Local radio DJ says his dream has come true

An award winning presenter who has “always had a love for radio” has taken over what is one of the prime slots, the breakfast show, on Midlands 103.

Born and raised in Mullingar, Peter Dunne says that during the downturn in the economy, he re-evaluated his career and decided to pursue his passion.

“Life is too short to work at something you don’t enjoy,” said Peter. “I never wanted to be that person who retires and didn’t enjoy work. I had worked in engineering and design for a few years but I had a think about what I’d love to do most so I dropped everything and pursued radio.”

Peter’s journey has led him full circle, as he started with Midlands 103 more than 10 years ago.

“I went on to study radio, got my qualification and had to work my way up from there. I got a job in retail and began volunteering in community radio whenever I had time, and from there I got an opportunity to work with Midlands 103, from news reporting to covering on air for presenters.”

Peter’s work went well, and attracted the attention of the newly formed Radio Nova in Dublin. “It was a great opportunity to work in a different environment and learn new things and different formats. No matter what station I’ve worked with, I’ve always stayed true to one rule and that’s to just be myself and have some fun, because that’s what radio is all about.”

The call then came from LMFM, the station for Louth and Meath. “That was a really exciting time and another new challenge. I came up with a concept for a show based on good music and a bit of fun with the listeners, and it went on to win a national radio award the following year.”

RTÉ soon approached Peter to put a proposal together for the digital station, 2xm. He said the show he put came up with was a bit of a risk – it explored the originals behind the music we hear today – but it quickly became one of the most popular shows on the station. Peter received another national radio award for that show.

“I’ve always loved creativity in radio and branched out into new areas like sport, features, audio books and documentaries, which were a lot of fun and allowed me to see great radio from different angles,” he said.

“Coming back to Midlands 103 was like a home coming for me. I still had a lot of friends from the station, always had great fun with the listeners and when the opportunity came to create a new show there, I couldn’t turn it down.

“From that, Feel Good Saturday was born, a simple concept connecting great music with a bit of light-hearted fun at the weekends.” That show also won a national radio award.

“Again, I just wanted to stay true to my one rule – be yourself and have fun. From that, I got a great reaction from the listeners, we have a lot of fun and there were tears of laughter on plenty of occasions!

“When the call came to fill the coveted breakfast slot on Midlands 103, it was a dream come true.

“It really is a huge honour in radio to present the breakfast show and wake up with the listeners every weekday morning.

“When you listen to breakfast radio, you want to be armed with everything you need to face the day, you want to know what the world outside is like and you want a pep in your step.

“We’ve worked really hard over the last couple of weeks to put the new breakfast show together and we’re really excited about it. After that I’m just going to keep following my rule of being myself and having fun – if I do that, I know we’ll have a lot of craic and laughter for many years to come.”

Breakfast with Peter Dunne on Midlands 103 is on weekday mornings, 6.30-9am.