In early 1978 it was announced that RTE’s mobile radio service would visit Mullingar. A committee was formed to produce and present the programming content while RTE would provide the mobile van and transmitter. There was great excitement in the County Westmeath town and RTE’s arrival would spark a desire to have their own voice.
On Wednesday October 11th Community Radio Mullingar went on the air for the following six days. From the Thursday the station could be found twice a day 11.30 – 1.30 and 4.30 – 6.30 broadcasting on 202m medium wave to a five mile radius. On October 15th, the RTE van left town.
On November 16th in the local Westmeath Topic newspaper in an article on page 14, headlined ‘Praise for Community Radio’ it reported that at a meeting in the Greville Arms Hotel, the District Chamber of Commerce congratulated all those involved in the community radio project.
Interestingly on the front page of the same newspaper
was the headline ‘The Pirates Are Coming’.
While RTE were broadcasting in July another committee were in talks with Don Moore, better known as ‘Doctor Don’ who was operating the pirate station Alternative Radio Dublin in the capital. With the backing of local businessmen including those in the then popular showband scene including Sean Kenny, a guitarist with the Swarbriggs, Benny Whyte a showband leader and showband promoter and politician Senator Donnie Cassidy, a pirate radio operation was being set up just as the RTE van pulled out of town. Don procured a medium wave transmitter to broadcast on the nearby frequency to RTE’s 202m, 217m medium wave. A studio was readied in Castle Street above a man’s shop. After a couple of weeks test transmissions, the station, to be known as Big M, was officially launched at 11am on November 23rd 1978. On that first broadcast, the station dropped a microphone out the window on a long lead, so that locals on the street could be interviewed. The station unusually for that time in pirate radio had its own phone line on 80923.
Fellow DJ’s from ARD arrived with Don including his wife Debbie, Dave Cunningham (known on air as Dave C) and DJ Sylvie. Locals DJ’s included John Paul Finnegan, Paul Mitchell and Alan Nolan.
Just after 12.30pm on Tuesday December 12th while Debbie Moore was on the air, the station was raided by officials from the Department of Post and Telegraphs backed up by local Gardai raided and closed the station. They confiscated the studio equipment and more importantly the transmitter. Don travelled from Dublin that night with a replacement transmitter and by noon the following day Big M was back on the air in time for the lucrative Christmas advertising market.
On Monday March 5th at 10am, Castlepollard native and DJ Alan Nolan, began a charity 25 hour charity on air marathon raising over £1,000 for the local Cystic Fibrosis association.
With many of the ARD based DJ’s, including
Moore, returning to Dublin, Big M closed at the end of March 1979. A couple of
years later a bigger and more successful pirate station would open in Mullingar
under the stewardship of Sean Coyne, Radio West. West would remain on the air until
the introduction of the new Wireless Telegraphy Act in 1988.
Sources
The Irish Pirate Radio Archive
The Irish Newspaper Archives
The Westmeath Topic
Don Moore (RIP)
Debbie Moore
The RTE Archives
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