While tribunal halls had been packed any time he stepped into the box, Bertie Ahern’s 2006 interview with Bryan Dobson brought that drama into living rooms. Following further allegations about his financial affairs, the taoiseach played up his role as family man trying to do right for his children. “Eyes brimming with tears, difficult pauses, swallowing hard . . .” Miriam Lord wrote at the time. Ahern survived until 2008.
YouTube:Ahern Dobson
In 1992, Annie Murphy made her much anticipated appearance on ‘The Late Late Show’ in the wake of the Bishop Eamon Casey scandal. Gay Byrne’s questioning became increasingly judgmental until Byrne said her son would be fine if he’s “half the man his father was”. Murphy replied: “I’m not so bad myself, Mr Byrne.” When you see the clip replayed, it always ends on that. History has given her the last word.
Yet Gay Byrne’s importance to Irish television can’t boiled down to any one interview. His hosting of The Late Late Show ended in 1999, with U2 giving him a Harley Davidson, and when he rode off into the sunset, the chat show went into a decline it has yet to recover from. Pat Kenny and Ryan Tubridy (and Gerry Ryan for one night) all discovered that it’s harder than it looks.
YouTube:U2 bike gay byrne
While recent events have tarnished RTÉ’s reputation, it was at the forefront of Ireland coming to terms with its cruel past. In 1996, Christine Buckley’s story in Louis Lenten’s documentary ‘Dear Daughter’ was key to this, as survivors of institutional abuse finally found a voice.
Charles Mitchel was the first star Irish newsreader – he stared so intently out from the screen that woman famously tidied the living room before the news so the house would be clean for him. He set the trend for our special relationship with newsreaders, seen recently with Anne Doyle’s departure.
In 1990, George Hamilton uttered the now famous words “a nation holds his breath”, and as Dave O’Leary approached the penalty spot, it really did. Ireland’s win over Romania in Italia 90 was a moment of collective joy unrivalled since, and experienced by most through television - many of them in pubs, who were learning the value of having a screen in the corner. Or every corner.
YouTube: David O'Leary penalty
Okay, so this moment hasn’t happened yet, but when they finally turn off the terrestrial signal at the end of this year, it will mark the end of a significant early phase in TV – and the sight of aerials on roofs. Digital has taken over, and Saorview has become the standard bearer for the future. But many will lament the end of a technology that worked very well for most – except in good weather . . .
The man who slipped on the ice during the terrible weather of 2010 was watched first by the unsympathetic RTÉ camera – and then millions of times by a worldwide audience online. It inspired a brilliant short film, The Man Who Slipped on the Ice,following up on the story a year later.
YouTube: The Man Who Slipped on the Ice
