{"id":992,"date":"2020-01-05T13:02:42","date_gmt":"2020-01-05T13:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/?p=992"},"modified":"2022-05-08T14:55:47","modified_gmt":"2022-05-08T13:55:47","slug":"interview-ger-sweeney-raidio-luimni-city-centre-radio-hits-954-coast-103","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/interview-ger-sweeney-raidio-luimni-city-centre-radio-hits-954-coast-103\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Ger Sweeney (Limerick and Galway stations)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_8856\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-992-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ger-Sweeney-edit-mp3.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ger-Sweeney-edit-mp3.mp3\">http:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ger-Sweeney-edit-mp3.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ger-Sweeney-edit-mp3.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/?powerpress_pinw=992-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ger-Sweeney-edit-mp3.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"Ger-Sweeney-edit-mp3.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"473\" height=\"322\" src=\"http:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ger-on-Hits-954-1986-or-1987-2.jpg\" alt=\"Interview: Ger Sweeney (Limerick and Galway stations)\" class=\"wp-image-995\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ger-on-Hits-954-1986-or-1987-2.jpg 473w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ger-on-Hits-954-1986-or-1987-2-300x204.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 473px) 100vw, 473px\" \/><figcaption>Ger in Hits 954 in 1987 or 1988. Image courtesy of Ger Sweeney. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ve covered the Limerick pirate scene regularly in this archive and there&#8217;s no doubt that despite its size, Limerick punched above its weight in radio terms during the pirate era. We&#8217;re delighted to bring you an interview with Ger Sweeney who worked in many of the city&#8217;s stations from the early 1980s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"737\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ireland_limerick_luimini_schedule-DX-737x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Interview: Ger Sweeney (Limerick and Galway stations)\" class=\"wp-image-990\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ireland_limerick_luimini_schedule-DX-737x1024.jpg 737w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ireland_limerick_luimini_schedule-DX-216x300.jpg 216w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ireland_limerick_luimini_schedule-DX-768x1068.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 737px) 100vw, 737px\" \/><figcaption>Programme schedule from 1984 for Raidi\u00f3 Luimn\u00ed. Image courtesy of Ger Sweeney. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Ger began broadcasting when only 13 years old on Raidi\u00f3 Luimn\u00ed run by the popular character John &#8216;The Man&#8217; Frawley from 1978 to 1988. Raidi\u00f3 Luimn\u00ed was a community station with a difference featuring local characters, death notices and all sorts of eclectic programming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"http:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/John-the-Man-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Interview: Ger Sweeney (Limerick and Galway stations)\" class=\"wp-image-983\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/John-the-Man-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/John-the-Man-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/John-the-Man-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption>John &#8216;The Man&#8217; Frawley of Raidi\u00f3 Luimn\u00ed. Image courtesy of Eddie Bohan. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Ger moved to City Centre Radio (CCR) in 1985 where production standards were higher and the emphasis was on pop music. He switched to Hits 954 in 1987, a slicker station featuring many former Radio Caroline presenters. His final stint with pirate radio was with Coast 103 in Galway up to the closedown at the end of 1988. The interviewer is John Walsh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"440\" height=\"291\" src=\"http:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ger-on-CCR-1985-or-1986-2.jpg\" alt=\"Interview: Ger Sweeney (Limerick and Galway stations)\" class=\"wp-image-994\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ger-on-CCR-1985-or-1986-2.jpg 440w, https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ger-on-CCR-1985-or-1986-2-300x198.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 440px) 100vw, 440px\" \/><figcaption>Ger Sweeney in CCR in 1985 or 1986. Image courtesy of Ger Sweeney. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Ger went on to work in licensed local stations Clare FM and Radio Limerick One. You can hear a documentary about the Limerick pirates <a href=\"http:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/limerick-a-radio-city-episode-1\/\">here<\/a> and another interview about Limerick pirate history <a href=\"http:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/interview-liam-byrne-the-limerick-pirates\/\">here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We&#8217;ve covered the Limerick pirate scene regularly in this archive and there&#8217;s no doubt that despite its size, Limerick punched above its weight in radio terms during the pirate era. We&#8217;re delighted to bring you an interview with Ger Sweeney who worked in many of the city&#8217;s stations from the early 1980s. Ger began broadcasting &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pirate.ie\/archive\/interview-ger-sweeney-raidio-luimni-city-centre-radio-hits-954-coast-103\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Interview: Ger Sweeney (Limerick and Galway stations)&#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":[14],"tags":[102,227,223,322,225,212,226,224,228,103],"class_list":["post-992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interview","tag-city-centre-radio","tag-clare-fm","tag-coast-103","tag-galway","tag-ger-sweeney","tag-hits-954","tag-john-frawley","tag-limerick","tag-radio-limerick-one","tag-raidio-luimni"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Interview: Ger Sweeney (Limerick and Galway stations) - 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\/interview-ger-sweeney-raidio-luimni-city-centre-radio-hits-954-coast-103\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interview: Ger Sweeney (Limerick and Galway stations) - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We&#8217;ve covered the Limerick pirate scene regularly in this archive and there&#8217;s no doubt that despite its size, Limerick punched above its weight in radio terms during the pirate era. We&#8217;re delighted to bring you an interview with Ger Sweeney who worked in many of the city&#8217;s stations from the early 1980s. 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