Justin McKenna Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

2nd October 202424th September 2024

Barry Falvey on All-Night Sunshine

Live overnight radio is rare these days, so a historical recording of a DJ made in the early hours is always of interest. This tape features Barry Falvey on All-Night Sunshine from 1984, during a sustained jamming campaign against the station by RTÉ. Along with the usual requests and dedications, there is a look-back at 1970 and a mixture of chart music and oldies. The voice of Sunshine’s owner and director Robbie Dale is heard on some adverts. News on the hours is read by Justin McKenna, who refers to RTÉ’s jamming on AM and FM, going on for 6 weeks at that stage although this broadcast isn’t affected. After the pirates in the 1990s, Barry Falvey went on to work as a journalist in RTÉ under his real name Éamon Falvey.

This recording was made from 531 kHz AM on Friday 4^th May 1984 from 0030-0205 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Sunshine Radio also broadcast on 100.5 and 101.5 FM at this time.

13th September 20245th September 2024

Sunshine Radio protests against RTÉ jamming

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Frustrated by the commercial success of the large Dublin stations Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio and by the failure of politicians to regulate the radio market, RTÉ began jamming the pirates in 1984 by broadcasting on the same frequencies. At the beginning of the year, RTÉ stepped up its jamming campaign against Nova before moving to block the signal of Sunshine Radio at the end of March. The actions caused consternation due to the popularity of the stations and politicians, including the Minister for Communications, expressed their concern in the Dáil. The jamming ended in May, reportedly after intervention from the government.

These airchecked recordings are of Sunshine Radio’s news bulletins about a week into the RTÉ campaign after the station’s FM frequencies were jammed. Managing Director Robbie Robinson is quoted as saying that Sunshine Radio was like a moped being chased by a 10-ton truck. Newsreaders are Cathy Cregan, Stephen Fogarty, Justin McKenna and Gary Miley. The bulletins are from Wednesday 4^th April 1984 at 1200, 1300, 1400, 1600 and 2400 and the tape also includes an excerpt from Robinson’s morning show the following day. The recording was made from 531 kHz AM and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

21st August 202117th August 2021

Alternative listening with the Sunshine Cake

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The Sunshine Cake was a specialist programme broadcast by Sunshine Radio on Sunday mornings from 1985 on its FM frequency only, as an alternative to the station’s regular output on AM. It was a good example of the creativity of some of the pirates in using the existing technology to serve a broader audience, and also a reminder that niche programming was not only done by RTÉ.

In a feature in the Sunshine Review of 1985, presenter Justin McKenna wrote: ‘The idea for the Sunshine Cake was hatched when it became obvious that there was not one single programme on Irish radio which catered for the over 30 listener who enjoyed a wide range of music’. The Sunshine Cake included classical, jazz, blues and comedy slots and gained a regular audience around Dublin. In an interesting commentary on the continued dominance of AM radio in 1985, McCarthy wrote: ‘It’s been gratifying to note that a lot of the younger audience, who I would have expected to move down to the medium wave band, have stayed with FM and listened to the Cake’.

This recording was made from 101 FM from 1025-1122 on Sunday 31^st March 1985. It includes the comedy slot and a diverse musical mix, a cinema review with Paul Vincent and a voice competition.

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