Ryan remembered: Shared memories of late broadcaster

FRIENDS AND colleagues of Gerry Ryan shared their memories of the late broadcaster over the weekend.

On a tribute show on 2FM on Saturday morning, U2’s Bono and the Edge described him as the “nation’s weather vane” and a “great analyst of the country’s affairs”.

Seán Haughey, who was a childhood friend of Ryan, described him as a great ambassador for north Dublin, adding: “He was a very independent thinker, independent in his views about politics or whatever the subject was.

“He didn’t just go with the consensus.”

Writer John Banville described Ryan as “a marvellous storyteller, a marvellous raconteur . . . He struck me as being very much like an 18th-century wit.

“He was very funny, but he was also very witty and there’s a difference”.

In a tribute item on the Late Late Showon Friday night, Pat Kenny said: "Often he was overlooked in ways. There are talents of varying degrees which have come from RTÉ.

“ I think it’s been a great training ground for people. But I think with Mr Wogan and Mr Byrne, you are the holy trinity as far as I’m concerned.”