Veteran Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne, who received an honorary degree from Trinity in 1988, has died at the age of 85 after a prolonged illness.
His brother Al studied science in Trinity, but Byrne’s own dream to study there was postponed when he was forced to work after the death of his father. This wish was fulfilled in 1988 when the College awarded him an honorary degree in literature. The Irish Times reported that he kept his Trinity degree “in his back pocket”.
In a tribute to the broadcaster’s legacy, RTÉ interrupted its schedule earlier this afternoon to announce his death. Leading tributes this afternoon, President Michael D Higgins described him as “one of the most familiar and distinctive voices of our times, helping shape our conscience, our self-image, and our idea of who we might be”.
In 1982, Byrne was being filmed in Front Square when he was pranked by an apparently enthusiastic French football fan.
For his candid sketch show The Live Mike, Mike Murphy persistently interrupted and tormented Byrne as he filmed a piece to camera in Trinity. It is seemingly one of the only times Byrne cursed on camera.
Byrne was best known for his 37-year tenure as presenter of RTÉ’s Late Late Show. Now the second-longest running chat show in the world, the Late Late first aired in July 1962 for a six-week run as a summer filler.
The influence of the Late Late Show is often summarised by Oliver J Flanagan’s quip: “There was no sex in Ireland before television.” Under Byrne’s stewardship, the Late Late became cemented as a platform for some of the most controversial debates facing Irish society in the late 20th century.
In 1984, he dedicated a full programme to the death of teenager Ann Lovett, who died at the foot of a statue of the Virgin Mary after giving birth to her son. Letters were read aloud in which viewers recounted their own experiences of pregnancy in Ireland.
Another historic moment of Byrne’s tenure on the show was his interview with Annie Murphy, a woman who had a child with bishop Eamonn Casey in a scandal that shook the country in the 1990s. Both episodes incited widespread public anger, and brought to the fore issues which had seldom, if ever, been discussed openly before.
After leaving the show in 1999, Byrne moved on to present the Irish version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. In later years, he presented RTE’s The Meaning of Life, in which he invited public figures to discuss their thoughts on faith and spirituality, and the role religion has had in their lives so far.
An outspoken advocate for safety on roads, he was appointed chairman of the Road Safety Authority when it was first set up in 2006.
He is survived by his wife Kathleen, who was RTÉ’s first continuity announcer when the channel first aired in 1961 as Telefís Éireann, and his adopted daughters Suzy and Crona.
