
An Taobh Tuathail (ATT), RT Raidi na Gaeltachta's flagship alternative radio, presented by Cian C obh in show turns 25 in May 2024. The acclaimed music show, described by Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals in The Irish Times as one of the most radical radio shows in the world , has been broadcasting every Monday to Friday on the national Irish-language station since 1st May 1999.
As part of ATT's 25 year celebrations, from Monday 29th April to Friday 3rd May, the show will feature all exclusive new music, previously unreleased and unheard outside of the musicians' studios, from artists that we admire from home and abroad, including Peter Gordon, Works Of Intent, Dian C cht, Blamhaus, Elliot Adamson, The Shen, Meljoann, Man Power, Junk Drawer and Ambient Babestation Meltdown + Borai.
In addition to the on-air celebrations, Cian will be hosting a special edition of his club night Disco D na in Galway's Cuba venue on Saturday 4th May with an all-night-long DJ set. Tickets are currently on sale via Eventbrite (check Cian's socials for links.)
An Taobh Tuathail the title translates as the other side' is presented in the Irish language by DJ, broadcaster and west Kerry native Cian C obh in. I grew up with radio , says Cian. Before we had a TV in the house, we just had the radio for entertainment, which was playing in the kitchen from dawn to dusk. My father Se n C obh in was one of the first local radio journalists in the country, working with RT RnaG. As a boy, I used to love spending time in the radio studio while he went about his work interviewing the likes of Dolores O' Riordan of The Cranberries and former Taoiseach Charles Haughey.
Later, in university in Galway in 1993, I attended the very first meeting of Radio Soc, whose mission was to set up a college radio station on campus. The station Flirt FM was established on the back of the hard work and perservance of Radio Soc and continues to run to this day. I had been amassing music for a decade and had built up quite a decent collection and wanted nothing more than to share my finds with others and it was on Flirt FM that I got the opportunity to present my first music shows on radio .
After university, Cian briefly worked as an intern at RT RnaG's studios in Casla in Connemara, mostly as a continuity announcer and giving weather updates. The station used to wind up broadcasting at 8pm in the evenings back then, but in early 1999, when it was announced that the station's hours would be extended for a few more hours each night, Cian pounced at the chance of making a case to his employers to host a night-time music show. He wrote a 20 page proposal outlining his ideas. The management liked what he had to say, and the rest is history.
It was a huge deal at the time to hear modern electronic music on RT RnaG , says Cian, the station exclusively played almost all Irish traditional music and folk songs. It was quite the culture shock to go from sean-n s and polkas to the driving, hedonistic techno of Slam's Positive Education' .
While curating An Taobh Tuathail, Cian has also been DJ-ing for over three decades, holding down residences in clubs around the country. He initially burst on the scene through his 110th Street residency in Galway, where he hosted parties with Andrew Weatherall, Erol Alkan, Soulwax, Optimo and many more. To this days he continues to throw parties and DJ most weekends since Covid restrictions lifted, he's been hosting Disco D na (Naughty Disco) parties in intimate venues around the island, as well as regularly spinning at festivals.
Over the decades, ATT has become established as the late night weeknight listen for curious ears across Ireland and beyond. Much of this comes down to allowing the show's DJ to play the music he feels much passionate about, without the restrictions of any station playlist dictating the DJ's choices, as is the case on most commercial radio. Many musicians and producers have had their first ever airplay on the show.
UK music site The Quietus wrote: It's an obvious and lazy comparison to call presenter Cian C obh in the Irish John Peel, but his laid-back manner, combined with the eclectic and astonishing mix of sounds played on the programme, make him more worthy of the mantle than any other DJ I'm aware of in Britain or elsewhere today. The Irish Independent has described ATT as one of the finest music shows ever produced, on any station , while Dance Your Way Home author Emma Warren has compared the programme to Andrew Weatherall's NTS shows. In a recent column in The Observer, Miranda Sawyer also praised the show: ATT is an aural feast An absolute treasure trove .
25 years in, C obh in puts the show's longevity down to listeners trusting him to help them navigate the inexorable flow of new music in the oversaturated, digital world. Our attention spans are being constantly bombarded by the incessant lure of new sounds clamouring for your attention. There is just so much music out there and it can be overwhelming for people leading busy lives to keep up with it at all and sometimes people need more than an algorithm as a guide to find music to connect with. Much of my work is attempting to separate the wheat from the chaff and presenting what I feel are worthwhile discoveries to my listeners. It helps that I love the thrill of the chase and that my curiosity for new music remains undimmed , he says. A listener contacted me to say that she believed it might possibly be public service broadcasting for music lovers at its most purest. If that's my legacy, I'll happily take that.
An online archive of shows covering more than ten years, which includes all playlists and audio streams, can be accessed here.
Europe Stories
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
15/07/2025
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN THE UNIT...
15/07/2025
Harmonic's Hybrid, AI-Powered and Live Sports Streaming Innovations are Key ...
15/07/2025
The well-known and well-loved 4099 has been completely revamped. It features amazing CORE+ technology, which eliminates distortion and extends dynamic range, a ...
15/07/2025
Comscore Partners with HyphaMetrics to Launch Advanced Person-Level Audience Mea...
15/07/2025
Peak audiences of over half a million tune into both Kerry v Tyrone and Donegal ...
15/07/2025
PROTON Announces Production Facility Expansion Ahead of IBC2025 posted: 15/07/2025
Proton Announces Production Facility Expansion Ahead of IBC2025
Alongs...
14/07/2025
Enhancing Public Service Broadcasting with
Innovation, Accuracy & Sustainability
New regional detail and local towns featured...
11/07/2025
If you've ever wondered what might be playing in Clark Kent's headphones...
11/07/2025
AI and Multimedia Authenticity Standards Collaboration launches two papers to guide the future of AI integration, today at the AI for Good Global Summit
The...
10/07/2025
The current holder of the prestigious Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year Award has been forced to stop reporting over fears for her safety in Afgha...
10/07/2025
Spotify is turning up the volume on Australian music with a multipronged initiative designed to highlight the dominance of Australian artists on the global stag...
10/07/2025
This is not a drill: Oasis is back on the road-marking its first live performanc...
10/07/2025
The music industry depends on fresh ideas, bold voices, and emerging talent. Yet across the U.K., too many young musicians lack the space to develop their craft...
10/07/2025
10 Jul 2025
VEON and Cohen Circle Secure Investor Commitments for Kyivstar Listing Kyiv, New York, Dubai, and Philadelphia - July 10, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq:...
10/07/2025
Thursday 10 July 2025
The Very Small Creatures
Jaime's Treetop Tales
Emerald
BooSnoo! Christmas Mashup
Pip & Posy's Spooktacular Party
The Very Sm...
10/07/2025
Thursday 10 July 2025
Brand new rewards are coming to Sky customers, with free ...
10/07/2025
Comscore Achieves Full JIC Certification for National TV Measurement Including...
09/07/2025
Wednesday 9 July 2025
Sky Broadband now has the UK's fastest broadband spee...
09/07/2025
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced Jeff Williams will transition his role as chief operating officer later this month to Sabih Khan, Apple's senior...
08/07/2025
In an era where digital threats to journalists are becoming increasingly aggressive and widespread, MediaSafe Africa launches as a vital online resource to help...
08/07/2025
This summer, as the energy builds for one of the biggest moments in women's ...
08/07/2025
UKTV today announces that Richard Watsham, Chief Creative Officer at UKTV and Global Director of Acquisitions for BBC Studios/UKTV, has decided to step down fro...
08/07/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. - July 8, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced a reco...
08/07/2025
Arvato Systems Optimizes Customer Communication with AOK Niedersachsen
New project in the statutory health insurance sector
Arvato Systems and AOK Niedersach...
08/07/2025
On August 7, Apple Arcade is adding four exclusive games to its diverse catalogue of more than 200 fun games for players to enjoy, all free from ads and in-app ...
07/07/2025
** MEDIA ALERT **
VIZ Media Ignites AX 2025 with Star-Studded Panels, Exclus...
07/07/2025
CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA As Apple Music marks its 10th anniversary this year, Apple unveils its most ambitious creative project to date: a brand-new state-of-the...
07/07/2025
RT has announced that Mark Bignell has been appointed Commissioning Editor for Comedy following a public competition. This senior editorial position will drive...
04/07/2025
The Summer Reading Challenge has inspired children across the U.K. to embrace a ...
04/07/2025
Friday 4 July 2025
Watch the trailer here https://youtu.be/Od5WpvWmDr8
Further...
04/07/2025
The Pitch comes to RT Radio 1 airwaves this Sunday at 7pm. The Pitch is a brand...
03/07/2025
For our Vario-Jib, as well as for a repertoire of weights, we now have carts that make transport easier...
03/07/2025
One of our latest innovations: Slider Drive Unit!
Our Vario Slider not only comes with improvements and new features, but also with its own drive unit!
Our i...
03/07/2025
The 360 EVO lives up to its name: 360-degree rotation not only on the pan axis, but also on the roll axis, enables filmmakers to take their creative visions eve...
03/07/2025
What a buzzing few days at BSCExpo in London!
We were thrilled to connect with so many talented professionals from the world of cinematography.
A huge thank ...
03/07/2025
ADOLESCENCE - Shot with Panther Tower"The whole rig had to be detachable mid-episode
Netflix limited drama series Adolescence has been gaining attentio...
03/07/2025
** MEDIA ALERT ** Shonen Jump Store Hosting Los Angeles Pop-up During Anime Exp...
03/07/2025
Thursday 3 July 2025
David Harewood and Matthew Broome in Mozart: Genius for Hi...
03/07/2025
The Sky WNT Fund supports Womens National Team players with a 30,000 bursaryThursday 3 July 2025
Sky Ireland has announced the four recipients of the 2025 Sky...
02/07/2025
Calrec expands ecosystem at NAB 2025 giving broadcasters access to dynamic workflows and ultimate flexibility Helping broadcasters meet the shifting needs of me...
02/07/2025
02 Jul 2025
VEON Raises USD 200 Million in Private Bond Placement Dubai, July 1, 2025: VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital operator ( VEON ), announces ...
02/07/2025
Brand new factual series follows mechanic and self-taught engineer Dom Chinea as he makes the move of his life to the far west of Cornwall
UKTV today announces...
02/07/2025
Rohde & Schwarz acquires ZES ZIMMER Electronic Systems GmbH and expands its T&M ...
02/07/2025
Wuppertal July 2, 2025
Riedel Communications Launches RefSuite Ecosystem for S...