Radio Nova on its final morning

Radio Nova on its final morning
Nova car sticker from the 738 period (Anoraks Ireland Collection.

After dominating the Dublin market for 5 years, by early 1986 Radio Nova was in serious trouble. A bitter dispute with the National Union of Journalists had affected advertising revenue, shareholders were unhappy and the station had lost listeners at home due to the decision to chase a British audience. In March, Chris Cary announced that he would sell Nova by the end of the month, blaming the NUJ for his decision. In fact the end came sooner, on March 19th, after two disgruntled shareholders successfully applied to the High Court for a receiver to be appointed to Nova Media Services. There was no indication on air that anything was awry until that afternoon. Radio Nova closed down just after 1800 but continuous music was broadcast on both AM and FM, with a new station, Zoom 103, announced a few hours later. Zoom lasted for less than a week but was replaced on 28th April by Energy 103.

Radio Nova on its final morning
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

This tape from the Anoraks Ireland Collection features part of the Nightcap programme on Nova, recorded as the station entered its final day. The DJ is Richard Jackson and the recording was made from 0000-0045 on March 19th 1986 from 103.1 FM.

Northeast series: 1st birthday of Radio Rainbow International

Northeast series: 1st birthday of Radio Rainbow International
Radio Rainbow International antenna system in 1986 (courtesy Kieran Murray).

Radio Rainbow International was a high-powered shortwave station broadcasting from Co. Louth between 1985-1988. It was set up by the engineer of Boyneside Radio, Eddie Caffrey and other Boyneside presenters were also involved. Radio Rainbow was the highest powered of the shortwave pirates from Ireland and broadcast every Sunday morning across Europe on 6240 kHz in the 48-metre band, later adding medium wave and FM.

On Sunday 27th July 1986, Radio Rainbow International celebrated a year on the air, complete with cake and champagne in the studio. This recording opens with the final 15 minutes of a special celebratory show from 1145-1200 on that date presented by Eddie Caffrey, who is joined by fellow DJs Jim Agnew and Kieran Murray. They estimate that up to 350 reception reports have been received in the station’s first year, the furthest of which came from Finland. Kieran Murray looks back at the popular weekly Free Radio Campaign (FRC) show, that has been running since January. This is followed by Jim Agnew’s music show on the same date. There are no times, but it seems it was broadcast before the special birthday programme. The recording includes promos for Anoraks UK and a multilingual ident.

Northeast series: 1st birthday of Radio Rainbow International
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

At this time, Radio Rainbow International broadcast on 6240 kHz, but this is a stereo studio copy. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection.

Community station Radio Ringsend from 1986

Community station Radio Ringsend from 1986
Local kids visiting Radio Ringsend in the 1980s (courtesy Dave Reddy).

Radio Ringsend was an annual temporary station broadcasting during the Ringsend and District Festival in southeast Dublin during the 1980s. It was one of several pop-up stations under the umbrella of the Community Broadcasting Co-operative (CBC) set up during local community festivals in Dublin and surrounding counties. Radio Ringsend began broadcasting in 1982 and broadcast for the last time in the summer of 1988 before the legalisation of independent radio.

Community station Radio Ringsend from 1986
Radio Ringsend flyer from 1986 (courtesy Ian Biggar).

The CBC stations gave a fascinating insight into the popularity of hyper-local radio complete with small corner stores and competition results from the festival. In 1986, Radio Ringsend was based in a fruit and vegetable shop in Irishtown and this recording contains plenty of adverts for similar small businesses and copious amounts of requests and dedications. There is also a phone-in quiz, listeners’ competitions and karate results from the festival. The presenter is CBC founder Dave Reddy and voices on the adverts include David Baker and Bryan Lambert, familiar names on the CBC stations and indeed other 1980s pirates.

Community station Radio Ringsend from 1986
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 98.4 FM from 1248-1425 on Saturday 26th July 1986. Radio Ringsend also broadcast that year on 1530 kHz / 196 metres.

Afternoon shows on Kildare Local Broadcasting

Afternoon shows on Kildare Local Broadcasting
KLB letterhead (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

Kildare Local Broadcasting, known on air as KLB Community Radio, broadcast from Newbridge for approximately two years from 1986-1988. It was launched in October 1986 and claimed that it would be a community service for the town of Newbridge and surrounding areas. An Anoraks Ireland listing from November 1986 noted its broadcasting hours as 1000-2400. KLB was based in Eyre Street in Newbridge and broadcast on 1224 kHz AM and 102.4 FM. A listing from April 1988 noted that it had moved to 103.5 FM and had extended broadcasting hours to 0900-2400. In the Anoraks UK Weekly Report of 24th July 1988, it was noted that the AM transmitter had been off air for approximately two months. It was also reported that the station had changed its name slightly to Kildare Community Broadcasting and was the only pirate operating in the county following the closure of Kildare Community Radio in April 1988. 

The Weekly Report of 8th October 1988 carried a report that a new pirate called County Sound came on air on 12th September from Naas, Co. Kildare. It was set up with the aim of applying for a licence and consisted of DJs from former Kildare pirates KLB (Newbridge), KCR (Naas) and Zee 104 (Naas). County Sound was said to have fully equipped on-air and production studios. It broadcast for only four months, closing down at midnight on 30th December 1988 before the deadline for the pirates to leave the airwaves.

Afternoon shows on Kildare Local Broadcasting
Cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

In this recording of KLB from the run-up to Christmas 1986, Tony Lumsden is first up with a mixture of oldies and ballads. He is followed by Paddy Jones with chart hits. The tape was made from 102.4 FM from 1430-1607 on Saturday 6th December 1986 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

Afternoon on Centre Radio (Clonmel)

Afternoon on Centre Radio (Clonmel)
Photo of the exterior to the Centre Radio studio in Clonmel (Anoraks Ireland Collection).

Centre Radio from Clonmel in Co. Tipperary was an offshoot of an existing local station, the Clonmel Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Centre was set up in April 1986 as a more youth-oriented service than the existing CBC, which had been on air since 1981. In 1987, Centre was rebranded as Premier County Radio, which continued until the deadline for the pirates to close at midnight on New Year’s Eve 1988.

This recording features part of an afternoon show presented by an unidentified DJ. Eoin Ryan reads racing results and there is also a news bulletin at five minutes to the hour. Centre’s news service is promoted regularly and the station claims to have the most comprehensive output in the region. Adverts cover Clonmel and surrounding towns.

Afternoon on Centre Radio (Clonmel)
Cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 88 FM between 1527-1612 on Thursday 5th June 1986. Centre Radio also broadcast on 101 FM and on 1251 kHz AM (240 metres).