Pirates ring RTÉ to complain about 1984 jamming

Pirates ring RTÉ to complain about 1984 jamming
An advert for Radio Annabel listing its own advertisers, Sunday World, 6th January 1985. Annabel would be gone within two months (Alan MacSimoin collection).

Spring 1984 was the height of the RTÉ jamming campaign against super-pirates such as Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio in Dublin and South Coast Radio in Cork. On 26th April 1984, Sunshine boss Robbie Dale (Robinson) attempted to ring RTÉ live on air during his mid-morning programme. RTÉ were jamming Sunshine on 531 kHz at the time from the Radio 2 site in Beaumont, claiming that they were testing on the frequency. Robbie Dale spoke to the RTÉ press office but failed to get through to Assistant Director-General Bobby Gahan.

Pirates ring RTÉ to complain about 1984 jammingA few days later on Dublin Community Radio, David Baker was more successful. During a special programme about the radio scene, he managed to speak to Bobby Gahan live on air and ask him about the jamming. According to Peter Mulryan’s book Radio Radio, the Minister for Communications Jim Mitchell requested RTÉ in April 1984 to stop jamming as control of the airwaves was a matter for government and not for the state broadcaster. Such was the audience for pirate radio, it appeared that the government feared the political implications if popular stations couldn’t be heard.

These recordings were broadcast by Gerard Roe on the FRC programme on Radio Annabel on 17th June 1984. Our recording was made from 1035 kHz AM. The photo is of Bobby Gahan in 2015 when he was Lord Mayor of Stepaside in Dublin and is by the Evening Herald.

The Pirate.ie Podcast #4

The Pirate.ie Podcast #4
David Baker (right) and DJ Lee at KLAS 98 in 1987 (photo courtesy of DX Archive).

In this special episode #4 of the Pirate.ie podcast, we’re delighted to bring you an interview with one of the most familiar voices on Dublin pirate radio in the 1980s, David Baker. David worked in a long list of stations ranging from Radio City, Big D and ARD to KISS FM, Radio Leinster, Heartbeat and KLAS 98. He was also heavily involved in the temporary stations set up by the Community Broadcasting Co-operative and the original Christmas station, Radio Snowflake.

The Pirate.ie Podcast #4
David (second from right) at the Glasnevin North Community Radio caravan in 1982 (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).

In this interview with John Walsh and Brian Greene, David looks back on his pirate days in Ireland and recalls the many stations where he worked from the late 1970s until 1988. Based in the UK for many years, he also gives his views on the radio scene today and talks about his latest project Chelmer Radio.

The Pirate.ie Podcast #4
L-R David Baker, Paula Walsh (Miss Sandymount) and Dermot Lacey in 1986 (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).

Many thanks to David for sharing his memories with us in this special podcast.

Pirate.ie would like to thank all of our followers and contributors for their support in 2020. We will you all a very happy Christmas and hope for a better 2021 for everyone.

The original Christmas station: Radio Snowflake

The original Christmas station: Radio Snowflake
A Radio Snowflake flyer from c. 1986 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).

Radio Snowflake was the original Christmas station, set up by Dave Reddy of the Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC) in 1982. The CBC rang temporary festival stations around Dublin in locations such as Glasnevin, Ringsend and Donnybrook and also broadcast Radio Snowflake around Christmas each year.

This recording was made from 1512 kHz AM on 15th December 1984 from 1345-1430. David Baker, a well-known voice of CBC and other pirates, is on air with his usual mix of easy listening music and community news. There is plenty of co-channel mixing, possibly from Wicklow Community Radio on the same frequency. 1512 or 1530 were the usual AM frequencies for CBC with various low-powered FM channels in operation. 99.9 MHz is announced in this recording.

David Baker continued to run Radio Snowflake online until 2019, using many of the original presenters. Christmas FM comes on air every year on a temporary licence in various cities and towns across Ireland. The recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International was a shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

Radio Leinster: wooing listeners from RTÉ Radio 1

Radio Leinster: wooing listeners from RTÉ Radio 1
Daphne Mitchell at Radio Leinster in 1982 (photo courtesy David Baker).

Radio Leinster stood out from the other Dublin pirates of the early 1980s because of its diet of easy listening music and chat as opposed to the pop played by most stations. In his documentary ‘The Irish Pirates’, British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler commented that while the majority of the Dublin stations were in direct competition with RTÉ Radio 2, Radio Leinster seemed intent on attracting listeners from Radio 1.

Radio Leinster began broadcasting in late April or early May 1981 from the city centre before moving to an elevated site in Sandyford overlooking Dublin. A professional 1 kW transmitter on 738 kHz (406 metres) travelled well by day but was subject to interference at night. The station closed suddenly on 19th May 1983 as panic spread following the raids on Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova and never returned.

Tipler was particularly interested in the niche offering of Radio Leinster and made several recordings of it during his visit in September 1982. The recording above was made from 738 kHz and is an aircheck of part of Daphne Mitchell’s afternoon programme beginning at 1556 on Friday 10th September. It includes a letter from a listener and a lengthy community notice board. The voices of Richard Crowley and Anna Chisnell, both of whom would go on to work in RTÉ, can be heard on ads. Daphne Mitchell was also heard on BLB in Bray in the 1980s.

Radio Leinster: wooing listeners from RTÉ Radio 1
David Baker on Radio Sandymount in 1984 (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).

The recording below is from 93 FM on Monday 13th September 1982 and features a young David Baker reading the sports bulletin on his breakfast programme. David’s breakfast shift from 0700-0900 meant that he arrived late for school each morning!

These recordings are from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

Pop-up radio: Glasnevin North Community Radio

Pop-up radio: Glasnevin North Community Radio
The caravan in 1982 including Charlie Sheehan and David Baker in the door and Nails Mahoney to the right (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).

The Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC) also ran a pop-up summer station in Glasnevin between 1982 and 1988 to coincide with the local community festival. Mick Nugent, who was also heard on other CBC stations, was in charge of the Glasnevin operation and it moved between different locations over the years. These included what was then the Nugent family home on Willow Park Grove, a caravan outside the local shops on Ballymun Road and Cuilín House, a Council-owned building in Albert College Park.

Dave Reddy of CBC told us that broadcasts on all stations were on 1512 or 1530 kHz with the exception of 1984 when frequencies on or around 1116 kHz were used. The original transmitter was stolen and never recovered but a new one was used from 1985 with the help of engineers Peter Gibney and John Thewlis. Output was about 100 watts and FM was added later in the decade. As FM reception improved, the AM transmitter was left in Sandymount at Dave Reddy’s house and linked to the FM signals from the various CBC stations.

Pop-up radio: Glasnevin North Community Radio
Flyer from 1986 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).

This airchecked recording of Glasnevin North Community Radio was made between 1815-1850 on 27th June 1983. We don’t have confirmation of the frequency. It features some well-known names in Irish radio history including Aidan Cooney who worked on several pirates including Radio Dublin, ARD, Treble TR, Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova. Since 1989 he has broadcast on commercial radio and television and is currently a presenter with Q102 in Dublin. The other familiar voice is Aidan Stewart (aka Leonard) who also began his pirate career in the late 1970s and joined RTÉ in 1991. He is currently director of the digital station RTÉ Gold.

Pop-up radio: Glasnevin North Community Radio
The Glasnevin North Community Radio AM transmitter (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).

The recording was made originally by the late Peter Madison. Thanks to Gary Hogg for the audio and to Dave Reddy and Mick Nugent for background information.