bound by it, unless otherwise agreed.

Conflict of Interest and personal benefit - I will declare any conflict of interests or loyalties. I will not benefit from my position on the committee beyond what is allowed by law or in the interest of ddr. I will make decisions in ddr.’s interests.

Respect - I will treat the steering committee and ddr. members as well as all stakeholders with respect and courtesy. I will not discriminate against anyone.

Leaving the Committee - I understand breaching this code may result in being removed from the committee. If I intend to leave the committee I will inform them in good time and give reasons. I understand the term limits of 3 years per role/in succession.