Fr. Willie Purcell is the parish priest of Clara Kilkenny; he also works as the national vocations coordinator and immigrant field officer for the Irish Conference of Catholic Bishops.  Fr. Willie is qualified in media broadcasting and communications and has worked as a journalist with local newspapers.  He lectures in Kimmage research and development centre on Communicating the Message, a course designed for International ministers coming to work in Ireland. A native of Kilkenny city Fr. Willie has been involved in local radio since the 1980s and worked with the founder of Kilkenny local radio Fr. Gerry Joyce.   He also writes for national magazines on religious and social affairs topics.  Fr. Willie hosts the Saturday morning religious programme ‘spirit alive’ which goes live on air from 10 am to 11am.  The programme presents topics of a faith and religious nature including book reviews, interviews, Christian music, international ecumenical news and information from local churches.  The programme reaches out to all age groups and offers information, inspiration and invitation to all its listeners. Fr. Willie is also director of the internationally acclaimed ‘Kilkenny Gospel Choir’ who provides the music ministry for services as part of the Spirit Alive programme. The choir takes the message of Community Radio Kilkenny City to the many countries worldwide that it performs in.