The Late Wake

at

Last night.

Scenes from last night’s tribute to Gay Byrne Late Late Show special broadcast on RTÉ One.

Pics Andres Poveda via Rollingnews

Earlier in the evening…

Lat night.

RTÉ, Montrose, Donnybrook, Dublin 4.

Guests arrive for the Late Late Show Special remembering Gay Byrne broadcast on RTE one.

From top: President Michael D Higgins and RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes: Former President Mary McAleese and her husband Martin; Mike Murphy; Miriam O’Callaghan; Twink; Tommy Tiernan; Vincent Browne; Ray D’Arcy and his wife Jenny; Eamon Dunphy; Teresa Lowe; Pat Shortt; Nell Mcafferty (left) and Ruth Maxwell; RTÉ Authority Chair Moya Doherty and John McColgan; Marty Whelan; Pat Kenny; Bob Geldof.

Watch full show here

Rollingnews

Yesterday: Goodbye From Everyone In The Audience

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38 thoughts on “The Late Wake

  1. Paulus

    Watched a bit last night:
    I presume Moya Doherty and John McColgan got some sort of two-for-one deal on their glasses;
    …and even then they should ask for their money back.

    1. Spud

      Aye, he really rambled.
      Thought Mike Murphy had plenty of good stories.
      Nearly boxed de telly when Prone came on so early! Can’t even look at her let alone listen to her!

      Anyone else find it odd to have it before the man was even buried?
      I guess it was like a kind of wake for Montrose?

      1. scottser

        i only saw a titchy bit of it, when mike murphy recalled the infamous live mike clip, he goes ‘i couldn’t believe he said “f**k”, tubridy ran off into the audience as if his ears would fall off. you couldn’t get two more contrasting presenters in terms of their ability to handle a little controversy.

  2. some old queen

    It is testament to Gay’s legacy that so many of the good and the great were there at such short notice- he was such a part of the part of Irish society’s fabric for so long- RIP..

    IMO the man who should be hosting The Late Late now is Tommy Tiernan- he really is Gay’s natural predecessor.

  3. V

    It was a shameful display of RTÉ lovies exploiting the facility of free live broadcast for their own special interest
    To talk about themselves

    We got the skantiest and most miserable collection of clips and archives – which rightly nor wrongly I was expecting

    Gay deserved to have his legacy remembered by his work, and his role in the Ireland my teenager get to live in today

    Not by what that shower thought of him from their own personal relationship with him

    At one point Mary Black gave a eulogy about how great he was for female artists even before Women’s Heart apparently
    Yet the follow-up montage reel, melody even, of artists that appeared on the LL featured all male performers/ acts
    Not one woman

    No wonder Nell got stroppy

    And the one woman I expected to appear
    Since she was the person Gay gave up his seat for that incredible night back than
    Marian Finu_whatever_I_like
    Wasn’t about – I knocked it off when Tubridgidy told us McAll_whatever_gets_me_the_gig was coming up

    It was insulting
    Well for this child of the 80s it was anyway

    If RTÉ remains in the hands of this cabal of useless narcissistic scroungers and spotlight addicts
    It’s ___ked

    1. Clampers Outside

      Bit harsh V. There are always “talking heads” tribute programmes, and this one was live, in fairness.

      1. V

        Tripe

        They have reels and reels of legacy footage that deserved to be aired
        Not poopa-doopa talk from the McNamara’s, Miriam, or the Riverdance Millionaires

        In fairness Claire Byrne’s – the night before, and with shorter notice, was far more authentic, and fitting.

        Like wtf was Red Hurley doing there

        1. bertie blenkinsop

          Red Hurley lives out my way.

          I was over in the local golf course one Saturday having a pint and as I was leaving I passed him in the car park.

          “Here Red,” I said, thinking I’m a gas fella….”you were Number 1 in Ireland the day I was born”.

          “Then we’re two old bastards, aren’t we?” he said with a grin.

          Respect.

    2. Jeffrey

      Too right, Gaybo was firstly a man for the people – the audience yet this show was all about “Celebrities” pumping their own agendas :/

  4. Paulus

    Spare a thought for whatever producer/production assistant was responsible for the seating arrangements for this. They’d have needed a whip, a chair and a sense-of-entitlement antidote

  5. Spaghetti Hoop

    It was quite cringey with the RTE heads stroking their egos and ‘owing their incredible success’ to Gay Byrne, and Tubridy steam-rolling through an agenda and cutting people off. But that aside, the clips were nostalgic and our finest traditional music talent were there belting out the tunes to provide a welcome break from the gushing. The piece on the Omagh bombing was very moving.

    Miggledy was a rambling joke, Mike Murphy in top form, Pat Kenny with the RTE-bashing, Bono phoning in like God, and Nell looking for water….all provided comedic value. As someone aptly remarked within the hilarious Twitter bantz, like any Irish wake, folk that you like and don’t like all turn up, mainly to be seen.

    Someone suggested that RTE put all of the Gaybo-led Late Lates as full indexed episodes on the RTE Player. I think that would be an intriguing archive of social life in Ireland from 1962-1999. I’d like that to happen with the ‘After Dark’ chat show also (some might remember that incredible show of debate and booze).

    1. Clampers Outside

      True Hoop… plenty in it to like and cringe about, just like it would be for anyone’s life

  6. Formerly known as @ireland.com

    I have watched some clips on RTE player. Pat Kenny talked about himself. I emigrated a long time ago, so seeing how everyone has aged is a bit of a shock. That fact that so many of the ‘celebrities’ were around 30-40 years ago is not the sign of a healthy environment. Gay was unmatched and will never be matched. The Late Late played a massive part in exposing Ireland to new things.

  7. Frank

    The great and the good of Ireland !
    Where were the tickets for that LLS ?!?
    Re the previous LLSs – Try finding old versions of the GB Radio Show and even, more recently, his show on Lyric FM – Impossible !
    F.

  8. Lilly

    Was Sinead O’Connor there? I hope she was. She and Gay had great rapport – in the early days at least, before she became a nun. And a priest.

    1. Spaghetti Hoop

      Surprisingly, no.
      I hope she was asked, but declined. People pay respects in different ways and not everyone is into high-profile live TV wakes.

      1. Lilly

        I agree. Sinead probably sang him a song into the wind on Bray Head. I enjoyed hearing Mike Murphy’s stories on Morning Ireland but I couldn’t face Tubs on a school night.

  9. Paulus

    You’d think Cool Philter could manage to buy a coat that fits him: Does he not have a mirror in the house?

  10. Lilly

    Did they play the clip of a youthful Brendan Kennelly reciting his poem Begin for the poor woman whose daughter had died the previous night? Gay happened to call her on spec for the quiz to win a car. A mad-looking nun in a turban-veil offered her prayers. It was both moving and haunting. And of course Gay took it all in his stride.

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