station in Munster attracting agency advertising alongside the local businesses. The format was tight and well targeted to the listeners with something for everyone and was known to be the most successful station outside of Dublin with an approx half a million listeners. ERI unsuccessfully applied for a commercial licence in the area in 1989 under the name 'Sound of the South'. Subsequently, its studio and transmission facilities were leased to a new licensed station, the then 'Radio South' in 1989, allowing this new station to come on air relatively quickly. Former ERI P.D George Talbot went to London to work at the BBC and then LBC, finally meeting up with colleague Peter Madison where they both worked drivetime/breakfast at CTFM in Kent. Radio South was relaunched in July 1990 as 96FM and eventually bought out by County Sound in February 1991 with the original four shareholders selling all their shares to the Mallow-based station. Outside Cork city in County Cork, the two most significant stations during the 1980s were the Bandon-based WKLR, and NCCR (North Cork Community Radio), which broadcast from the old Majestic Ballroom in Mallow. (The licensed local station C103 (originally known as 'County Sound') is a direct descendant of the unlicensed NCCR). WKLR (West Cork Local Radio) founded in 1984, initially intended for the West Cork area, but towards the end of the station's life had extended its transmission to cover Cork city and much of the rest of Co. Cork. The closedown night of NCCR in Mallow on 31 December 1988 was struck by tragedy when local farmer and former presenter and shareholder of the station – Pat O'Connor – who was participating in an interview – collapsed and died suddenly during a commercial break. The station immediately announced it was closing earlier than planned "due to unforeseen circumstances". O'Connor had also been a brief national celebrity, when he was chosen as a representative of rural Ireland to guest present an edition of the 'Saturday Live' chat show on RTÉ Television in 1987. However, his appearance meant he had to resign his involvement in the pirate NCCR to avoid controversy beforehand, and did not appear on NCCR again until the closedown night. NCCR had come into being in 1985 when a community co-operative took over the ownership of a previous station – NCLR (North Cork Local Radio) that had been in existence since 1981. Another