Coast FM Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

The Pirate.ie Podcast #10: Interview with Gerard Roe — Gerard Roe at Phantom FM in its licensed days.

We’re delighted to bring you an interview with Gerard Roe, one of the most respected voices in Irish pirate radio circles from the 1980s to the 2000s. Gerard presented weekly Free Radio Campaign (FRC) shows on various pirate stations in Dublin, bringing the latest free radio news and industry gossip to fans of the medium in Ireland and further afield. Gerard’s first FRC aired on Radio Dublin Channel 2 in 1982, a specialist offshoot of the original Radio Dublin. A recording was carried on shortwave station Westside Radio International on Sunday mornings, bringing the FRC to a wider European audience.

Poor technical standards and unreliable coverage prompted Gerard to move to new station Radio Annabel when it was established in autumn 1983, where he remained until its closure in 1985.

FRC-style programmes on 1990s pirates run by Simon Maher also benefited from Gerard’s input and expertise. He contributed to the Anorak Hour on Coast FM (1991-1996), Spectrum FM (1996-1997) and Phantom FM (1997-2003). Gerard became CEO of Phantom when it was licensed as a full-time alternative rock station in 2006.

In this interview with Brian Greene, Gerard reflects on his long career in radio from the pirate years of the 1980s and 1990s to the licensing and eventual demise of Phantom FM.

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The Pirate.ie Podcast #5 — Simon Maher at Phantom FM in Wexford Street during a temporary licence period in spring 2004.

In episode #5 of the Pirate.ie podcast, it’s a great pleasure to bring you an interview with Simon Maher, a leading light in the 1990s pirate scene and in subsequent licensed stations. Despite new broadcasting laws that were supposed to silence the pirates, Simon and many others cut their teeth in the lively and diverse world of free radio in Dublin throughout the decade.

In this interview with Brian Greene and John Walsh, Simon looks back over twenty years of radio ranging from garden sheds to multi-million euro professional operations and back to alternative online radio. He describes the humble origins of Coast FM (1991-1996) in bedrooms and garden sheds and the growth of his indie/alternative pirates Spectrum FM (1996-1997) and Phantom FM (1997-2003). After applying three times, Phantom eventually got a full-time alternative rock licence and broadcast to Dublin from 2006-2014 until financial problems forced a corporate takeover and rebranding. Simon discusses the success and failure of the licensed Phantom and tells us why he thinks specialist radio needs to return to its roots. He currently runs 8Radio.com, an alternative online station that has been on multi-city FM under temporary licences.

This interview gives a fascinating insight into the similarities and differences between the 1980s and 1990s pirates and is also a lesson in how radio needs to reinvent itself to survive.