Gay Byrne

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This article is about the Irish television presenter. See Gabriel Byrne for the Irish actor.

Gabriel Mary Byrne, known as Gay Byrne and nicknamed Gaybo (born 5 August, 1934) is an Irish broadcaster. He was the presenter of the Late Late Show, from 1962 to 1999 except for one year.[2] He also presented a regular morning radio show on RTE. He is credited with being a catalyst in the transformation of Irish Society since the 1960s.^[1] He broke many Irish social taboos by discussing many topics like contraception and abortion. Gay Byrne was born in Dublin. After being educated by the Irish Christian Brothers at the Synge Street CBS he worked at the North Strand cinema. He later entered the world of insurance.

Contents 1 Early career 2 Late Late Show 3 Radio broadcaster 4 Retirement 5 Trivia 6 References 7 See also

Early career

In 1958 he moved to broadcasting when he became a presenter on Radio Éireann. He also worked with Granada Television and the BBC in England.

In 1961 Telefís Éireann (later RTÉ) was set up. He finally worked exclusively for the new Irish service after 1969. He introduced many popular programmes with his most popular and successful programme being the:

Late Late Show

On 6 July, 1962, the first episode of the Late Late Show was aired. Originally the show was scheduled as an eight-week summer filler. The programme, which is still broadcast, has become the world's longest running chat show. The show became a forum where controversial topics such as the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, contraception, AIDS, unemployment, homosexuality, clerical sexual abuse, divorce, and other hitherto taboo subjects were discussed openly in Ireland, alongside book reviews, celebrity visits, and music acts like U2, Sinéad O'Connor, the Boomtown Rats and Noel Gallagher. Other guests included Presidents of Ireland,successive Archbishops of Armagh, minor members of the British Royal Family, politicians, actors, authors and countless others.
On 21 May, 1999, he presented his last Late Late Show. From September 1999 the show has been presented by Pat Kenny. The show had much to do in shaping the new Ireland that was emerging from the 1960s. Byrne himself as a presenter, was not a radical social reformer and his style was less challenging than the style[3] of the current Late Late Show presenter Pat Kenny. The show and its guests have had a radical effect on the people of Ireland. Indeed it was famously said by politician and Papal knight Oliver J. Flanagan that, there was no sex^[2] in Ireland before television."

Radio broadcaster

Byrne was also a radio broadcaster. He is best remembered for his two hour morning show, The Gay Byrne Hour, later renamed The Gay Byrne Show (1972 - 1999). Joe Duffy was a reporter on The Gay Byrne Show and subsequently succeeded him as presenter. Byrne presented the annual Rose of Tralee festival for 17 years until 1994.

Retirement

Byrne has not completely retired and continues to feature occasionally on radio and television. He has hosted the Irish version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, The Gay Byrne Music Show and Make 'Em Laugh, a series about comedy in Ireland. and a series Class Reunion. He features on radio occasionally, in 2006 presenting a weekly Sunday afternoon show entitled Sunday Serenade on Lyric FM. In March 2006 Byrne was apppinted as the Chairman of the Irish Road Safety Authority [4], a public body given the task of improving road safety in the Republic of Ireland.

Trivia

Byrne has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin. In 1999 he was awarded the Freedom of Dublin City. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award in February 2007.[5]

Byrne published his autobiography co-written with Deirdre Purcell.^[3]

Byrne is married to Kathleen Watkins, formerly a well-known harpist and they have two daughters.^[4] They live in Howth, County Dublin.

In an RTE television documentary aired in March 2007 about the life and career of Gaybo, many trivia titbits were revealed. One amazing fact revealed was that during the early years of Gay's time hosting The Late Late Show, up to about 1978 when the second national Irish TV channel was launched, he was emplyoyed by RTE on a continuously renewing 3-month contract, lest his employer might want to fire him any time they choose.

References

1. ^ The Impact of RTE 1962-1972 (HTML). ScoilNet. Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
2. ^ Public discussion of.
3. ^ The Time of My Life: An Autobiography Author: Byrne, Gay & Deirdre Purcell. Published by Gill & Macmillan Dublin 1989. ISBN 0-7171-1615-8.
4. ^ [1]

See also

• List of people on stamps of Ireland

Preceded by -----	Host of the Late Late Show 6 July, 1962 – 21 May, 1968	Succeeded by Frank Hall
Preceded by Frank Hall	Host of the Late Late Show September, 1969 – 21 May, 1999	Succeeded by Pat Kenny
Preceded by N/A	Host of The Rose of Tralee 1978 – 1994	Succeeded by Derek Davis

Radio Telefís Éireann presenters and hosts
Chat show hosts: Gay Byrne | Frank Hall | Pat Kenny | Mike Murphy | Ryan Tubridy
News & Current Affairs: Charlie Bird | John Bowman | Brian Cleeve | Barry Cowan | Donagh Diamond | Sean Duignan | Brian Farrell | Mark Little | John O'Donoghue | Bill O'Herlihy | Olivia O'Leary | Sean O'Rourke
Sports: Eamon Dunphy | Johnny Giles | George Hamilton | George Hook | Jimmy Magee | Michael O'Hehir | Tracey Piggott
Newsreaders and Announcers: Anne Doyle | Don Cockburn | Derek Davis | Bryan Dobson | Eileen Dunne | Charles Mitchel | Maurice O'Doherty | Emer O'Kelly | Vere Wynne-Jones
See also: List of programmes broadcast by RTÉ

fi:Gay Byrne

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