On any given day, there are up to 100 (legal and illegal) radio stations broadcasting in Ireland. And still you might not feel inclined to tune into a single one. So set up your own; that was the (illegal) solution for one person - we'll call him John - living in a border county.

"I've got a serious collection of dance music and I decided I wouldn't mind listening to it driving in the car to and from work," he says. Instead of making a tape, he invested a few hundred euro in second-hand radio equipment and hooked it up to his PC. That was last January, but the station was short-lived.

"A station set up down the road, a more serious venture, and more powerful, and they basically blew me out of it so they could take my frequency."

Well, what's a guy to do? Sadly, not an awful lot, because John's station was an unlicensed pirate and therefore illegal. There was nothing he could do. Perhaps he could consider applying for a licence when the opportunity arose - but that would set him back €26,000 for the application alone, not to mention a business plan, legal advice, and a far more serious investment in his radio equipment.

In fact, John reckons to have any success with a legal station these days, the initial investment is so high that your average pirate station run on a shoestring by people with more passion for music than money, doesn't have much hope.

Which would indicate that, despite regulations, the pirate scene will live on.

The golden age of pirate radio here was probably the 1970s and 1980s, when a combination of factors, not least increasingly out-dated and inept legislation, led to a surge in the number and popularity of illegal stations.

Raids and shutdowns by the authorities also increased in number, but for the most ambitious station owners, this just spurred them on. The legal radio competition in the State was hopelessly uncool, and pirates were the first to broadcast 24 hours a day. They began to pose such a threat to RT╔ that before the 1970s were up, Radio 2 (now 2FM) appeared, with its own version of youth-oriented radio.

Still, the pirates were the stations to flap your flares along to, and get that smoochy hit played for the fella your best friend fancied. (See panel for more pirate history.)

It is difficult to put an exact figure on the amount of pirate stations currently broadcasting. Some people set up shop and broadcast for a few hours a day at the weekend, others find themselves yo-yoing on and off the airwaves in a daily bid to dodge the authorities. However, estimates would suggest anything between 40 throughout the country and up to 50 in Dublin alone.

Because pirates potentially interfere with the signals of licensed stations, and even with frequencies used by emergency services, the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation has the authority to raid a station and shut it down. This happens occasionally; last summer several stations were targeted and again earlier this year raids led to stations going off the air temporarily. Among the stations targeted was RLO, a pirate station based in Limerick aimed at an over-40 audience which plays a mixture of country music and locally-based news. Ger Madden, RLO chief executive, says the licensing authorities focus on commercial viability, at the expense of good radio. "We have applied for a licence before," he says. "In Limerick there is enough band room for 10 more stations, but the licences aren't being given out. Pirates are in there providing what audiences want to hear."

Pirate-station owners have expressed concern with the direction the radio market is taking in Ireland, particularly the lack of licences. They say this not only stifles diversity, but is leading to a monopoly of the airwaves by big business.

Indeed, in the often-paranoid world of pirate radio there is a certain amount of suspicion aroused by the fact that the most recent raids took place at a time when UTV was expressing an interest in investing in radio in Limerick and Cork.

Jazz FM is one of the more popular Dublin-based pirate stations. On air since 1995, the station was set up by Ollie Dowling and some like-minded friends with a love of jazz, funk, soul, Latin, African, and anything "urban". Originally live seven days a week, since applying unsuccessfully for a licence last year, the station can now only afford to broadcast live at the weekend.

Going legal is not easy. There has to be a licence up for grabs. For a pirate to apply, it has to go off air while its application is under consideration, which takes months, often in competition with well-financed entrepreneurs. That costs thousands, but advertising on a pirate station is illegal, so where's the money? These days pirate stations are likely to make a profit only through organising dance events.

Then, to be eligible for a licence, stations may have to compromise their format in order to meet the criteria set out by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI). Some pirate owners see the whole system of regulation as a form of censorship. Others say it paves the way for the resources needed to pay staff and improve on output.

Generally, the world of pirate radio in Ireland is inhabited by deeply committed people, with a passion for their notion of good music, but it's an increasingly difficult world to survive in.

So where does that leave the priest in a village in the north midlands who is allegedly broadcasting mass every Sunday on his own "station" to parishioners who can't make it to the church? Perhaps you have just got to hope some things really are sacred.