{"id":3148,"date":"2020-12-07T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/?p=3148"},"modified":"2021-12-19T18:41:33","modified_gmt":"2021-12-19T18:41:33","slug":"2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"2020: 40 years since the launch of Sunshine Radio"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_7401\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-3148-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/19801018_Sunshine_Radio_0930-1016_Jason_Maine_IB.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/19801018_Sunshine_Radio_0930-1016_Jason_Maine_IB.mp3\">https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/19801018_Sunshine_Radio_0930-1016_Jason_Maine_IB.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\/2020\/12\/19801018_Sunshine_Radio_0930-1016_Jason_Maine_IB.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/?powerpress_pinw=3148-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/19801018_Sunshine_Radio_0930-1016_Jason_Maine_IB.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"19801018_Sunshine_Radio_0930-1016_Jason_Maine_IB.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"464\" src=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/early-compliments-slip-1024x464.jpeg\" alt=\"2020: 40 years since the launch of Sunshine Radio\" class=\"wp-image-3149\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/early-compliments-slip-1024x464.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/early-compliments-slip-300x136.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/early-compliments-slip-768x348.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/early-compliments-slip-1536x695.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/early-compliments-slip-2048x927.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption>An early Sunshine compliments slip with original logo (courtesy of Ian Biggar). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>2020 was the 40<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary of one of Ireland\u2019s biggest pirate radio stations, Sunshine Radio, which broadcast from Portmarnock on the northside of Dublin from 1980-1988. The first broadcast took place on Saturday 13<sup>th<\/sup> September 1980 from the kitchen of Suite 101 in the Sands Hotel overlooking the Irish Sea. The frequency was 531 kHz, announced as 539 metres to rhyme with Sunshine as the correct conversion is in fact 565 metres. Backing the new venture were former Radio Caroline DJs Robbie Robinson (Dale) and Chris Cary who had spotted the opportunities for successful commercial radio in Ireland due to the loophole in the broadcasting laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sunshine\u2019s 100-foot high aerial which had cost \u00a35,000 was sabotaged on the following Monday 15<sup>th<\/sup> September, setting back the plans for the station\u2019s launch. The station began broadcasting officially at 7am on Monday 29<sup>th<\/sup> September 1980 and among those on air on the first day were Robbie Robinson, Chris Cary and Tony Allan. They would soon be joined by other DJs such as Tony Fenton, Peter Madison, Declan Meehan and Manon Christie who was Robinson\u2019s daughter. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"834\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sunshine-group-shot-1980-834x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"2020: 40 years since the launch of Sunshine Radio\" class=\"wp-image-3150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sunshine-group-shot-1980-834x1024.jpeg 834w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sunshine-group-shot-1980-244x300.jpeg 244w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sunshine-group-shot-1980-768x942.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sunshine-group-shot-1980-1252x1536.jpeg 1252w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sunshine-group-shot-1980-1669x2048.jpeg 1669w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption>Sunshine staff in 1980. Clockwise from top left: Declan Meehan, Tony Allan, Timo Jackson, Manon Christie, Robbie Dale, Siobh\u00e1n Walls, Peter Madison, Chris Cary (photo courtesy of Ian Biggar).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>There was talk of a 10 kW transmitter but with the help of an excellent antenna and coastal location, the output of 1 kW travelled well on 531 kHz and reception reports were received from around Leinster, northwest England, Wales and parts of Scotland. Chris Cary left Sunshine in January 1981 and went on to set up Radio Nova. By investing in professional equipment, running high-powered transmitters, pushing FM stereo, employing professional staff and operating a business model, between them the two stations broke the mould of Irish pirate radio. As the <em>Sunshine Radio Review<\/em> marking the station\u2019s 5<sup>th<\/sup> birthday in 1985 claimed: \u2018The station\u2019s professionalism soon endeared it to listeners all over Leinster. This was the first \u201cpirate\u201d that didn\u2019t sound deserving of the label\u2019. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are delighted to bring you some rare early recordings of Sunshine in the station\u2019s first few weeks, courtesy of Ian Biggar. These were made originally by Ken Baird in Ayrshire in Scotland using a Grundig Satellit 3400 with long wire. Depending on the time of day, there was co-channel interference from a powerful Swiss German station also on 531 kHz but the signal is quite listenable considering the distance involved. Despite the less than optimal quality, these are important historical recordings given the significance of Sunshine in Irish radio history. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the next few days we will bring you a flavour of the weekend of 18<sup>th<\/sup> and 19<sup>th<\/sup> October 1980 on Sunshine, as recorded in Ayrshire. The first recording is of Jason Maine from 0930-1016 on Saturday 18<sup>th <\/sup>October. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2020 was the 40th anniversary of one of Ireland\u2019s biggest pirate radio stations, Sunshine Radio, which broadcast from Portmarnock on the northside of Dublin from 1980-1988. The first broadcast took place on Saturday 13th September 1980 from the kitchen of Suite 101 in the Sands Hotel overlooking the Irish Sea. The frequency was 531 kHz, &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;2020: 40 years since the launch of Sunshine Radio&#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":[490,46,153,89,201,191,47],"class_list":["post-3148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-full-recordings","tag-490","tag-am","tag-dublin","tag-dx","tag-jason-maine","tag-robbie-robinson","tag-sunshine-radio"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>2020: 40 years since the launch of Sunshine Radio - 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\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2020: 40 years since the launch of Sunshine Radio - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"2020 was the 40th anniversary of one of Ireland\u2019s biggest pirate radio stations, Sunshine Radio, which broadcast from Portmarnock on the northside of Dublin from 1980-1988. The first broadcast took place on Saturday 13th September 1980 from the kitchen of Suite 101 in the Sands Hotel overlooking the Irish Sea. The frequency was 531 kHz, &hellip; Continue reading &quot;2020: 40 years since the launch of Sunshine Radio&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-07T07:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-19T18:41:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/early-compliments-slip-1024x464.jpeg\" \/>\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=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/\",\"name\":\"2020: 40 years since the launch of Sunshine Radio - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/early-compliments-slip-1024x464.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-07T07:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-19T18:41:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/a6eb579c7ad730e14f91e6455b207f00\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/early-compliments-slip-1024x464.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/early-compliments-slip-1024x464.jpeg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2020: 40 years since the launch of Sunshine Radio\"}]},{\"@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":"2020: 40 years since the launch of Sunshine Radio - 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\/2020-40-years-since-the-launch-of-sunshine-radio\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"2020: 40 years since the launch of Sunshine Radio - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive","og_description":"2020 was the 40th anniversary of one of Ireland\u2019s biggest pirate radio stations, Sunshine Radio, which broadcast from Portmarnock on the northside of Dublin from 1980-1988. 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