'Tony's style became a unique identifying point.'
Tony Fenton passed away today March 12th 2015 after a battling war against cancer. Tony had been on the Irish airwaves since a young seventeen year old in 1978 at pirate station ARD. His pal Ian Dempsey was on air and the following DJ had not turned up and a call from the ARD station manager and Tony Fenton was on the air.
Born in Glasnevin as Anthony Fagan, Tony's broadcasting career began to take off when he moved to the professional Radio Nova and later the other Dublin super pirate Sunshine Radio located at the Sands Hotel Portmarnock. Tony was there when the raids came in 1983. His listenership was growing and the legal mandarins were paying attention. In 1985 he joined RTE's 2FM with his first show coinciding with Bruce Springsteen's concert at Slane Castle.
His Hotline show was extremely popular and became a ratings and an advertising success. He made numerous guests appearences on TV including Brendan O'Carroll's (Mrs Brown) 'Hot Milk and Pepper' game show. After eighteen years at the national broadcasters in March 2003 he left Donnybrook and moved to the national commercial broadcaster Today FM.
Tony on air at Radio Nova
In 2004 he was linked to the BCI local licence application of Platinum Radio while in 2008 he was named 'Broadcaster of the Year' award at the then annual Meteor Awards
While his career continued its upward trajectory privately Tony was struggling. In 2011 he was first diagnosed with cancer which with aggressive treatment he recovered from. In November 2011 he was declared bankrupt after the crash of the Celtic Tiger and the property bubble with debts of over €750,000.
In 2012 on an episode of RTE's The Restaurant with his menu earning him four stars. In 2013 the cancer reemerged with Tony diagnosed with prostate cancer. He continued to fight. In 2014 he was inducted into the B.A.I. Hall of Fame.
He will be sadly missed by family, friends and thousands of listeners who grew up with his dulcet tones on the Dublin airwaves.
May he rest in peace.
Tony Fenton on Radio Nova in 1981
http://www.dxarchive.com/downloads/irish/nova/1981_12_03_thu_nova_846_0830-0915_rileysreview_tonyfenton.mp3
His Life in pictures
http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2015/0312/686599-tony-fenton-in-pictures-1961-2015/
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