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).
Cutting from the Donegal Democrat in early 1989 featuring the county’s pirates.
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 31st 1988 and is courtesy of DX Archive. Within days, Radio North would return to the airwaves.
Radio North sticker after the move to 846 (courtesy DX Archive).
This is another early recording of the long-running Donegal pirate Radio North shortly after its launch in the winter of 1986. On air is ex-Voice of Peace DJ Mark Warner with a morning musical mix of folk, oldies, country and some pop. The first adverts for local businesses are aired in the busy pre-Christmas period. An advertising promo for the station mentions businesses in Northern Ireland, where Radio North always had a following. News is read by former Radio Caroline DJ Ian Akers.
The recording was made on 9th December 1986 from 98 FM between 0918-1020. Radio North also broadcast on 1404 kHz AM at this time, before moving to the clearer frequency of 846 kHz in 1987. Thanks to Ian Biggar for the donation.
We’re delighted to launch a new strand in our border series, this time focusing on one of Ireland’s longest-running pirate stations, Radio North from Co. Donegal. Broadcasting under various names more or less continuously since 1986, Radio North continues to operate today on 846 kHz AM and online. The station was launched on 18th November 1986 from Carndonagh on the Inishowen peninsula, a short distance from the border with Co. Derry and throughout its almost 40-year existence, has aimed at listeners in Northern Ireland.
The arrival of Radio North was reported by Anoraks UK in its Weekly Report of 23rd November, which referred to the ‘radio explosion’ in Donegal such was the number of pirates based there. Anoraks UK said the station was easily audible on 1386 kHz in Blackpool during early morning skywave conditions but was swamped by foreign stations after dark. Within 3 days, the frequency had changed to 1404 kHz which improved daytime listening but was still prone to night-time interference. Among the better-known names in the line-up were Australian Mark Warner, who had done a stint on the Voice of Peace, and English DJ Ian Akers, formerly of Radio Caroline. There was an hourly news service from 0800 to 1800 and 3 FM frequencies were also noted (the main one on 98.1 with link frequencies on 100.1 and 103).
The Weekly Report of 30th November noted that although 1404 kHz was an improvement, night-time interference was still audible even within the service area. Reflecting the crowded AM band of the 1980s, it added: ‘Clearish night-time channels are just about nonexistent, and at this time of year, interference can be terrible at times, even a few miles from the transmitter’. In 1987, Radio North moved to the vastly superior frequency of 846 kHz, where it remains to this day. In a letter to Ian Biggar in January 1987, Mark Warner wrote that he had joined Radio North because the owner wanted someone with experience to run the station. However, Mark did not have confidence in the owner and moved to a rival Donegal station, Northwest Community Radio, before the end of 1986, following a botched attempt to takeover Radio North.
Our first recording was made just a few days after the launch of Radio North and features Ian Akers presenting a drivetime show with a mixture of country and pop music. The postal address of Bridge Street, Carndonagh is read out and there are several requests from listeners. News is read by Mark Warner but there are no adverts. The recording was made 23rd November 1986 between 1600-1649 from 98 FM and is courtesy of Ian Biggar. Audio quality is mostly good but there are crackles in places as if from electrical interference.
Paul pictured near the WABC studios in 1991 (courtesy DX Archive).
It is with great sadness that we learned today of the death of Paul Barnett, aka Paul Burbank or Paul Bentley following a battle with cancer. Paul was the operator of long-running AM pirate Radio North from Donegal and previously ran another station from that county, WABC. We thank Ian Biggar for writing this tribute for Pirate.ie.
I first got in contact with Paul in late 1987 when I heard his station, WABC on 107 FM back home in the west of Scotland. I received a friendly letter from Paul giving full details of his radio station that was broadcasting from north Donegal. Paul was from Mansfield in the English midlands and had moved with his Irish-born wife and family to set up a business in Coleraine. With Paul’s background in pirate radio it was a given that he would start a station and thus WABC was born, aiming its signal towards Coleraine and the Causeway coast.
WABC built up a strong audience over the next year, but like others had to close with the introduction of the broadcasting bill in Ireland on 31st December 1988. However, with the continuation of Radio North, Paul took the initiative and put WABC back on the air in mid June 1989. The station was now located in the family home in Greencastle.
We visited the station in May 1990 when Paul was running two formats, namely WABC Gold on 101.2 MHz and WABC Hot Hots on 101.5 MHz. It was always great to meet Paul as his enthusiam for radio was always infectious. I often was able to listen to both stations back at home on the west coast of Scotland.
In March 1991 I received a note from Paul saying that due to family commitments he and his family were returning to Mansfield. Paul then got involved with commercial radio with Gem AM in Nottingham and was a regular presenter. However, by the late 90s Paul was back in Donegal and running Radio North on 846 kHz and in time brought back WABC. However, his time was focused on Radio North which continues its format of country, oldies and religious programming on 846 kHz. Let’s hope Radio North can carry on and therefore continue Paul’s legacy.
RIP Paul and thank you for playing your significant part in the Irish era.
The recording is of the announcement by DJ Steven Lynch of Paul’s death on Radio North on Friday 27th October 2023. It is courtesy of Neil Sweeney.
The engineers who kept radio stations on air are sometimes overlooked in the history of the pirate era from 1978-1988. In this interview, Gerry Reilly, a radio engineer from Co. Cavan, talks about the many engineering jobs that he did for pirates throughout Ireland. Gerry worked on transmitters for almost 50 stations including Kandy Radio, Galway District Radio (GDR), Hometown Radio, Big M, Erneside, NWCR, CCR, Breffni Radio, Midwest Radio. East Coast Radio (Louth), Melvin Radio, Radio North, Riverside Radio, Boyneside Radio, DCR Letterkenny, Radio West, Rainbow Radio, Star Radio, North Star, KISS FM, KITS, North Atlantic Radio and many more.
The interview was conducted by Walter Hegarty on October 20th 2018, when over 100 radio anoraks gathered in the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin. The purpose was to meet and record oral history of the pirate radio era.
