Shane Harrison Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

9th January 202612th January 2026

Saturday on KISS FM Weekend Radio

KISS FM Weekend Radio was a short-lived weekend service of the Radio Nova offshoot KISS FM (1982-1984). This recording from late 1983 was made not long after the service was launched and there are a few technical glitches along the way. Liam Young is on air with music, competitions and a promise of local news. Listeners phone in from Dublin and the Isle of Man, reflecting the strong FM signal but ominously there are no adverts. The names of both David Malone and Shane Harrison are heard at the start of the news, which sounds like another glitch. KISS FM closed in January 1984 after a jamming campaign by RTÉ caused turmoil at Nova. Ian Biggar points out that the separate KISS service at the weekend is reminiscent of the Big D Weekend format in the late 1970s.

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made from 1202-1311 on 20th November 1983 from 102.7 FM.

19th January 20247th August 2024

Northeast series: Summer shows on Boyneside Radio

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This recording features excerpts from two shows on Boyneside Radio from Co. Louth in the summer of 1984. Boyneside was 6 years on the air at this stage and had grown into one of the largest regional radio stations in Ireland, with its main studios in Drogheda. The tape begins with an aircheck of Declan McGowan’s Saturday night show between 2000-2130 on 11^th August 1984. Requests are heard from both sides of the border along with plenty of adverts and a few clunky chopped-up jingles. Declan began presenting on Boyneside in 1982 when he was just 15 and he remained with the station until it closed at the end of 1988.

This is followed by an aircheck of Daire Nelson’s breakfast show from 0745-0930 on Monday 13^th August 1984. Some of the comments are a bit off by today’s standards but the recording also underlines Daire’s real talent as a broadcaster. News is read by Shane Harrison, who went off to work for BBC Northern Ireland. The tape was recorded from 98.1 FM by Kieran Murray and is part of the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection. Audio quality is generally very good but there is a buzz at the start, which may have been due to an issue with the recording device.

7th February 202219th February 2025

Northeast series: Morning shows on Boyneside Radio

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This is a recording of morning programmes on Boyneside Radio from early 1983. Following the merger with the breakaway Community Radio Drogheda, the station was making headway again and advertising from the town was plentiful. Part 1 of the recording above was made from 98.4 FM in mono and runs from 0906-0954 on Friday 21^st January 1983. It features Daire Nelson on the breakfast show and includes a comedy slot involving a call to the Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda as well as a weekly sentence in Irish. There are requests from Drogheda, Dundalk, Duleek and Navan. Dara is followed by the late Dave C. at 0930.

Part 2 below is from 0957-1045 and includes the One Minute of Pop quiz and news with Shane Harrison, who now works as BBC Northern Ireland’s Dublin correspondent.

Part 2 of the recording.

This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.