Founder of historical pirate radio station has died

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The founder of Radio Caroline - the first pirate radio station off the UK - Ronan O'Rahilly has died aged 79.

His death was announced by the current Radio Caroline, which still exists off the Essex coast.

The station was founded in 1964 to compete with the BBC and launched the careers of many well-known DJs, achieving enormous popularity.

Mr O'Rahilly, who lived in Ireland, had been diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013.

Radio Caroline was the first of several pirate radio stations that challenged BBC radio's dominance in the 1960s.

The station played pop music all day, while the BBC only played pop for an hour a week.

After the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act was passed in 1967, Radio Caroline continued to broadcast from ships until 1991, when the Ross Revenge ran aground off the Kent coast.

The station, which started broadcasting again on medium wave in 2017, helped pave the way for modern commercial radio.

One of the presenters who started on the station, Johnnie Walker, tweeted: "Farewell to Radio Caroline founder Ronan O'Rahilly, The man who made the impossible possible and changed radio forever.

"Thanks Ronan for the incredible experience of being a Caroline deejay and to challenge the Government in 1967. You were an amazing man."

Mr O'Rahilly would go on to be an Executive Producer on George Lazenby's film Universal Soldier in 1971.

Moit,
I've noticed you have a fascination with dead people.
Do you see them too?