KTOK was one of a number of pirates broadcasting to Co. Donegal in the 1980s and located in the Castle Centre in Donegal Town. It was set up by Russ Padmore, former manager of North West Community Radio in Buncrana. He had also worked previously with ABC Radio in Waterford and indeed it was thanks to Italian transmitters imported by ABC that KTOK got on air. The pop music format proved popular in an area where Irish and country music was common on radio.
KTOK was first noted in the Anoraks UK Weekly Report on 24th May 1987 on 1566 kHz with a relay of RTÉ Radio 2. On 19th July Weekly Report said that the station had been picked up as far south as Sligo Town and according to DX Archive, the signal was also heard in the UK. Ex-Radio Caroline DJ Dave James was said to be among those involved. An Anoraks Ireland list from July 1987 listed KTOK on 1566 kHz and on 96, 98 and 103 FM. The station continued until 31st December 1988 at 4pm when it was closed down by Russ Padmore.
This recording was made from 95.9 FM on 26th August 1988 from 1847-1934 and features Russ Padmore followed by Laura Live. Thanks to John Breslin for the donation.
Coast 103 (also Coast Hot Hits and Coast Power FM) was on the air for 18 months from mid-1987 until the end of 1988 and was one of Galway’s bigger pirate stations. Based on Prospect Hill just off Eyre Square, it was set up by Steve Marshall and the late Keith York. The station broadcast on 1566 kHz AM and on 103 and other FM frequencies. In April 1988 it merged with the Limerick station Hits 954 and became known as Coast Hot Hits. 954 kHz was used for a while and there was a chain of FM transmitters covering an area from Mayo to Limerick and even Cork City. In the summer of 1988 Coast had outside broadcasts from Galway and an official launch in Limerick City was planned.
An ad for Coast Hot Hits in the Anoraks UK Weekly Report in July 1988. Note the AM frequency mentioned.
This recording is of Brian Davis from 1956-2045 on 9th December 1988, with pop hits and plenty of requests. It was made from 102.5 FM and is kindly donated by John Breslin. There are requests from Galway and Clare and the voice of Tony Allan is heard on sweepers and ads. A promotion worth £200 in association with local shops is also heard.
BLB car sticker from c. 1986 (courtesy of DX Archive).
Bray Local Broadcasting (BLB) was one of the pioneers of community radio in Ireland, broadcasting for almost a decade from 1979 until the end of 1988. It was a leading member of the National Association of Community Broadcasters (NACB) which at its height involved eleven stations around the country all committed to a community model of radio inspired by AMARC principles.
BLB broadcast on 837 and then 828 kHz in its early days but the arrival of Radio Nova on high power in that part of the band in 1981 caused it to move down to 657 kHz. In later years the FM signal on 97.8 MHz got good coverage into Dublin from its high site in Bray. However, in March 1988 Breffni Regional Radio in Co. Cavan moved onto 657 kHz, prompting a complaint from BLB. Such was the world of unregulated pirate radio where competition for suitable frequencies was fierce.
The building on Prince of Wales Terrace in Bray from where BLB broadcast (photo by John Walsh).
This is an airchecked recording of part of the East Coast Top 40 from BLB in May 1988. The presenter is Timmy Hannigan and the show is produced by Elaine Keogh. Despite the co-channel interference from Breffni Radio underneath, there’s a tight and punchy feel to the programme and it is a good example of how professional BLB could sound. Among the voices heard on ads and promos are BLB manager Adrian Kennedy and afternoon presenter Daphne Mitchell who worked on other stations such as Radio Leinster. There’s also a promo for the ‘new look BLB’ giving a flavour of the variety of programming heard on this innovative station.
The East Coast Top 40 was compiled from record sales in shops from Dundalk to Wicklow and aired every Saturday from 1-4pm on BLB. Timmy Hannigan became a leading name in Irish DJ and electronic music culture using the name Mr Spring. Elaine Keogh went on to work in licensed local radio and is now a freelance journalist. Many of those involved in BLB worked in the short-lived licensed station Horizon Radio in Bray from 1989. By 1992, Horizon had merged with the south Wicklow station Easy 103. The station eventually became East Coast FM which holds the country licence today.
We thank Barry Dunne for his donation of this recording.
Radio Dublin, one of the longest-running pirates in the world, was the most high-profile station to defy the new broadcasting legislation that came into effect at midnight on New Year’s Eve 1988. Established first in 1966, Radio Dublin embarked on round-the-clock broadcasting in 1977 and set a new standard for pirate radio in Dublin. The great 253 (its announced wavelength, later 1188 kHz) went from strength to strength in the 1980s and launched the careers of many well-known broadcasters.
At the end of 1988, rumours were circulating that Radio Dublin would soldier on despite the new law and the station’s owner Eamonn Cooke announced on Christmas Day that the station would continue into 1989. Radio Dublin switched off its FM transmitter on 105 FM in anticipation of the deadline but kept going on AM and shortwave. Transmissions continued after midnight on 1st January 1989 but taped programming only was heard for the first day. Live shows resumed on 2nd January and FM returned on 101 MHz.
The hammer fell in February with two raids by the authorities in the space of a week and the confiscation of all transmitters and most studio equipment. Electricity and phones were cut off following a court order, forcing Radio Dublin to continue on a generator. The station moved location on several occasions in an attempt to avoid detection and appealed on air for donations of FM transmitters from former pirates. It also tried unsuccessfully to challenge the constitutionality of the 1988 legislation, organising fund-raising events and appealing for donations from listeners towards the considerable costs. There was a third raid in April 1990 but Radio Dublin rose from the ashes again with the help of yet another back-up FM transmitter.
Radio Dublin car sticker from the mid-1980s (courtesy of DX Archive).
In fact, Radio Dublin defied all odds and continued long beyond the 1989 deadline, only closing down permanently in 2002 following the conviction of Eamonn Cooke for sexually abusing children. It was a grim end to the station that made such a mark on Irish radio history during its 36 years in existence and any discussion of Radio Dublin will always be marred by Cooke’s crimes. From 2003 to 2006, Cooke served three years of a 10-year jail term but was released after the conviction was quashed due to a legal technicality. He was convicted a second time in 2007 for sexual assault of young girls and jailed for 10 years. He died in 2016 while on temporary release. If you require support with this issue, you can contact the organisation One in Four.
Throughout his time at the helm, Cooke took to the air every Sunday lunchtime with ‘Station News’, a rambling account of what was happening at the station and in the Dublin radio scene. This is a recording of the first ‘Station News’ after Radio Dublin defied the new law, from 8th January 1989. We thank John Breslin for the donation.
The ERI studio in 1987 (photo courtesy of Ian Biggar).
Overnight radio is almost always automated these days and while many pirates also put out tapes in the early hours or closed down for the night, a sizable number of stations ran live programming around the clock. One such station was the Cork super-pirate ERI (1982-1988). This is a recording of part of a live overnight show on ERI from 1985. Tony Ashford (Ciaran Brannelly) is on the long graveyard shift playing music through the night until 6am.
Lucy Potter Coogan in the ERI newsroom in 1981/82 (photo courtesy of Ian Biggar).
Emer Lucey (Lucy Potter Coogan) is heard every hour with ‘ERI News Review’, a pre-recorded bulletin of the main stories from the previous day. The recording was made from 96.7 FM and runs from 0145-0240 on Wednesday 23rd October 1985. ERI also broadcast on 1305 kHz (announcing 225 metres) and could be heard over a large area.
