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FELLOW BROADCASTERS, POLITICAL leaders and his legions of fans have been sharing their memories of Terry Wogan, following the much-loved radio and TV host’s death from cancer at the age of 77.
His contemporaries Gay Byrne and Mike Murphy paid tribute to their friend on RTÉ Radio 1 this morning – the latter describing his shock having just heard the news and asking presenter Miriam O’Callaghan how the presenter had died.
“Oh god isn’t that just awful,” Murphy said.
He was so ebullient and so full of life and so full of energy and pizazz and positivity. I always felt Terry would simply just trundle on.
Wogan had had an “incredible command of language,” Murphy said, describing the veteran BBC host as “the most creative presenter I ever heard in my life”.
Byrne said the Limerick-born presenter had a “monster advantage” over his competitors, explaining:
“He was born with a permanently sunny disposition.
He simply was optimistic and he was good natured. He saw the fun in everything. And this is a huge gift to have.
‘Ambassador’
Ryan Tubridy, who filled in for Wogan in his BBC Radio 2 Sunday morning slot in recent years, said the broadcaster had been a huge influence on him growing up, and recalled memories of going to see a recording of his TV chat show during a school trip to London.
Wogan had been an ambassador for Irish people in the UK during the years of the Troubles and throughout the IRA’s bombing campaigns there in the 1970s and 80s, Tubridy said.
“He only talked about it later in life,” the Late Late host told Dave Fanning on 2fm.
People would come up to him from Ireland and say ‘thank God your voice was there representing us’.
RTÉ Director General Noel Curran also made reference to his role as something of an ambassador for the Irish in Britain.
“Terry Wogan was a consummate broadcaster and an ambassador for Irish talent in the UK – particularly during some difficult times in Ireland’s relationship with Britain,” a statement said.
“He is fondly remembered for his early years in RTÉ and still has many friends in the organisation.
“I knew him from meeting him at Eurovision and I found his on-air humour and warmth was always there in person.
He has made a unique contribution to broadcasting in the UK and to the stature of Irish broadcasters internationally.
‘Unforgiving commentary’
President Higgins referred to Wogan as “one of the great figures of broadcasting” while in his statement, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the presenter’s “humour and wit were unparalleled”.
“As an Irishman, Terry Wogan occupied a special place in British listeners’ hearts and he acted in no small way as a bridge between Ireland and Britain.
His always entertaining, and often unforgiving, commentary of the Eurovision Song Contest provided viewers here and in Britain with endless entertainment.
Tánaiste Joan Burton said he “provided inspiration to generations of emigrants” while Limerick Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea said he never forgot his roots and regularly spoke about his home city.
Anglo-Irish national treasure
Paying tribute to his colleague, BBC presenter Jeremy Vine quoted a conversation between Wogan and the Queen, who asked the presenter how long he had worked at the Beeb.
His reply:
Your Majesty, I’ve never worked here.
BBC director general Tony Hall, echoing the sentiment of others in the UK, described him as a national treasure.
“Today we’ve lost a wonderful friend,” he said.
He was a lovely, lovely man and our thoughts are with his wife and family.
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Great to see – now lets really tackle packaging waste and force business to make the environmentally correct choice when choosing their packaging – We need to get rid of plastic bottles, plastic wrapping and one off coffee cups and lids
@brian boru:
Bring in another tax…..
@P.J. Nolan: not all taxes are bad – some make sense and others are just greedy – if taxes make it cost effective for a business to do the right thing then it is a good tax in my book. Some are greedy and corrupt like the Irish water plan and need to be fought but smart taxation can be beneficial to society.
All the chocolate bar companies have moved to plastic wrapping because it costs less. Like wise the soft drink companies have moved to plastic bottles because they are prettier. Neither are thinking about the environment and need to be forced to rethink their packaging plans. Taxation is the fastest route to getting these huge companies to change their game plan at the speed we need it to happen.
@brian boru: I would be far more comfortable if chocolate bars once again came in paper and foil. I know they wont recycle the foil but i’m sure it does far less than damage to the environment than plastic.
@Darren Byrne: The plastic gives a longer shelf life so the chocolate companies are using it to give them higher margins at the cost of the environment. Regulatory needs to step in and drive a higher cost to the manufacturer for using the plastic due to the environmental cost. Am sure if the right pressure was applied a solution could be arranged that worked for everyone. The only lever I can think of in this situation is taxation as expecting people to make the change will take generations.
@brian boru: I’m sure it does give longer shelf life, but surely chocolate is a fast-selling item with a high turnover rate? And once bought? I’ve often eaten a square or two and put it away for a week or so, okay, I’m odd, but a lot of people seem to eat bars very quickly once they have some in the house – I’ve even heard of people freezing a bar to keep it for later. I honestly don’t see chocolate as being in any danger of going off before it’s consumed.
It’s fantastic the system works, now let’s solve the plastic bottles ( bottle water ) and the coffee cup problem .
Great and more to be done… especially with plastic
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/plasticpledge/?beta=true
Where are all the reusable items stripped out of the WEEE appliances. Is it Ireland, UK, Europe.
Surely it’s not Africa where all that toxic stuff is released in both the air and the soil/water, by burning all that plastic stuff that covers wires and other components by folks trying to scrape a living together ?
Any answers appreciated. Hope I’m wrong.
Is a dildo a small appliance? Just asking
@Seriously stunned: that all depends on the wife’s choice in style
@Seriously stunned: that all depends on the wife’s choice in style
If domestic appliances were designed and built to last longer than the now average 5 to 10 years lifespan then recycling would be greatly reduced.The average lifespan of some appliances twenty or thirty years ago was averaging ten to twenty years .Most appliances now have built in obsolescence.
Great, but after the specials on Aldi and Lidl this Sunday, we’ll need extra capacity!
You are going to have a great bunch of lads moistening their lips when you talk about that much copper
This just demonstrates the amount of junk we buy throw out and replace. Thats not sustainable
have your say