Community radio Archives - Page 6 of 9 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

10th April 20207th August 2021

Full recording: Concord Community Radio

Jack Byrne Concord / John Murphy BLB on Dateline Dublin, 337m / 890KHz, Concord Community Radio, 6pm 27 March 1983 – Conor Cullihy presenting.

A programme promoting the politics of community radio. At 30 minutes there is a recording credited to Bray station BLB. The 10 minute piece makes the case for locally owned community radio and explains the other versions of commercial local and state-run community radio that were being considered in Ireland in the early 1980s.

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

9th April 202016th May 2020

Full recording: Concord Community Radio (Dublin)

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890 kHz / 337 metres, Concord Community Radio (Artane/Coolock), 27/03/1983 from 7pm, Boppin’ Billy on air. Billy went on to be manager at North Dublin Community Radio (NDCR), was on Radio Caroline Dublin for 10 years in the 90s, also worked for Beaumont Hospital Radio and these days he is on Dublin City FM on Fridays from midnight to 2am. Still playing rockabilly!

1st January 202010th November 2020

Interview: Dave Reddy (Radio Sandymount)

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In this interview, Dave Reddy recalls his involvement in ARD (Alternative Radio Dublin) and Radio 257 at the end of the 1970s. Dave would go to to establish what would today be called ‘pop-up’ community stations, starting with Radio Sandymount in 1982.

Radio Sandymount went on air as part of a community festival in that area and Dave Reddy explains that the model was soon to be requested by community groups elsewhere, leading to similar short-term stations in Ringsend, Donnybrook and Wicklow. Dave was also founder of the first Christmas station Radio Snowflake, which is now run by David Baker who himself broadcast on the 1980s pop-up stations and many other pirates.

The interviewer is Eolann Aitken. You can listen to recordings of Radio Donnybrook here.

30th December 201930th December 2019

Panel: Bray Local Broadcasting (BLB)

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Bray Local Broadcasting (BLB) was a pioneer in Irish community radio and spent almost ten years on air from 1979 to 1988. Based in the north Wicklow town, it focused on local speech content and specialist music in contrast with other stations broadcasting pop music. BLB’s innovative approach inspired other stations in Ireland and it also attracted interest in community radio circles abroad. The station broadcast on AM (837 kHz and later 657) and FM and could be heard well beyond Bray in its later years. You can read more about BLB here.

This fascinating panel discussion features three founding members of BLB: Mark Quinn, Michael Gray and Doug Bel-Maguire. The interviewer is Eolann Aitken.

14th September 201922nd May 2020

Documentary: history of Community Radio Youghal

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In the summer of 2019, Community Radio Youghal celebrated 40 years since it began broadcasting as a pirate from the east Cork town. CRY was licensed as a community radio station in 1995 but its history stretches back to 1979 when it began broadcasting as a pirate.

Documentary: history of Community Radio Youghal — The farmhouse near Youghal from where CRY broadcast in its early pirate days (courtesy Ian Biggar/DX Archive).

See the DX Archive site for more photos and history of CRY’s pirate days. You can listen to the current CRY here.

A special documentary, ‘Born in the USA’, aired by CRY on July 4th 2019 to mark its 40th birthday, was funded by Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. We thank CRY Manager Darragh Parker and Programme Director Justin Maher for granting us permission to share this.