THE 2012 TELEVISION INDUCTEE - GAY BYRNE

Born in Dublin in August 1934, Gay was educated at Synge Street School before gaining employment in a number of different jobs. He admired Irish broadcaster Eamonn Andrews and as a result was employed at Radio Eireann then located in the GPO on Henry Street. Gay has been a part of RTE since 1958. Known as ‘Gaybo’, Gay has been inducted in the Irish Broadcasting Hall of Fame for his contribution to television broadcasting.

In 1962 when Irish television was launched he became host of a new chat show titled The Late Late Show, a role he held until 1999. The first edition of the entertainment show was broadcast on the then titled Telifis Eireann on July 6th 1962 and was originally thought that it would last one series as a summer filler. The show was an immediate success and over the years has tackled many of the major social issues of the time. The show has courted controversy in tackling issues such as contraception, the Catholic Church and abortion. The show has also been the launching pad for music stars such as U2 and Boyzone.

Gay said of the show “Anonymous, private people to whom something extraordinary had happened whether it was falling out of an aeroplane or escaping from a burning building or a sinking ship and who had the capacity to tell the story and that was always a sure-fire recipe for arresting people's attention.”

In 1964 he briefly left RTE and moved to Britain where he worked on the BBC and Granada Television based in Manchester. On the BBC he hosted ‘Open House’ with Peter Haigh and Robert Robinson who famously chaired the quiz shows ‘Call My Bluff’ and ‘Ask The Family’.

On Granada he hosted a nightly news round up programme ‘Scene at 6.30’. On November 25th, 1963, The Beatles taped a mimed performance of their new single, "I Want To Hold Your Hand"/"This Boy" for use on Scene At 6.30. They were also interviewed, along with Liverpool comedian Ken Dodd, by host Gay Byrne becoming the first man to interview the Beatles on television.

In his absence The Late Late Show continued with Frank Hall as host but Gay returned to the show after one season. Some of the controversies seen on the Late Late with Gay include

The Bishop and the Nightie Affair

A minor furore erupted later in 1966 when the Bishop of Clonfert condemned The Late Late Show as immoral and Gay Byrne as a promoter of "filth". The condemnation stemmed from a small item on the show in which Byrne was interviewing a number of couples to see how well they knew each other. Byrne asked a Mrs. Fox from Terenure if she could remember what colour her nightdress was on the first night of her married life to her Mr. Fox. The woman first implied it was "transparent" before revealing that she might not have worn an item of clothing to bed that night at all. This response was received with laughter by Byrne and the studio audience, with Mrs. Fox then revealing her nightdress had been white. However, the Bishop either misheard or ignored this, feeling the need to protest against this "filthy" programme and the "filth" which was being televised into the nation's homes. The Bishop of Clonfert sent a telegram: "Disgusted with disgraceful performance", prompting a swift RTÉ apology which the Irish Examiner states was similar to the apology the same broadcaster issued during the Brian Cowen nude portraits controversy in 2009

Brian Trevaskis

On a March 1966 episode of The Late Late Show a debate was held on the Roman Catholic Church. Brian Trevaskis, a young student making his first television appearance, criticised the Bishop of Galway, Michael Browne for spending so much on a cathedral instead of helping the poor. Trevaskis described the building as a "monstrosity" and referred to the Bishop as a "moron". He was invited back on the show the following week, 6 April 1966, to expand on his opinions. The student referred to the fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising, a pivotal moment in Irish history, when he expressed his concern over the devotion of money to building churches in a society where women who were impregnated outside marriage were considered outcasts and as such were vulnerable members of society. Trevaskis claimed Ireland was not a Christian country and told of how, when asked if the bishop knew the meaning of the word "moron", he replied using his uncertainty as to whether the bishop knew the meaning of the word "Christian".

Women's rights

Elderly feminist campaigner Hillary Boyle criticised the Irish government when she appeared on The Late Late Show during the 1970s, calling them "all so afraid of a belt of the crozier (the Bishop's stick)".

The Contraceptive Train

When several women, amongst them June Levine and Nell McCafferty, carried bags of condoms from Belfast on a train in protest at Ireland's strict anti-contraception laws in 1971, The Late Late Show became involved in the incident when one of the women, Mary Kenny, appeared in the studio to say that the law was "pretty damn weird".

Lesbian Nuns

In 1979, Gay Byrne interviewed a lesbian on The Late Late Show, escaping public condemnation in the process. However, when a couple of former nuns who were lesbians were booked to appear in 1985, a High Court case ensued and calls came for The Late Late Show to be axed altogether as it would "greatly undermine Christian moral values" and "the respect of the general public for nuns" to feature the pair on live television. Protestors gathered to recite decades of the rosary, sing hymns as the show got underway.

The AIDS special

An AIDS special in the 1980s included a controversial demonstration on live television of how to attach a condom to a finger.

Annie Murphy

In 1992, Bishop Eamonn Casey resigned when it was revealed that he had broken his vow of celibacy having fathered a child with a young American divorcee named Annie Murphy in 1973 during his tenure as Bishop of Kerry. In April 1993, Murphy appeared on The Late Late Show to speak about the affair and their child, Peter. Eamonn Casey had supported their son financially, but had requested that this be kept quiet to protect his career. At the end of the interview Byrne said if the baby was 'half the man his father was' he would be fine and Annie Murphy replied that the boy's mother (meaning herself) was 'not so bad either', drawing applause from the studio audience, Casey spent most of his time since the scandal outside of Ireland, in an effort to avoid media attention but eventually returned in 2006. Casey himself, was a guest on the show incidentally, on several previous occasions – possibly influencing Byrne's apparent scepticism of Murphy's motives and claims on the show.

Peter Brooke

In 1992 the then Conservative British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Brooke appeared on The Late Late Show. After a pleasant interview, Byrne coaxed and goaded the unwilling Brooke, into singing Oh My Darling, Clementine on a day when seven Protestant construction workers had been killed by an IRA bomb. Unionists were outraged at what seemed to be a moment clearly out of touch with grieving families, and instantly requested the resignation of Brooke. Brooke was humiliated, and subsequently lost his position as Secretary of State to Sir Patrick Mayhew after the 1992 British General Election in April.

Pádraig Flynn

In 1999, Pádraig Flynn, Ireland's EU Commissioner, appeared on the show, during which he commented on Tom Gilmartin and a donation of £50,000 to the Fianna Fáil party. Flynn also talked about "the difficulties" in his own life; he talked of having a salary of £100,000 (Irish Púnt) and trying to run three houses, cars and housekeepers along with regular travel. The performance was seen as very out of touch, at a time when house prices in Ireland were rising dramatically, and the average industrial wage was £15,380. This effectively brought to an end any possibility of Flynn returning to a career in politics in Ireland. Flynn also made remarks concerning Tom Gilmartin, a London based Irish builder. In response to Byrne's question that Flynn knew Gilmartin, Flynn answered; "Oh yes, yes. I haven't seen him now for some years. I met him. He's a Sligo man who went to England, made a lot of money, came back, wanted to do a lot of business in Ireland, didn't work out for him, didn't work out for him. He's not well. His wife isn't well. He's out of sorts." Flynn seemed to attack the credibility of Gilmartin at a time when he was being linked in the media to planning irregularities in Dublin. Gilmartin responded by publicising details of meetings with Flynn, and bringing them to the attention of the Planning Tribunal, causing difficulty for Flynn. This "vanity platform" on The Late Late Show saw, as the Irish Examiner later referred to it, Flynn "managed to get both feet into his mouth and talk at the same time".

Terry Keane

The Late Late Show continued to cause controversy right up to Byrne's departure. On his second last show he interviewed the gossip columnist Terry Keane, who went on to reveal a long affair with the former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey. Haughey, a lifelong acquaintance of Byrne, had intended to be available for the last show, but went into hiding from the media as a result of the revelations. Haughey had appealed to Keane not to reveal her story. Keane was publicising her book covering her life in Irish public life, and her career as a journalist with the Irish Independent newspaper group.

Tommy Tiernan

Comedian Tiernan appeared on the show in 1997 but his routine which had not been cleared by the producers led to a record 300 complaints to the station. The shocking routine saw Tiernan use a string of expletives about the Catholic Church and performing a comic routine which mocked Christ's crucifixion and caused outrage across the nation. Tiernan was warned not to leave the studio for several hours for his own safety, after several irate members of the public arrived at Montrose looking for him.

In 1975 Gay and the Late Late Show with the assistance of chief researcher Pan Collins launched the Toy Show which would become an annual Top Three rated programme on Irish television. In 1979 there was a unique link up with an Ulster Television chat show hosted by Gordon Burns who went onto become the host of the popular ‘The Krypton Factor’.

The Late Late Show has and continues to broadcast a number of dedicated shows known as ‘Tribute Shows’ where one guest often as a surprise would be feted on the show. During Gay’s tenure tributes shows were dedicated to Michael MacLiammoir, The Dubliners, Jimmy Magee, Christy Moore and comedienne Maureen Potter.

Gay stepped down as host of the Late Late Show on May 21st 1999. During a star studded final show U2 members Larry Mullen and Bono presented Gay with a Harley Davidson motorbike. His seat on the show was taken by Pat Kenny.

Gay has presented a number of shows and series as well as the Late Late Show. He was host of The Calor Gas Housewife of the Year in an Ireland when women stayed at home and looked after the house and household.

From 1978 to 1994 he was the host of the annual Rose of Tralee festival broadcast live over two nights from the County Kerry town. Gay was the senior anchor for many years for RTE charity fund raising events ‘The People In Need’ telethon. He was chosen as the Irish host of the British created show ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ hosted on the BBC by Anne Robinson. The show made by Tyrone Productions lasted two seasons 2000-2002.

‘Class Reunion’ was a This Is Your Life type show that lasted one series in 2005. Also in 2005 Gay presented ‘Gaybo’s Grumpty Men’. In 2008 ‘Gaybo Laughs Back’ was a selection of comedy clips from the many decades of the Late Late Show featuring guest anecdotes and new and familiar comedians.

In 2009 he began hosting ‘The Meaning of Life’, a series of programme interviewing celebrities about their beliefs and traditions. On a lighter note in 2011 he also began hosting ‘For One Night Only’ where he invited a series of musical guests to be interviewed about their life and careers and sing the hits most associated with them. Guests included Imelda May, The Sawdoctors, Christy Moore and Sinead O’Connor.

He hosted the live television concert from the Dublin Convention Centre in honour of Queen Elizabeth II who was making her historic first visit to Ireland in May 2011.

Gay has won a record six Jacobs Awards for his work in broadcasting. Awards came in 1963, 1970, 1971, 1976, 1978 and 1981. He has been recognised by IFTA, IRMA and has been made a Freeman of Dublin.

In tandem with his television career he presented the popular Gay Byrne Hour of RTE Radio 1 from 1973 until December 24th 1999.

He is married to former Harpist and RTE Continuity announcer Kathleen Watkins and the couple have two daughters Suzy and Crona. Outside broadcasting Gay is widely known as the Chairperson of the Road Safety Authority.

SLIDE PRESENTATION OF THE 2012 INDUCTEES

THE 2012 ALTERNATIVE INDUCTEE - DON MOORE

Don was known in the pirate radio world as Doctor Don. Originally an electrician he began as a DJ with Radio Dublin before having a fall out with fellow owner Eamonn Cooke. He joined up with another pirate radio station known as Alternative Radio Dublin. The decision to move from a hobby occasional broadcaster to a more regular schedule required finance and Moore found a new investor. Bernard Llewellyn not alone brought in much needed finance but brought a new professionalism and alternative to the Dublin airwaves.

In 1981 he was involved in the setting up of Channel D, the city's first pirate television channel which lasted a couple of months. Don Moore continued in pirate radio circles including North East Radio until he entered the world of healing and setting up his practice in Drogheda.

Don took hobby pirate radio out of the early seventies and took advantage of lax Government policy and weak legislation. His influence cannot be underestimated as the ratings for an alternative to RTE radio soared. To counteract the influence of stations like ARD, the state broadcaster launched RTE Radio 2 and the political conversation led some people within the pirate radio world to believe that the Government was about to introduce legal commercial radio. As a result men like Llewellyn withdrew their financial support for pirate radio but its was Don's vision of an alternative and a need within the Dublin listening public that enters him into the Irish Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

THE 2012 HALL OF FAME RADIO INDUCTEE - SUNDAY MISCELLANY

Sunday mornings mean Sunday Miscellany. Its brand new radio essays and occasional poetry followed by complementary music capture our times, passions and curiosities. The contributor led content is selected from open submission and commissioned writing presented by new voices and established names. Reportage, appreciations, memory pieces, poetry, travel writing and personal accounts of events and happenings are the stuff of Sunday Miscellany. The programme is part of Sunday mornings since 1968. It is essential listening to thousands across Ireland and the world. RTE Sunday Miscellany Website

Sunday Miscellany is an eclectic mix of prose, poetry and music that is broadcast on RTE Radio One on Sunday mornings just after 9am. The show began in November 1968 after Radio Eireann’s coverage of the 1968 Olympics concluded. The shows first producer was Eddie McSweeney and the programme will most fondly be remembered for the lilting voice of presenter Ronnie Walsh. Regular contributors to the show included John Ryan, Sam McAughtry, Agnes Bernelle, FSL Lyons and Ben Kiely.

Eddie produced the show for over twenty years right up to working from his hospital bed before his passing in 1991. Eddie worked as a journalist under the name Maxwell Sweeney before joining the ranks of Radio Eireann. Ronnie was a talented actor who appeared on screen in shows such as Strumpet City, the controversial The Spike, Insurrection playing the role of James Connolly and The Irish RM and as producer Eddie was remembered as the first man who put ‘manners of his wayward presenter Ronnie Walsh’.

The hour long show is immensely popular and a firm favourite with listeners and advertisers. A number of compilations of contributions have been published in book form with the first one edited by Ronnie Walsh and printed in 1975.

IRISH TELEVISION REVIEW 2012

Television in Ireland 2012

2012 was dominated by the hype and sometimes hysteria over the digital switchover in October with the ceremonial switch off of the analogue signals. Along with the arrival of digital viewers are increasingly watching on mobile devices rather than the traditional ‘box in the corner’.

RTE still led the way with viewership and home produced topped the TAM rating that were compiled by AB Nielsen. Sport and drama led the way along with the Late Late Show. RTE produced an eclectic mix of programming. The Late Late Show’s Toy Show and the 50th Anniversary Show topped the ratings. Drama output included returning series like the Restaurant based RAW and the gangland based ratings winner Love/Hate. Drama also included the popular soap Fair City. Comedy was another TAM winner with the launch of Irish Pictorial Weekly and the return of the new series of Brendan O’Carroll’s Mrs Brown.

RTE 2’s rating toppers were dominated by Sport. The Republic of Ireland’s Euro qualifiers and appearance at Euro 2012 boosted viewers and advertisers. The Six Nations and Premiership highlights continued to do well.

TV3’s success was maintained with UK based programming including The X Factor and Coronation Street. Their domestic programming done well with Ireland AM and Tonight with Vincent Browne performing well.

3e perhaps has made the biggest impact of the year with ITV’s I’m A Celebrity reality series and repeats of programming previously shown on its sister channel TV3. Sport also performed well on 3e with live coverage of the UEFA Cup.

TG4 also relied on sport for its schedule with high ratings for their rugby and GAA coverage. Documentaries were also strong on TG4 with Basu and Congo receiving critical acclaim. Reality dance series An Jig Gig also performed well now in its fourth series.

Dublin Community Television expanded its reach arriving on the AerTV platform. DCTV broadcasts on 802 digital and the station had hoped to move up the EPG but remained at the latter end of the spectrum. One of the highlights of their schedule was their coverage of the Occupy Dame Street protest and their returning Dole TV series.

Cork Community Television highlighted programmes included The Street and the Fight Game that focussed on the Cork City boxing clubs.

Oireactas TV continued to broadcasts proceedings from Dail Eireann, including the main house, the Seanad and Committee meetings.

Outside the main broadcasters 2012 saw the launch of a new station on the internet Feck TV. Balcony TV continued to expand and pirate channel LTV2 from Millstreet in Cork continued to inform and entertain viewers.

EUGENE LAMBERT

Eugene was born in County Sligo in 1928 and spent his life involved in puppetry entertainment. His father was a librarian giving the young Eugene access to books on ventriloquism. At the age of ten he began to make his own dummies putting on shows in his local community and at school. In 1950 he married Mai and moved to Dublin. After winning a talent show he got a gig at the Queens Theatre. While appearing on stage Eugene supplemented the family income as a refridgeration engineer with a company called ‘ReCold’ located on Pearse Street.

In the 1950’s he quickly found a good living as a ventriloquist appearing on many of the major Dublin stages at the time moonlighting as an engineer. In 1954 he appeared on the same bill as Laurel and Hardy at the Olympia Theatre. His dummy ‘Finnegan’ became a household in Ireland by the early 1960s. He began to appear with his act on Radio Eireann’s ‘Take The Floor’ radio programme hosted by Din Joe.

In 1963 he first appeared on RTE television with his puppetry show ‘Murphy agus a Cairde’. While making this show he was appearing with Maureen Potter at the Gaeity Theatre on ‘Gaels of Laughter’ and five nights a week on the Jury’s Cabaret Show. ‘Murphy agus a Cairde’ stayed on air until 1968 when Eugene and his director US born TV director Don Lennox began discussing a new programme idea.

He is most famously associated with Wanderly Wagon, an RTE children’s programme that ran from 1967 until 1982. On the show Lambert played O'Brien with puppets such as Mr. Judge (pictured), Mr Crow and Snake. Lambert and Judge starred in a major road safety campaign in the 70's. The plots were set in a covered wagon which was purposely built by RTE. The wagon was pulled by a horse named Padraig which was also bought by RTE.

In 1972 he founded the Lambert Theatre at the rear of his home in Monkstown County Dublin. A 250 seat theatre produces puppetry shows for thousands of children and a good few adults as well.

In the 80's his family were involved with the creation of another famous RTE puppet Bosco. Eugene died in February 2010.

Eugene was married to Mai and the couple had ten children.

STRANGE BUT TRUE

FATHER JACK ON FATHER TED, FRANK KELLY WAS DR. ASTRO ON WANDERLY WAGON BILL GOULDING WHO PLAYED RORY AND FORTYCOATS IS THE VOICE OF OLD MR. BRENNON ON THE BREAD COMPANY ADS HOLLYWOOD WRITER AND DIRECTOR NEIL JORDAN WROTE EPISODES OF WANDERLY WAGON

NORA O'MAHONY WHO PLAYED GODMOTHER STARRED WITH SEAN CONNERY IN 'DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE' NORA O'MAHONY WAS ONCE A LAY MISSIONARY IN RHODESIA NOW KNOWN AS ZIMBABWE JUDGE THE DOG WAS THE STAR OF A SAFETY CAMPAIGN CALLED THE GREEN CROSS CODE

FRANK HALL

Frank Hall was born in Newry, County Down in 1921. After a brief unsuccessful attempt at becoming a musician he moved south of the border to Dublin. He began his journalistic career in 1947 working for Independent Newspapers. He started working for the paper’s picture desk but in the early 1950s began writing a Saturday night dance column ‘Tempo’ for the Evening Herald then in heavy competition with the Evening Press. Under the pseudonym Frank Lee, he began the Evening Herald’s first diary which became known as ‘Going Places’. He also wrote a regular record review column for the paper under the by line Rick O’Shea. Frank interviewed the Beatles on the occasion of their visit to Dublin for a concert in Abbey Street and famously reacted after the interview that he believed that their popularity would not last.

He started in the RTE News room in 1964 presenting a topical programme called 'Newsbeat' but is most famously remembered as host of the political satire show Halls Pictorial Weekly that also starred Eamon Morrissey and Frank Kelly. The show ran from 1971 until 1980 broadcasting almost 250 episodes. In an interview Frank revealed that the programme was recorded on a Thursday with the crew in studio from 10am until 8.30pm that night. The show was the edited and broadcast the following Thursday. A far cry from Jon Stewart’s Comedy Channel ‘Daily Show’ that is on air today. It is said that during the halcyon days of \Hall Pictorial that Frank single handily kept comedy alive on RTE television. The show was set in the fictional town of Ballymagash and Frank trawled the local and provincial newspapers to get the funniest stories. An ensemble of characters appeared on the show with Frank and they themselves became household names like The Minister for Hardship and Cha and Miah, two Cork wits who knew everything about nothing. (A Youtube clip of Cha and Miah can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyDWLSrbzUw&feature=channel&list=UL) The show is thought by many political commentators as a major part of the downfall of the Liam Cosgrave led Fine Gael/ Labour coalition Government of 1973 – 1977. His depiction of a Dickensesque Minister for Hardship, played by Eamonn Morrissey satarized the then Government seriously damaging its public perception. In the 1977 General Election Fianna Fail’s Jack Lynch swept to power with one of the biggest majorities seen in Parliament. Franks depiction of local county councils is still referred to today as the ‘ballymagash’ style. Frank Kelly when asked about the controversial axing of Halls Pictorial Weekly said that the then RTE controller of Programme Muiris MacConghail had taken the final decision and had persuaded Frank to give up the show after twelve years on the air. His fame never phased him. He counted one day that he had met a school friend from Newry who had been working at a border customs post until the IRA blew it up. When they met his friend asked him ‘what are you into?’ to which Frank replied ‘television’, ‘Is that making them or selling them? Came the reply proving that Frank’s fame was struggling to travel even around the island.

‘Ballymagash’ was a short lived reincarnation of the show in January 1983 broadcasting on Monday nights. Location filming for the series was done around Summerhill in County Meath. In keeping with the times, the show’s fictional town had its own pirate radio station. He was host for one season of the Late Late Show in 1964 when Gay Byrne briefly departed to broadcast in the UK. The critics were not kind to him and only relented when the show reintroduced the panel to the show.

In the mid 80s he was presenting a Sunday Night programme called Hall and Company but would leave RTE to take up a new role on behalf of the State. Frank was appointed the Irish Censor replacing the late Dermot Breen then leaving the position to Sheamus Smith in September 1986. During his time at the Censors Office Among the films banned by him was Monty Python's Life of Brian, which he described as "offensive to Christians and to Jews as well, because it made them appear a terrible load of gobshites". Frank passed away in September 1995 following a heart attack. He was married to Aileen Kearney and was survived by Aileen and their five children Don, David, Geraldine, Vivienne and Julie

The publishing of his will showed that he had left an estate valued at £257,098. RTE Archives section of Frank Hall can be found at http://www.rte.ie/archives/people/289754-frank-hall/