Anoraks Ireland Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

17th June 20243rd June 2024

Charity fundraising weekend on KISS FM

Over the St. Patrick’s weekend 1986, Dublin station KISS FM (1985-1986) organised a charity fundraiser for the Irish Society for Autistic Children. Listeners were invited to pledge £1 or more and station DJs collected money on the streets of Dublin near the KISS FM studios in Foley Street in the north inner city. The highlight of the weekend was a disco dancing marathon at the nearby North Star Hotel.

This airchecked recording includes live links with station manager David Baker from the city centre, using what seems to be first generation of mobile telephony in Ireland. David refers to the imminent arrival of an outside broadcasting unit from Radio West in Mullingar but for the moment, listeners have to tolerate telephonic audio quality. There are links with the disco event in the nearby North Star Hotel, presumably using an FM or VHF link, and plenty of interactions with listeners. Other voices heard are Colm Mooney, Gareth Scully, Bryan Lambert, Clem Francis, Suzanne Duffy, Keith Shanley and Rachel Walsh (aka Fionnuala Sweeney, who went on to bigger pirates and eventually RTÉ and CNN). The recording also includes occasional snippets from Radio Nova, which would close down a few days later.

The tape was made on Sunday 16^th March 1986, presumably from KISS FM’s main transmitter on 104.1 FM although no frequency is logged. It is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

14th June 20243rd June 2024

The sound of Dublin pirate radio in June 1986

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The Dublin pirate scene was alive and well in the summer of 1986. Radio Nova had closed suddenly in March, to be replaced by Energy 103. Other super-pirates Sunshine Radio and Q102 took advantage of the change to consolidate their positions in the crowded market. Smaller stations continued to chug along serving their own niche audiences or communities while pirates from nearby counties could be heard easily in the capital, particularly on AM.

This airchecked recording captures some of the variety to be heard in Dublin that summer and includes excerpts from KISS FM (Dublin 1), Capitol Radio, Radio Dublin, Q102, Sunshine 101, Energy 103, Bray Local Broadcasting (BLB), Community Radio Fingal (CRF) and Boyneside Radio. It was made on 19^th June 1986 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

8th March 20243rd March 2024

Anoraks Ireland featured on Radio Caroline Cork

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Many of our recordings are from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson (Tony Donlon, RIP). Tony travelled Ireland throughout the 1980s visiting pirate stations big and small, making recordings and taking photographs. In this recording, he is interviewed on Radio Caroline Cork during a visit just before Christmas 1984.

In the interview, Tony tells station boss Dave Hammond that the aim of Anoraks Ireland is to promote free and independent radio in Ireland. He opposes plans to allow RTÉ control local radio and speculates that if passed, the radio bill will establish just two stations in Dublin and one each in the other cities including Cork. The proposed broadcasting legislation of the time ultimately failed due to ideological differences between the coalition partners and it was not until 1988 that laws were adopted to licence independent radio.

This recording was made from around 1245 on Thursday 13^th December 1984 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. No frequency is given.

29th December 20203rd March 2024

Interview with Paul Davidson of Anoraks Ireland on Centre Radio

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On its final day of broadcasting on 31^st December 1988, there was a serious anorak feel to Centre Radio in Bayside as it looked back at the pirate radio scene and caught up with those who had been involved with it. During his final show, Richard Taylor (John Walsh) interviewed Paul Davidson of Anoraks Ireland who had recorded and documented so much of Irish pirate radio in the 1980s. In the recording above which was made after 8pm, John asked Paul who was still on air in Dublin and got his views about the forthcoming legalisation of local radio.

Earlier at 3pm on December 31^st, Brian Greene interviewed Derek Jones and got his thoughts on the final day of pirate radio. Derek was one of those behind the shortwave station Radio Valleri based in Baldoyle, Dublin 13 and in 1986, he got involved with Big Beat Radio also in Baldoyle. Big Beat was a summer youth station which preceded Centre Radio and many of the same young DJs were involved.

Derek continues to broadcast today and in this extended interview with Brian Greene, he looks back at many happy decades behind the microphone.