{"id":11268,"date":"2026-01-16T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/?p=11268"},"modified":"2026-01-18T16:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T16:30:32","slug":"radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio West Anoraks&#8217; Show as pirate closedowns approach"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6935\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-11268-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/8103AI-A-192.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/8103AI-A-192.mp3\">https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/8103AI-A-192.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/8103AI-A-192.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/?powerpress_pinw=11268-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/8103AI-A-192.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"8103AI-A-192.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"729\" src=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2-1024x729.jpg\" alt=\"Radio West Anoraks&#039; Show as pirate closedowns approach\" class=\"wp-image-11269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2-1024x729.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2-768x547.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2.jpg 1518w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Radio West studio in 1987 (courtesy Andy Carter)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The Anoraks Show every Sunday morning on Radio West was a must for radio fans in the final years of the heyday of the Irish pirates in the 1980s. This excerpt from one such show was recorded with little over a month left before the deadline of 31<sup>st<\/sup> December 1988 for the pirates to close down in line with new broadcasting legislation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Station boss Shaun Coyne is in studio with Willie Harte and discusses a campaign meeting in Dublin to save the pirates, supported by the Irish music industry. A number of schools in Co. Monaghan are said to have joined forces to oppose the closure of local station Big M and the influence of the pirates on the North is mentioned. There&#8217;s also a letter from Anoraks Ireland seeking assistance with recording the final 90 minutes of pirate stations on New Year&#8217;s Eve or sooner if necessary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 1987, Radio West was known as West National Radio 3 and was claiming nationwide coverage. The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made on Sunday 27<sup>th<\/sup> November 1988 from around 1115-1130 from the station&#8217;s Dublin relay on 97.3 FM. West National Radio 3 also broadcast on 702 kHz AM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Anoraks Show every Sunday morning on Radio West was a must for radio fans in the final years of the heyday of the Irish pirates in the 1980s. This excerpt from one such show was recorded with little over a month left before the deadline of 31st December 1988 for the pirates to close &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Radio West Anoraks&#8217; Show as pirate closedowns approach&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[487,564,607,71,380,303,795],"class_list":["post-11268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-full-recordings","tag-487","tag-anoraks-ireland-collection","tag-frc","tag-radio-west","tag-shaun-coyne","tag-westmeath","tag-willie-harte"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Radio West Anoraks&#039; Show as pirate closedowns approach - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Radio West Anoraks&#039; Show as pirate closedowns approach - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Anoraks Show every Sunday morning on Radio West was a must for radio fans in the final years of the heyday of the Irish pirates in the 1980s. This excerpt from one such show was recorded with little over a month left before the deadline of 31st December 1988 for the pirates to close &hellip; Continue reading &quot;Radio West Anoraks&#8217; Show as pirate closedowns approach&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-16T06:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-18T16:30:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2-1024x729.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Walsh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Walsh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/\",\"name\":\"Radio West Anoraks' Show as pirate closedowns approach - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2-1024x729.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-16T06:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-18T16:30:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/a6eb579c7ad730e14f91e6455b207f00\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2.jpg\",\"width\":1518,\"height\":1081},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Radio West Anoraks&#8217; Show as pirate closedowns approach\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/\",\"name\":\"Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive\",\"description\":\"Open Free Radio Archive\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/a6eb579c7ad730e14f91e6455b207f00\",\"name\":\"John Walsh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80a5b6baea2fd739c3be046233f2ad61?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80a5b6baea2fd739c3be046233f2ad61?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Walsh\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/author\/john\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Radio West Anoraks' Show as pirate closedowns approach - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Radio West Anoraks' Show as pirate closedowns approach - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive","og_description":"The Anoraks Show every Sunday morning on Radio West was a must for radio fans in the final years of the heyday of the Irish pirates in the 1980s. This excerpt from one such show was recorded with little over a month left before the deadline of 31st December 1988 for the pirates to close &hellip; Continue reading \"Radio West Anoraks&#8217; Show as pirate closedowns approach\"","og_url":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/","og_site_name":"Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive","article_published_time":"2026-01-16T06:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-18T16:30:32+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2-1024x729.jpg"}],"author":"John Walsh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Walsh","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/","url":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/","name":"Radio West Anoraks' Show as pirate closedowns approach - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2-1024x729.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-16T06:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-18T16:30:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/a6eb579c7ad730e14f91e6455b207f00"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Radio-West-studio-Andy-Carter-1987-2.jpg","width":1518,"height":1081},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/radio-west-anoraks-show-as-pirate-closedowns-approach\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Radio West Anoraks&#8217; Show as pirate closedowns approach"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/","name":"Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive","description":"Open Free Radio Archive","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/a6eb579c7ad730e14f91e6455b207f00","name":"John Walsh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80a5b6baea2fd739c3be046233f2ad61?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80a5b6baea2fd739c3be046233f2ad61?s=96&r=g","caption":"John Walsh"},"url":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/author\/john\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11281,"href":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11268\/revisions\/11281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}