Easy Radio (temporary license)

Declan A Walsh

Easy Radio is on a 30-day temporary license being run over 15 weekends on 88.1 FM in Dublin and online. The first weekend run took place over Easter.

Firstly, here is their current schedule.

Saturday
12-2 Mike Doyle
2-4 Brian Walsh
4-6 Paul Ormonde
6-9 Bernard Evens
9-12 Paul Wilson

Overnight Music

Sunday
9-11 Mike O'Brien
11-1 Paul Duffy
1-3 Chris Adams
3-6 Shireen Langan
6-8 Simon Davis
8-10 Paul Wilson

There is a lot of wide and varied experience here, but, as you will see, there is a lot of overlaps between the presenters.

Mike Doyle is the operator of the mainly Sunday oldies pirate Retro FM, but has been involved in the pirate scene for decades, including in the 1980s: Radio Dublin, ABC Radio, Radio Annabel and Heartbeat FM. During the '00s, he was on temporary licensed Premier FM and Choice FM.

Bernard Evans was with the pirate scene during the '80s and at least the early '90s with Radio Dublin. He possibly had an easy listening program on Hot107 and possibly was also involved with Heartbeat FM. He may well have crossed paths with Paul Wilson when he was with Radio Dublin. Bernard Evans did an anorak show on Wonderland and also presented a short series on RTE Radio 1.

Damien Farrell, aka Chris Adams, is Easy Radio's Programme Director. He used to be head of 98FM''s Outside Broadcast Unit. Damien was also with Radio Dublin during that period. Along with Joe Doyle (who knows, he might turn up yet), Damien was involved with temporary licensed runs for IMR (Irish Music Radio) / CIMR (Country and Irish Music Radio)/ Hot Country and Heartbeat FM.

Paul Duffy was with '90s and '00s pirate Freedom FM. He was also one of the operators of The 90s Network when it had temporary license runs. This is the imaging guru Paul Duffy (ex 98/104/Today) who’s currently doing iRadio.

Simon Davis was one of the co-founders of Freedom 92. Since then, he has been a senior broadcast engineer.

When I heard Paul Ormonde, I recognized his voice. I know him by another name. He has a lot of pirate experience going right back to 1979 when he bought his first transmitter from BLB, leading to South County Radio. He co-owned DLR, and has turned up on temporary licensed Choice FM. I won't say what else I know about him from more recent years!

Brian Walsh started in pirate radio in Galway and has turned up in many licensed stations including 98FM, Today FM, Radio Nova and Classic Hits. He also presents on online station Music One Ireland. Quite a coup getting him on board!

Shireen Langan from Easy Radio’s website:
Shireen Langan is an international presenter and producer based in Dublin, Ireland. Over her years within the media sector, Shireen has worked within a number of roles including radio and online multimedia presenting and radio, tv and short film production. To date, she has worked with some of the biggest names within the media industry such as Paramount Network, Virgin Media and FM104. Shireen has also recently co-written an eBook which is set to be launch as a published book this year called ‘How To Podcast Like A Radio Presenter’. From this, she co-founded a podcast consultancy business called ‘The World Media Lab’ and is now taking on the role of social media manager and the presenter of the 3-6pm show on ‘Easy Radio’.

Mike O'Brien was added to the schedule belatedly. His pirates included Radio Caroline (Bayside, Sutton - not the offshore one!), Freedom 92FM, Breeze FM and Capital FM (latter a dance pirate in the '00s). He has also had some temporary license experience including Heartbeat FM and his own 90s Network......and it’s still on the go! Other licensed gigs with CKR, FM104, Radio Nova and Classic Hits 4FM.

The boss Paul Wilson is connected with Mike Doyle, having done some presenting on Mike's Retro FM. They were also both involved with some of the Fun Radio runs, a joint collaboration between mainly oldies-oriented pirates in the last few years. Like some others, Paul did a stint with Radio Dublin. He has also been involved with temporary licensed Autism Radio and currently with Offaly based Eden FM Community Radio, as well as some of Damien Farrell’s temporary licenses mentioned previously. Paul has also worked for Broadcast Technical Services (BTS) who are the number one supplier of broadcast equipment in Ireland.

So, you can see that most of the personnel here have direct or indirect connections with each other through common stations such as Radio Dublin, Heartbeat FM, Freedom FM, Choice FM, Retro FM, Fun Radio, Hot Country and The 90s Network. And some could be connected with each other through their technical jobs that are in turn connected to radio.

Declan A Walsh

I just heard that Joe Doyle is indeed presenting a program from tomorrow night (The Love Line)! Joe goes back to the 1980s pirate scene. During the first half of the 1990s, he was station manager for Radio Dublin. He was involved in an offshoot of Radio Dublin called Radio Dublin Country - not to be confused with Radio Dublin going all country a bit later! Joe was involved with a short-lived licensed community station called 9-7-11. He then teamed up with Tony O'Hara, during the second half of the '90s, in the relaunch of love songs pirate Heartbeat FM. Joe was also involved with a country and Irish pirate in the early '00s called ICE. After that he embarked on a series of temporary licenses with Damien Farrell: IMR/CIMR/Hot Country. This was followed in 2010 with a temporary license for Heartbeat FM. Since then, Joe was heavily involved in projects such as Autism Radio, youth station YAG FM and, currently, as a member of the community radio group Eden FM in Edenderry.

Declan A Walsh

Others that could fit in to the lineup if they encroach into the automated music periods, or as stand-ins, based on the connections between the current presenters: Brian Kelly of Charity Radio, Energy Power AM (which relays Retro FM when live) and Fun Radio; Derek Jones of Retro FM and Fun Radio; some other Charity Radio presenters such as John Troy, who has indeed done love song shows!

Declan A Walsh

I heard an interesting addition to the lineup this morning: Dave O'Connor. Here is what it says about him on the website:

since 1985 Dave has been found on North Dublin Community Radio, Beaumont Hospital Radio, The 90s Network and Near FM

Beaumont Hospital Radio is another station that Paul Wilson was involved with.

Also added to the website is the management team for the temporary run:

Managing Director: Mr. Paul Wilson

Programme Director (PD): Mr. Damien Farrell

Operations Manager: Mr: Joe Rossa

Social Media: Ms. Shereen Langan

Joe Rossa is known on air as Joe Doyle and Damien Farrell (Joe's colleague on a number of radio ventures) is known on air as Chris Adams.

real rocker

I have failed thus far to get a signal on 88.1FM for Easy Radio. I tried earlier on today Saturday plus later in the afternoon.
I live in Dublin 18 so am wondering what might be the problem?
I contacted the station & got no reply.

Declan A Walsh

real rocker wrote: »

I have failed thus far to get a signal on 88.1FM for Easy Radio. I tried earlier on today Saturday plus later in the afternoon.
I live in Dublin 18 so am wondering what might be the problem?
I contacted the station & got no reply.

Maybe it's one of the areas where the signal is weak, which is unfortunate. They are online as well. The boss man should be on now, so maybe send him a text.

Is there a web stream url?

Declan A Walsh

zorro2566 wrote: »

Is there a web stream url?

They can be accessed a number of ways: going onto their website www.easyradio.ie and following options from there, go onto lveradio.ie or go onto the Radio Garden app and type in Easy Radio - it comes up as Easy Radio FM 105.2! The latter was a frequency it used for a bit when a pirate! There may be a few other ways. In the car, I use the FM frequency. At home, I either go on the website, as I am at the moment, on a PC, or listen through the Radio Garden app on my phone...when the mood takes. I'm listening for the novelty factor!

Declan A Walsh

Bumping this up because.......

I happened to put this station on at about 8:30pm last night. There was great chat going on between some of the station's presenters on Bernard Evans's show last night.

There was a lot of reminiscing about their adventures on pirateland. Radio Dublin got a lot of mention. Most of those around last night had been with Radio Dublin during overlapping periods: Bernard himself, Joe Doyle, Damien Farrell/Chris Adams and Paul Wilson.

Bernard described the chat as a rehearsal for the closing down of Easy next weekend! It made for interesting radio.

GFrancy4stir

snip

TheBMG

GFrancy4stir wrote: »

snip

OP is a first time caller but long time chip on the shoulder by the looks of it!

I think it’s a bunch of enthusiasts doing it for the fun and craic. The musics not my cup of tea but I don’t see the harm in it nor why the OP would be so upset about it.

KildareP

GFrancy4stir wrote: »

snip

If it's not for you move on up the dial.

It's nice to hear some genuine, live presentation these days from those with a genuine interest who are putting something on air at their own expense for their own experience and enjoyment, not to make money or take market share.

Whereas, to take your example, Sunshine is a heavily formatted operation that runs a large amount of its broadcast hours in automation with voicetracked presentation.

TheBMG

GFrancy4stir wrote: »

snip

We did but it wasn’t quite as bitter as yours 😱

GFrancy4stir

TheBMG wrote: »

We did but it wasn’t quite as bitter as yours ��

Maybe maybe not but whats that �� rubbish?

Pelvis Parsley

"4stir" indeed.

GFrancy4stir

snip

GFrancy4stir

GFrancy4stir wrote: »

((trolling post))

Banned for trolling

Docbrown

Declan A Walsh

I heard Easy Radio in 105.2 FM this evening. I checked their website and see that they are launching their second temporary license run this Friday. Better choice of frequency than last time: 88.1FM.

Some of the presenters are the same as before, but there are some changes in the line-up. For example: Bernie Jameson.

Here is the new schedule:

Friday

10am – 1pm Mike Doyle

1pm – 4pm Bernie Jameson

4pm – 7pm Paul Wilson

7pm –9pm Brian Butterly

9 – 12pm Bernard Evans

Overnight Music

Saturday

10am – 1pm Paul Ormond

1pm – 4pm Paul Wilson

4pm – 7pm

7pm – 9pm Dave O’Connor

9pm – 12midnight Bernard Evans 

Overnight music

Sunday

8am – 10am Ralph McGarry

10am – 12pm Joe O’Connor

12pm – 3pm Paul Wilson

3pm – 6pm Ruth Abbott

6pm – 9pm Joe Doyle

9pm – midnight Bernard Evans

Looking at the empty slots suggests that there will be other yet to be confirmed presenters.

Edit: One filled - Joe O'Connor!

Declan A Walsh

I dipped in and out over the weekend (wearing my anorak!). I managed to hear a bit of Mike Doyle, Paul Wilson, Paul Ormond, Bernard Evans, Joe Doyle, Joe O'Connor and Ruth Abbott. The latter two are the only ones that I had not heard before on the radio.

The style of Easy Radio is somewhat reminiscent at times of the "love songs" era of Radio Dublin, and, indeed, a number of the presenters and management would have been there at the time....and indeed Heartbeat FM a bit later either as a pirate or temporary licensed or both.

Declan A Walsh

Looking at the schedule, most of the presenters have had previous involvement in temporary licenses, including the previous run of Easy Radio for a number of the presenters (as you can easily see from looking back over the thread). In fact, amongst the current schedule of presenters, Joe O'Connor and Ruth Abbott are the only ones that I'm not sure about it. I notice that Chris Adams (Damien Farrell) is still on the management team, but is not shown on the schedule anywhere.

Declan A Walsh

Another name added to the schedule - Stuart Purdy - a new name to me.

Friday

10am – 1pm Mike Doyle

1pm – 4pm Bernie Jameson

4pm – 7pm Paul Wilson

7pm –9pm Brian Butterly

9 – 12pm Bernard Evans

Overnight Music

Saturday

10am – 1pm Paul Ormond

1pm – 4pm Paul Wilson

4pm – 7pm Stuart Purdy

7pm – 9pm Dave O’Connor

9pm – 12midnight Bernard Evans 

Overnight music

Sunday

8am – 10am Ralph McGarry

10am – 12pm Joe O’Connor

12pm – 3pm Paul Wilson

3pm – 6pm Ruth Abbott

6pm – 9pm Joe Doyle

9pm – midnight Bernard Evans

kazoo106

What is the end game for these temps? its not as if there will be ever a successful license outcome is it?

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119512389#Comment_119512389

There could be a number of reasons for doing temporary license runs:

• bring your online station to the attention of FM listeners. e.g. 8Radio.com
• an opportunity for a former pirate to continue on FM in a more secure licensed setup, albeit for a limited period, e.g. Easy Radio, Freedom FM, Phantom FM and Premier FM
• provide a different radio option to the public not served by existing permanent licenses, e.g. 8Radio.com (now that Phantom FM/TXFM is gone) and Christmas FM
• a means of raising funds for charities, e.g. Christmas FM

And yes...it does occasionally lead to a full license, e.g. Phantom FM (sadly gone now) and 949 The Rock which lead to Radio Nova.

Declan A Walsh

Here is an interesting piece of anorak trivia: both frequencies used to date by Easy Radio for their temporary runs had previously been used by it at different stages for unlicensed broadcasts!

Losty Dublin

A little feathered friend with her ear to the ground tells me that Easy will be finishing up entirely after this weekend.

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119622321#Comment_119622321

According to the website at the moment, its scheduled dates were up until last weekend and that it was going to come back for more weekends on the 21st October (presumably after Freedom FM's run on the same frequency in Dublin). Are you hearing that it will be on this weekend and then not resuming after that?

Infoanon

Officially Easy are due to be on air this weekend and then return on the 21st October or the week after....

Freedoms run is from September 24th to October 23rd on 105.2 (and others frequencies ) .

RiRa are also due on air in November on 105.2, Blackrock College have been allocated 94.3 for use in November .

When listening to Easy over the last weekend I felt that some of the on air staff had lost interest and the enthusiasm of the first run wasn't present. Just my opinion .

That the return date to FM was unclear , the website has not been updated, and other social media channels have been quiet does not bode well for the longterm.

Losty Dublin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119623411#Comment_119623411

As I stated, my source said that this weekend will be their last on air.

Lord Nelson

Seems strange right enough? I see Joe Doyle is no longer listed on their website as part of the management team and his profile has been deleted. According to the BAI updated list, both Ri-Ra and Christmas FM are scheduled to utilise 105.2 in Dublin during November although in the case of Christmas I would imagine it will be 28, 29 and 30 only.

Dipole Keith

Must be a fall out with the lads, listened for an hour today, No presenter, music reminded me of radio Dublin when it went to love songs late 80s earlier 90s, Signal better than the last temporary run. I don’t see a market for this station with Sunshine 106.8 on air but I’ll wish the lads all the best.