1983 Archives - Page 13 of 25 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

16th May 20222nd May 2024

Coverage of 1983 raids on pirate stations

Raids by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs on the super-pirates Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio on 18^th and 19^th May 1983 rocked the Irish radio scene. Panic spread throughout the country’s pirate stations in anticipation of further raids, and many stations took the precaution of closing down temporarily.

One of the larger stations, Radio Carousel in Dundalk, celebrated its 5^th birthday around the same time, on 20^th May 1983. Kieran Murray, who ran the Radio Carousel operation in Navan, Co. Meath, made recordings from RTÉ and other stations in the week of the raids. The first part of the recording above is from Wednesday 18^th May and begins with part of the 1.15 lunchtime news from Boyneside Radio in Drogheda, followed by the 1.30 RTÉ Radio 1 report on the raids. Kieran then records a conversation with Hugh O’Brien of Radio Nova, who had been trying to reach Carousel boss Hugh Hardy all morning. The recording continues with extracts from Thursday 19^th May: the report of the raid on Sunshine Radio on RTÉ and an interview by Radio Carousel’s Christine Reilly (Tina Anderson) with Bill McLoughlin of Sunshine Radio.

Part 2 below includes an interview with Hugh Hardy on Paul Clarke’s programme on BBC Radio Ulster on 19^th May, followed by the 6pm news on Radio Carousel Navan. The recording ends with part of the RTÉ Radio 1 news at 6.30 on 22^nd May.

Interview with Hugh Hardy, Radio Carousel Navan, RTÉ coverage.

These recordings are from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

2nd May 20222nd May 2022

Weekend sports show on Radio West

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Despite the claims of its opponents, the Irish pirate radio era was about so much more than pop stations playing nothing but the Top 40. Around the country, many pirates became popular and credible sources of news and information in their own regions, offering a real local alternative to RTÉ. One area where pirate radio really had the edge was sports coverage, especially of local GAA matches.

This recording of popular midlands station Radio West was made in the summer of 1983 and is of a Saturday afternoon sports show with local results and interviews. One such interview features a GAA club in Longford and the recording is a good example of how many pirates, particularly outside Dublin, were templates for the licensed local radio of today. The presenters are unidentified and there are no timechecks but we know that the recording was made on Saturday 13^th August 1983 from 765 kHz AM in Aberystwyth on the west Wales coast. The transmitter was capable of running up to 10kW of power at the time, and with Aberystwyth about 250 km from the Radio West site in Co. Westmeath, the recording shows that the station’s groundwave reception was good well beyond its core coverage area.

This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

9th February 202224th March 2024

Excerpts from a day on Boyneside Radio in 1983

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Boyneside compliments slip (courtesy Ian Biggar).

This is an airchecked recording of daytime and evening programming on Boyneside Radio from Drogheda on Good Friday, 3rd April 1983. It includes excerpts from the breakfast show with Dara Nelson, Dave C.’s Golden Oldies Show, sports news at 6.30pm, Country Convoy with Seán Neilon and Nightbeat with Neil O’Brien. The voices of Eddie Caffrey, Dave C., Dermot Finglas, Daire Nelson and Áine Ní Ghuidhir are heard on adverts. One spot for the Augustinian religious order stands out from the more familiar ads for local businesses! The selection from different times of the day gives a good flavour of the variety heard on Boyneside at the time.

Excerpts from a day on Boyneside Radio in 1983 — Anoraks Ireland cassette label (the correct date is 3rd April).

The recording was made from 98.1 FM in mono and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. It was recorded originally by Kieran Murray. Further material from this collection can be found on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.

7th February 202219th February 2025

Northeast series: Morning shows on Boyneside Radio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This is a recording of morning programmes on Boyneside Radio from early 1983. Following the merger with the breakaway Community Radio Drogheda, the station was making headway again and advertising from the town was plentiful. Part 1 of the recording above was made from 98.4 FM in mono and runs from 0906-0954 on Friday 21^st January 1983. It features Daire Nelson on the breakfast show and includes a comedy slot involving a call to the Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda as well as a weekly sentence in Irish. There are requests from Drogheda, Dundalk, Duleek and Navan. Dara is followed by the late Dave C. at 0930.

Part 2 below is from 0957-1045 and includes the One Minute of Pop quiz and news with Shane Harrison, who now works as BBC Northern Ireland’s Dublin correspondent.

Part 2 of the recording.

This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

22nd January 202222nd January 2022

Ken Regis on Cork City Local Radio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

We’re very grateful to Ken O’Sullivan for his donations of recordings of Cork City Local Radio (CCLR). The first recording was made on 24^th April 1983 from 95.5 FM in stereo and features Ken Regis, as he was known on air, with a Sunday afternoon requests show. There’s also a pretty tough competition with a prize of a box of chocolates up for grabs. Some of the recording is airchecked and there’s a bit of wobble on the 40-year old cassette.

The recording below is of Ken Regis on 19^th March 1983 from 1555 from 95.5 FM. It begins with adverts for local businesses around Cork and a generic sung jingle. There’s also a radio-related competition and interestingly, the show is being taped for a listener in Galway. Sound quality is fair due to the wobbly cassette.

The final recording features Ken in the early evening of 22nd May 1983 and is again from 95.5 FM. There’s a reference to a petition to support local radio in Cork, a reflection of the raids on Dublin stations a few days previously. Adverts are a mixture of pre-records and live-reads and once again the tape is showing its age.