Late Late Show Special, RTE 1, Tuesday at 9.35pm
Gay Byrne has had a tremendous send off so perhaps it’s appropriate to recognise the efforts of Ryan Tubridy in the remembering.
The third and current Late Late Show presenter gave us a tour de force on Tuesday evening as he conducted the orchestra in tribute to his mentor.
No doubt, with Gay sick for a few years, preparations had been made for a special show to mark his death but that doesn’t take away from the achievement of the evening.
The tribute show was supposed to last 90 minutes but ended up at almost two and a half hours and I think I counted just three advertisement breaks in that time.
The list of guests was stunning, including the current and a past president, and virtually every television, media, musical, comedy and cultural figure in the country.
Clearly a decision had been taken to exclude politicians (other than the presidents) which was understandable but also a pity because politics has always been central to life and death in a way which is unique to us.
And sorry to be maudlin, but there was something about the ‘us’ that made the night special. It’s not too often that we get to take stock of our special character and spirit and all our good stuff was on display here.
In the middle of it all, Ryan didn’t miss a beat. Just remembering all the names was an achievement in itself as he brought in commentator after commentator and toggled between films of Gay’s best bits.
Even a slightly confused Nell McCafferty didn’t put him off his stride as she stopped proceedings to ask for a glass of water.
Bono joined the show by phone from a U2 tour in New Zealand and recognised the contribution Gay had played in their breakthrough.
And asked for his lasting memory of his good friend, Mike Murphy paused and said: “I remember with great affection and emotion … the time he bought me a drink.”
The curtain came down with a sensational line-up of traditional musicians and a rendition of The Parting Glass which would have brought tears to a stone.
At that stage, the national anthem and a forty one gun salute wouldn’t have surprised you.
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Children Of The Troubles, RTE 1, Monday at 9pm
Another alumni of the Gay Byrne school for broadcasting was at his work the previous evening.
Joe Duffy, supported by Freya McClements, remembered the 186 children killed in the Troubles.
To mark the centenary, Duffy had produced a television series and book to remember the children who lost their lives in the 1916 rebellion.
Now he has moved on fifty years and added to our knowledge of the damage caused by the Troubles.
The unofficial list of dead in Lost Lives numbered 176 under-16s but through their research Duffy and McClements added nine more to the grim list.
Children such as Damien Harkin from the Bogside in Derry.
The eight year old was returning from a trip to the cinema in 1971 when a three-tonne British army lorry mounted the pavement and killed him.
His mother identified her son by his shoes, which he had worn for his First Holy Communion just months earlier.
With the 50th anniversary of the start of the Troubles marked this year, there has been a lot of television remembering those dark days, but each has been important.
As Duffy notes: “None of the 186 children of the Troubles deserved to die. And none of them deserved to be forgotten either. They all left a permanent wound in their families’ lives, an irreplaceable absence.”
