When Thomas Meade was born into a hard working Finglas family, little did
he know the impact this young man would make on the world of Irish radio and
television. After a brief stint working in a gift shop on Nassau Street in
Dublin’s city centre, the young Meade was already developing a new passion.
As a sixteen year old teenager, Meade earned his first eleven pounds as
a DJ at a local gig in Cabra and it set him on the road as a broadcaster with
wonderful talent emanating from his deep voice. He earned a reputation in the
nightclubs around the city and became the club jock at Annabel’s in the
Burlington Hotel. The ‘American Disco’ at Sloopy’s nightclub was another
popular avenue for the young DJ. In the late Seventies and early eighties, the
route to the airwaves was through pirate radio and Simon Young, as he was now
known, found himself on ARD and Big D Radio, two of Dublin’s premier pirate
stations. In those stations Simon found kindred spirits on the airwaves like
Gerry Ryan, Ian Dempsey and Tony Fenton.
After sending in numerous tape auditions to RTE (that was the way a DJ
introduced himself then) eventually he found himself in August 1982 as a stand in
for Gerry Ryan on RTE Radio 2, another DJ who was a product of the pirate era. He
would remain at RTE appearing on both radio and television for the next two
decades. He proved extremely popular with the listening public. He became a
popular guest on the popular ‘The Den’ on RTE 2TV with the extraordinary Dustin
the Turkey. He would stand in for presenters Ian Dempsey and Ray D’Arcy on numerous
occasions. In 1995 on RTE TV he presented ‘Pay the Price’ with co-host Roscha
Murphy but Simon also dabbled in acting. In 1998 he made an appearance as the character
‘Rafferty’ in the hit BBC drama/comedy series Ballykissange[1]l
set in County Wicklow. In April 1998 he appeared on stage at the Olympia with
Brendan O’Carroll’s creation Mrs Brown. O’Carroll and Simon had worked together
on pirate station ARD.
In 1999 with the departure of Bill O’Donovan as 2FM head, Simon found
himself sidelined. Following the death of his father in 1999 and the break up
of his marriage, Simon was plagued with mental health issues, which he both
addressed and received treatment for[2]. By
his own admission he spent almost four and a half years[3] in
hospital being treated for his mental issues. By 2002 he had departed RTE and
began working as a freelance broadcaster and Voice Over artist[4].
Simon passed away aged 62 years on October 31st 2021 and was
survived by his wife Phyl, children Holly and Nathan, brother Glen who is a
well known author having penned books including ‘Resurrection Day’. Simon was a
talented presenter who brought joy to those who listened and will be missed
most importantly by his immediate family and friends but by a wider public who
enjoyed his banter, music and talent.
Dustin’s twitter account said upon his passing,
‘I hope there’s a big aul garden in heaven he can tell
people to get outta’
'Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h'anam dílis'
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