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Signal 106 from south Dublin

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Signal 106 from south Dublin

Signal 106 was a hobby station from the southside of Dublin which broadcast at the end of the pirate era. It was set up at Christmas 1978 by the youthful Kevin Branigan and Mike Ormonde and broadcast from Rathfarnham then and during the following summer holidays, returning for a final run at Christmas 1988. Because its antenna was on a height, Signal got out well despite its low power on 106 FM, as indicated by the good reception across the city in Bayside where these recordings were made.

In the first clip we hear Graham Turner (aka Justin Leonard) and Dave Adams (aka Andrew Mangan). The top of the hour jingle is by Seán Ashmore who did many station idents in the late 1980s. The second and third clips feature Graham Turner. The date is 29th December 1988, the day before Signal closed down. These recordings are from the Pirate.ie collection.

Clip 1
Clips 2 and 3
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Airchecks: CAU FM

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Airchecks: CAU FM

CAU FM was a short-lived station broadcasting on 103.5 FM from Foxrock in south Dublin from the summer of 1987 until the summer of 1988. Although more a hobby than a commercial station, it had a professional sound and slick jingle package and was run by Locky Butler who still works professionally in audio and sound recording. This is an aircheck of a longer recording in our collection from 1988 (unfortunately we have no date) featuring Locky Butler on air.

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Aircheck: Capitol Radio/Nitesky 96

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Aircheck: Capitol Radio/Nitesky 96
Clippings from Alan MacSimoin collection.

Capitol Radio/Nitesky 96 specialised in indie and alternative music and was one of the last stations in Dublin on air on New Year’s Eve 1988, broadcasting live from Side’s nightclub. This recording from our collection is from 30th December 1988 and features Conor Brooks promoting the listeners’ all-time Alternative Top 30 that was to be broadcast the following day, the final day. The suggested bands and songs give a good indication of Capitol’s unique musical style. The Alternative Top 10 based on listeners’ votes was a popular weekly feature on the station.

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Interview with Radio Dublin on its ‘last day’ of broadcasting

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Interview with Radio Dublin on its ‘last day’ of broadcasting
Radio Dublin badge courtesy of Brian Greene.

Centre Radio in Bayside was one of the last stations to close at midnight on New Year’s Eve 1988. Rumours abounded that Radio Dublin was going to defy the new legislation and continue broadcasting so early on the morning of the 31st December, Bobby Gibbson (Brian Greene) decided to call Radio Dublin live on air. In this recording, he speaks to breakfast presenter Robbie Prior who says all presenters have been told that this is their final day. However he adds that station owner Eamon Cooke could well have something up his sleeve. The recording includes poor quality live audio from Radio Dublin’s AM broadcast on 1188 kHz.

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Interview: Brian Matthews (Community Radio Fingal)

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Interview: Brian Matthews (Community Radio Fingal)
CRF car sticker (courtesy of DX Archive).

Community Radio Fingal broadcast from Swords and then Skerries in north Co. Dublin from 1982 to 1988 and was an example of one of the many community-focused pirates in Ireland. It began with a 300 watt transmitter in Skerries and later moved to the nearby village of Loughshinney where it operated a 1kW rig on 1575 kHz and also broadcast on FM. In this fascinating interview from our own collection, station owner Brian Matthews talks about the history of CRF, its studio and transmitter facilities and provides some amusing anecdotes about presenters and listeners. The recording is undated but was made in 1988.