1985 Archives - Page 11 of 18 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

23rd April 20218th September 2021

Sunshine Radio charity auction

Some of the pirates engaged in corporate social responsibility, raising money for various charitable and voluntary groups. One of the larger stations to do so was Sunshine Radio, which built a relationship with the Central Remedial Clinic (CRC), an organisation supporting people with physical disabilities. Sunshine held an annual auction on air in aid of the CRC along with the Sunshine Extravaganza, an evening event that listeners could pay to attend, with the proceeds going to the charity. In the first five year’s of Sunshine’s existence, the station raised over £100,000 for the CRC, a considerable sum in the cash-strapped 1980s.

This recording is of part of the 5^th CRC auction as recorded from 531 kHz AM from 1035-1120 on 13^th April 1985. In studio are Kieran Ryan and Pat Courtenay, who looks after the bids. Items are up for auction in various lots and include a helicopter trip, a weekend in a Dublin hotel, a bonsai tree, an electronic telephone, attic insulation, a home brew kit, toys, gym membership, beauty treatments, silverware, a Philips radio recorder and even 22 tonnes of sand or gravel! Irish cabaret singer Tony Kenny, who is taking part in the 5^th Sunshine Extravaganza evening in aid of the CRC, is interviewed by station owner Robbie Dale (Robinson), who then joins Pat Courtenay in studio to promote the Sunshine Extravaganza. An ad break includes a promo for the Sunshine Cake, an FM opt-out service of easy listening music on Sunday mornings.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International was a shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

29th January 20216th August 2021

More live overnight ERI from 1985

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Live overnight radio is a thing of the past with some stations automated from early evening. Pirates big and small were on air around the clock, with a early example being Radio Dublin’s famous marathon broadcast from 1977 which set a new standard for the capital’s growing radio scene.

Some of the Cork pirates did round-the-clock live programming also, as in this recording of Tony Ashford (Ciaran Brannelly) on the graveyard shift on ERI. Emer Lucey (Lucy Potter Coogan) is heard every hour with ‘ERI News Review’, a pre-recorded bulletin of the previous day’ top stories. The recording was made from 96.7 FM and runs from 0438-0602 on Wednesday 23^rd October 1985. At the end of his shift, Ciaran hands over to Hugh Browne (RIP), a well-known name on many 1980s pirates.

ERI (1982-1988) also broadcast on 1305 kHz (announcing 225 metres) and could be heard over much of Munster and beyond. We thank Ciaran Brannelly for his donation.

27th January 20217th August 2021

Radio from the Garden County: Wicklow Community Radio

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Wicklow Community Radio (WCR) began broadcasting in the second half of 1982 on 1512 kHz AM (198 metres). It emerged from temporary festival stations set up in Wicklow Town, the first of which was by RTÉ in 1980. As happened in towns and villages across the country, the RTÉ community radio experiment spawned local pirates, and Wicklow was no exception.

In the summer of 1981, the Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC), which would run pop-up stations around Dublin throughout the decade, set up Wicklow Regatta Radio to coincide with a local festival. In a 1984 documentary, manager of WCR Leo Doyle said that the CBC station was more professional and popular than the scripted and controlled RTÉ experiment. As a result, he decided to set up a full-time station with two other locals.

WCR was originally aimed at Wicklow Town and surrounding areas and was mostly a voluntary operation with a strong community focus. There was a breakfast show with various slots, music and chat and a mid-morning programme aimed at housewives featuring recipes and aerobics sessions. The station had extensive local news and sports coverage, specialist jazz, country, traditional and ballads shows and ‘The Young Ones’, researched, presented and produced by children with an average age of 12. Among the DJs were Andy Scott, later known as Scott Williams, who went on to become a big name on Dublin radio.

WCR was relaunched as WLCB (Wicklow Local Community Broadcasting) in the summer of 1985 with a larger coverage area and more commercial outlook. A 1.2 kW transmitter was installed on 1602 kHz and FM coverage improved due to a good hilltop site near Wicklow Town. WLCB changed its name again to Viking 105 in 1987 and continued until the end of the 1988.

This recording is from 1118-1203 on 10^th April 1985 and features Mick Duggan followed by Jackie Scott on news. Sound quality is fair at best with some electrical interference and it seems the recording was made in Dublin outside the core coverage area. The recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International was a shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

6th January 20216th August 2021

Live overnight ERI from 1985

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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.

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 23^rd October 1985. ERI also broadcast on 1305 kHz (announcing 225 metres) and could be heard over a large area.

We thank Ciaran Brannelly for his donation.

14th November 20206th August 2021

Pop-up community radio: Radio Sandymount

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Today we bring you a fascinating recording from pop-up community station Radio Sandymount in 1985. Charlie Sheehan, who worked as a postman in Sandymount, was a popular presenter on the station. In this recording, he interviews Mahmood ‘Mike’ Butt, the man credited with introducing Ireland to curry.

Mike Butt was born in Kenya in 1927 and came to Ireland in 1949. In 1956 he opened what was then the only Indian restaurant in Ireland, the Golden Orient in Leeson Street in Dublin. He is also credited with bringing the ice lolly to the Irish market. Mike opened Browne’s spice shop in Sandymount in 1984 and was therefore of particular interest to Radio Sandymount’s listeners. He died in 1988.

This interview gives a great sense of how people like Mike Butt were early pioneers in the diversification of Irish food tastes and the popularisation of all sorts of culinary styles. It was recorded in May 1985 and is shared here with the kind permission of Dave Reddy who ran Radio Sandymount.

Radio Sandymount and similar stations in areas of Dublin such as Ringsend, Glasnevin and Donnybrook were part of the Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC) and were regular features during local summer festivals between 1982 and 1988. The photo of Mike Butt is courtesy of Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire and the article in which it was used is available here. Further information about Mike Butt is available here.