‘You’re a little bit exotic ’: Dave Duke reflects on iRadio journey and Leitrim begins ahead of TodayFM move
Dave Duke talks to the Observer about his TodayFM move, reflects on his journey with iRadio, and his “exotic” Leitrim side
“To me, things aren’t really real unless you’re in the Leitrim Observer,” laughs Leitrim’s Dave Duke.
It is a fitting moment for a broadcaster who is preparing for one of the biggest changes of his career.
On August 30th, Dave Duke and his co-host Fionnuala Corbett will make their maiden broadcast on Today FM, beginning a new chapter after almost a decade on air together at iRadio.
The move comes less than two weeks after the pair wrapped up their final iRadio broadcast, bringing an end to seven years presenting together and more than 20 years between them at the station.
“Last show was a whirlwind,” said Duke. “You get used to a way of life and all the people. It was a big move to leave, but it was still a no-brainer at the end of the day, but still sad.”
The pair will bring their own brand of banter to Today FM, hosting weekday evenings and a Sunday afternoon slot on the national station.
“They’re very much bringing us to Today FM for us; of course, there will be a refresh, and there are some things that we do during the week that will be different and on Sundays as well.
“It’s a different station, same Dave and Fionnuala with added bells and whistles and differences that come with a national station versus 15 counties.”
After years on iRadio, Duke has become a familiar voice to listeners across the west of Ireland, broadcasting from his home in Glenade and bringing his own style and humour to the airwaves.
His route into radio began at Western Waves, a community radio station in Bundoran, before he joined iRadio.
His first opportunity came after he travelled across the country in his Peugeot 206, wearing an oversized Penneys suit, for an interview at Media Central, a radio network manager.
The role turned out to be in sales, a position he said he was “wholly underqualified” for. However, he performed well in the interview and his CV was referred to iRadio, where he was hired for the promotions team.
A role helping on the night-time radio show The Craiced i, as “Dave who works on the show”, followed.
After two years, he got his opportunity to host his own night-time programme.
“I was allowed basically to do whatever I wanted within reason and flex … I was going to say flex my muscles - I had no muscles to flex,” he jokes.
Duke said that period was important in allowing him to develop as a broadcaster, and he is grateful for the opportunities iRadio provided.
“iRadio always has brought talent from D-Dot,” he says.
“So many presenters have gone through there that have started on the bottom rung of the ladder and were allowed grow and were taught and given opportunities and space to experiment and basically dick about and then they find their feet, and they become good.”
After 10 months hosting his own show, an opportunity came up on drive time and he was offered the chance to move into a prime-time slot.
“They thought I was ready and I pretended I was ready. I knew I wasn’t fully ready, but it was either now or never kind of thing.”
Since then, Duke has continued to bring his own voice and personality to the airwaves, while remaining proud of his Leitrim roots.
“I’m so proud to be from Leitrim, and it makes me a little bit quirky as well - You’re a little bit exotic, I feel like at Today FM diversity hire because there are not many people in the national media landscape that are from Leitrim.”
He believes there is still more to be discovered about his home county.
“Not enough people know about Leitrim; they might have come to Carrick-on-Shannon on a stag or a hen, and that’s about all.”
While his north Leitrim accent has become part of his identity on air, Duke admitted that at the beginning of his broadcasting career he felt he needed to sound different.
A conversation with a school friend in Cubbies bar in Kinlough, where he was asked if he had received elocution lessons because he sounded so proper on the radio, helped him realise he should embrace his own voice.
“I have an accent; I shouldn’t be ashamed of it, and if I speak somewhat properly and try and pronounce my th’s to some extent, then people don’t care as much.”
He said one of the biggest compliments he receives is that he sounds the same off air as he does on air.
“The biggest compliment I take is - and nobody says that as a compliment - is you sound exactly like you sound on air, and I’m like, that’s great.”
For Duke, the days of broadcasters needing to adopt a certain style of voice are gone.
“Those days of you having a mid-Atlantic accent and having to sound like everybody else, they are long gone.”
The move to Today FM represents a new challenge for Duke and Corbett as they prepare to reach listeners across the country. “It’s a different challenge to talk to a whole country and have the same sort of man-in-the-pub sort of thing,” he said.
While the audience will be larger, Duke says the move is about bringing the same approach to a new station.
“It’s a different station, same Dave and Fionnuala with added bells and whistles and differences that come with a national station versus 15 counties.”
For a broadcaster who remains proud of his Leitrim roots, the next chapter will begin on August 30th, with listeners across the country getting the chance to hear the voice that has become familiar to audiences west of the Shannon.