Maurice Nevin Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

18th October 202318th October 2023

Late-night love songs on Heartbeat FM

Heartbeat FM was a popular 1980s Dublin station specialising in love songs. It was launched in November 1986 and was rebranded as Cara FM the following year, before reverting to Heartbeat because its audience preferred the original name. The station closed down at the end of 1988 to comply with new broadcasting legislation. The love song format proved highly popular and was used by some pirates that continued into the 1990s including Radio Dublin.

This recording was made towards the end of the station’s run and features Ian Turner’s evening show with plenty of requests from loyal listeners and a remind that Heartbeat is the most listened to specialist station in Dublin according to the latest radio survey. Ian is followed by Maurice Nevin (RIP) with his Radio Late show until the early hours. The tape was made between 2135 and 2305 on 11^th November 1988 from 95.5 FM and is courtesy of John Breslin.

26th April 20207th August 2021

Full recording: Metro Radio (Dublin)

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Metro Radio was a short-lived station based in Dublin in 1983. There’s very little information available about it, but Anoraks UK reported that Metro began broadcasting on the 31st of May 1983 from Clontarf on the northside of Dublin and was seeking advertisers within a few weeks. It was on 1557 kHz (announced as 192 metres), the same frequency as another irregular pirate from this period, Diamond Radio. According to Anoraks UK there was no trace of Metro Radio by the end of 1983 and Diamond returned to 1557 in 1984. It is not known if the two stations were linked.

The recording begins at 6.50pm on the 19th of October 1983. The format is a mixture of pop and soul and the presenter from 7pm is Barry Nevin, aka Maurice Nevin (RIP) who worked in many other stations during the 1980s. This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Skywave Radio International broadcast a shortwave station in the 1980s from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

31st December 201814th February 2023

Heartbeat FM, the love station

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Heartbeat FM was a popular love song station in Dublin broadcasting from 1986 until the end of 1988 on 95.5 FM. The station changed its name to Cara 95 for a few months in 1987 but reverted to Heartbeat. It was an example of one of the niche stations of the era and featured a format that would be copied in later years by Radio Dublin. Heartbeat returned as a pirate in the 1990s and was awarded a temporary licence in the 1990s.

These recordings of Heartbeat from the Pirate.ie collection from 30^th August 1988 include links by John Keogh and Maurice Nevin (RIP), adverts, jingles and news.

Ads into 6pm news from 30.08.88. The newsreader is Maurice Nevin.

Ads and a jingle from 1988.

Aircheck and ads from 1988. The presenter is Maurice Nevin.

Heartbeat jingle from 1987.