Today FMs 20th Birthday

The Parish Priest.

It's this coming Friday, are they going to celebrate ?

crazyguy01

The Parish Priest. wrote:

It's this coming Friday, are they going to celebrate ?

Possibly a big party live on air to celebrate the success... All the old faces returning... Ray Foley, Ray D'Arcy, Anton Savage, etc...

Couldn't resist it..

Claude Burgundy

crazyguy01 wrote: »

Possibly a big party live on air to celebrate the success... All the old faces returning... Ray Foley, Ray D'Arcy, Anton Savage, etc...

Couldn't resist it..

More chance of Tony Fenton appearing...................

zoobizoo

I remember the launch party.... or was it Radio Ireland..... In The Jervis St Shopping Centre...

Bumped into Bertie Ahern (told him that he was doing a great job....... if only I'd known then), Jean Butler and Dermot Morgan...

djemba djemba

crazyguy01 wrote: »

Possibly a big party live on air to celebrate the success... All the old faces returning... Ray Foley, Ray D'Arcy, Anton Savage, etc...

Couldn't resist it..

And Sam Smyth for a tribute to Denis O'Brien

vince

I listened for 19 years. Still have Radio Ireland tee shirt. Today FM tee shirt recently went to charity shop.

Declan A Walsh

There certainly has been a lot of changes since its launch as Radio Ireland. Phil Cawley is the only presenter left from the original lineup. Not only that but Phil Cawley and sportscaster Paul Collins are the only voices left from the Radio Ireland days.

Ian Dempsey has now spent the longest time in essentially the same slot on Today FM, presenting the weekday breakfast show which always starts at 7am. After Phil Cawley. he is the next longest presenter in the station, having launched his show on Today FM in September 1998.

Alison Curtis started with Today FM around that time AFAIK - initially as a researcher on the breakfast show, but she left in 1999 for Phantom FM (as a pirate!) and then returned to Today FM in 2003 with the demise of Phantom as a pirate. She went to Phantom from 2011 to 2012 - this time with a full licence and under common ownership. She came back to Today FM and has been there ever since.

Paul McLoone used to be a producer, and sometime mimic, on Ian Dempsey's show before he got his own gig. I suspect he was there since the late '90s.

During the Radio Ireland days, there was quite a lot of specialist music or talk show programs. Examples: Mark Kavanagh with a dance show (Sat night/Sun morn), Donal Scannell with an underground music show(Fri night/Sat morn), Ita Ryan with "The Celtic Ryan", Paddy Murray and Liam Mackey (Murray and Mackey) with their amusing take on news stories.

Other people who have gone through the station over the years and not mentioned so far in the thread include:
Mark Cagney - TV3
Philip Boucher Hayes - Radio 1 and RTE
Mark Byrne - Flying these days!
Eamon Dunphy - does he need an introduction??
Anne-Marie Hourihane - used to co-present The Last Word
Nails Mahoney/Brian McColl - on-line radio stuff AFAIK
Gavin Duffy - businessman and "dragon"
Emily O'Reilly - Was an Ombudsman - I don't know now
Robbie Irwin - RTE Sports
Colette Fitzpatrick - TV3 (she used to be a newsreader)
Jim McCabe - 4FM (a few gigs on Today FM)
Donal Dineen - ?
Declan Meehan - East Coast FM
Jim O'Neill - East Coast FM
Tommy Greene - East Coast FM
Marty Miller - Radio Nova
Tim Kelly - Radio Nova
Bernie Jamieson / Bernadette Jamieson - Radio Nova and 4FM
Cathy Cregan - 2FM
Anne Marie Kelly - Midlands Radio
Paul Power - KFM
Stephen Keogh - KFM
Noel Shannon- KFM
John Kelly - Lyric FM
Tom Dunne - Newstalk
Stuart Carolan - scriptwriter (most famously Love / Hate) - he used to be a producer and the man behind various comedy creations such as Navan Man and The Drunken Politician on The Last Word
Ian Noctor - TV3 presenter and Motoring Editor of Irish Property Developer Magazine
Karen Shue - ? - she used to do AA Roadwatch
Ian McKeever - deceased - used to do AA Roadwatch
Bob Gallico - deceased
Karl Tsigdinos - Dublin City FM and RTE Gold - remember The River of Soul? Now done on RTE Gold!
John Ryan - publisher still AFAIK - used to present The Sunday Supplement before Sam Smyth took it over
George Byrne - deceased - regular panelist on The Sunday Supplement
Declan Lynch - journalist - regular panelist on The Sunday Supplement
Katie Hannon - Reporter on RTE's Prime Time - regular panelist on The Sunday Supplement
Bill Hughes - Co-owner of Mind the Gap films, has been a contributor to Newstalk - still there?
Jon Troy - turned up this year on pirate Non Stop Nineties!
Tracey Lee - turned up this year on pirate Non Stop Nineties!

I could think of more if I put my mind to it!

Declan A Walsh

Here is some more ex-Today FM:
Derek Flood ("Floodie") - ?
Enda Caldwell - last heard presenting on Irish airwaves AFAIK as Enda W Caldwell on recent pirate Non Stop 90s!
Breffni Clack - Dublin's Q102
Alice Cooper (singer/entertainer/broadcaster) - He had a syndicated show on Today FM. Now he has one on Radio Nova!

NIMAN

Its getting worse, not much to celebrate imho.

It'll be a chance for them to run a few more competitions I'm sure.

clappyhappy

KC, Keith Cunningham, was with red FM, now possibly 96fm. Teresa-anne o Reilly, did 5am -7am weekday show, now with wlr fm. Ann Gleeson, JP, Jenny Kelly, will hannifan. Is Colm o Sullivan still there?

ford fiesta

Declan's list was mostly radio Ireland presenters 1997 to 1998.

radio stations no longer celebrate their birthdays ...doubt Today FM will. 2FM havent clebrated or mentioned it since 2004!! (25th birthday).

Today FM is a sadly totally different station that has moved on with new people and ownership.

byte

Wasn't there a woman called Cliodnagh doing late morning show on Radio Ireland? Can't remember her surname.

The Parish Priest.

byte wrote: »

Wasn't there a woman called Cliodnagh doing late morning show on Radio Ireland? Can't remember her surname.

Cliona ni Bhuachalla, the first weekday schedule was Gavin Duffy and Emily O'Reilly on Breakfast, Mid morning cliona ni bhuachalla, Lunchtime Philip Boucher Hayes, Afternoons Phil Cawley, Drivetime The last word with Eamon Dunphy & Ann Marie Hourihan, Evenings John Kelly, Nights Donal Dineen

Skid X

Short article from Ian Dempsey about the launch of Radio Ireland

http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/ian-dempsey-was-i-really-asleep-in-that-picture-but-i-was-standing-up-did-matt-cooper-really-say-that-3292370-Mar2017/

Buying Ian Dempsey was the best purchase any Irish station ever made. He saved Radio Ireland/ Today FM, it was heading the way of Century FM until he moved over.

applehunter

Gift Grub and Eamon Dunphy's The Last Word were the high points for me.

Not a station I'd listen to much now.