Mickey Henry Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

Border series: brief return of Radio North in 1992 — Radio North poster from 1991 (courtesy DX Archive).

Radio North closed down towards the end of 1991 and its AM frequency on 846 kHz was taken over by North Atlantic Radio, a rival Donegal station that had itself broken away from Radio North in 1989. This was logged on 16^th February 1992 by DX Archive. Radio North made a short-lived return later that year, appearing on 1008 kHz after that frequency was vacated by another Donegal pirate Riverside 101. It appears that Radio North returned for one day only and this recording features station stalwart the inimitable Mickey Henry, who says that the station is in new ownership although the old jingles are still used.

This recording of the brief return was made in Scotland from 1008 kHz AM on 8^th September 1992 between 1803-1935 and was made by Ken Baird. Thanks to Ian Biggar for the donation. Audio quality is fair to poor and contains fading and co-channel interference as would be expected at nightfall and at a distance. There are also technical issues and variable audio levels and it seems that Radio North was not ready to return to the air on a full-time basis.

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Border series: Radio North closes down at end of 1988, — Early Radio North poster (courtesy DX Archive).

Along with the vast majority of the other pirates, the Donegal station Radio North closed down at the end of 1988 in compliance with new broadcasting legislation. This recording of the final hour of Radio North on New Year’s Eve is presented by Mickey Henry who shares many requests from loyal listeners on both sides of the border, including one who has recorded most of the shows for posterity. Other presenters join Mickey in studio and there is a supportive phone call from neighbouring pirate Donegal Community Radio (DCR).

The closedown speech just before midnight is read by station manager Francis Callaghan, who thanks everyone involved over the previous two years. Although the transmitter is about to be switched off, he hints that more is to come when he says that Radio North will be bigger and better than ever in 1989.

The recording was made by Rodney Neill from 98 FM between 2302-0000 on December 31^st 1988 and is courtesy of DX Archive. Within days, Radio North would return to the airwaves.