This is a recording of Dublin station the Big D in the early hours of New Year’s Day 1980. To mark the occasion, there is a link-up with Dennis Murray by a poor quality phone line to a pub at John’s Lane Church in the city centre. Revellers, many of them worse for wear, come on the line to talk to Vincent Stewart in the studio. Clearly Big D is delighted at the departure of rival station ARD, judging by the canned laughter when Vincent announces that the other station has just closed down.
Other DJs and staff are in the studio with best wishes for the new decade. There are pleas for peace given the ongoing horrors of the Troubles and the broadcast ends with the Garda Síochána choir singing ‘Let There be Peace on Earth’. This is followed by pre-recorded music through the night. The recording was made from 273 metres (1116 kHz) from 0054-0120 on 1st January 1980. Thanks to Shay Geoghegan for the donation.
The late 1970s was a key period of growth for pirate radio in Dublin, with hot competition developing between Radio Dublin and rival breakaway stations ARD and the Big D. This recording from the medium wave band on 31st December 1979 gives a flavour of how the pirates rang in the new decade that would prove so crucial for Irish radio. It runs from 2351-0035 and switches between ARD on 273 metres, which was due to close down that night, and the Big D on 273 metres.
Paul Vincent winds down ARD in the company of the late Dave C and financial backer Bernard Llewellyn, who explains that the station is closing down in order to apply for a licence. Optimistically, he predicts that local radio will be legalised by June 1980. The late Don Moore, who invited Llewellyn into ARD, is also heard in the background and one of the DJs to say his goodbyes is none other than Ian Dempsey. ARD left the airwaves just after half past midnight but pretty much everyone involved in it – bar Llewellyn – returned in the form of Radio 257 within a few days.
The recording also includes snippets of the Big D’s New Year’s Eve celebrations, including a scratchy phone connection with Dennis Murray who is in the company of drunker revellers in the city centre. We thank Shay Geoghegan for his donation.
The Radio Dublin transmitter at Christmas 1977 (photo courtesy of Bill Ebrill).
Radio Dublin was the only Irish station to ring in the New Year at midnight on Saturday 31st December 1977. The Evening Herald reported that RTÉ Radio had to scrap its planned New Year’s Eve special programme, to be presented by Pat Kenny, because of an industrial relations dispute. The state broadcaster would close down at 11.45pm, leaving the airwaves to Radio Dublin. This was an important period for the pirates as it marked the shift from hobby to full-time broadcasting. Radio Dublin stayed on air for 300 hours over the Christmas and New Year period 1977-1978 and began full-time daily broadcasting on 2nd January 1978.
This recording is of Radio Dublin staff saying farewell to 1977 and ringing in 1978. Running from 2312-0040, it features station owner Eamonn Cooke along with DJs John Paul, Shay West, DJ Sylvie, Mike Eastwood and James Dillon. There are plenty of requests from listeners and thanks to businesses for advertising with the station during the year. At midnight a recording of bells is almost scuppered by a faulty cassette tape. This is followed by the DJs singing Auld Land Syne and a message from the Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Michael Collins. Eamonn Cooke urges listeners to lobby the government for a licence for Radio Dublin and also thanks Prince Terry (Roger Lloyd) for relaying the broadcast on the shortwave frequency of Westside Radio International. This recording was made locally but there is some night-time co-channel interference and that characteristic Radio Dublin hum throughout. We thank Ian Biggar for the donation.
Early Radio Dublin letterhead (courtesy of Ian Biggar)
However, the exuberance of New Year’s Eve did not last and in April James Dillon led a walk-out of most staff following allegations that Eamonn Cooke was involved in child abuse. Dillon formed a breakaway station, the Big D, which lasted until 1982. Radio Dublin closed down permanently in 2002 following Cooke’s conviction for sexually abusing children. He was jailed in 2003 and again in 2007 and died in 2016 while on temporary release. If you require support with this issue, you can contact the organisation One in Four.
Information from a Radio West rates card (courtesy Ian Biggar).
This is the final programme on the Mullingar-based station West National Radio 3 on December 30th 1988. Launched as Radio West in 1981, the station expanded its coverage beyond the midlands on AM and FM and could be heard from Dublin to Galway by 1987. The closing programme is the Country Jamboree, hosted by one of the big names of offshore and Irish pirate radio, the late Don Allen. Don is joined studio by a host of station staff, local business owners and country music artists.
Station owner Shaun Coyne thanks everyone involved and expresses optimism that Radio West will get a licence. He also comments on the costs involving in running the station, including the weekly £500 bill for the generator that kept the 10kW AM transmitter on air. Radio West was supposed to close at 9pm and as the show continues past the deadline, Don Allen jokes that the diesel powering the transmitter will run out!
There is also evidence of how pirate radio supported the Irish country music scene, with warm recognition from country music artists for Radio West’s support. This theme was repeated on many other rural pirate stations when closing down at the end of 1988. The recording above runs from 2032-2106 and the one below from 2106-2205. Both were made from 100.1 FM and are kindly donated by John Breslin.
Final hour of West National Radio 3.
For a comprehensive account of the 1988 closedowns, see the Radiowaves site.
This is a flavour of some of the final day of the Monaghan pirate station KISS FM that rocked the radio world along the border and in Northern Ireland during its short nine months on air in 1988. Other Irish pirates had tried and failed to break the Belfast market and in November 1987, engineer Miles Johnston decided to set up a high powered FM station right on the border with proper coverage of the North. KISS FM came on the air on AM and FM in March 1988 and quickly made a mark, much to the consternation of the local ILR station, Downtown Radio, in Belfast. Its FM signal was so powerful that it could be heard in stereo in Scotland and Downtown attempted to have the Monaghan station jammed and raided.
KISS FM letterhead (courtesy Gerry Reilly).
The recording above is of the final 45 minutes of KISS FM on December 30th 1988 from 1720-1805. Tom Hardy (RIP), who worked previously on Radio Caroline, Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova, is in the DJ’s chair and is joined by Miles Johnston, Susan Charles and Dennis Murray. In an echo of the famous Radio Nova closedown in 1983, Tom asks motorists to blow their horns at 6pm and they duly oblige.
The recording below is of part of the final shows of Owen Barry (Larkin) and Dennis Murray from 1132. There is an edit at the end of the recording.
Both recordings were made from 103.7 FM and are courtesy of John Breslin.
