I started in local radio, presenting on a number of local stations, such as Sunshine and Class. I enjoyed it, and so I got into the commercial side of things . . . selling advertising in local radio, ending up as sales manager in a station called South Coast Radio in Cork in the early 1980s.

It was at that time that I established Airtime, which was designed to offer a service to advertising agencies for buying time on local radio . . . and at the time, this was a unique service. Fast forward about 10 years, and Airtime secured the contract to run Ireland's first central sales organisation for advertising on local radio. We offered a business service, both to ad agencies and to radio stations . . . at that time, it was all about providing information about entry into the radio market.

The late 1980s and early 1990s was a time of change for radio in Ireland. What was it really like?

In the early days, it was really quite exciting. We were living for today, because we never knew if there was going to be a tomorrow, and there were several instances of stations closing and reopening. But the major event was the formal closing of Sunshine and Radio Nova in Dublin, and the demonstrations that took place . . . it brought a lot of attention to local radio. But it was also an exciting time to be involved in broadcasting . . .

stations were evolving, and there was a lot of optimism, coupled with dissatisfaction about what was on offer . . .

especially from the youth audience. We also felt that the evolving medium represented a good opportunity . . .

although things were tight, and we often had to dig deep to pull through.

You helped the independent radio business in Ireland to find its feet. But how did your own business evolve?

In 1997, Airtime evolved into a full agency, and we moved from Baggot Street to Clontarf in 2002. We also recently launched the name "Cohesion Advertising", as an offshoot of Airtime. Airtime has now been repositioned as a broadcast media agency, while Cohesion will look after general advertising services across all media. Cohesion and Airtime now offer a full service, including creative, media planning and buying, etc.

Where do you see the future of advertising?

We are seeing a significant growth in on-line advertising. On-line allows for interactivity between the advertiser and the customer, and while some people complain about it, on-line advertising can be very clever . . .

essentially it is down to the creative element.

But, overall, advertising is becoming a more professional industry. Technology is allowing us to include all sorts of creative input which would not have been possible in the past . . . and the quality is fantastic.