Episode 46 - Ian Dempsey

The 738am podcast - talking to people about stuff

It was an honour this week to chat to a real legend of Irish radio, Ian Dempsey. Ian began his career like many others on the first wave of pirate stations in Dublin, including ARD. He joined RTE in 1980 and was 2FM's most successful breakfast jock ever, and since his departure they've never really managed to find anyone to replace him properly. He was also the host of Dempsey's Den on RTE2 television, a kid's show which brought us those lovable aliens Zig and Zag. In 1998 he was lured away to Today FM where he's presented the breakfast show ever since – a remarkable achievement by any standards, simply because of the demands of getting up at that time every single day! We chat about his start in radio, the early days of 2FM competing with the superstar pirates like Radio Nova and Sunshine, his decision to leave RTE, the creativity and enjoyment of doing the breakfast show on Today FM, a mutual love of David Bowie and loads more. It's always great to meet somebody whose career you admire, even more so when they're as nice and generous with their time as Ian was. I hope you enjoy the show. You can find Ian on Today FM every morning, and on Twitter @IanDempsey.