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Border series: More oldies on Radio North

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Border series: More oldies on Radio North
An undated photo of Paul Barnett (RIP) at Radio North (courtesy Steven Lynch).

This is another recording of former Radio North manager the late Paul Barnett’s popular morning oldies show on Donegal pirate Radio North. On a sunny autumnal morning, Paul has an electic mix of oldies from across the decades and a quiz with a cash prize up for grabs. Reflecting changing technology, listeners can phone in their answers or send a text. The first correct answer comes from Islay in Scotland, underlining the wide coverage area achieved by Radio North on AM. There are the usual adverts for small businesses in Counties Derry and Antrim, also voiced by Paul.

The recording was made in Scotland on 30th October 2006 from 846 kHz AM between 0955-1040 and is courtesy of Ian Biggar.

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Early Cork series: Pat O’Rourke on Radio City

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Early Cork series: Pat O'Rourke on Radio City
Pat O’Rourke at Radio City in 1981 (courtesy Lilian O’Donoghue).

Pat O’Rourke (aka The Smurf) was a popular DJ on the early Cork pirate radio stations. This recording features his late-night show on Radio City and includes a preview of weekend programmes on the station. The first section is of the final half-hour of Pat’s romantic music slot from 2334-0000 on Friday 16th January 1981, ending with the national anthem to close down Radio City for the night. This is followed by part of another late-night show presented by Pat, apparently from 18th January.

The tape was made from 95.7 FM but there is distortion on the links possibly due to a microphone issue. Thanks to Lilian O’Donoghue for the donation.

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Border series: Paul Barnett plays oldies on Radio North

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Border series: Paul Barnett plays oldies on Radio North
Paul Barnett at the Radio North site in the 2010s (courtesy Steven Lynch).

This recording of Donegal pirate Radio North features former station manager Paul Burbank (Paul Barnett, RIP) with an edition of his popular daily oldies show from 2005. Copious adverts for small businesses in Counties Antrim and Derry are voiced by Paul who also reads news at the top of the hour.

The tape was made from 1050-1135 on Tuesday 15th February 2005 from 846 kHz AM and is donated by Ian Biggar.

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Early Cork series: Saturday shows on Radio City

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Early Cork series: Saturday shows on Radio City
John Ashford (John Buckley, RIP) at Radio City (courtesy Lilian O’Donoghue).

This recording of Cork pirate Radio City was made on a Saturday in the winter of 1980 and gives a flavour of weekend programmes at the station. Kicking off is Ed Harris with the end of his Saturday breakfast show, who is followed by John Ashford (John Buckley, RIP) with Morning Beat. Next up are Pete Andrews (O’Neill) and Karl Johnson (Dan Noonan) with horoscopes to wind up Saturday Club at 1300, followed by Noel Evans (Welch) with the Saturday Sports Report. The last section is of an unidentified DJ presenting disco music.

The recording was made from 1512 kHz, announcing 199 metres on 1st November 1980 and is courtesy of Lilian O’Donoghue.

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Border series: Radio North at the end of 2002

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Border series: Radio North at the end of 2002

This recording of long-running Donegal pirate Radio North was made at the end of 2002. On air is Caroline McDermott with country and Irish music and some oldies. She also shares information about local music and gigs for New Year’s Eve. Adverts are for Northern businesses only. There’s a technical problem with the news at the top of the hour, presumably due to an issue with the link to a syndicated service. A listeners’ quiz with a £500 prize is sponsored by a car business in Derry and Tyrone.

The tape was made in Scotland from 846 kHz AM on 30th December 2002 between 1345-1515 and is courtesy of Ian Biggar.