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Riverside 101 was one of the second wave of pirates that defied the new legislation in 1988 that was supposed to silence unlicensed radio in Ireland. It was set up by Frankie McLoughlin and managed by Steve Marshall, both of whom had worked at Radio Nova (1986-88) in Fahan on the Inishowen peninsula in Donegal. Previously, Steve had co-founded Galway pirates WLS and Coast 103.
Broadcasting from just over the border in Bridgend, Co. Donegal, Riverside initially focused on Derry City before expanding to cover a larger area of the northwest. It was first noted on 101 FM by Rodney Neil in May 1989 but was broadcasting overnight only from 11pm to 7am at the time. In a letter to Ian Biggar, he said that the station was running quite a few adverts. It was thought that the signal strength was around 100 watts initially. The final edition of Anoraks UK Weekly Report on 9th September 1989 noted that Riverside could be received in Derry City but not much further afield. Around this time the station began a 24-hour schedule.
In an entry on DX Archive, Steve Marshall said that he formatted Riverside and ran a £500 giveaway in the early days to attract listeners. He recalled that the station received a visit from the Department of Communications in Dublin but that they could not carry out a raid because the transmitter was on a raft in a river straddling the border and the studios were located in Derry.
Riverside 101 took over the transmitter of the other pirate WABC on 101.7 in Shroove, Co. Donegal after it closed down on 1st April 1991. That gave the station coverage in the likes of Coleraine as far as the Causeway Coast, whereas before that Riverside aimed at Derry. An advertising leaflet published after the expansion of coverage claimed 500,000 potential customers in the northwest. The station had 22 staff at that time and claimed a 42% market share in Derry, Donegal and Tyrone.
Riverside 101 closed just after 1am on 21st October 1993 after receiving a licence to broadcast to the northwest region. The transmitter on the border on 100.1 was switched off but the station returned the following morning at 6am from the same studio as Q102 and later became part of Northern Ireland’s Q Radio network. Interestingly the former WABC transmitter on 101.7 remained on air relaying Q102 but was eventually moved to 102.9.
This recording of Riverside 101 is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 100.1 FM from 2130-2306 on Thursday 28th December 1989. The DJ is Mike Henry and there are plenty of requests from listeners on both sides of the border and adverts from the northern side, reflecting the new legislation in the Republic that penalised businesses advertising on pirate radio. There is some distortion in the audio either due to the recording itself or an issue with transmission. Thanks to Ian Biggar for assistance with research.