A recent radio documentary hosted on Highland Radio in Donegal, Ireland, has highlighted the impact that Irish pirate radio stations had in the 1980s.
The documentary claims that the influence that these pirate stations had was one that shaped the broadcasting landscape in radio in Ireland and elsewhere right up to the modern day.
A recent radio documentary, aired in March on Highland Radio in Donegal, Ireland, has shed light on the impact of Irish pirate radio stations in the 1980s. The radio documentary, which was helmed by Russell Padmore, is now available on the Highland Radio website, as well as Padmore’s personal YouTube channel. Padmore claimed during the documentary that Irish pirate radio at the time was responsible for his latter 27-year career with the BBC and was also hugely influential for Irish musicians and others.
The documentary discusses how important grassroots media can be in certain situations and showcases how poorly and under-regulated industries can be brought to change by outlets acting to meet an unmet demand. For the operators of pirate radio stations in Ireland in the 1980s, they found that they had a more than receptive audience. The challenge of a state-monopoly by pirate operators is a story that still resonates to this day, and in some countries is a story that is even now being retold, albeit in different mediums than radio broadcast.
An Unmet Demand Begs to be Met
We can see it all throughout history, when there is an unmet demand in a certain industry, someone will rise to meet that demand, regardless of the legal nature of the regulatory environment. So it was in the 1980s in Ireland. As Padmore states in the radio documentary, the lack of a framework for acquiring broadcast licenses in Ireland at the time meant that there was a huge audience ready to tune in, who were otherwise not being served.
Similar situations can be seen in numerous countries around the world today, albeit in a slightly different way. Take New Zealand, for example. The country has a strict regulatory environment for online gambling, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a market for it. Rather, it means that if NZ residents want to make use of a $20 no deposit casino bonus, then they have to turn to pirate offshore operators. If the regulatory environment was less strict and consumers had more options, it seems likely that these pirate operators, like those in Ireland in the 1980s, would have much less success gaining an audience.
While there is nothing inherently dangerous about operating outside of government regulation, either in radio or in online casino gaming. It does mean that there is a lack of consumer protection and oversight. It turns the environment into a wild-west of catch as catch can. This means that the level of service and quality is likely to be inconsistent.
Rather than fight to restrict what consumers are demanding, it is smarter to do as the Irish government of the late 1980s did, and to bow to demand. By allowing the market to flourish and altering regulation to allow a broader broadcasting environment, the Irish government at the time allowed the broadcast needs of the public to be met. This means there was no longer any need for pirate broadcasts.
Why Does Irish Pirate Radio Matter?
You might be saying to yourself, “This was all more than 40 years ago. Why should this matter to me today?” Well, that’s a fair question. As Padmore states in the radio documentary, the way that these pirate stations operated and the talent they had working on them helped to shape the modern Irish broadcasting environment, and they also had a lasting impact on broader Irish society.
By doing what they needed to in order to meet a demand that they could see the state broadcasters were not meeting, the pirate radio stations also allowed a broader range of Irish voices to be heard. This means that more people were exposed to a wider range of musical influences and that diverse voices had a place to speak. This acceptance of a broader range of opinions can be seen in Irish radio and media today.
The Cultural Influence of Pirate Radio
As we mentioned above, these pirate stations were instrumental in broadening the musical horizons of their listeners. Daniel O’Donnell, an Irish country singer, appears on the documentary to state that he remembers pirate radio stations frequently playing his music, and he attributes some of his early popularity to their reach.
When you look at the figures from those days, the cultural influence of these pirate stations is undeniable. As Padmore states in the documentary, some of the pirate stations operating in Dublin drew bigger numbers than the official public broadcaster at the time, RTÉ. The documentary goes into greater detail about the cultural influence of the pirate radio stations, but they include statements that some stations were able to broadcast to listeners on both sides of the Irish border, helping to unite Irish people whatever their location.
Final Thoughts
While we’ve covered in broad strokes the importance of Irish pirate radio in the 1980s, Padmore’s documentary does a much better job and has the voices of a number of people intimately involved. It’s well worth a listen.
But for what it’s worth, thinking about the realities of unmet public demand and how easily the meeting of that demand can force regulatory change, we can’t help but draw comparisons to some modern-day situations.