The Irish Language Pirate Radio Stations

 

When pirate.ie (Read Here) posted on their excellent website about the opening of Irish language pirate radio station Saor Raidio Chonamara (Free Radio Connemara) in April 1970, as activists campaigned for an Irish language radio station, it brought to mind another attempt at Irish language pirate radio in Dublin in 1979.

Radio Na Phobail (translates as 'Radio of the Public') opened on October 16^th 1979 broadcasting on 200mMW and in a blaze of publicity. The Irish language station was operated by Conradh na Gaeilge from a garage on the southside of the city. Conradh na Gaeilge is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde was its first president. Hyde would officially open Ireland’s first official radio station 2RN in 1926 and would also serve as the first President of Ireland.  

Initially the station only broadcast for a and hour each evening between 9pm and 10pm with announcements and music before this was increased to a couple of hours each evening. According to Conradh at the launch they said that the station had been set up,

‘Primarily as a protest against the continuing failure of RTE to provide an adequate service in Irish on radio and TV and to scale down the Anglo-American domination on RTE programming’.

They said that the station would be staffed by 20 members of Conradh na Gaeilge and the station was financed by several branches of the movement. They revealed in the press that the 50watt transmitter had cost nearly £1,000. The transmitter and much of the ancillary equipment was purchased from a defunct station in Galway city.

The station operator said that they would not be relying on advertising, as it was advertising that was forcing RTE to broadcast Anglo-American programmes and they saw that as anti-national.  and that the cost of running the station would be borne by the formation of a ‘Club Tacaiochta’ or ‘Support Club’.

 

Unfortunately, the station suffered from low power and technical setbacks which included frequency changes to 245m and later 215m. Raidio na Phobail had disappeared from the airwaves by the summer of 1981. Dublin would not get a Irish language only station until 1991 when Radio na Life was licensed initially on a temporary license but then acquired a full time license. Conradh na Gaeilge got back into the radio business with the launch of Radio RiRa.

 You can hear some of Radio Na Phobail test transmissions here:

 https://soundcloud.com/user-111680633/radio-an-phobail-tests?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

 In April 1970, when that group of activists began illegally broadcasting from a caravan near Rosmuc in County Galway, Raidio Saor Chonamara was a publicity stunt that shone a light on the demand for more Irish language on the airwaves to cater for the Gaeltacht areas of Ireland. The stunt worked as two years later Radio Na Gaeltachta took to the airwaves. Originally broadcasting solely to the Gaeltachta areas on the west coast of Ireland, in 1973 with the addition on an FM Network, RnaG went nationwide and continues successfully today.

 

But how far has Irish language broadcasting some. An interesting study of Irish language radio was conducted by John Walsh of NUIG and can be read HERE. There were a number of pirate operations in Dublin before Raidio Na Life came on the air in 1991 as a temporary license and a full time license was granted in 1993 and broadcasts on 106.4mhz FM. But traditional radio is now augmented by stations available online only through apps like Tune-In and DAB.

The stations available today are

Raidio Na Gaeltachta available on FM - online

Raidio na Life on FM - Radio Garden & radio.ie

Raidio Ri-Ra – Online – radio.ie - Radio Garden and the occasional temporary license from the BAI. It is a chart music station that broadcasts links in Irish. The station is operated as an arm of Conradh na Gaeilge who operated the pirate station Raidio na Phobail back in the 1980’s

Ceol FM. Available online through TuneIn and Radio Garden There are a range of sub channels available from Ceol FM including Ceol FM Energetic and Ceol FM Soothing

Raidio Siamsa available on radio garden or through its own app. According to their website

Radio Siamsa is an Irish online radio station broadcasting Irish traditional music from Dublin. We broadcast only Irish traditional music mainly Irish tunes, interspersed with occasional songs.

Saor Raidio available on FreeDAB, the pirate DAB system with scrolling text announcing it was ‘ar fud na hEireann’

 

North of the border in Belfast, Radio Failte first went on the air in the spring of 1988 with studios located in the Conway Mills complex on the Falls Road, Belfast. In January 1989, the station announced it was leaving the airwaves to pursue a license from the authorities. The station was back on the airwaves illegally broadcasting from New Year’s Day January 1993 and now located in the McAdam O’Fiach Cultural centre on the Falls Road.  but they received a RSL (Restricted Service License) from the radio authority (now known as Ofcom). They were allowed to broadcast for 28 days from Monday June 7th 1993.

Listeners were able to switch on to the opening broadcast at 7am and early birds enjoyed the lulling strains of Irish singer Albert Fry with his rendition of a Donegal folk song. A permanent licence granted 15 September 2006 and the station was officially opened by the then President of Ireland and Belfast native Mary McAleese. In October 2018 the station moved to a state-of-the-art new building on the junction of the Falls Road and the Westlink motorway designed by McGurk architects

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2018/0531/967293-raidio-failte-belfast/

Conway Mills was the home to another Belfast station that broadcast predominately in the Irish Language. Féile FM was a community radio station  based at Conway Mill in Belfast’s Gaeltacht Quarter. The station first went on air in July 1996 on a 28-day RSL, operating for the west Belfast community festival Feile na Phobail. Within two years, Féile FM began broadcasting for two four-week periods each year, providing a build-up to Feile na Phobail and St Patrick’s Day.

Over the first nine years, Féile FM broadcast on 106.2FM. This frequency changed to 107.7 FM for the radio broadcast in July/August 2005. Although the station was broadcasting from various venues, it returned to Conway Mill in February 2004 to a purpose-built studio with a full studio and modern equipment and broadcast online. In October 2005, Féile FM was granted a full-time community radio license by Ofcom. After the period of two years, Féile FM was granted permission to broadcast throughout the year as opposed to its previous restrictions on broadcasting only in the run-up to St. Patrick's Day and the West Belfast Festival. This allowed the station to provide a full-time community radio service to the entire city of Belfast. By 2007, Feile FM was on 103.2mhz but the recession forced the station to close at 4pm on Friday 25 March 2011 owing to financial difficulties and increasing overhead costs.

Sources

The Irish Independent

The Sunday Press

pirate.ie

radiowaves.fm

Radio Failte 

BAI

OfCom

1972, Irish Pirate Radio, Calendar of Events 50 Years Ago

 

With the greats efforts of pirate.ie, radiowaves.fm and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive at Dublin City University, so much of the golden era of Irish pirate radio (1978-1988) is being preserved, digitized and archived. This follows on from the excellent work carried out by the DX Archive in archiving Irish pirate radio history. But by 1978 pirate radio was not a new phenomenon. A half a century ago in 1972, the activities of pirate radio stations across the island of Ireland exercised the journalists of the day, the authorities and most importantly the listeners, who found pirate radio to be entertaining, informative and a unique way of rebelling against the status quo. So, what happed in 1972? Here is a calendar of events.

January 5^th 1972

The first reports of Armagh Resistance Radio began to appear in the newspaper in the North. A nationalist pirate radio station described in February as being located in Lurgan, Reports of the station’s broadcasts were still being reported in the Belfast Newsletter in September.

Armagh Resistance Radio broadcast on medium wave and was believed by the British Army to be located in the Slieve Gullion area of Armagh, having begun broadcasting over Christmas 1971. The station was reported to be broadcasting advice to listeners about the ‘Rent and Rates’ strike that was taking place as a form of resistance to British rule in Northern Ireland at the time.  The station was picked up in many of the border counties and included requests for Republican internees. In January 1972 a similar station was heard calling itself ‘Radio Free Armagh’ broadcasting on 240m. Reporter Barry White writing in the Belfast Telegraph wrote that when he heard the station as the track ‘The Old Fenian Gun’ faded the chant on air was,

‘Who do we want free? Every last internee’.

The station was still being reported as being on the air from the Lurgan area in September 1972^[1].

January 22^nd 1972

The first newspaper reports of a new Dublin station, Channel 70, appeared in the Evening Herald. The station broadcasting on 224m (later 227m) but the station had been sporadically on the air since 1970. Channel 70 was one of the stations that formed the United Pirates of Dublin in the 1970’s. Channel 70 used a 150watt transmitter to broadcast on Tuesday’s midnight to 1AM, Saturdays from midnight for 30 minutes and Sunday afternoons from 1970 until 1973.

April 2^nd 1972            

Radio na Gaeltachta is officially opened by the President of Ireland Eamon DeValera from their headquarters in the Gaeltacht area of Galway. The station followed on from the pirate station Radio Saor Connemara, which had been on air agitating for an all Irish language radio service two years earlier. A number of those who operated the pirate station were in top positions at the new State funded service.

April 2^nd 1972

The Official IRA station Workers Radio, on 232m (later 242m), began broadcasting on Easter Sunday April 2nd 1972 operating from the Falls Road Belfast. The station would air the Republican song ‘The Belfast Brigade’ as their signature closedown. Just two weeks after going on air the station was abruptly closed when members of The Provisional IRA raided the house where the station was located and the man and woman on air were warned not to interfere with the transmitter’s destruction or they would be shot. The Official IRA claimed the house was owned by a pregnant woman. The station had made a name for itself by broadcasting requests for Republican prisoners in Long Kesh prison who had been interned.

The Workers Radio studio in Belfast

May 3^rd 1972 

The first broadcasts of the Official IRA’s station Radio Saoirse was heard in Dublin on 218m. The station was broadcasting anti-EEC referendum propaganda and began each broadcast at 6.30pm and 7.15pm with the Henry Joy McCracken quote ‘the rich always betray the poor.’ Saoirse was an anti EEC station that broadcast for the duration of the referendum campaign in 1972. The newspapers reported that it had been set up by the Official IRA, who had been denied access to the State airwaves. The first test broadcast was heard on Monday May 1^st and then every second day until the referendum on May 10^th. The station began each transmission with a quotation from the 1798 rebel Henry Joy McCracken ‘the rich betray the poor.’ The station, which translated as ‘Freedom Radio’, was set up with the assistance of Tony Boylan.

June 20^th 1972

This was the first broadcast of the loyalist pirate station in Belfast known as The Gnomes of Ulster Radio also known as GNU Radio.

June 25^th 1972

The free radio fan magazine ‘Script’ reported that test transmissions from Liberty Radio began on June 25^th 1972 but unlike many of the political pirate stations Liberty broadcast on 6815khz short wave. In November 1972 the World DX Club magazine ‘Contact’ reported that the station was ‘located in a block of flats in Northern Ireland’ which was most likely the Divis flats in Belfast as 1969 there were very few Blocks of flats in Northern Ireland. The Divis flats briefly housed a station that broadcast on medium wave in 1971 identifying itself as Radio Divis. Liberty Radio was heard up to early 1973^[2].  Another non-political station that played a homage to the offshore pirate radio station Radio Caroline^[3] was Belfast located Radio Caroline International. According to DX Archivist Ian Biggar,

“Radio Caroline International broadcast around 1333 kHz^[4] and was most active in 1972, for example heard on Wednesday 22nd November with a test transmission from 0000-0030, saying they would be on regularly in a couple of weeks. Programmes commenced just after midnight on various nights of the week with music ranging from Irish C&W to Top 20 pop. They used a mailing address in County Louth and their signal was clearly received some 200 miles from the transmitter, albeit using a good radio and external aerial.”

July 4^th 1972

Radio Free Nick was broadcasting on 245m as a UDA operated station from the Shankill Road area of Belfast.

According to the front page of the Cork Examiner on July 6^th 1972

"Radio Free Nick" is the obscure title of latest pirate radio station operated from a location within the Shankill Road ‘No Go area' run principally by supporters of the UDA, reports Walter Ellis. On 245 metres on the medium wave, it broadcasts mostly record requests and appeals to join the UDA. The songs between openly Loyalist numbers like "The Amazing Sash" and "Our Flag’ include ballads by the Irish showbands and artists like, the late Jim Reeves. One unusual appeal - from woman dee jay "Our Sal" was to the people of Ballymurphy and Andersonstown, to take in their Tricolours, she said and fly your Ulster flags instead. You are sons and daughters of Ulster, too"

A Still taken from an ITV World in Action programming featuring Terry Tartan on the microphone with Our Sal standing beside her.

The station broadcast the dates and times of planned protests and mobilisations interspersed with calls to follow ‘Rangers’^[5], ‘news from the front’ and rallying the Belfast Protestant community against the spectre of Vatican influence on the province. In an attempt to put the station off the air, a house on Ceylon Street off the Shankill Road was raided by the British Army and some of the station’s equipment was confiscated but they were back on the air within days. No arrests were made.

 

The station was one of the most listened to in Belfast at the time for the loyalist community as they broadcast coded messages and calls for people to man barricades in their area. The station became required listening and while much of their broadcasts were anti-Catholic and anti-Nationalist, they kept their own local community informed. In July 1972 most Protestants and especially Loyalist paramilitaries were getting all their information from Radio Free Nick. At one stage it told all UDA units not to move from their areas until further notice as it announced that an alleged statement asking units to move to Legadoon was false propaganda.

 

On the opposite side of the sectarian divide an IRA pirate station was operating in the Lenadoon area broadcasting public information and requests for the local residents of the Catholic area.

(This history was taken from the forthcoming book

‘The Illegal Voice of Ulster, Sectarian Pirate Radio’.)

July 23^rd 1972

Originally calling itself ‘The Voice of Ireland’, Radio Valleri began broadcasting from a garden shed with a thirty-watt transmitter on July 23^rd 1972 originally located in Drumcondra before moving to Baldoyle. The station named after the Monkey’s hit was operated by Derek Jones and Mike Anderson. The station originally went on air broadcasting on medium wave from Jones’s shed before moving to short wave. The station continued intermittently until the early 1980’s. This is a history of the station compiled by the DX Archive,

‘Anyone tuning across the 48 metre free radio shortwave band during the 1970's would probably remember hearing the song "Valleri" by The Monkees.  It signified the sign-on and sign-off of Radio Valleri, one of the longest running stations of the decade. The station however wasn't always on shortwave.   Radio Valleri was actually one of the early free radio stations to transmit to the Dublin area. It began broadcasting during the Summer of 1972 on a medium wave frequency of 1525kHz with 30 watts of power.  The station started operating from a garden shed in North Dublin on a Sunday by two young radio enthusiasts, Derek Jones and Mike Anderson.  Radio Valleri first transmitted on Sunday 23rd July 1972 between 12 mid-day and 1pm with a half hour from each of the founding members.  Transmission times were extended as they were joined by Arno St Jude^[6] and Edward LeRoy and operated regular Sundays until late September of that year when they closed down due to transmitter problems.  

 

 

At this point, Arno St Jude left to be on Radio Melinda.  The station's next broadcast was in 1973, but this time they had moved to shortwave.  The operators had been persuaded by their engineer to try this band, and a suitable transmitter was built.  The change to shortwave was a great success, with letters being received from listeners all across Europe.  As Ireland did not have a government operated International Service at this time (this had closed decades before), Radio Valleri became the 'Voice of Ireland' on shortwave.  The frequency used during this period was initially 6317kHz, moving to 6260kHz and finally 6210kHz prior to the station closing in October 1974 after a year of Sunday transmissions.    

 

The station returned in Autumn 1975, and regular Sunday broadcasts were made until December, when heavy Post Office activity in Dublin caused a cessation of broadcasts until May 1976.  Following the return in May 1976, Radio Valleri operated for several years on a number of frequencies starting on 6260kHz.  In late 1976 there were reports in the Free Radio press of a new station called Premier Radio about to start from Dublin on 6260kHz.  Although no signals from this new station were ever logged, Radio Valleri moved to 6202kHz in January 1977. (Note: 6260kHz was later used in 1979 by Radio Cill Dara International).

 

In February 1977 the English magazine 'Free Radio Waves' featured a history of Radio Valleri in its 3rd issue.  6202kHz continued to be used for a time, but transmissions eventually ceased, possibly during mid-1979.  Radio Valleri was next heard during the 1980's on 6400kHz, although the signal was never as strong as it had been during the 1970's. 
July 31^st 1972

Radio Saoirse began operating in Derry City beginning each broadcast with the song ‘A Nation Once Again’

September 30^th 1972 

Although not operating illegally, Radio Ballinasloe went to great lengths to announce that their loudspeaker system throughout the Galway town for the local festival, was not a pirate radio station.

December 17^th 1972

At 11am on September 9^th 1971, Radio Milinda (sometimes referred to as Radio Melinda) went on air from about a Youth Club on the Sean McDermott Street area just off Dublin’s main thoroughfare O’Connell Street. The men originally behind the station were Jimmy McCabe who built the transmitter, Jimmy Lynch and Ritchie Kearns.                                                                                   

Soon after the launch two more young men became involved Mark Storey and Declan Meehan both of whom would go onto to work for RTE. With the assistance of a nearby record shop owner on Talbot Street, Milinda began to play the top ten every week, the first station in Ireland to do that.

 

When RTE reporter Kevin O’Kelly reported on a meeting he had with a senior member of the IRA and when in November 1972 he refused to identify his informant, he was jailed for contempt of court. As a result, the RTE authority was sacked and some staff threatened Christmas industrial action and this would leave Radio Milinda as the only radio station on air in Dublin. Milinda announced that the station would be broadcasting twenty four hours a day over the festive period but the authorities had other plans.

On December 17^th 1972, almost one hundred Gardai and Department of Posts and Telegraphs officials raided the station located above the Diamond public house. The final song being played was Donovan’s hit ‘Sunshine Superman’. On February 3^rd the following year the resultant court case led to the conviction of five of the seven men charged with illegal broadcasting and they were each were fined £2.

 

In December there were numerous newspaper reports of a mutiny on board the offshore pirate radio ship Radio Caroline, anchored in the North Sea. Caroline could be heard at night in Ireland was popular since the days one of its ships was anchored off the Isle of Man. The fact that it was an Irishman, Ronan O’Rahilly who was behind the station made it newsworthy in Ireland. You can read more about Radio Caroline in 1972 here.

 

Sundown Radio initially began broadcasting in July 1968^[7] founded by Con McParland. Broadcasting on 230m MW (later 242m), it was originally ‘a mixture of records and good chat, no mention of anything political’^[8] and located in a derelict shop on the Old Lodge Road. By 1969 and the rise of tensions in the city the output from the station became more sectarian. The station closed and McParland left Northern Ireland where he moved to Cork and set up another version of Radio Sundown broadcasting on 240m which stayed on air from 1972 until 1975 when a lack of funds led to its demise

 

Reports throughout 1972 reported on a Radio 99 broadcasting from along the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. In April 1971, Radio 99 had begun broadcasting on 199m and was set up by four friends to broadcast non-political content with a diet of country and western music. Radio 99 was originally located in a disused house just inside the County Fermanagh border and was on air three hours Saturday and Sunday nights from 9.30pm opening each night with their signature tune Slim Whitman’s ‘What’s the World a Coming To’. The station provided a postal address for requests of 6, Millbrook, Clones, County Monaghan but after just a couple of weeks on air the station was closed by loyalist paramilitaries who intimidated the young broadcasters forcing them to close and move their transmitter south of the nearby border.

 

The station operators moved to Dunsrim near Scotshouse in County Monaghan with studios now housed in a caravan. The transmitter was built by Clones man Sean McQuillan^[9] using an ex-army transmitter. The station had three small transmitters two located south of the border and one north of the border across the River Finn. They periodically broadcast over the next four years with a name change to Radio Caroline North, but it would all come to an end on November 21st 1975 when the Gardai raided the station. Three men Owen Smyth (aged 24) Charles Smyth (23) both from Knox, Scotshouse and Andrew Slowey from Cootehill, Cavan were found guilty of illegal broadcasting and fined ten pounds each.

 

Another station reported in band scans as being on the air in 1972 was Radio Six a Dublin 6 based station that operated from 1972 until 1973.

 

The influence of pirate radio in the Republic of Ireland is colourful. It led to political, broadcasting and social change, It added colour to a dark period in Ireland’s history. In Northern Ireland, illegal broadcasting took a different, darker path but they were never the less an important part of the history of Irish radio.

 

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[1] The Evening Herald September 4th 1972

[2] The World DX Club and Ian Biggar (DX Archive).

[3] Radio Caroline North had operated off the coast of the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea from July 1964 – September1967 and was well received and popular across Northern Ireland.

[4] 225m Medium Wave

[5] Glasgow Rangers FC

[6] Arno St Jude was the on air name of Declan Meehan

[7] Front Page Belfast Telegraph July 30^th 1968

[8] The Belfast Memories Forum

[9] In Interviews with the McQuillan Family in Monaghan

Is Loyalist Radio good for Ulster?

 

The airs that played could be at home in a pub in Dublin, a dance hall in Glasgow, a front room on the Shankill Road or at a festival in New York. Their toe tapping and embracing folk style makes Irish music a favourite all over the globe. The lyrics given to these melodic airs however, are worlds apart, create divisions and have consequences.

‘The Scum in Green will be killed by the UDA. Give my guns to my sons when I am dead.’

Matthew Milliken from the Ulster University wrote on the RTE website,

‘In many divided societies, identities are self-evident (language, skin colour), but the tell-tale reference points that would instantly reveal the crossover teacher in Northern Ireland as an outsider are largely absent. English is generally spoken as a first language by both communities and there are no distinguishing racial characteristics by which Catholics and Protestants can be identified. 

Family names and first names can provide a widely understood tell – those whose name has an Irish origin are presumed to be Catholic whilst those who bear a British name are expected to be Protestants.  Generations of inter-marriage and "faith-fluidity" (the 21st century equivalence of taking the soup) mean that a surname may be a potentially misleading clue to identity. Accuracy increases when both first names and surnames are available.’ 

A Belfast based online radio station in 2021 is perpetuating that sectarian divide between Loyalism and Republicanism and reinforcing the Loyalist’s belief that the opposite side of their community is primed to attack and wipe out them and their traditions. It is reinforcing a stereotype that influences a younger generation through, word, music and radio.

 

‘UlsterScot FM’ is based in Belfast online radio station that is easily accessed through online streams including the Tune-In app. There are no restrictions on who can listen or on content being age appropriate. The songs played are a mixture of celebration and commemoration of Loyalist heroes and atrocities. They celebrate the romantism of proscribed organisations like the UDA and the UVF and they propagate the stereotype of the ‘Fenian Taigs’ being their enemy. Their tagline is,

UlsterScot FM: The home of loyalist music and banter, Accept no substitutes!

 A look at their output on Friday 19^th February 2021 from 3.45pm – 4.30pm was as follows,

Ballad of Noel Kinner (Imprisoned for the murder by the UDA of Brendan McLaughlin in 1980, Died of a heart attack November 4^th 1996)

On Our Way to Ibrox

The Men of the UDA

(Lyrics included The Scum in Green will be killed by the UDA. Give my guns to my sons when I am dead)

Flute and Drum Tunes including Nearer my God to Thee.

The Protestant Boys (Celebrating July 12^th & The Loyalist Irish brigade. Sung to the tune of  "Lillibullero", a march composed by Henry Purcell that became popular in England at the time of the Glorious Revolution in the 17^th Century.)

A Village in County Armagh (Sung by a Scottish Artist) (Lyrics include ‘The Protestant Cause must never be lost) This song is about a young Ulster soldier.

We Will Follow Glasgow Rangers (Lyrics include ‘If they go to Dublin we will follow on’.)

The Lassie of Kelvin Hall (Loyalist folk song) also found on Christy Moore’s website

Pipe and Drums Marching Tunes

No Pope of Rome (sung to the tune of Where the Buffalo Roams) ‘No Pope of Rome, no nuns, no priests and no rosary beads’, ’Every day is the 12^{th of} July’.

We’ll Keep the Blue Flag Flying High (The Parkhead Boys haven’t a clue) to the tune of Oh Camembert.

When You wear the Red and Brown. (The Red Hand Soldier, we’ll take on Gerry Adams,)

UDA UDA All the Way (Marching the Streets on the 12^{th of} July)

 

On numerous nights the station broadcasts its loyalist, and sometimes sectarian brand of entertainment, live on through their Tune-In app and on Facebook Live. On Friday February 19^th the live presenter was DJ Debz (Debbie Smith) who was on air from 8pm to Midnight. On other nights Shirley Lindsay and BrucieBoy were the presenters. The presenters rarely spoke on air but were available to take requests from those interacting on Facebook either through the chat facility or in a private chat room. For the first thirty minutes of DJ Debz show on the 19^th the music tracks were,

Pipe & Drums

Jingle

The Red White & Blue (‘A UVF soldier bold and true’, ‘We have been silent for too long’) Sung to the tune of You are My Hero.

On the Shankill Road

Our Love for The Red White and Blue (‘You’ll never rule over Ulster’)

The People’s Army, The Ulster Volunteers (The 36^th Division and the Liverpool Volunteers)

Jingle

Come Over to Ulster

The UDR 4 (The UDR Four were four members of the 2nd Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment who were convicted of the murder of Adrian Carroll in 1983. Adrian Carroll was the brother of the Sinn Féin councillor Tommy Carroll. Three of the Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers were acquitted on appeal in 1992.^[1][2] However a fourth, Neil Latimer, had his conviction upheld and served 14 years in prison before being released under the Good Friday Agreement.)

No 1 Platoon of UVF (Lyrics include ‘With a gun in my hand I will fight for my land’.)

Side by Side with Scotland

The Men Behind the Wire (The Loyalist version of The Men Behind the Wire dates from the early 1970s, probably 1972. Its writers are unknown and several Loyalist groups and musicians have performed the song. Like the Republican version it emulates, The Men Behind the Wire is a protest against internment and imprisonment of paramilitary volunteers. Its lyrics are laden with symbolism, mentioning the “Red Hand”, the “Crown” and the “old Red White and Blue”. It also pays tribute to “loyal sons” and their “love for dear old Ulster”. Alphahistory.com)

Jingle

The popularity of the shows on Facebook is evident from the numbers averaging 2,226 per live show. The views on Facebook Live were

DJ Debz February 19^th                        1,800 views                 1,200 comments

DJ Shirley February 18^th                    1,100 views                 781 comments

DJ BrucieBoy February 17^th             2,200 views                 689 comments

DJ Debz February 15^th                        2,600 views                 994 comments

DJ Shirley February 13^th                    3,100 views                 1,500 comments

DJ Debz February 12^th                        2,800 views                 1,800 comments

 

The Radio App was developed by Nobex Partners who describe themselves as the complete digital solution for radio stations and podcasters.

‘We make it easy for you to create your own custom, feature-rich mobile app and provide the most powerful Dashboard to help you engage and grow your listenership.’

According to the data statistics website 42matters.com, UlsterScot FM has over one thousand app downloads alone apart from their availability on Tune-In.

 

The content is sectarian but it is in tradition of the loyalist culture. It is however important that the Loyalist culture should have an outlet whether it’s through social media or broadcast. The Catholic/Nationalist community in Belfast can tune into Radio Failte. The Falls Road located station was originally a pirate radio station before receiving a license from Ofcom, the British regulator. As a licensed station, the content it broadcasts is subject rules and codes of practice. The similar rules do not apply currently to broadcasters online.

 

The support of and the playing of tunes littered with foul language in support of Glasgow Rangers matches the sectarian bigotry of their rivalry with Glasgow Celtic, seen as the Catholic half of the rivalry. Many of the tunes are generically Irish, while other tunes are plagurised from other artists with the words substituted, known in the business as ‘Contrafactum’. Even though it was voted was the World’s Favourite song in a Global BBC poll, the Wolf Tones version of ‘A Nation Once Again’ rarely receives radio airplay due to its overly sectarian connotation, even though it was not written for that purpose. The song though is sung with gusto at events including weddings and funerals yet many who sing it do not know or even fully understand why it is so controversial or why it is offensive to a different community. For some it is just a really fine example of an Irish song.

 

Many of the songs that are aired on stations like UlsterScot FM reinforce the anti-Catholic sentiment that manifested itself throughout over a century of Belfast history. The Falls Road and the Shankill Roads are separated by a wall imposed to protect lives and property and the Protestants and Catholics on either side are living in enclaves with both sides having experienced forms of ethnic cleansing in the early part of the Troubles in the late sixties and early seventies. It is a form of brainwashing to perpetuate the hatred and the divisions that have existed in Northern Ireland even after the Good Friday Agreement that brought an end to the Troubles.

 

The issue that UlsterScot broadcasts sectarian inspired content contravenes the terms of service of Tune-In.

Terms of Service

Acceptable Uses and Objectionable Content. We want Users to have an enjoyable experience when they use the Service. To facilitate that, we have adopted an Acceptable Use Policy, which is hereby incorporated by reference into this EULA. You are required to comply with the Acceptable Use Policy when Posting any User Content to the Service. The Posting of any Objectionable Content, as defined in the Acceptable Use Policy, may subject you to third party claims and none of the rights granted to you in this EULA may be raised as a defence against any third party claims arising from your Posting of Objectionable Content. If you encounter any Objectionable Content on the Service, then please immediately email TuneIn at support@tunein.com. 

Tune In acceptable policy states,

‘Treat fellow members of the community with respect. Act in good faith and assume others are acting in good faith as well. Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

We do not permit objectionable content on the Service, which is content that is or could be interpreted to be (i) abusive, bullying, defamatory, harassing, harmful, hateful, inaccurate, infringing, libellous, objectionable, obscene, offensive, pornographic, shocking, threatening, unlawful, violent, vulgar, or in violation of any applicable laws (including laws related to speech); or (ii) promoting any product, good, or service, or bigotry, discrimination, hatred, intolerance, racism, or inciting violence (including suicide) (collectively, “Objectionable Content“)’.

 

According to the Irish Times in December 2020 the Irish Government intends to tackle content such as that broadcast on UlsterScot FM although it will be difficult to police online.

‘The sharing of hate speech on social media is to become a criminal offence under Government proposals to combat racism and bigotry. This will mean that the sharing or retweeting of hateful speech on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter will be a crime, even if the person sharing it was not the author. Under the Government plan, to be published on Thursday by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, there will be protections for social-media companies from prosecution. For example, it will be a defence for a company to show it had existing measures in place to prevent hate speech and was complying with these.’

 

The large social media companies have come under sustained pressure especially in the wake of the 2020 US presidential Election to be more proactive in identifying and blocking hate speech online but this must also apply to so called radio services masquerading as entertainment when in fact they material broadcast is inflammatory and insensitive. The adage that ‘if you don’t like it you don’t have to listen’ rings hollow when in fact the issue is the indoctrination of a younger generation into believing that the opposite side of a divide is the enemy that must be challenged.

 

This is not the first time that stations like this have faced criticism. In an Irish Examiner article in 2005, detailing the story of Loyalist FM (https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30217677.html).

“Internet authorities tonight pledged to probe any fears about an online radio station allegedly glorifying loyalist terrorists. SDLP Assembly member John Dallat has demanded the shutdown of a website he believes is trying to recruit teenage paramilitaries. The East Londonderry MLA has also urged Chief Constable Hugh Orde to move against Loyalist FM.

The site claims to be promoting loyalist culture by playing music and providing entertainment for the 1,080 registered users. But its online jukebox contains songs where a father implores his sons to take his gun and fight as Ulster Defence Association men, and another portraying a 16-year-old taking up a rifle on behalf of the YCV – the Ulster Volunteer Force’s youth wing. Mr Dallat said: “Given the countless massacres that loyalist paramilitaries have been involved in, this is obviously just about incitement to hatred and lawlessness. “I have written to the chief constable, drawing his attention to it and suggesting it was a recruiting agent for the worst kind of paramilitaries.”

 

Loyalist FM’s playlist is still available on SoundCloud with versions of the ‘Deck of Cards’ lauding the exploits of the UVF, ‘Craigavon Protestant Boys’ and ‘I Am Northern Ireland’.[1] They even produced an album featuring the seventeen most requested tracks played on the station.

According to the widely respected Cain Website the importance of the online station’s activities in promoting the loyalist band traditions,

‘The role of the online radio station Loyalist FM, in organising events, sponsoring bands and hosting band websites in 2004 and 2005 provides evidence that online activity has become woven in with the loyalist band scene as a significant new form of alternative media.’

However even within Loyalism, the station was controversial and is yet another indication that online radio stations should be, if not licensed, then registered, In May 2005, The Sunday Life Newspaper reported,

‘Loyalists have fallen out over business dealings at an online radio station, it has been revealed.

A new management team has taken over Loyalist FM after it was discovered a former member had been taking bookings for gigs without telling anyone. The internet station which plays "the best in loyalist cultural music" can be booked for private functions at lodges, clubs and band halls. A new website ‘loyalistfm.net’ was created last month and new managers posted a statement online distancing themselves from the former organisers. The statement reads: "Since the new management team have taken over the running of Loyalist FM, it has become increasingly apparent that there was a lot of business being done by one member of the management of ‘loyalistfm.co.uk’ which no one else was told about. "We would like to make it clear that we are in no way related to the work of the previous management.

 

It appears that (the former member) a lot of bookings and did a lot of business under the Loyalist FM name without telling anyone else. "This has left us in the dark about most bookings for Loyalist FM. "If you have booked Loyalist FM through (the former member) and would like the new team to carry out the booking, please contact lexi@loyalistfm.net". He added: "We cannot guarantee that we will be able to attend your event, but we will make every effort to help you." A spokesman for the station was reluctant to discuss recent developments. He said: "It was an internal issue that's been resolved and the people involved have now left" Loyalist FM DJ’s are in high demand, according to the website, playing functions across the province and further afield.’[2]

 

Other online stations have come and gone including ‘LoyalistShankillFM’ whose online profile said it ‘is a loyalist radio station formed 2014 to bring you the best possible loyalist music that we can and to keep our culture alive.’

 Another station was Shankill Radio which says that it ‘is a community based radio station which delivers two FM broadcasts a year one in July and the other at Christmas Shankill Radio also have internet broadcast in between their FM broadcasts. All the people at Shankill Radio are volunteers and give up their free time to help keep the radio running. Shankill Radio is a charity based organisation which is in constant need of funding. I have listened to Shankill Radio myself and have found if very enjoyable and the DJ's and staff of Shankill Radio are very friendly. 

 

The Ulster -Scot connection was reinforced for a time by a Scottish based Loyalist/Orange Order online station based in Scotland known as Radio 221 /Radio Calton[3]. According to their website,

‘Only songs portraying our Protestant, Orange and Loyalist culture will be played! Some songs may be construed as offensive and unfortunately the listener cannot choose which songs they want played’.

In his book ‘Unionists, Loyalists and Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland’ by Lee A. Smithey, he wrote,

‘Websites such as PULSE, formerly Calton Radio, based in Glasgow, exemplify the revanchist quarters of loyalism where zero-sum mentalities are perpetuated. PULSE caters to bands, paramilitaries and their supporters, hosts online discussions, publishes newsletters and streams a radio broadcast of loyalist and Orange tunes. The materials available on the web typify the defensive and studiously anti-Republican views of working class Protestants who feel ‘under siege’ and question whether the war is truly over. Paramilitaries figure prominently in the music that the site broadcasts.’

 

The Ulster Loyalist tradition of following Glasgow Rangers is an extension of the sectarianism of Belfast onto the sporting fields of Glasgow as Rangers seen traditionally as the Protestant team facing down their rivals annually, the Catholic based Glasgow Celtic. The song ‘The Fields of Athenry’ written in 1979 by Pete St John is a traditional favourite at sporting fixtures in both rugby and soccer and has a communal feel to it as most people at least known the chorus but when listening to ‘True Blue Loyalist Radio’ with their tagline ‘We are the People (WATP)’, the words had been adapted to the tune, the chorus now boasting,

‘Remember, our fathers brave and bold, As they fought for Ulster's cause in far off lands’

Almost every tune played each night 8-11pm (except Tuesdays) referenced the connection between Scotland and Ulster and Orangeism and loyalism. They too promote and reinforce the sense of isolation for their culture and a sense of its their backs to the wall, they must stick together and they idolise acts of violence and hero worship Ulster protestants who fought in World War One with scant reference to any Ulsterman who may have lost their lives in any other war. The music is well produced and has a certain appeal, one song about a song remembering his father who died in the fields of celebration during the 12^th of July parade was particularly good.

During the Covid19 pandemic, when July 12^th festivities including parades were banned in Northern Ireland, the Orange Order developed a pop up radio station to keep their brethren informed and entertained. According to The Journal.ie in July 2020,

‘At the centre of the celebrations will be ‘Radio Boyne’ – a pop-up radio station that will begin broadcasting on 10 July. With music, chat and a thought-for-the-day section, the Grand Orange Lodge is hoping that people tune into shows such as the ‘Twelfth Request Sunday Show’ and ‘Auld Orange Ballads’. 

 

The freedom of speech should not be impugned but the content of some of these online radio stations should be monitored. It is important that traditions of culture and history are respected and embraced but to prolong and encourage sectarian bias and a belief that violence against another community can be legitimatised, is unacceptable. It should not be tolerated online on social media or broadcast either via analogue transmissions (pirate radio) or online radio stations. Some of the music is very engaging and enlightening and it is important to respect the music that Loyalists generations have enjoyed in the past. It assists in healing if we can understand opposing views. Words and music matter. Radio can be a healer or it can continue division. Radio can work.

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[1] https://soundcloud.com/loyalist-fm

[2] Journalist Sinead McCavanna

[3] Began broadcasting in March 2007 later to rebranded as PULSE, Protestant Unionist Loyalist Social Education