From 1980s Bray Pirate BLB (Bray Local Broadcasting) to Licensed Radio

Declan A Walsh

BLB stood for Bray Local Broadcasting and was, undoubtedly, the best known pirate in Wicklow, especially north Wicklow. It would have had quite a good geographical reach being easy to pick up in much of south Dublin. A lot of people went through there. A number of presenters, I'm pretty sure, ended up on the then licensed station for north Wicklow Horizon Radio, which was based in Bray as well. Some may have gone to the then licensed station for south Wicklow EZ103. The two merged to form East Coast Radio in 1992 and I believe quite a few from BLB ended up there too.

Ohers may have to fill in many of those links between BLB and the licensed Wicklow stations, but I will give you some of the moves of ex-BLB to licensed radio.

Adrian Kennedy, who was Station Manager with BLB - Classic Hits and Newstalk. He was of course associated with talk shows on FM104 and 98FM for many years.

Timmy Hannigan, aka Mr. Spring - 2FM. Yes, it's true, even though he would have been more associated with '90s pirates. Not long after BLB, he also turned up on the aforementioned EZ103.

Mike Duggan - East Coast FM

Joe Bollard (RIP)- East Coast FM

Daphne Mitchell - Chelmar Radio, UK

Chris Kennedy - Radio Seagull, former pirate turned licensed Dutch offshore station. His real name is Chris Conway and he did a stint with offshore pirate Radio Caroline when Steve Conway was there. Also did a stint with the aforementioned Horizon Radio.

Paul Bradley (?) - I think I read somewhere that he did a stint with BLB - maybe someone could confirm that - Q102

Rónán Ó Dubhthaigh (RIP) - Raidio na Life

Karen Shields (possibly now called Karen Morton) - UK Radio: Reverb Radio and More FM Radio if the same person.

If I think of more I will come back.

Edit: Just did! John Public - Dublin City FM. I presume it was the same program that he presents now, and presented on many south Dublin pirates: Black Echoes. He also used to have a monthly stint on 2FM with Black Echoes.

Maybe you could think of more, especially the Wicklow connections. What about its founders Mark Quinn and Doug McGuire, for example?

zoobizoo

New documentary recalls local radio’s impact on Bray in 1980s - Independent.ie

www.independent.ie/regionals/wicklow/lifestyle/new-documentary-recalls-local-radios-impact-on-bray-in-1980s-41105110.html

Ger Roe

Hi Declan,

I noticed the RIP after Joe Bollard's name in the original post above and I wasn't aware that he had died. I couldn't find any reports of his passing online - there is this listing to say that he is/was operating with a streaming station called Uplift Radio.

https://www.upliftfm.com/presenters/joe-bollard/

When did he die?

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119065715#Comment_119065715

Sorry Ger. It looks like it was a different Joe Bollard from Bray, also known as Doney. Whoops! Although, I thought I had heard of the demise a few years ago of someone who used to be associated with Wicklow radio.

I'm still not sure if it was a different person, but I assume it was. However, here is one I found for sure: Steve Power - he went on to present on Horizon Radio.

Ger Roe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119067539#Comment_119067539

That's a relief... glad to hear that Joe is still with us. I always enjoyed his programmes on BLB - very personable on air and he always relates very well with his audience. I am even old enough to remember hearing him play keyboard lounge music in the bar of the now demolished and apartmentised Dalkey Island Hotel.😀

Declan A Walsh

Here is another one for the list - Ernie Gallagher. He did a stint on BLB, as well as a number of Dublin pirates. He turned up on various licensed stations, including East Coast Radio. The last station that I heard him on was Radio Nova.