AM Archives - Page 24 of 57 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

20th May 20222nd May 2024

Westside Radio following 1983 raids

Following the raids on Sunshine Radio and Radio Nova, the pirate airwaves of Dublin fell largely silent. Only three stations remained on air: Radio Dublin from Inchicore, ABC Radio from the city centre and Westside Radio from Mulhuddart in the west of the city. This recording is of Westside Radio from the morning of 20^th May 1983, the day after Radio Nova’s official closedown. DJ John Martin says that no pirates remain on FM in the city, with just three on AM, including Westside. Listeners are invited to complete a petition in favour of the pirates and send it to Westside or Radio Nova itself in advance of a court hearing the following week.

The recording was made from 1035 kHz, announcing 290 metres. Westside went on the air in early 1983 and later merged with ABC Radio to become Radio Annabel, which began testing in September 1983.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin in the 1980s.

19th May 20222nd May 2024

Radio Sandymount during 1983 raids

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The 1983 raids on Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio rocked the Irish pirate scene, with many stations closing temporarily as a precaution. This recording is of temporary station Radio Sandymount on the morning of Thursday 19^th May, not long after Sunshine Radio in Portmarnock was raided. Radio Nova had been put off the air the previous day but returned on the morning of the 19^th on lower power. Charlie Sheehan is the presenter on Radio Sandymount, which was in the middle of its run to coincide with the Sandymount and Merrion Community Festival. There’s no mention of the raids but panic was spreading through the pirate world at the time.

The recording was made from 1512 kHz, announcing 199 metres. Radio Sandymount also broadcast on 99.9 FM. The station was part of the Community Broadcasting Co-operative that ran several temporary community stations in Dublin and surrounding counties between 1982 and 1988. This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave was a shortwave pirate broadcasting from northeast Dublin in the 1980s.

19th May 202231st May 2024

Northeast series: Royal County Radio during 1983 raids

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This recording of Co. Meath station Royal County Radio was made during the infamous raids by the Department of Posts and Telegraph on the super-pirates in May 1983. It was recorded on the morning of Thursday 19th May, a few hours after Sunshine Radio in Portmarnock was raided, and a day after Radio Nova was shut down.

Royal County Radio broadcast from Navan from October 1982 until the middle of 1984. In this recording, Al O’Rourke refers to a quiz coming up the following Monday but adds ‘fingers crossed’, a reflection of the nervousness among pirates at the time. Many stations closed down temporarily as a precaution in the days after the raids.

This extract begins at 1117 and is partially airchecked. It was recorded from 846 kHz, announcing 355 metres. Audio quality is fair to poor as the signal is groundwave reception recorded outside the Navan area. This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a shortwave station broadcasting from northeast Dublin in the 1980s.

19th May 20222nd May 2024

Community Radio Fingal during 1983 raids

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This recording of Community Radio Fingal (CRF) was made during the May 1983 raids on Irish pirate radio stations. CRF broadcast from various locations around north Dublin from March 1983 until the end of 1988, focusing on a local listenership but getting its signal out well due to its 1kW AM transmitter. CRF was based in the Castle Shopping Centre in Swords at the time, and many of the adverts feature businesses located there.

Our recording was made from 1575 kHz (announcing 189 metres) from 1040 on Thursday May 19^th, just over an hour after the raid on Sunshine Radio less than 10km away in Portmarnock. As fears grew that more stations would be raided, DJ Jimmy Clarke makes an oblique reference to transmitters and laughs nervously.

This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a shortwave station from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin in the 1980s.

17th May 20222nd May 2024

RTÉ coverage of 1983 pirate raids

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There was extensive coverage on RTÉ of the raids on Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio on 18^th and 19^th May 1983. This was unsurprising given that RTÉ’s income and standing was threatened by the popularity of the pirates. British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler recorded RTÉ coverage of the raids from Radio 1, listening on its medium wave transmitter on 567 kHz which got reasonably well into the English midlands.

This recording consists of several RTÉ news bulletins during that fateful week in 1983: the 6.30pm news and 10.00pm headlines on Wednesday 18^th May; the newspaper review at 8.10am on 19^th May followed by news from 1.00pm, 1.30pm and 6.30pm that day; the newspaper review at 9.05am on Saturday 21^st May and the 1.00pm news programme on Sunday 22^nd May. The final extract includes an interview with the Minister of State for Posts and Telegraphs, Ted Nealon, promising new radio legislation by the autumn of 1983. Optimistically, he predicted that local radio in the 1980s would be similar to rural electrification 40 years earlier. In fact, it would be another 5 and a half years before the pirates would be closed down and licensed radio introduced.

This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.