{"id":296584,"date":"2026-02-13T20:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T20:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/296584\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T20:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T20:36:15","slug":"ian-dempsey-gave-me-my-start-in-pirate-radio-in-1980-and-then-asked-me-to-be-his-best-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/296584\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Ian Dempsey gave me my start in pirate radio in 1980… and then asked me to be his best man\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Radio chief Dave Kelly on owing his career to long-time friend Ian Dempsey and how fans queue around the block to meet Lucy Kennedy\n<\/p>\n

The pair grew up in the same area and Kelly says it was Dempsey who introduced him to pirate radio in 1980 at the height of its popularity.<\/p>\n

When Dempsey, who now hosts Today FM\u2019s breakfast show, married his wife Ger in 1986, he also asked Kelly to be his best man.<\/p>\n

Kelly, who was a DJ and programme director with Dublin\u2019s FM104 for 30 years and has now joined the company behind Nova Radio, Classic Hits, Sunshine and Galway Bay FM, remembers the moment he caught the DJing bug.<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/p>\n

Dave Kelly with Jon Bon Jovi<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was in 1980 at a disco for a friend\u2019s birthday party in The Camelot Hotel in Coolock. There were two fellas playing at the disco, Ian Dempsey and Tony Fenton. They were the two DJs,\u201d Dave reveals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was fascinated with how the DJing works. I got up on stage and the two lads went for a break to the bar or to have a smoke and Ian said, \u2018Hit that button and keep it going,\u2019 and I did.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt one stage a fella came up and asked me to announce that there was a missing wallet and sure I nearly sh*t myself having to speak.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time Ian was on the pirate radio station ARD (Alternative Radio Dublin) and he said, \u2018Would you like to come in and have a look around ARD?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was 1980 and a fella in ARD said, \u2018Do you want to go on the air and do something?\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/p>\n

Dave Kelly (front right) with Tony Fenton and Ian Dempsey<\/p>\n

\u201cI did and I got the bug. I couldn\u2019t get enough of it. And I don\u2019t feel I\u2019ve worked a day in my life because I love it so much.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a hobby that just turned into something massive. I still love coming into work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly had served his time as a plasterer after leaving school as his family was in the business, but he was also DJing by night at discos in those early days of his life.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A young Ian Dempsey during his pirate radio days<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad had a plastering company and the plan was for me to take over,\u201d Dave says. \u201cBut my da encouraged me to keep going at the DJing. I was getting a few quid at night, probably more than I would earn for a week plastering. And I was only 18 or 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember talking to Da on his deathbed at home and I said, \u201cSorry I didn\u2019t follow through on the plastering, it just wasn\u2019t for me.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came from generations of plasterers. He said, \u2018To be honest with you Dave, you didn\u2019t have hands to bless yourself.\u2019 Said like a true Dub,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/p>\n

Dave Kelly and Gareth O\u2019Callaghan in their pirate radio days<\/p>\n

Kelly then became a member of what was known as \u2018The Northside Mafia\u2019 in pirate radio, as most of the jocks were from Dublin\u2019s northside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m from Glasnevin and Ian lived around the corner from me,\u201d Dave says. \u201cBarry Lang lived down the road and there was Tony Fenton, Aidan Leonard, Declan Meehan and Tony Dixon.\u201d<\/p>\n

These days, as well as his role as programme director, Kelly coaches and mentors presenters on the radio stations in his group. They include celebrities Lucy Kennedy (Classic Hits) and P.J. Gallagher (Nova).<\/p>\n

\"Radio<\/p>\n

Radio chief Dave Kelly with Lucy Kennedy<\/p>\n

\u201cI do coaching with presenters all the time and I say to them that a listener has to feel they\u2019d like to go out for a pint with you, that you\u2019d be that accessible, that you\u2019d be good craic to go out with. If you\u2019re not that way you\u2019re not doing your job. The likes of Lucy, PJ, Damian Farrelly and Trina Mara all have this warmth and the listeners know all about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly also does roadshows around the country with DJs from the stations to meet listeners in person.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just unbelievable to see the passion that people have for fellas and women that they listen to on the radio every day when they meet them in the flesh,\u201d Dave says.<\/p>\n

\"Radio<\/p>\n

Radio veteran Dave Kelly<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I bring Lucy Kennedy on tour they are queuing around the corner to get a photograph with her. It\u2019s unbelievable, but she\u2019s a very warm person anyway. At the end of the night Lucy is sitting on the ground doing Rock The Boat with them and they lap it up.<\/p>\n

\u201cPJ Gallagher is the same, they just can\u2019t get enough of him. It\u2019s all about that personal touch. Radio is a personal thing, listeners see presenters as their friend and they feel they know them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the onslaught from social media and digital music platforms, Kelly insists that radio is maintaining its popularity.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpotify is great, but at the end of the day people want content. That\u2019s what the jocks are there for,\u201d Dave says.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch shows that 3.5 million Irish adults listen to Irish radio every weekday. Three hours and 45 minutes daily is the average time spent listening to radio. That is massive. That is probably one of the highest in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

So video didn\u2019t kill the radio star? \u201cNo,\u201d he laughs. \u201cAnd neither has social media.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Radio chief Dave Kelly on owing his career to long-time friend Ian Dempsey and how fans queue around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-296584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}