07/03/2025
Grok: There’s some ambiguity around "Xfm Dublin" because multiple entities have used the "Xfm" name in different contexts, and no single, definitive station with that exact branding has a clear, continuous history in Dublin tied to a mainstream or licensed operation. However, based on available information, the most prominent "Xfm Dublin" refers to a pirate radio station that operated in the city, distinct from the better-known Xfm London (now Radio X) or other similarly named ventures. Here’s what I can piece together about its history:
Xfm Dublin emerged as an unlicensed, alternative music station in the early 1990s, rooted in Dublin’s vibrant pirate radio scene. It began broadcasting around October 1991, initially under the name "Alice’s Restaurant," founded by two friends, Hugh and Brent, who were driven by a passion for alternative music rather than commercial gain. The station’s origin story is DIY to the core: Hugh and Brent, with Brent’s prior experience in 1980s pirate radio, set up a rudimentary operation using a car, a CD player, a small transmitter, and an aerial they drove into the Dublin Mountains. They planted the transmitter in the ground and started playing music, unsure if anyone was even listening. This was a hobbyist venture—expensive, as they admitted, but not reliant on ads or formal funding.
By the mid-1990s, the station had settled on the name "Xfm" and was broadcasting on frequencies like 107.5 MHz and later 107.9 MHz from Walkinstown, a Dublin suburb. It carved out a niche as "Dublin’s alternative music station," playing genres like ambient, indie, and other non-mainstream sounds, often with no playlist or rigid structure. Shows like "The Chillage Idiots" featured ambient music, reflecting its freeform ethos. The setup eventually moved to Brent’s attic, with equipment funded out-of-pocket by Hugh, Brent, and a third collaborator, Dave. A transmitter in the mountains ran off a friend’s electricity, and the DJs worked for free, driven by enthusiasm rather than profit.
Xfm Dublin persisted into the early 2000s, with recordings documented from 1996 (St. Patrick’s Day), 2000, 2001, 2002, and even Christmas Eve 2004. It faced challenges typical of pirate stations—frequency interference, the threat of raids (though it reportedly avoided any direct shutdowns), and the broader crackdown on unlicensed broadcasters in Ireland, notably the "Black Tuesday" raids of May 2003, which silenced many Dublin pirates. Xfm reduced its FM presence after this, broadcasting sporadically, often on weekends, until it ceased FM transmissions in March 2005. However, it adapted by shifting online, maintaining a webcast presence that included video streaming, a novelty at the time.
There’s no evidence Xfm Dublin ever secured a legal license, unlike its UK namesake, Xfm London, which transitioned from pirate roots to a licensed station in 1997. A separate effort in 2004 saw Xfm London’s parent company, Capital Radio Group, bid for an alternative rock license in Dublin alongside UTV and Absolute Radio International, but this lost out to Phantom FM (later TXFM), which launched in 2006 and occupied that niche until 2016. Xfm Dublin, the pirate, appears unrelated to this bid and remained a distinct, grassroots operation.
Its legacy lies in its defiance of commercial norms and its cult status among Dublin’s alternative music fans. Unlike Phantom/TXFM, which briefly overlapped with it as a licensed rival, Xfm Dublin stayed true to its pirate ethos—unpolished, independent, and community-driven. Post-2005, its online continuation kept the spirit alive, though it’s unclear how long that lasted or if it still exists today.
This history is stitched together from fragmented sources, primarily pirate radio archives and anecdotal accounts, as no official records chronicle unlicensed stations comprehensively. It’s possible some details—like exact start dates or personnel—vary slightly depending on who’s telling the story. Still, Xfm Dublin stands as a testament to the scrappy ingenuity of Ireland’s pirate radio era.
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