Pirate radio update

national | miscellaneous | news report

Friday May 23, 2003 19:43

by We want our entertainment back

xoin at hotmail dot com

Did a little bit of research on the pirate radio shutdown today, calling Comreg, the Gardai etc. Here's what I found out: 11 locations were raided by Comreg and the Gardai on Tuesday and Wednesday (20th and 21st May) across Dublin. Equipment was seized in 9 of these locations. They (Comreg) wouldn’t give an estimate of the value of the equipment seized and didn’t know the number of Gardai involved. They also wouldn’t say if there was any ministerial involvement so I wasn’t able to find out if McDowell was involved in it at all. They said they worked in co-operation with the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation although a spokesman for the NBCI denied that they had any involvement in the raids or any investigation. The Garda press office also denied any knowledge of the operation. The spokesperson for ComReg said that prosecutions were pending although wouldn’t say whether these

The Broadcasting Commission said that complaints had been received from the public regarding these stations and that any complaints received were passed on to ComReg so it might be possible to get copies of these complaints (if they do actually exist) under the FOI act as well. I have some doubts about whether any complaints really were made or not but i could be wrong.

My investigations were pretty amateurish so maybe someone else will be able to get more info and get to the bottom of all this better than I can.

Yet another example of Official Ireland conspiring against young people, making sure that nobody can become involved in broadcasting unless they become a corporate whore. And of course who did they give the recent radio licence for a ‘youth oriented’ station to? A station with a proven track record of broadcasting to young people, like Phantom of Jazz FM? No, a consortium of fat, middle-aged businessmen like Ozzie Kilkenny who like nothing better than to sit by the fire and listen to the Corrs before a night out in the Shelbourne Bar.

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Update

by Update

Fri May 23, 2003 19:54

Phantom FM weren't actually raided, but were informed that a raid would be imminent if they didn't stop broadcasting. According to their website:

"On Tuesday, ComReg (who regulate the airwaves and responsible for the allocation of FM frequencies) decided to take action against unlicensed broadcasters, which unfortunately includes Phantom FM. Although, Phantom FM was not directly affected by these "raids", the management of Phantom FM decided that it would be prudent to cease transmissions. As a result, neither our FM signal in Dublin nor our web stream is currently available."

Correction

Fri May 23, 2003 20:09

the end of the first paragraph should read:

The spokesperson for ComReg said that prosecutions were pending although wouldn’t say whether these would be criminal or civil proceedings. Advance notice had been given to the radio stations that they were operating illegally, some in writing and some by phone.

are they continuing online streaming?

by khz

Fri May 23, 2003 22:00

Short but sweet.

by Noone

Fri May 23, 2003 23:33

Nice journalism there. Well done.

by Dublin Free Radio Alliance

Sat May 24, 2003 15:09

Since Ray Burkes Broadcasting act was passed in 1998 Pirate Radio has been a
de facto tradition in Dublin playing everything form alternative Power FM / Phantom/ Xfm /
to Dance Hot / Kiss / Nova Dance etc.. The authorities under the guise
of the IRTC would periodically raid or send a warning to particular small
time dance pirates especially in the tallaght area for interference. Since
the resurgence of the Pirates in 1991 with DLR Sunset, Radio Active/ Alice's Restaurant
(Xfm),Power FM.. Dublin has had one of the most vibrant free radio music
scenes in Europe. But all that changed 2 years ago when the IRTC was
upscaled to the new COMREG www.comreg.ie regulatory authority. A new quango
enforcement department was set up to deal with un authorised broadcasts
(including the crackdown 3 weeks ago on the Savoy cinema's mobile phone blocker for
being over the 100 mili watt accepted limit!). Headed by its very own anglegrinder weilding
Robocop Niall Mc Caughey (comreg), Free Radio broadcasts in Dublin had their mountain
site locations raided this week with the back up of 5-6 Gardai in a jeep and
an ESB crew for mains disconnection. It is the single biggest raid on free
radio since the notorious radio Nova raids in the 80's. Most Pirates despite
rumours of complaints and interference (airport) from licensed stations like spin fm etc..put this
crackdown to this new sub department in comreg justifying their existence.
for more info www.radiowaves.fm
http://www.indymedia.ie/cgi-bin/newswire.cgi?id=49158 search warrant issued
by mac caughey + co:
http://www.radiowavesforum.com/rw/attachment.php?s=&postid=21972

Give us back our space

by Liam Howley

Sat May 24, 2003 18:50

liamo at globalcafe dot ie

Just another example of the corporate police protecting private commercial interests. Comes down again to the idea of the public space. Radio should be a free space, or at least there should be an egalitarian approach to the issuing of licences that's not based on the fatness of the envelope or the degree to which your prepared to promote the shite of the mainstream.

Dublin gets tough on unlicensed broadcasters

by wil_fwd

Sun May 25, 2003 16:06

"The past week has seen an unprecedented crackdown on unlicensed broadcasters in Ireland. Raids by staff of the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) accompanied by the Garda (the Irish police) have silenced many of the stations, which jointly accounted for 7% of total radio listening in Ireland."

read whole article on (see link)

Why not go back to the Radio Caroline days?

by Lone Gunman

Sun May 25, 2003 20:29

For those who mightnt have heard of this;
Long ago back in the Seventies,when pop music was rather frowned upon.A bright spark DJ had the idea of putting his pirate radio station aboard a ship and broadcasting outside the UK 12 mile limit.Thus putting itin international water and outside the UK law.The ships name was Caroline,hence the name.Now kiddies ,when you are outside the 12 mile limit of any country and are aboard a ship NOT registerd in the country you are broadcasting to. ANYONE who attempts to forcibly board you[IE COMREG}is comitting an act of piracy and can be forcibly repelled,up to and inc deadly force.[International law of the sea].
So why not try that?comreg is powerless 12 miles off ireland.

Pirate Head

by Pirate Head

Mon May 26, 2003 15:19

AM is fine when your broadcasting to a central location from a long distance ie: ship to shore. FM where most stations are now is more directional and wont propagate properly to shore from a ship 12 miles out.

AM or SW?

by lone gunman

Mon May 26, 2003 18:53

AM at the moment is a wasteland. SW possibly?

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Pirate radio update

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