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Afternoon Groove on South Dublin Community Radio

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Afternoon Groove on South Dublin Community Radio

All parts of Dublin had their own local stations during the pirate era, some limited to a small radius, with others aiming for coverage of larger areas of the city. One such station was South Dublin Radio that broadcast from 1983-1984 from the Dún Laoghaire area of the southside. Its origins were in South County Radio based in Cabinteely, also on the southside, first listed on 963 kHz AM in a DX Archive log in April 1982.

South Dublin Radio was first logged by DX Archive on 102 FM in July 1983. Our recording from that summer locates the station in Monkstown near Dún Laoghaire but Anoraks UK lists from October 1983 to February 1984 give Bray in north Co. Wicklow as the address and 102.1 as the frequency. This was in fact incorrect, as the station operator John Daly has confirmed that the only correct address was Pottery Road in Deansgrange near Dún Laoghaire. By May 1984, the station was noted on 927 kHz AM as well as 102.2 FM. The station had a low-powered AM rig on air for a time, with an output of about 80 watts. Listings from August 1984 to the end of the year give a frequency of 90.6 FM only, the change necessary due to the return of KISS FM on 102.7 in September. A short recording of South Dublin Radio was made in Scotland on 1242 kHz on 21st August but there are no other known logs of that frequency.

Recording from 1242 kHz courtesy of Ken Baird

The Weekly Report of 25th November 1984 reported that South Dublin Radio was returning to normal after experiencing problems but it seems to have petered out around this time. John Daly told Pirate.ie that the station closed due to RTÉ Radio 2 taking up the same frequency. There was some variation in the name of the station and both South Dublin Radio and South Dublin Community Radio were noted, sometimes in the same recording. Some of the same DJs went on to the popular 1990s pirate DLR 106 (Dún Laoghaire Local Radio), that broadcast from the same area between 1991-2001. 

Afternoon Groove on South Dublin Community Radio
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

This recording of South Dublin Radio begins with Tony Lewis on the Afternoon Groove show, who plays continuous slow music for the first half-hour. He is followed by Paul Davis with Drivetime and community news with Bernie Lyons is heard on the half-hour. There is a sense of a hobby station about the broadcast: technical issues, no adverts and young and inexperienced DJs with implausible names cracking in-jokes. Reference is made to both South Dublin Radio and South Dublin Community Radio during the broadcast. The tape was made on Thursday 4th August 1983 from 102.7 FM between 1533-1713 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Thanks to Ken Baird for the recording made in Scotland and to Ian Biggar and John Daly for additional information.

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Summer evening requests on Radio Vera

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Summer evening requests on Radio Vera
Radio Vera flyer from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

Radio Vera (1987-1988) was one of many stations broadcasting from Limerick during the pirate era. Its roots were in another Limerick pirate, Radio Munster, and both pirates shared a premises in the city centre. On air for a little over a year, Radio Vera aimed at younger listeners whereas Radio Munster concentrated on an older demographic. It claimed to be reaching a large area of the southwest of Ireland on FM.

This recording of Radio Vera was made in the summer of 1988 and features an evening show of chart music and requests presented by Peter Gregory, who worked previously on West Country Radio in Abbeyfeale, west Co. Limerick. There are news headlines, a rock trivia slot and adverts for local business along with an advertising promo featuring the voice of station founder Will Rogers (aka Bernard Rooney).

Summer evening requests on Radio Vera
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

The tape was made from 97.7 FM from 1853-1940 on Tuesday 21st June 1988 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

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Border series: Evening requests and hits on Riverside 101

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Border series: Evening requests and hits on Riverside 101
Riverside 101 advertising card (courtesy Ian Biggar).

Riverside 101 was one of the second wave of pirates that defied the new legislation in 1988 that was supposed to silence unlicensed radio in Ireland. It was set up by Frankie McLoughlin and managed by Steve Marshall, both of whom had worked at Radio Nova (1986-88) in Fahan on the Inishowen peninsula in Donegal. Previously, Steve had co-founded Galway pirates WLS and Coast 103.

Broadcasting from just over the border in Bridgend, Co. Donegal, Riverside initially focused on Derry City before expanding to cover a larger area of the northwest. It was first noted on 101 FM by Rodney Neil in May 1989 but was broadcasting overnight only from 11pm to 7am at the time. In a letter to Ian Biggar, he said that the station was running quite a few adverts. It was thought that the signal strength was around 100 watts initially. The final edition of Anoraks UK Weekly Report on 9th September 1989 noted that Riverside could be received in Derry City but not much further afield. Around this time the station began a 24-hour schedule.   

In an entry on DX Archive, Steve Marshall said that he formatted Riverside and ran a £500 giveaway in the early days to attract listeners. He recalled that the station received a visit from the Department of Communications in Dublin but that they could not carry out a raid because the transmitter was on a raft in a river straddling the border and the studios were located in Derry.

Riverside 101 took over the transmitter of the other pirate WABC on 101.7 in Shroove, Co. Donegal after it closed down on 1st April 1991. That gave the station coverage in the likes of Coleraine as far as the Causeway Coast, whereas before that Riverside aimed at Derry. An advertising leaflet published after the expansion of coverage claimed 500,000 potential customers in the northwest. The station had 22 staff at that time and claimed a 42% market share in Derry, Donegal and Tyrone.

Riverside 101 closed just after 1am on 21st October 1993 after receiving a licence to broadcast to the northwest region. The transmitter on the border on 100.1 was switched off but the station returned the following morning at 6am from the same studio as Q102 and later became part of Northern Ireland’s Q Radio network. Interestingly the former WABC transmitter on 101.7 remained on air relaying Q102 but was eventually moved to 102.9.

Border series: Evening requests and hits on Riverside 101
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

This recording of Riverside 101 is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 100.1 FM from 2130-2306 on Thursday 28th December 1989. The DJ is Mike Henry and there are plenty of requests from listeners on both sides of the border and adverts from the northern side, reflecting the new legislation in the Republic that penalised businesses advertising on pirate radio. There is some distortion in the audio either due to the recording itself or an issue with transmission. Thanks to Ian Biggar for assistance with research.

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Colm Hayes on Radio Nova breakfast

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Colm Hayes on Radio Nova breakfast
Colm Hayes during the raid on Nova in 1983 (courtesy Joe King).

By the summer of 1984, Dublin super-pirate Radio Nova was benefiting from the end of the RTÉ jamming campaign that had plagued it during the first few months of the year. Pumping out 50 kW on 738 kHz AM and a strong signal on 102.7 MHz FM, Nova was reaching the northwest of England and had opened an advertising office in London. However, a bitter strike with the National Union of Journalists dragged on over the summer and damaged the station’s reputation with advertisers in Ireland. The protracted dispute would eventually contribute to Nova’s closure in March 1986.

This recording features Colm Hayes on the breakfast show the day after Bob Dylan’s concert at Slane Castle in Co. Meath. Reflecting the wide coverage area, weather forecasts are read out for ‘the Bay Area’ and for Wales, northwest England and Scotland. There is also some UK advertising, a postal address in London and audio bumpers for areas around Liverpool. Other features are the Nova Radio Bingo, the daily Job Spot and a sweep of oldies. News headlines are read by the late Bob Gallico.

The tape was made from 102.7 FM on Monday 9th July 1984 from 0903-0952 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

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Island Radio following its launch in December 1981

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Island Radio following its launch in December 1981

Island Radio was a short-lived station broadcasting from the south Dublin suburb of Dalkey in late 1981 and early 1982. In an interview with Pirate.ie, one of the founders Michael McMahon said that Island Radio had a professional set-up and was the first pirate to launch as an FM-only station at a time when AM was dominant in Ireland. In fact, Radio Nova had started on FM only the previous June before adding AM in September, but the decision of Island Radio to concentrate on FM was novel at the time. The station’s music policy was album tracks only and DJs had to source quality music for their shows. Based in the Cliff Castle Hotel, Island Radio closed down after a few months due to an injunction supposedly taken out by local people opposed to the pirate in their midst.

This recording is from the run-up to Christmas 1981, just after Island Radio went on the air on December 12th. First up is Tommy Greene (now with licensed Wicklow station East Coast FM) with a mixture of pop and oldies, including some Christmas tunes. He is followed by Keith York (RIP), a former offshore DJ who would later move to the successful Cork station South Coast Radio. Professional jingles are heard but virtually no adverts as the station had launched only the previous day.

Island Radio following its launch in December 1981
Original cassette inlay from Anoraks Ireland Collection

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 98.2 FM on Sunday 13th December 1981 from 1530-1705. 229 metres (1314 kHz) is also referenced and was in fact the only frequency logged by DX Archive in its listing from that month. Despite our best efforts, audio quality is fair to poor due to cassette wobble, variable levels and some breaks in audio.