Most obscure 2FM DJ you can think of

its_steve116

Of everyone who's been on RTÉ Radio 2/2FM over the years, who is the most obscure one you can think of? Including stand-ins, part-time hosts etc?

Micheal Varadkar

Colma Fahey, Anna Santina

Micheal Varadkar

But if you wanted to get very obscure, I have a vague memory of Diarmuid de Faoite & Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh presenting The beat box or 2TV on a Saint Patrick's Day as Gaeilge in the mid 90s

its_steve116

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121275297#Comment_121275297

If my research is right, I think 2TV replaced The Beatbox around 1995 or '96. I would have been around one or two back then!

its_steve116

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121275297#Comment_121275297

Googled Diarmuid, he seems to be a playwright

thejuggler

Not as obscure perhaps but Andy Ruane is better remembered for his tv work. He did the 8-10 shift on weekday evenings for a while in the late 80s. Like it love it!

Also there was a strike in RTE in the early 90s resulting in a lot of unusual names filling in from time to time

squonk

Probably obscure now buy Uaneen Fitzsimons presented since 2FM shows in the late 90s as well as presenting No Disco also. She is only obscure as her caster was tragically cut short after a fatal car accident.

its_steve116

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121275630#Comment_121275630

Interesting... who would some of these "unusual names" have been?

its_steve116

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121275713#Comment_121275713

A great talent taken from us too soon, I wouldn't call her obscure.

squonk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121275785#Comment_121275785

Me either in fairness but obscure only because she was destined for great things but was taken too soon however I remember her from my days in DCU so I figured obscure that those on here under 40 may not be familiar with her and I don’t here much about her memory theee days either. RIP Uaneen.

thejuggler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121275782#Comment_121275782

Can’t recall any names after 30 years tbh - possibly some people from radio 1 or Rte tv sport. Jimmy Magee or George Hamilton maybe.

Jay Ahern, American Irish. Was on 2fm early noughties, had superb taste in indie music

JoeA3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121275630#Comment_121275630

Andy Ruane used to do a lot of weekend slots in the early ‘90’s. I remember him particularly doing a “top 30 requests” show and I think he might have done the “Great giveaway show” for a while.

Shane O’Donoghue might qualify for “obscure”. He even did the Hotline a few times even though his relaxed/gentle tones didn’t seem like a great fit for “the fastest hour of the day”. He’s now working on one of Sports channels afaik, covering Golf tournaments.

thejuggler

A few more names Paul Scanlon used to do some overnight shifts. Moved to Ocean fm later on.

And Pat O’Mahony (Head to Toe tv show presenter) used to fill in for Gerry Ryan occasionally - still does bits for RTE gold occasionally

thejuggler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121276375#Comment_121276375

Andy devised the format for the lyrics board tv show and sold it to a large number of territories internationally - will also be remembered for scratch Saturday and the Fanta roadshow charts shows on Saturday mornings kids tv. Also produced top 30 hits for a number of years.

Declan A Walsh

Scott Williams came from Millennium Radio to 2FM during the first half of 1989. He was only there a few months as he then joined the then new fledgling independent station Capital Radio (now called FM104). He certainly would be obscure in relation to 2FM, although he is well-known enough in Dublin radio and is currently CEO of Q102. Three more names from the late 1980s, which would be obscure for 2FM, particularly for the under 40s: Phil Cawley (currently with South East Radio and Classic Hits, and ex-Today FM), Peter Collins who is a sports presenter with RTE these days and Hugh O'Brien (who was a full-time solicitor and did stints on Century Radio and various Dublin stations).

mazdamiatamx5

Smashie and Nicie.

bureau2009

When Radio 2 started a guy called Paul Blanchfield had his own show. He disappeared very quickly.

In the early days some Radio 1 types had a show on Radio 2 - Ken Stewart, Pascal Mooney, Fr Brian Darcy, Brendan Balfe.

Declan A Walsh

Another "Radio 1 type", who would be obscure as regards Radio 2, was Pat Kenny. He presented an albums show called The Inside Track. Another name from the early days is Paul Clarke. He was more associated with UTV.

Micheal Varadkar

Maura O'Neill was filling in for Gerry Ryan in Summer 98 when Ian Dempsey left, the following year she was over on Radio 1 filling in for Marian Finucane

ford fiesta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277274#Comment_121277274

It was "The Outside Track"

RINO87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121275297#Comment_121275297

Wow. That unlocked a memory I forgot that I had!!

ford fiesta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121275297#Comment_121275297

Seán Bán Breathnach did The Beatbox St Patricks Day special around 1993

TheBMG

Never knew Scot was on 2FM!

The legendary Nails Mahoney has had some big gigs but was also (very briefly!) with 2FM for a while back in the late 80s.

Expunge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121276375#Comment_121276375

Obscure enough to play a round of golf with 'The Don'. He tells the story of meeting Trump a few years later at a function near New York where Trump reminded him it was the highest rated Living Golf show that CNN had ever done. Always modest, that man.

Shane's gone on to have a great career at CNN, a higher level than most of the bozos clogging up the corridors at RTE.

Donald Trump: What's it like playing golf with the US President? | CNN

greenspurs

Mark Cagney.

Ronan Collins

Mary fitzgerald (of make and do fame) - almost sure she had a show of her own for a while ?

Dusty Rhodes -- (was he the same fella off ' longwave radio , Atlantic 252' ?

Lorcan Murray-

Dj Micky Mac !! 😜

Electric Eddie -- 😂

RINO87

Suzanne Duffy, was the only female on the schedule for a long time in the 90's. Also had some computer game review thingy for a short while on Net 2. I used think she was only lovely!

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121275926#Comment_121275926

That's not obscure though

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121276458#Comment_121276458

Like it? Love it!

ButtersSuki

Long before “Loddy” poisoned our ears and dumbed down an already barrel scraping station Gerry’s brother Mike Ryan had a show on 2FM. He was still working there as a producer many years later, could still be there for all I know.

RTÉ nepotism at its finest.

ButtersSuki

i have a vague memory of self-proclaimed/manufactured IT boy Gavin Lambe Murphy once covering a show for someone on 2FM. I am however admitting I could be completely mistaken on this!

Micheal Varadkar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277670#Comment_121277670

None of those names (bar maybe Mary Fitzgerald) are in anyway obscure, they were all flagship presenters on the station for years and also household names at the time.

greenspurs

To me they were the most "Obscure 2fm dj " (as per the thread title ) i could think of.....

Apologies, as i didnt know they required vetting for inclusion .............

Anyway, most of the DJs being mention (including mine) were all in the Radio 2 days .....

2Fm started in 1988.

thejuggler

Michael McNamara has had a diverse career with RTE. Oldies on Sunday afternoons on 2fm (solid gold Sunday). Reinvented himself as dance dj Mickey Mac on 90s 2fm. And moved to lyric fm in the early 00s doing a classical chart show. Lorcan Murray was similar moving from weekend 2fm to radio 1 and lyric fm over the years. Maybe your need to be a chameleon to survive long term in broadcasting as you get older.

squonk

Gerry Wilson broadcast on 2FM in the 90s. I remember him doing a late night shîte in the mid 90s. 2FM tried an all night schedule for a while in those days and he used to come on side week nights after Mike Moloney finished his stint at 2AM. There was also someone else filling in since other nights of the week. I used to listen in while doing projects in college. It was great radio.

cute geoge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121280656#Comment_121280656

I used do night shift back in '99 and '00 and Gerry wilson used do a segment nightly on web sites on the world wide web.Amazing to think back in the dead of the night he used come up with some amazing web facts almost 10 years before i finally got internet myself ,not gone on his music similar to fanning.Where is he now?

thejuggler

He also had a phone in/chat show 10-12 weeknights for a while (early 90s). And dial a number one on a Saturday - similar to the hotline but oldies / used to chat to callers on air.

For a time there was a beat the jock type segment 12-1pm weekdays where callers could request any song and the race was on to retrieve the song from the library to get it on air asap. May have been Aidan Leonard.

bureau2009

I think Larry Gogan's son was on 2 FM for a short while.

Dave Redmond did a stint on Saturday mornings. Also Liam Coburn.

2FM seemed unable to hold on to talented presenters.

bureau2009

I think Radio 2 had a slot for new/guest presenters and Pia Kinsella, who worked on Radio Dublin in the 80s, did a show.

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121276316#Comment_121276316

Worked as a music PR in Dublin for several years and also did a similar show on the 1990s pirate station Sunset (as did another 2FM jock Mr Spring)

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121280656#Comment_121280656

Gerry did a late night chat show at one stage on 2FM. Later on in the 90s he did the all night shift as ‘World Web Radio’.

i was listening to 2FM as the first Gulf War was kicking off and Gerry’s very first song after the news was ‘Enola Gay’ by OMD which I strongly suspect was a deliberate choice.

Gerry also seemed to love the full 12inch version of ‘Slave to the Rhythm’ by Grace Jones. Years later I figured it was less to do with the incredible production work of Trevor Horn and more to do with it being a handy toilet break tune in the days before computer playlist and live assist!

Didn’t Eamonn/Barry Falvey go from the pirates to RTE Radio 2 (as it was then).

Gerry Stevens did a stint there too in about 1987/1988 before going back to a long career in commercial radio.

ZaK23-54

This is an interesting topic..

So does any 2FM ( Radio 2) jock still work with RTÉ?

Has anyone had as long a career as a DJ as Larry Gogan?

what became of Ken Stewart?

Micheal Varadkar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121281154#Comment_121281154

From the original 1979 Radio 2 schedule, Marty Whelan is the one who still has a live 5 days a week show on RTE Radio (Lyric FM breakfast) Ronan Collins and Dave Fanning are also still around the place on RTE Gold but prerecorded. John Bowman has outlasted Larry Gogan on the radio (1962-present) but if one is only talking about music radio, Larry at 58 years service outlasted all his peers (Bbalfe, Val Joyce, Mike Murphy etc) by at least 10 years

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121281179#Comment_121281179

Always thought it a shame that Larry never wrote a tell-all autobiography but suspect he was too self aware of his brand for that. He must’ve had some fantastic war stories from over the years

squonk

Larry struck me as an old school decent guy who was bally to do the job he loved and Haley to be paid for it as well as not being in it for acting wise or as a b launching pad to other things. I couldn’t see him doing a tell all which would stick the knife in others. It’s one thing I miss about the older generation of jocks. They were in it long before it became she sheet of mega platform and enjoyed the face in the 70s and 80s without it going to their heads. If out Larry in the same mould as David Attenborough. Old school, doing the job enthusiastically and providing a public service and knowing that’s what they were there to do. I read Attenborough’s autobiography and there surely was a man who could have taken a few legends when a peg or two but didn’t and focused on his own life and work instead.

squonk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121280687#Comment_121280687

Gerry is a voice over artist now according to his LinkedIn page. I had a look myself as I was wondering what had happened to him. I do remember him doing a very passable Terry Wogan impression in ads for a shop cashed Wigan’s at one point. I haven’t heard his voice lately so hopefully he’s still doing his thing.

That works web radio was great. I can’t remember much about it but remember being a big fan way back.

QueensGael

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121279730#Comment_121279730

While he was working with RTE in the 1980s/90s, he was also the director of a private business college in Limerick, which his mam had set up as a secretarial school years before. It's gone now, but was a reasonably well known institution in these parts!

https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/news/86638/HSI-Limerick-Business-School-ceases-trading.html

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121281468#Comment_121281468

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121280801#Comment_121280801

Gerry Wilson: I rang up his Dial A Number One show a few times and spoke to him! After 2FM, he went first to Lite FM (now Q102) and then was part of the original line up for Dublin's Country 106.8 (now Sunshine 106.8). It was after that that he concentrated on voice over work. He has turned up on Christmas FM and a previous temporary licensed station called 949 The Rock.

Larry's son was Gerry Gogan. It was Liam Quigley - not Liam Coburn. Liam Quigley had come from Lite FM. He has turned up on a few stations since, but he is largely a voice over artist like Gerry Wilson.

ford fiesta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277670#Comment_121277670

Mary Fitzgerald was never on Radio 2 / 2 FM.

You could be thinking of another RTE children's show presenter Marian Richardson who was on in the early days with a Trad show.

GSF

The guys who covered for the OB broadcasts back at base are probably the most obscure presenters as they generally weren’t meant to get on the air unless something went wrong

RINO87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121280656#Comment_121280656

Didn't Gerry Wilson do late night at weekends in the 90's? I recall when the folks would be out of a Saturday for a few pints, we knew it was time for bed when the Testcard and 2FM came on Network 2, I always associate Gerry Wilson with that!!

Two Channel land was a lonely place.....especially as we had gotten used to the absolute random smorgasbord of crazy satellite channels provided by our local community deflector service!! When they got shut down in the 90's for a few years it was some shock to the system.