Radio Dublin’s Station News

The Origins

As we’ve read, the first ever FRC Ireland programme broadcast in Ireland was thanks to Kieran Murray on Radio Dublin. Radio Dublin, or more specifically Eamonn Cooke, was also responsible for a variation on this theme which spanned four decades, although he didn't start it. The slot was originally the brainchild of Doctor Don from the days that Radio Dublin would come on for a few hours at the weekend in the mid 1970s. At 1.30pm of a Sunday, the station's theme tune 'Boola Boola' would play out and Don would give listeners a rundown of all that was happening at the station.

‘Station News’ continued with Cooke at the helm following a fall out between the men in which Dr Don went off and set up another station (ARD). The programme, which would later also be called 'Captain's News' had no set format, and could last for just a couple of minutes if there was nothing much to report, up to a more usual 20-30 minutes. The starting time, in theory at least, continued to be 1.30pm on a Sunday - although it could really start at any time, and one scheduled broadcast is known to have not commenced until after 3pm!. 'Station News' was, in reality, a spoken feature embedded within the station's music radio programming rather than a freestanding show in the usual sense.

Unlike other shows in this genre it didn’t make use of recordings, basically it was, more often than not, a platform for Cooke to air his grievances with the rest of the radio world. Legal, technical and social happenings from within the Radio Dublin universe were passed on to listeners via station announcements. It also included reports on other pirate stations. Major industry news and events were dissected, usually with Cooke’s own personal slant applied. Threats were publicly issued to other station operators who were deemed to be interfering with Radio Dublin's signal.

The slot was seen as Radio Dublin’s main on-air instrument of self-explanation and self-defence, especially in moments of conflict. There were many interference and rival-station disputes in the early to mid 80s as more and more stations exploited Ireland's unlicensed radio legal loophole. The station defiantly ignored the edict that forced all unlicensed stations off the air as calendars changed to 1989. The programme was used to condemn various raids on the station, espcially in the early days of the new licensed framework introduced by the Radio and Television Act 1988. In effect, Station News worked less like a tightly timed bulletin and more like a pressure-release valve for Cooke when there was something significant to say.

The Day 'The Shit' Hit The Big D Clan

The most infamous edition of Radio Dublin's ‘Station News’ hit the airwaves in April 1978 and featured Cooke snarling and railing against those who had taken part in a station coup whilst he was away on holidays. Unrest amongst the staff and unhappiness with the direction the station was taking, coupled with then unproven allegations against Cooke (which were later found to be true) of child sexual abuse had led to the walkout. Cooke was chilling and maniacal during the live broadcast, addressing the perpetrators directly whilst refuting all the allegations used against him during two extraordinary broadcasts which invoked memories of Lord Haw Haw’s infamous ‘Germany Calling’ propaganda pieces on behalf of the Nazis during WWII.

Taking advantage of a gift from one of the station’s advertisers, Cooke was holidaying in Spain unaware that his radio station was being ripped asunder back in Inchicore, the west Dublin suburb in which it was located. On his return on April 9th two of the protagonists, James Dillon and Gerry Campbell, met him at the airport and informed him of the situation.

The next day a new station was broadcasting to Dublin in the form of Big D.

As we’ve learned, Kieran Murray was one of those who walked away to join the breakaway station after he was assured that it would carry the FRC Ireland Show. Cooke held nothing back on his broadcast, claiming that Kieran had brought the whole Irish FRC movement in to disrepute.

The following Friday Cooke ran a special edition of ‘Station News’(listen below - the April 14th edition) which set the scene for one of the most extraordinary pieces of radio, even by Cooke's standards, ever to be broadcast in this country.

Station News - April 16th 1978

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