Drive 105 advertising flyer (courtesy Ian Biggar).
This is another recording of the Derry/Donegal station Drive 105 from 2000. The station had studios in Derry City but broadcast from just across the border in Donegal, beaming its signal back into the North. The recording features Pierse McCallion in a lunchtime slot, playing mostly oldies. There are adverts from Derry and Donegal but no requests from listeners. Pierse is followed by Paul Anthony with the drivetime show.
The recording was made on from 105.3 FM on Sunday 23rd July 2000 between 1315-1505, with a break in the middle. Thanks to Ian Biggar for the donation.
Drive 105 poster from c2000 (courtesy Ian Biggar).
Drive 105 began transmissions to Derry and surrounding area on 105.3 MHz in 1999. Originally the station was located in a property just over the border in Muff, County Donegal, near the Rock Bar. The station broadcast a mainly pop music format and featured some staff who had worked on other pirates like Radio North and Riverside 101. As far as we are aware Drive 105 was never raided but did have to temporarily close in August 2001 when officials from the Department were operating in the area. At some point the station moved its studio to Shipquay Street in Derry, linking from there to the transmitter site just over the border in Donegal.
Ian Biggar recalls: I remember hearing Drive 105 in Portpatrick, Scotland on December 30th 2004 clearly having technical issues with very low audio.
Whether it was due to technical problems or not, Drive 105 left the air in January 2005 seemingly with the intention of applying for a licence. After some time off the air, they received a community licence in 2012 to broadcast to Derry, which they still do to this day. This recording was made from 105.3 FM on 26th April 2000 between 1315-1445. Plenty of entries into a listeners’ quiz and adverts from Derry and Donegal. The DJ is Brian Magoo. Many thanks to Ian for the donation and background text.
Radio Caroline Dublin flyer from 1992 (from Brian’s collection).
Radio Caroline Dublin (1989-2000) was one of the longest running stations of the second wave of the pirates following legalisation. It was set up by Brian Greene (Bobby Gibbson on air) and Tom Berry (RIP) who had previously run Centre Radio from Bayside in 1987-1988. Radio Caroline Dublin began broadcasting on bank holiday Mondays in 1989 and went full-time in January 1992. The station settled on 102.5 FM and increased its signal overtime but ran into difficulties with the authorities when Lite FM (later Q102) was licensed for 102.2 in 2000. Radio Caroline Dublin changed its name to WXTC but closed soon afterwards.
Radio Caroline Dublin was typical of pirate stations of the era. The Broadcasting and Wireless Telegraphy Act 1988 forced pirate from the high street and hotels into garden sheds for the majority of the 1990s. Radio Caroline Dublin never ran adverts and did limited fundraisers. Its core funding was through vigorous adherence to DJ subscriptions. Weekly and monthly subs were collected with two tiers for waged and unwaged. The subs from 25+ volunteers funded the very best of club DJing equipment in studio and a Dublin Mountains TX site. The subs were directly linked to democratic involvement in purchasing decisions. Ownership structure was more akin to 1970s AM pirates but there was a not-for-profit ethos from the start.
Full time hours were 5pm-12am Monday-Friday and 9am-1am at weekends. The station was involved in an unsuccessful licence bid for a community radio licence in 1996, and was a constituent group in the formation of Dublin-wide community of interest station Anna Livia FM, but then never got involved with that station as they were busy building Radio Caroline Dublin.
This interview with Brian Greene was conducted by Pete Reid (Simon Maher) and Gerard Roe in July 1998 in the Radio Caroline Dublin studio. It was featured in Anorak Hour #151 on 2nd August 1998 on Phantom FM and repeated during Anorak Hour #249 on 17th September 2000. This donation is with thanks to Gerard Roe.
