David Baker discusses the pirate scene on Radio Annabel

David Baker discusses the pirate scene on Radio Annabel

Several temporary community stations came on air in the 1980s to celebrate local festivals in Dublin. Radio Sandymount, Radio Ringsend and Radio Donnybrook were all set up by Dave Reddy and broadcast on 981, 1116 or 1134 kHz. They were all affiliated with the Community Broadcasting Co-operative.

David Baker, who worked in a variety of Dublin stations in the 1980s, was also involved with the CBC network. In this recording from June or July 1984, David chats with Gerard Roe of Radio Annabel about the Dublin radio scene in 1984. Audio quality is poor as the recording is of a weak AM signal received in north Dublin on 981 kHz but recordings of these community stations are rare.

You can hear separate recordings of Radio Annabel here. There’s an interview with Dave Reddy of Radio Sandymount here and with David Baker here.

Interview with Paul Downes of Radio City (Dublin)

On October 20th 2018 over 100 radio anoraks gathered in the Ballsbridge Hotel Dublin. The purpose was to meet and record oral history of the pirate radio era. In this interview, Walter Hegarty talks to Paul Downes about his time as DJ at Radio City on Capel Street. Radio City went on the air in late 1979 and broadcast on 1145, 1161 and 1165 kHz.

Interview with Tom O’Brien of Radio City (Dublin)

On October 20th 2018 over 100 radio anoraks gathered in the Ballsbridge Hotel Dublin. The purpose was to meet and record oral history of the pirate radio era. In this interview, Tom O’Brien talks about his time on AM Dublin pirate Radio City. Radio City went on the air in late 1979 and broadcast on 1145, 1161 and 1165 kHz.

Advert: The Red Corner Shop

Sometimes the ads ran for so long they became famous. The Red Corner Shop on Dorset Street advertised heavily on the Dublin pirates. This recording is from Radio Dublin in 1987.

Advert: The Red Corner Shop