TV3 documentary examines new evidence that Eamon Cooke was linked to Philip Cairns

Airing tonight at 10pm on TV3 is Philip Cairns: Fresh Evidence, a documentary responding to allegations that paedophile pirate radio boss Eamon Cooke was involved in the Dublin schoolboy’s 1986 disappearance.
Presented by David Harvey, contributors include former Radio Dublin DJs Denis Murray, James Dillon and Don Moore, Radio Radio author Peter Mulryan, retired members of An Garda Síochána and Hot Press’ Stuart Clark who encountered Cooke during Ireland’s 1980s pirate heyday.
“The status is now obviously 100% invalidated, but back in the day Cooke was a hero to many in the radio business, myself included, for finding the loophole in the Posts & Telegraphs Act that enabled Irish pirates to go full-time without the fear of being raided. It also encouraged the likes of Robbie Dale and Chris Cary to come over and kickstart the ‘superpirate’ era with Sunshine and Radio Nova. You could argue that without Cooke, Irish radio would have remained in the dark ages.”
Having only met Cooke twice Stuart can’t comment on his crimes, alleged or otherwise, but he did witness the set-up at the semi-derelict Inchicore house from which Radio Dublin operated.
“There were a dozen or so kids outside on their bikes dropping in requests or waiting to talk to the DJs,” Stuart recalls. “Inside, there were a couple of girls in their school uniforms answering the phones, which were ringing nonstop. You’ve got to remember that there were no mobiles or computers back then to Snapchat on or find out the latest celebrity gossip. Sega Mega Drives hadn’t been invented; lots of homes only had Irish TV channels, which were pretty grim; there were no back-to-back Premier League games at the weekend and generally very little media aimed at teenagers. Radio was the only game in town and pirate DJs stars in their communities. Girls worshipped them almost like they do One Direction now. Add in the fact that sexual abuse simply wasn’t talked about, and it was the perfect environment for a predator like Cooke to operate in. The alarm bells we have now just didn’t exist back then.”
As exclusively revealed last month by Hot Press, Eamon Cooke knew Jimmy Saville who broadcast live from the Radio Dublin studios on at least one occasion.
[link]hotpress.com/Jimmy-Savile/news/Convicted-Paedophile-Eamon-Cooke-Knew-Jimmy-Saville/17487149.html?new_layout=1&page_no=1&show_comments=1[/link]

Anyone affected by this story can contact the Rape Crisis National 24 Hour Helpline at 1800 77 88 88