The Weekender

Growing up in a fairly music-obsessed house, dJ’ing was always something that appealed to me, doing my first gigs aged 13 (for free btw Mr. Tax man). Fast forward to my late teens, and the musical obsession had fully taken hold. Regularly gigging at that stage, I had always wanted to try to get into radio, and the Freedom lads took a chance, giving me a daily weekday show. I learned so much from the more experienced presenters there, and loved my time at freedom, living in the shed drinking tea at every opportunity! Ultimately, a love of dance music and the closer proximity to my home of ESG FM led to a move, thanks to Ronan Devitt ? No more four bus rides a day, but also a big change and a missing piece after Freedom giving me the grounding in the industry. The few years following were a blur, ESG became Energy 94, and I progressed through the ranks from mornings, to afternoons, to drive time, as well as a day presenting with the legendary Tony Fenton as one of the final 4 in Hot Press and 2FM’s DJ for a day competition. At that stage, both Energy and Freedom were indistinguishable from legal stations, testament to the imaging, presenting and management of these stations run out of love of the game. After the closedowns of the pirates and relaunch, I did a stint managing the trio of Energy, Hot and Vibe FM. However, things had changed, and I found life moving in a different direction for me.

I moved west and, for a time, totally out of DJ’ing and presenting, settling into a bar job, and a new pace of life. However, that didn’t last too long, and gradually the night clubs beckoned again, along with a 7 year stint on Galway Bay FM, as first a weekend presenter, then breakfast co-presenter and Sports journalist.

Recession resulted in some life changes again, and full time DJ’ing took over for a couple of years, before in 2011 opening my own store, Candyland, in Galway. Since then, I’ve been running a physical and online store, while DJ’ing at the weekends.

2020 came, and the whole world changed. I was surprised and delighted to get the call and to come back to where it all began I get to play all the music I love again too, with a weekend warm-up on a Saturday night with commercial dance only, and a weekend wind up on a Sunday night with a bit of everything to close out the week. Do hope you can join me, Saturday and Sunday 8 pm to 11 pm Irish time.