Culture That Made Me: Colm O'Sullivan of Red FM picks his touchstones

Irish Examiner

18-05-2025

Colm O'Sullivan grew up in Glanmire, Co Cork. After university, he began working in radio for several stations, including Cork's Red FM, iRadio Ireland and SPIN South West.
In 2013, he re-joined Cork's Red FM as a presenter. He commentates on the League of Ireland and has also worked as a stadium announcer at Turner's Cross for Cork City since 2017. He presents the drivetime show, The Home Run, on Cork's Red FM.
Oasis
I love Oasis's album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? I was maybe 10 years of age when that came out [in 1995], an age you're just getting into music. The culture around Oasis and that '90s era of Britpop was fantastic. Some of the songs on that album were amazing like, say, Don't Look Back in Anger and Wonderwall. I remember seeing Oasis in Cork in '96. I didn't go to the gig because I was too small. It was on in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. There's a hill across from it by Lover's Walk in Montenotte. There's houses built there now. My dad took me up there, where we watched some of the gig along with other people. You could see down into the old Páirc Uí Chaoimh, with the tunes blaring out.
Take That
I remember going to see Take That years later in 2010 in Croke Park. Robbie Williams was back with them. They'd reformed. Robbie Williams came out in the middle of it and did his own set and that was nearly the best part of it. Robbie is such a showman. He was climbing the railings, putting on a great show. It was one of the best gigs I was ever at.
Dallas
Larry Hagman as JR Ewing in Dallas.
Dallas was originally broadcast slightly before my time, but I remember watching the reruns in the '90s. I thought JR Ewing was the greatest TV character of all time. He was the bad guy everyone loved to hate. Larry Hagman was a fantastic actor, the way he portrayed JR. He had this menacing smile and this look that he was always up to mischief. He was always scheming, always plotting. It was a fantastic show.
Path to Power
My favourite podcast at the moment is Path to Power with Ivan Yates and Matt Cooper. The lads are brilliant. Especially late last year coming up to the election. They play off each other well because Matt would be more left wing – he hates Donald Trump and that kind of thing. Ivan would be all about Trump. When you have two opposite characters together it's fantastic. Ivan in fairness to him has a brilliant political mind. He's excellent at predicting elections. Matt Cooper is good as well, but don't listen to him on The Last Word because he's on at the same time as me!
Bruce Springsteen
I'll never forget seeing Bruce Springsteen at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in 2013. Springsteen was fantastic. It was the last gig in the old Páirc Uí Chaoimh before they demolished it. It was a scorching, sunny day in July. What a beautiful day. When he sang Waiting on a Sunny Day the whole place was going nuts in the sunshine. It was brilliant.
Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork. Picture: VipIreland
Rod Stewart performing – again at Páirc Uí Chaoimh – in 2019 is another gig that stands out. He was fantastic, a brilliant performer. I interviewed him about six months beforehand in some hotel around Ballsbridge in Dublin. I was brought into a room and he was kicking a football around. He's a big Celtic fan. I had maybe 20 minutes allotted with him. Rod was chatting away. Half the stories he told me from the '60s and '70s weren't fit for broadcast! Towards the end, a publicist said, 'We'll wrap this up' and he was like, 'No, I'm having a lovely chat with this gentleman. We'll take our time. I've plenty of time for my flight.' It was great having a proper chat with him. What a lovely guy.
Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds at Live at the Marquee in 2015 were brilliant. He did Oasis songs. I remember loads of us went along together. It was the next best thing to being at a live Oasis gig, especially at the time, as there was no hope of the lads ever reforming. People thought that was pie in the sky stuff until their announcement last year.
Club life
Club FX was a big one for me and my friends. We used to go there initially when we were, like, 17 or 18. It was absolutely fantastic when we were in sixth year in school and first year in college. There was a great vibe in there. All the guys, all the girls. It was a great dynamic, partying to early Noughties tunes.
Then we graduated to Redz. It was another big one when I was in college at UCC. It was on Liberty St, just off South Main St. Anthony Fleming – who's a buddy of mine now – was DJing in there at the time, with his ponytail. Anthony was fantastic. He used to get the whole place going. The place would be rocking.
Calvin Harris
Colm O'Sullivan has seen Calvin Harris on several occasions.
I've seen the DJ Calvin Harris a few times – years ago at Oxygen and a couple of times in Ibiza as well. He's gone very commercial, but he's brilliant – the way he gets the crowd going. Calvin Harris live is outstanding.
Gerry Ryan
I idolised Gerry Ryan. Growing up, I listened to him religiously on the radio. He had everything – the serious side of broadcasting, and he had great empathy with his callers. Even though Gerry used to live a wealthy, lavish lifestyle himself, he could communicate to the common man. He could empathise with anyone on any issue. He could deal with a serious political topic, and he could switch from that in two seconds to talking about something absolutely ridiculous or X-rated. He was so full of life, so bombastic on the radio. He was brilliant. It's a shame he's gone so early.
Cork City FC
I started supporting Cork City when I was a young fella. My uncle Seán O'Sullivan was editing match programmes. I started selling programmes for him out at matches. I remember my dad bringing myself and my brother up to the '98 cup final. City were playing Shelburne in Dalymount Park. The first game was 0-0.
We had to go back up there the next weekend for the replay. So we hit the road again, up the old Dublin Road, the following week. We were behind the goal that Derek Coughlan got the winner – Derek with a big header into the back of the net.
All the City fans surged down the old terrace in Dalymount Park, with Derek Coughlan jumping up on the fence celebrating. Dave Barry was manager at the time. That was a huge memory as a kid supporting Cork City.