1989 - IRTC licence hearings for Cork County and North Co.Cork franchises
Examiner's press reports as printed Thursday Feb 23, 1989
Capital contest is won The recipients of the two hotly-contested independent radio licences for the Greater Dublin area were named in Cork yesterday by the Independent Radio and Television Commission. Capital Radio Productions Ltd and Radio 2000 Ltd were selected from a panel of 13 applicants - less than a week after a marathon session of oral hearings in Dublin. Capital is backed by concert promoter Jim Aiken, while notable names associated with Radio 2000 include TV presenter and broadcaster Dave Heffernan, RTE Radio 2 presenters Mark Cagney and Jim O'Neill, and actor Bryan Murray. The franchises are subject to satisfactory contract negotiations being concluded between the Commission and both parties during the coming weeks. It is expected the new stations will start up in May following detailed contract negotiations. Capital programmes will concentrate on contemporary pop and rock music, and investigative reporting; while Radio 2000 programmes are targeted at the 15-35 age group. The announcements came at the conclusion of a two-day hearing in Cork in which the Commission heard the submissions of the 12 groups seeking the four licences up for grabs in Cork City; Cork City and county; Cork County North and Kerry areas. The successful applicants are likely to be announced after the Louth/Meath hearings next Tuesday but the Commission yesterday ruled out an immediate change in the franchise areas in Cork city and county - following concerns on the part of one of the applicants that too many stations would be seeking advertising revenue in the city. The issue was due for discussion at a Commission meeting last night but secretary Sean Connolly pointed out that Ministerial approval would be needed before any change could be made. "We are working on the basis that we will continue with what we have at the moment," he added. Two groups associated with former pirate radio stations came in for stiff questioning about outstanding debts from Commission chairman Mr Justice Henchy when they applied for the Cork city and county licence yesterday. Both Sound of the South Ltd and WKLR Ltd said they would not accept liability for these debts. Afterwards, Mr Connolly said the Commission was required to look into the past history of applicants. Meanwhile, it was a day of contrasts at the hearings as the hard-sell showbiz-style submission of Sound of the South, presented by Glenroe star Joe Lynch, was followed by a series of straight-forward presentations from the other applicants.
North Co. Cork franchise
NCCR refused cash to stay community-owned North Cork Community Radio Co-operative refused to accept financial backing from an undisclosed North Cork company and the Catholic Church, the Commission was told. Solicitor Gerald O'Keeffe said the co-operative turned down sums of £50000 and £25000 from prospective investors in the interest of keeping the proposed station a community-owned service. But, they accepted interest free loans, including £20000 from the Catholic Church, to be paid back over the next seven to ten years. The co-operative was represented at the second and final day of the oral hearings in Jury's Hotel, Cork yesterday by Noel Corkery, Mr O'Keeffe, John Cahill, Billy Ring, Donal Collins and Canon Denis O' Callaghan. Its board of management is made up of 15 members elected by the shareholders, at present numbering over 1,100 people in the North Cork Area. Mr O'Keeffe said the station, NCCR, would be a non-profit making operation, but any surplus it would make, and this was projected at £27,000 in the first year, would go back into the station. The station will be based at the Majestic Ballroom. In loan and share capital the company has £150000 to start up its operation and projected turnover for the first year is £230000. AVONDHU PLEDGE Every village in the North Cork area will be catered for if the Avondhu Press-centred application gains the radio licence. That was the pledge of Avondhu Press managing director and editor Liam Howard, who is fronting a group of North Cork business people and entertainers in a bid for the franchise. The group has a budget of £100000 - comprising £30000 from Mr Howard; and a joint contribution of £30000 from Martin O'Sullivan BBS, ACPA; Fermoy businessman Joe Murphy; and Mitchelstown Credit Union manager Michael Hennessy. The balance would be made up by means of a bank loan while Fermoy musician and businessman Tom Baylor and composer and musician Brian O'Reilly, who are also supporting the application, may make a financial investment if the licence is granted. INDIVIDUAL North Cork businessman James Bohan, of Mallow, promoter of Radio Mallow, was the first individual applicant to be heard by the Commission yesterday. The station's short term goal, the Commission heard, was to establish and operate a commercially viable radio station which identified closely with the community it intended to serve. Solicitor Neil Corbett told the commission the applicant and the station's management and broadcasting team had a substantial record of experience and achievement in the field of broadcasting, entertainment and music. "The programme philosophy is simply to provide a broadcasting service that will be highly identifiable with the North Cork area and will reflect the various affairs and interests of that community," he said. The sole financier of the project, Mr Bohan will finance the company, which will not operate as a limited liability company but as a sole trader, making him personally responsible for the company's debts.
Countywide franchise
'Pirate' link is denied Sound of the South Limited, one of three applicants for the Cork City and County independent radio licence, denied yesterday they were the former pirate radio station ERI by another name, Mr Joe O'Connor, former chief executive of ERI Media Services Ltd, and the largest shareholder of Sound of the South, told the commission the companies were separate, limited liability companies with no responsibility for each other. However, he told Mr Justice Henchy, chairman of the commission, that Sound of the South would acquire some of ERI's assets, but would not be responsible for the pirate radio station's liabilities. The company shareholders are Joseph Carey (7.47% - 33000 £1 shares), Thomas Cavanagh (4.89% - 22000), Furnival Ltd. (25.11% - 111000), Mitchelstown Co-Op (4.98% - 22000), Joe Lynch (4.52% - 20000), Liam Nolan (4.98% - 22000) and William Grainger (4.98% - 22000). Con Odlum, president of Cork Chamber of Commerce also intends to purchase a shareholding. ENGLISH BACKING- 25 per cent of the equity in one of the three applicants for the Cork city and county licence, is owned by an English local radio station. Chiltern Radio, which is based near London, owns a quarter of the £525000 share capital in Bandon-based WKLR limited - while other shareholders include managing director Dave Heffernan, with 30%; agricultural groups and business people, with 14% each; and a WKLR supporters club with 5%. The AIB and the ICC are favourably disposed to financing the remainder of the £1.04 million being invested in the venture, the Commission was told. However, Mr Heffernan said that while the company felt the input of Chiltern was important because of their experience in starting small and building up, it could find all its funding in Cork if the Commission required. The old company, owned by Mr. Heffernan, ceased trading on December 31, and progress had since been made in the payment of outstanding royalties while negotiations were going on with the revenue commissioners over outstanding debts. The new company would not accept liability. MODEST SUBMISSION: The applicants behind the most modest submission for a Cork city and county licence conceded yesterday they would accept a slot on an independent radio station provided they were given control of its content. The proposal for a 4-hour-a-day Irish language radio station was put forward by Gaedhealachas Teo, the Cork-based Irish language promotion society. The submission was put forward by Eibhlin Ní Drisceóil, principal of Coláiste an Phiarsaigh, Glanmire; Gaedhealachas Teo. secretary/manager, Cormac MacCarthaigh; and Cork solicitor Leachlann Ó Catháin. They said the service would cost in the region of £150000 to set up and told the commission the Bank of Ireland would stand behind them. They proposed to make arrangements with RTE for transmission.
Addendum: Radio South were the first licensed independent station to hit the airwaves in Cork, launching on 10 August 1989 having been awarded the franchise area of Cork City and part of Co. Cork (hearing details not yet included above) Almost a year later after less than expected listenership figures Radio South relaunched at 12 noon on 1st August 1990 as 'Hits and Memories 96FM' with a more music, less chat format. NCCR was the group awarded the North Co. Cork franchise and commenced broadcasting in early 1990 trading as '103FM County Sound' on 103.7FM. The IRTC had earlier selected WKLR for the countywide franchise but negotiations broke down in late 1989. The countywide franchise was therefore re-advertised by the IRTC in 1990. County Sound applied for this and were successful, allowing them to extend to almost the whole county, with another studio in Bandon allowing 'opt-out' programmes for the West/South region with a transmitter on 103.3FM, launched on 15th November 1990. Cork's '96FM' were also allowed extend their coverage into the county Cork . The initial 'community/non-profit' ethos/shareholding mentioned above in County Sound quickly waned in time and was practically eliminated after the '96FM' take-over in 1991. (to be continued)
Radio Man
Tue 11/3/2003 Examiner's 'County' supplement for Co. Cork.
Johnny voice of West Cork
by Robert O'Sullivan
SINCE he first tuned into Johnny Walker on Radio Luxembourg when he was a child, John Greene was fired with an ambition to also be a disc jockey.
Growing up in Castletownbere where his father was a soldier, he spent his spare time listening to and learning the patter and techniques of his favourite presenters. When his father bought him a spool reel-to-reel Bush tape recorder which gave no end of trouble with tangles, etc., he practised speaking into the hand-held microphone and playing it back to himself over and over.
He carried his love of radio into adulthood and while a CIE bus driver in Cork City for 12 years he became involved in the local 'pirate' scene. Working with Capital Radio above a chip shop in Tuckey Street and later at a flat in St Lukes, John was in his element as he go to do what he loved best, spinning the old 45s and connecting with the listeners.
"Those were very happy times and I learned a great deal about the radio business, which did wonders for my confidence. I soon became adept at thinking on my feet when the phone-in aspect called for closer interaction with the listeners, and one soon learned how to steer the on-air conversations."
"It was great grounding in radio and we were rarely hassled even though we were illegal," said John.
"When pirate radio was eventually forced to close down nationwide in 1988, I was at that time with the Cork City and county station WKLR, which was very popular."
"The licence frenzy then began to obtain the official blessing for local radio stations and in 1990 I was aboard when the present 'County Sound 103FM' were born."
"We hear it all on my show, West Cork Today. It covers the topics of the day that are of interest to rural and small town dwellers, and begins at 10AM and goes on until 2pm. Four hours a day for 5 days is a long period to keep it fresh, but there is not a day goes by when the public doesn't contact us with that day's newsworthy and often very controversial matters. We sometimes have very amusing items crop up, too, which gives the whole thing a nice mix."
"I leave for work at six every morning and go over with our researcher Dervla O'Sullivan, how we will begin."
"At our headquarters in Weir Street, Bandon, we never know for sure what the day will bring, but it's always interesting. I take a quiet ten minutes to focus before we begin. A bit of the deep-breathing at that point helps."
John in known all over West Cork due to the success of his show, yet away from the studio he leads a very private life. He and his partner, Paula, a successful interior and exterior designer, live in a little picturesque cottage at Reenascreena, outside Leap, near Skibbereen. "We came here a few years ago with the intention of staying just a little while 'til we moved somewhere else, but we have fallen in love with the area and with the people. It's with them we do our socialising. We like nothing better than a meal and a pint in the pub with our neighbours. I love to walk with my dogs around the roads and the fields and the peace and quiet here is very calming to the spirit. This is the kind of place we have always been searching for. Our bit of heaven," says John, the man with the most recognisable voice in West Cork.
Steve Bolger (of RTE Radio Cork)
Steve Bolger has been broadcasting in Cork since 1977 when he joined a pirate station, "ABC - Alternative Broadcasting Cork," which operated first from the front room of a house in Wilton, then from an office in McCurtain Street, until a passing juggernaut sliced the aerial, and then from Montenotte.
"We had some wonderful jocks, but it sounded like a hairdressing salon, because I was known as Chris Stephens, and John Creedon and Mark Cagney who also worked on ABC at the time, had equally fancy names. We went for interviews with RTE Radio 2 when they went on air and Mark was the first to get the nod. I started working for them and for RTE Cork Local Radio in 1979".Jack O' Regan
Thursday 9-July-1998. The Examiner
Jack O'Regan
The recent death of Jack O'Regan has left his family and wide circle of friends with an irreplaceable vacuum. From his early teens to the period prior to his death, he was a ceaseless exponent of radio broadcasting, measured in testimony by his vast knowledge of contemporary rock music and a long standing appreciation of blues legend Rory Gallagher.
Jack O'Regan is folklore and has been for as long as most of us can remember. He will be fondly remembered by his many friends in the music fraternity and beyond, as the original pirate radio broadcaster. O'Regan brought a breath of freshness and originality with his zany radio shows when he began broadcasting in 1971 from his family back garden shed - which came to be known as the famous Bunk House. Nobody had ever heard of Radio Cobweb when it first hit the pirate airwaves, but soon it was the talk of Cork's pop pickers. A further O'Regan initiative was Radio Skywave.
In many ways, Jack O'Regan was a forerunner of things to come. Accompanied by his unassuming brother Joe in most of his exploits, he was the first (and only) person to record a live gig by Rory Gallagher's band 'Taste' at Cork's Cavern Club, on Easter Sunday 1967. Later, in 1972, the O'Regan brothers filmed Gallagher in concert at the City Hall. To this day, both the highly collectable Cavern recording and City Hall film have been preserved in faithful storage by the Glasheen rocker. In recent years, Jack O'Regan began to suffer the toll of what sadly turned out to be an incurable illness. Yet, despite great pain and obvious discomfort, he was instrumental in the presentation of a public talk on the subject of pirate radio and Gallagher - at the Triskel Arts Centre recently.
To his credit, he was able to entertain an appreciative audience with memorabilia that included sound recordings from his radio shows, film footage and rare press cuttings. As one would have expected, the talk concluded with a standing ovation.
JL
****Youghal Firm in radio Bid.
23-2-1994 CorkExaminer
A NEW company, Youghal Communications Ltd, will today dispatch a detailed submission to the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC) in support of its application for one of the community radio broadcasting contracts it proposes to issue later this year for a trial period of 18 months, report John Murphy.
Youghal Communications Ltd is a consortium of local business and sporting interests, together with a significant involvement of community groups.
Among those most prominently behind the new company are publican Jim Fitzgerald and Seamas Murphy, both of whom were deeply involved in the former Community Radio Youghal (CRY) which enjoyed a decade of successful broadcasting until it, like all other "pirate" stations nationwide, came under a ministerial axe.
In the intervening period Mr Fitzgerald has lobbied TDs and Ministers in the hope of getting CRY back on the air. He also had a meeting with the Taoiseach when he visited Cobh.
"We have put together a most detailed submission for the IRTC and it will be with the commission within 24 hours," Mr Fitzgerald said yesterday.
He said the technical expertise will be provided by Noel Cronin who was also involved with the former Community Radio Youghal.
"There is tremendous support for a locally-based community radio, and we have many people volunteering their services as programme presenters," said Mr Fitzgerald.
Mr Fitzgerald said they had the full backing of Youghal Urban Council at the time in their efforts to keep CRY on the air.Radio trial
Aug 6/1994 - The Southern Star (East)
More press coverage of Community Radio Youghal by clicking here
"An application from Youghal is one of a number to be considered for a trial Community Radio service.
RTE's mobile studio came to Youghal for a week of community radio in 1977, giving a local group an opportunity to present their own programmes. Shortly afterwards, many of the group became involved with an unlicensed radio station, which lasted until the old "pirates" were asked to cease broadcasting in advance of the IRTC granting commercial franchises to local radio.
Among those involved with Community Radio Youghal were Cllr. William "Noochie" Kennefick, Ms. Jackie Daly and Mr Ken Smith.
Midleton had the RTE Community Radio service twice (..During the early 80s..). Among those involved were Cllr. Kathleen Woulfe, Mr Paddy Murphy, then Town Clerk, Mr Jim Walsh, a civil engineer very involved in community affairs, and the late Mr John Martin, garage owner."
TUNED OUT?
REBEL RADIO
Printed on page 4 of the Cork 'thelist.ie' (an entertainment guide freesheet) dated Wed 27th Dec 2000
DESPITE kind of priding myself on knowing what was going down on the streets, the birth of Radio Friendly on the 13 September 1996 caught me on the hop. Now this was a time in Cork when lots of things were going on and lots of people were working hard to realise properly the inherent potential of this city to be a pretty cool, creative, happening place to live.
Sweat was still flying the flag loud and proud; the Henry’s Weekenders had, for lots of reasons, been very special and very important; Simply Delicious had paved the way for Mór Disco and Cabaret Deluxe; Ar La were making fresh hip hop; Bass Odyssey were new on the scene; there was a real buzz of positive energy around. Never mind the sisters, at long last clubbers were beginning to do it for themselves! What was really needed though, was something that could harness, focus, direct and reflect that energy, to tie the whole thing together and make it go boom,
Pirate radio by the clubbers, for the clubbers was the obvious answer. With all that was going on, it was the next step and, if you'll forgive the phrase, a logical progression. Needless to say, there was a lot of talk about it, transmitter this, transmitter that, loads of DJs, oh it's really easy, blah, blah, blah. But no one had actually got it together to go and bloody do it. To be honest it wasn't exactly the most radical of ideas either; pirate radio has a long history in this country, not to mention this city.
For example, 96FM effectively grew out of the ashes of a hugely successful pirate (back in the days when playing contemporary rock and pop over the airwaves was indeed radical) and the Sweat boys, amongst others, had been involved in a venture called *Deep South* a number of years previous. It's just that it was so badly bloody needed.
So there I was on the Sunday night, home (alone) from Cabaret Deluxe in the Half Moon, in the cot, Rizlas in hand, radio dial jammed on 105.6 FM (it moved to 104.4 before finally settling on 104.6), tunes pumping out, totally excited by this new development and wondering just who the hell had done it and where the hell it was! Just then about six people I knew arrived into the studio and it turned out that the gaff I had been in on Blarney Street that very week rabbiting on about how I'd love to do radio was actually Friendly HQ! Apparently everyone 'assumed I knew about it'. Hmm, some mates.
Anyway the important thing was it had happened. Someone (I don't think at this point it is any secret to say Mr P and Miss Ken D with the support of others) had put their money where their mouth was. Not only that, they operated the station from their very own place 7 days a week, virtually 24-hours-a-day. It was quite an undertaking but with the obviously essential support of just about every DJ in Cork at the time, it captured the support of just about every DJ in Cork at the time, it captured the imagination of the city and was instantly a pretty major success.
Here was the underground pulse of Cork's thriving club culture bouncing straight into almost every home in the city. For the first time you could hear great music, fresh music, underground music. People you knew were on the mic talking about clubs you went to and tunes you knew, giving away tickets and giving shouts out. The phone never stopped hopping. Now established DJs had a wider showcase for their skills and their music; scores of new DJs got their break, nurturing and developing their talent over the airwaves; whatever big name DJ was in the city did a guest spot before and frequently enough after the gig too!
There's simply no way to fully quantify how important it was to the development of club culture in Cork. Radio Friendly raised the stakes significantly for all concerned and all involved, igniting and to a large degree uniting a scene that was primed to explode. The subsequent vibrations of that explosion were felt all around the country and in 1998 Friendly scooped the inaugural Smirnoff Dance Club award as Best Irish Dance Radio ahead of Dublin's Power FM and 2FM's dance show, amongst others.
On the 29th October last, Radio Friendly ceased broadcasting and it's probably only recently that you will have realised how important it actually was to you. After 4 years, and having largely achieved what it had set out to achieve, Friendly arguably had no-where left to go. It's directors made an admirably brave and bold move, effectively, understandably and quite rightly cashing in their chips in order to align themselves with a progressive bid for the soon-to-be-awarded new commercial radio licence for Cork.
In competition with six other strong bids and set to broadcast from the new Savoy Theatre, Capital C, if successful, will not be 'Friendly FM'. Despite lots of familiar names in the proposed line-up, what is on offer is not a dance or youth-orientated licence, it's a commercial licence and thus it would be a commercial station. A commercial station, however, that would undoubtedly have a far more enlightened music and programming policy than any of the others. Be assured I wasn’t caught on the hop this time around, so I am a little biased but you'll either have to just trust me on this one or alternatively you could check out the various station proposals in the library and see for yourself.
To be honest the licensing process is a bit of a lottery and really anything could happen. But I know one thing, with what's gone on in the city since Friendly began, Capital C is the next step and a logical progression (sorry!) once again. It would also be a fitting reward for many of the people who have worked so hard over the years on the ground level to make positive things happen in this city. To paraphrase a Bukem sample, as the years go on the horizons move forward, offering us space to make new steps of change - let's hope we're given the chance to make those steps. Keep your fingers crossed.
As for the pirates, they won't go away, the I RTC know that. Pirates drive radio forward, highlighting, filling and often creating gaps in the market. And so it will go on, only this time it looks like someone else is going to have to 'get-it-together'! Lets hope they do it soon. Viva pirate radio!
Words: Wickitty Wack
Since the writing of this article, the Capital C consortium's bid for the new radio license did not make the shortlist.
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