The former RTÉ television chief Joe Mulholland was a man with “character, courage, integrity, decency, force of personality, good faith, honour”, the former MEP and his friend Pat Cox told mourners at his funeral in Donnybrook, Dublin, on Monday morning.
Mulholland, who died last week aged 85, gave “three decades of his prime to RTÉ” but had a wide and varied list of other accomplishments, including the founding of the Patrick MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal, which went on to become the leading forum for discussions on politics and public policy.
Cox told the congregation that Mulholland was in his element at MacGill, “convening, inspiring, facilitating and motivating”, and recalled the frequent contributions of taoisigh and ministers, of John Hume and also of major cultural figures such as Seamus Heaney and Brian Friel to the summer school which takes place every summer in Mulholland’s native Donegal.
A large congregation, included many current and former RTÉ staff, politicians and friends of Mulholland, gathered in the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook for the funeral.
READ MORE
Mourners included John Bowman, Mike Murphy, Olivia O’Leary, Miriam O’Callaghan, Mark Little, former RTÉ director general Cathal Goan, current director general Kevin Bakhurst, and former Labour Party leader and minister for communications Pat Rabbitte.
The Taoiseach and Tánaiste were represented by the Taoiseach’s aide-de-camp Comdt Joe Glennon.
Celebrant Monsignor Ciaran O’Carroll recalled Mulholland’s commitment to “truth, storytelling and broadcasting excellence”, and recalled his “dry wit and insights on politics” as well as his contributions to public debate.
Mulholland’s love of France – and of his French wife Annie, to whom he was married for 57 years until her death last year – was recalled, with O’Carroll noting his “love of all things French”, including Citroen cars, fine cuisine and the wines of Bordeaux.
Cox said he was “francophone, francophile and bibliophile”, with study full of books – known to his wife as “the Mess” – was also referenced.
After periods in London and Manchester, Mulholland returned to Ireland and spent a decade as a television producer and director in RTÉ, winning several awards for his documentaries, then began his management career in 1980 as editor of current affairs.
He edited the flagship Today Tonight programme, a forerunner of Prime Time, during its heyday in the 1980s.
He was an inspirational leader of current affairs at the station and turned Today Tonight into one of the station’s most successful programmes.
Following 10 years at the helm of current affairs he spent a brief period as controller of external productions before serving seven years as director of news and then three years as managing director of television. He retired from the broadcaster in 2000.
His interest in the Donegal writer Patrick MacGill led to the establishment of the MacGill Summer School in 1981 which takes place at the end of July every year. Suffering from ill-health, he stepped down as director in 2024 but continued his involvement.
Cox recalled how he would begin each day at MacGill with other brave attendees with a morning swim, before returning for a “hearty breakfast at the Highlands Hotel and on to the day”.
