Vintage 2FM Discussion Thread

The Sunday schedule is particularly interesting. Album show, jazz and blues, folk, Ciana Campbell presenting the breakfast show, Michael McNamara mid-morning to lunch and Gerry Ryan in the afternoon. I did not know (or maybe recall) the latter two in those particular time slots. I take it that Sunday at 7:30pm was some kind of religious-oriented show.

Even more interested in the Radio 1 schedule.

I would have assumed we were in the era when Andy O'Mahony was doing the Sunday lunchtime show but that seems to be still in teh future. Instead it's Overseas Request with Valerie Mc Govern (pale imitation of the BBC's "Two Way Family Favourites")

I never saw pictures of Mike Ryan (Gerry's brother), Bob Conway or Alan Corcoran before. Interesting!

I am well aware of them, especially Bob and Alan, but I never happened to see them on radio guides, and I did not see Mike Ryan on the Beat Box - it's not a programme I looked at very often. I do recall now seeing Bob Conway presenting country music on the tv - think it was channel 100 (now called More on Virgin Media digital). But I never saw a photo of him!

Love the line from Simon Young "they thought I was someone's nephew!"

Different times, would have been an open joke in RTE and Ireland at the time. Just like getting a job in public sector offices etc...

Yes, one and the same. He was originally Michael McNamara, mainly playing oldies on RTE Radio 2/2FM, and then reinvented himself as a dance deejay on 2FM during the 1990s and calling himself Micky Mac. He left for Lyric FM in 1999 and reverted to his original name. Many years later, having left Lyric and RTE, he came back to RTE with RTE Gold. I don't know at what stage he reverted to his erstwhile dance name, albeit not playing much dance music anymore!

Going back to that 1994 schedule, I remember 2FM marking it's 15th birthday, with a series of one-hour shows by various presenters. It also utilised new guy Dusty Rhodes while many went out to celebrate its birthday!

Is Micky still on Clare FM?. I know he had a Friday evening oldies show "The Platinum Collection" and briefly did Drivetime Mon - Fri there around 6 years ago, this was before he joined RTE Gold first time and also when he finished up with RTE Gold when the weekend shows were cancelled...

....But he may have been on Clare FM and RTE Gold around the same time.

He has filled in on occasion for Will Leahy on the RTE Gold breakfast show.

He and his family owned the HSI College in Limerick.

Micky really sounds like he enjoys the 70s show on Saturday mornings.

There’s a recording of the launch in the Medium Wave Goodbye programme from RTÉ Radio 1, also presented by Brendan Balfe. You should find it on YouTube.

I can’t make out the second wavelength in the launch jingle. It says 490 (which would be 612 from Athlone) and then something like 240 or 244 which I’ve no idea about. 1278 didn’t start until 1982.

Tony Fenton at 3-5 there...I thought he went straight from the hot line to today fm, did he have afternoons long on 2fm? I don't recall it.

Thanks!

Ian's mate Barry Lang would have also left in 1998 (early)

Yep, that's right. He finished up early March 1998 in what was a real town hall of a show, during which all manner of famous and infamous people called in or rang in to wish him well.

As a curiosity, Ian Dempsey did his first Today FM show the day after TV3 came on air on 20th September.

Ian Dempsey had not left at this stage, when Tony Fenton was on in the afternoon. As Ford Fiesta said, Iano was two months away from leaving 2FM and Will Leahy just happened to be standing in for him that week. I think it was Barry Lang's departure that caused that particular reshuffle. Gareth O'Callaghan had been moved to the drivetime, Barry Lang's old spot, and Tony was moved into Gareth's spot. When Ian left in July, Gareth was moved again - this time to the breakfast slot.

I see Peter Collins was still presenting on 2FM at that stage and also the more short-lived Shane O'Donoghue. Both were to move to RTE Sports.

240m was the Dublin medium wave frequency in those days.

Yep, it was also the first AM freq used by Radio Dublin Channel 2 - originally launched as an opt out FM only service (from RD 253), Ch2 then added a relatively low powered AM TX on 240M. Until ... one day a whopper of a carrier appeared on the freq and I thought it was testing a more powerful rig. Unfortunately it was just RTE's non subtle way of telling Ch2 to move. Ch2 then moved slightly away to 244M. TX site for the Radio 2 local AM was in Beaumont - later used as the location for the jamming signal on Sunshine Radio in 1984.

Radio 2 had a jingle that mentioned '490....240... RTE, Radio 2 ... Stereo Sounds on VHF'

The RTE 2FM TX was in Beaumont, north Dublin, on a site known locally as 'the old piggery'.

The RD Ch2 TX was in Inchicore on the RD studio site - long wire antenna stretched across the house grounds and originally over the railway line at the rear of the house (until a passing CIE track inspection crew saw it and cut down the support pole that had been setup on the opposite side of the track).

Thee was so much RF around that site, from a 10Kw MW on 253M and a 1K SW on 6290Khz, that even when the 240 transmitter was off, there was still a relay signal of the 253 TX on the channel from the antenna resonating with some of the adjacent power.

First RTE Radio 2 schedule 2 months after going on air in May 1979.

Sponsored programmes on Radio 2 every day except Sunday!

Radio 2 simulcast on RTE Radio 1 at midnight!!.

Also RTE Radio 1 and R Na G schedules.

Before I discovered these early Radio 2 schedules - the impression I got from various articles about Michael McNamara etc from over the years - I used to think Michael had his own show on Radio 2 since the start of the station.

It seems this was not the case, I think he was part of "Ireland's Call" with other presenters for a year or 2 until he got his own weekend show in around 1981.

But before Radio 2 opened - he presented radio shows for RTE Raidio Eireann ("Radio 1") & RTE Community Radio and the odd RTE TV show presenting live showbands/performances (something like Paschal Mooney used to do).

I guess "Irelands Call" in the early days of Radio 2, was similar to "Maxi and Co." or "New Voices" that were fixtures on the Radio 2 Sunday morning schedule in the mid to late 1980s, showcasing radio talent from the regional studios.

Ronan is the only presenter who has the longest constant presence on national radio Monday to Friday (43 years). other contenders moved to weekends or left radio on a temporary basis such as Dave Fanning or Marty Whelan.

Ian Dempsey started at weekends on Radio 2. But he still has a very long Monday to Friday National radio record !!

Gerry started to be on Radio 2 Monday to Friday around 1981 with "Rocksteady" at 7pm.

Before this and since 1979 he presented weekend programmes such as "Here comes the Weekend" and "Groovin on a Sunday afternoon" and during the week fill in also.

Ronan though holds the record. he was never 'just' on at weekends on RTE Radio.

A fantastic reminder how Radio 2 used to sound on a weekend early evening in 1986, with John Clarke sounding great a year after he joined.

When playlists did not exist.

Note the amount of regional businesses advertising on the station - ads voiced by Larry Gogan, Ian Dempsey, Marty Whelan, Noel McCaul, Barry Lang, Jimmy Greely and others

https://www.mixcloud.com/gcamblin/rte-radio-2-john-clarke-july-1986/

He joined Radio 2 in Summer 85