Paul Kavanagh Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

Sunday on Radio Leinster up to closedown — Radio Leinster letterhead (courtesy DX Archive).

Radio Leinster was a specialist and talk station broadcasting to Dublin from 1981-1983. The diversity of its programming made it stand out from the dominance of chart music on many pirate stations. This short airchecked recording was made on a Sunday in summer 1982, at which point Radio Leinster had found its feet and was gaining advertisers and listeners. First up is a hoarse Justin James, who was also managing director, with an Elvis Presley show. This is followed by a snippet from the Sunday Scene programme with Paul Kavanagh later that evening. Paul would later to go on to present on Sunshine Radio, where he would become programme director. The recording ends with the closedown of the station for the night, in Irish and English, to the rousing strains of Mise Éire by Seán Ó Riada.

The tape was made from 93.2 FM on 27^th June 1982 by Kieran Murray, and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.

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Drivetime on Sunshine Radio — Sunshine Radio badge (photo by Brian Greene).

This recording of Sunshine Radio from the autumn of 1983 features the final part of the drivetime show Sunshine in the Afternoon with Paul Kavanagh. It begins with a music sweep followed by a super-set from the Hollies. Solar Energy with David Dennehy is to follow after the news at 8pm. Despite Sunshine’s commercial success, it is interesting to note that there is no commercial break in the half-hour recording.

The tape was made on 24^th August 1983 between 1917 and 1947 from either 100.5 or 101.5 FM (only the announced frequency of 101 FM is mentioned on the label). It is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.