18 April 2024
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
Many Cork people have fond memories of RTÉ Radio Cork – Cork Local Radio – Cork 89FM. One of its well known presenters has passed away
RTÉ Cork Local Radio was established in 1974 as an opt-out service that operated for a limited number of hours per week, relaying the national service RTÉ Radio 1 at other times. The service was popular but had its hands tied by the limited number of local hours it could output, before reverting the Dublin feed. In 1989, RTÉ Cork Local Radio was rebranded as Cork 89FM. It became RTÉ Radio Cork in 1994, and was closed in 2000 due to low audience share. The majority of its content was before the popularity of the internet so there are only limited recordings available online.
During the stations heyday RTE Cork’s presenters included Alf McCarthy, who passed away this week aged 73, after a short illness. He be gan broadcasting in 1979. He also had a TV career as a stand-in for Derek Davis on the Live at 3 daily TV show. He produced and directed a number amount of programmes for both RTÉ radio and TV over three decades, and was the presenter of RTÉ Radio 1’s Late Date for 10 years, retiring in 2015.
Alf McCarthy lived in Rosscarbery, West Cork
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Kieran McCarthy has expressed sadness at the passing of RTE presenter and producer, Alf McCarthy.
“The passing of Alf McCarthy is a very sad occasion for Cork especially to all those who listened to him on radio for decades as well as those who saw him acting and performing on stages across the country,” he said.
“An individual with much creative genius, he was a story teller with a great skill to engage listeners, audiences and all those who met him in recent years MC-ing community-based down memory lane projects. At heart, he was a proud, wise, witty and creative Corkman who has left a huge legacy. He is a name who will be fondly remembered for years to come in his native city”.
Today on RTE 1 tributes were paid to Alf McCarthy by Brian Dobson.
On YouTube there 1 hour long an interview from 3 years ago, where Alf spoke about his career.