No More Station News As Time and Crimes Catch Up With The Predator

By the start of the new millenium Radio Dublin's 'Station News' was pretty much on a life support machine with oxygen in short supply. In the 90s it was no longer the regular (for long periods, weekly) feature it once was. It ended in November 2002 with Cooke again using the station as a personal platform to try and raise help for issues that were affecting his personal life.

Station News - November 2nd 2002

Shortly after the above broadcast, on December 18th 2002 Cooke was found guilty on 33 charges of sexual abuse against 4 young girls. The judge stated that he had absolutely no doubt about Cooke's guilt. The jury had been told by an ex-Radio Dublin employee that most of the staff had left the station when they heard about the abuse. With Cooke remanded in custody until sentencing, the station was no more.

ICE FM

Joe Doyle, and others, immediately disassociated themselves with Radio Dublin and joined/set up a new station calling itself ICE FM.

In March, Cooke was sentenced to ten years for his crimes; despite this, rumours persisted of his involvement with ICE FM.

Following the Black Tuesday raids in May 2003, which floored Dublin's pirates, ICE FM continued, albeit sporadically. Following another raid on the station, they pushed a campaign to resurrect Cooke's challenge against the constitutionality of the 1988 Broadcasting Act, and started using Radio Dublin as well as ICE FM as the station name.

The Station News segment had carried over to ICE FM in its own form and, obviously, without Cooke, but that came to a crashing finish on June 22nd 2003 following the publication of a two page spread in that day's Sunday World.

ICE FM June 22nd 2003

Click to read the Sunday World article

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