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.[1] 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 1960's{{fact}]. He broke many Irish social taboos by bringing many topics like contraception, abortion and emigration into regular public discussion. For many years he has been an iconic figure and he has been referred to^{[citation needed]} as "the most famous man in Ireland^{[Please name specific person or group]}.

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 Footnotes 7 See also

[edit] 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. While at Granada, he introduced^{[citation needed]} The Beatles on their very first TV appearance.

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 .

[edit] 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[2] 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^[1] in Ireland before television."
In September, 1985, the programme moved to a Friday night slot.

[edit] 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 brought in as co-host of The Gay Byrne Show and subsequently succeeded him on air. He presented the annual Rose of Tralee festival for 17 years up until 1994.

[edit] Retirement

Byrne has not completely retired. 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. He has most recently presented a television series called Class Reunion. He has mentored^{[citation needed]} Ryan Tubridy, RTÉ's latest chat show host. He features on radio occasionally.

On the 27 March 2006 Byrne was announced as the new Chairman of the Irish Road Safety Authority, a public body tasked with improving road safety in the Republic of Ireland.^{[citation needed]} Byrne is an outspoken critic^{[citation needed]} of current road safety policy. On 12 May 2006, Gay appeared as a guest of Pat Kenny on the Late Late Show to talk about his new role as chairman of the Road Safety Authority.

[edit] Trivia

Byrne has won numerous television awards^{[citation needed]} and has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin. In 1999 he was awarded the Freedom of Dublin City.

Byrne published his autobiography co-written with Deirdre Purcell.^[2]

Gay Byrne is married to Kathleen Watkins, a well-known harpist and they have two daughters ([3]). They live in Howth, County Dublin.

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Public discussion of.
2. ^ The Time of My Life: An Autobiography Author: Byrne, Gay & Deirdre Purcell. Published by Gill & Macmillan Dublin 1989. ISBN 0-7171-1615-8.

[edit] 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 | 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 | 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