Radio North car sticker from c. 1990 (courtesy DX Archive).
This recording of Donegal station Radio North is of a Saturday evening show from the autumn of 1990. DJ Neil Sweeney has plenty of inane chatter and plays pop/chart music and oldies for the first half-hour, followed by a tribute to American country singer Marty Robbins. The feature includes recordings of WIL FM in Nashville. There are plenty of adverts from Donegal, Derry and Antrim and an advertising promo claims that Radio North has coverage of 5 counties. Syndicated news headlines from ITN in London are broadcast at 1730 and 1800 and a PO box number in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, is given out as the station address.
There was cut-throat competition between the Donegal pirates at this time, and Radio North was no doubt feeling the pressure from loss of advertising revenue to rival station North Atlantic Radio, set up by former Radio North DJs in November 1989. This recording was made from 98.8 FM on 22nd September 1990 between 1729-1850 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.
North Atlantic Radio 1st birthday poster in 1990 (courtesy DX Archive)
There were many splits in the Radio North camp during its long existence since 1986. One such offshoot station was North Atlantic Radio that began broadcasting around the beginning of November 1989 from Carndonagh, also on the Inishowen peninsula where Radio North was based. It was run by Tommy Cunningham and specialised in classic gold and country hits. A report in the Donegal Democrat on 2nd March 1990 listed North Atlantic as one of five pirate stations operating in Inishowen alone, taking advantage of the proximity to the border and listeners in Derry and beyond. In a letter to Ian Biggar on 6th March 1990, Francis Callaghan of Radio North said that North Atlantic was set up by former DJs who took over the station’s previous premises and telephone number. On 18th January 1991, the Donegal Democrat reported that North Atlantic Radio was proposing the establishment of a community broadcast co-operative to seek a licence for the Inishowen peninsula, claiming that the new licensed station Highland Radio had fallen short of providing public information and entertainment. Tommy Cunningham was quoted as saying that North Atlantic Radio would act as sponsors for such a co-op and called for the support of listeners, advertisers, community organisations and individuals.
The plethora of pirate stations in one small area of Donegal was clearly untenable, and Radio North closed down sometime near the end of 1991. On 16th February 1992, North Atlantic Radio was logged by Ken Baird of DX Archive on the old Radio North frequency of 846 kHz. Although there were brief appearances by Radio North in 1992 and 1993, on 13th January 1994, the Donegal Democrat reported that North Atlantic Radio was the only pirate left on air in the county. A short time later on 31st January 1994, North Atlantic reverted to the original Radio North name.
This recording of North Atlantic Radio features Mickey Bradley and DJ Heather with lunchtime shows. There are plenty of requests from both sides of the border and adverts from Donegal, Derry and Antrim, some voiced by Paul and Krissi from other pirate station WABC. The tape was made from 1125 kHz between 1217-1353 on 1st August 1990 and is courtesy of Ian Biggar.
Radio North poster from 1991 (courtesy DX Archive).
Donegal station Radio North continued to broadcast into 1990 along with other pirates that risked the stiffer penalties associated with the new broadcasting legislation introduced a year previously. Although stations crept back onto the airwaves in various parts of the country, the border region was a hotspot for pirate activity due to the availability of plentiful advertising revenue from the North.
This recording of Radio North features a Monday breakfast show with Rockin’ Raymond from early 1990. The tape begans at the start of the day’s broadcasting with the station jingle and a popular country song about Radio North itself. Raymond plays a mixture of chart hits, oldies and country. Surprisingly there are no adverts in the first hour despite it being a peak listening period but a long commercial break is heard at 0900 featuring businesses across the border in Derry and Antrim.
The recording was made from 98.7 FM from 0800-0933 on Monday 29th January 1990 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Radio North also broadcast on 97.7 FM and 846 kHz AM.
This recording of Donegal pirate WABC was made following the resumption of the twin services Gold and Hot Hits in autumn 1990. Declan Gill presents the mid-morning show on WABC Hot Hits with plenty of good tunes and requests from listeners, mostly in Co. Derry. There are adverts for businesses in Derry and Antrim, including an event in Belfast, and promos for local entertainment venues. The Beg, Steal or Borrow feature is a free small ads service and news on the hour is read by Krissi Carpenter.
The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 101.7 FM on 18th October 1990 between 1112-1244.
WABC studio shot in May 1990 (courtesy Ian Biggar).
Returning to 1990 and the story of Donegal pirate WABC, today’s recording is from the autumn of that year following the resumption of the twin services WABC Gold and WABC Hot Hits. Tina James is in the afternoon slot on the Hot Hits station with plenty of chart music interspersed by idents claiming to play 10,000 hits in a row. News on the hour is read by Declan Gill and adverts are heard for businesses in Derry and Antrim, including one from as far away as Belfast.
The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made between 1500-1705 on 17th October 1990 from 101.7 FM.
