Pirate radio in the United Kingdom Caroline and Radio London started to broadcast on medium wave to the UK from offshore ships or disused sea forts. At the time, these stations were not illegal because they were broadcasting from international waters. The stations were set up by entrepreneurs and music enthusiasts to meet the growing demand for pop and rock music, which was not catered for by the legal BBC Radio services. The first British pirate radio station was Radio Caroline, which was launched by Irish music entrepreneur Ronan O'Rahilly, and started broadcasting from a ship off the Essex coast in 1964. By 1967 ten pirate
Irish pirate radio followed by the arrival of South Coast Radio and Radio ERI in Cork. These were pirate radio stations run for the first time on a commercial basis with the critical support of Ireland's advertising industry based in Dublin. Radio Nova in Dublin, launched as a 'clutter free' radio station, was arguably the catalyst for a sea change in radio in Ireland. It was an era of unregulated freedom on air that produced what many view as perhaps the most exciting era for radio in Ireland. Professional market research conducted in the 1980s by reputable market research companies such as Lansdowne