A Life in Words and Pictures
Thinking back to my days in TV OBs, it was always q pleasure to work to Ian. I never once saw him loosing his cool, He was always in control, always well prepared, knew what he was doing and treated the staff with total respect and professionalism. On OBs, sometimes things did not always go according to plan, in such situations to have Ian directing made all our lives a lot easier.
Ian, thought you’d like to see this picture of some of your Vision Mixing colleagues. The photo was taken by Charles Byrne at Paul Fitzgerald’s leaving do.
I first worked with Ian in the 1980’s. I was new to RTÉ and Ian was very encouraging. He was always very interested in the technological developments in the industry and was the first person I met in RTÉ with a mobile phone. It was very large and the battery filled a whole briefcase but at the time it was very exciting as the only other place we saw one was on the movie Wallstreet with Micheal Douglas!! Ever the trend setter Ian , I was back over a decade later working with him and new technology with Danny McNally and Lendac Data Systems. I miss seeing Ian’s smiley face around the corridors of RTÉ and chatting about the ongoing developments in TV. We wish him all the best.
Hi Ian, I’d just like to add my good wishes to you along with everybody else. Our connection is that I worked in the RTE Guide from 1978 to 1983. In that time, our paths crossed when I would speak with you about some of your programmes that I would write about in the RTE Guide. We also spoke at times when I would visit the Light Entertainment department to speak with colleagues, among them the late Noel D Greene, Gay Byrne and John McColgan. I did a bit of script-writing too for The Live Mike, Twink and The Billy Boyle Show. One of my abiding memories of you is the fantastic job you did in 1981 on the Eurovision Song Contest. Anyway, I don’t have picture of you and I together so I’m attaching one of me taken in 1979. Best wishes – Brendan Martin
I was lucky enough to work for Ian and Jane for McGarry The Ski System during the 96/97 and 97/98 winters.
Ian and Jane were great bosses and this contributed greatly to my enjoyment of those 2 seasons. They had the ability to trust you to get on with the job and managed with a light hand on the tiller so to speak.
I will always remember being out on a training session with Ian and the other instructors where we were on a heavily moguled black run near Plain Dranse in Chatel.
Ian amazed us by skiing the bumps with the utmost control, precision and an incredible light touch. He glided done the bumps like they almost did not exist! I still keep this picture in my mind when I train in bumps and it invariably helps me to stay ‘smooth’!
I don’t have many photos of that time unfortunately (pre-digital, internet and mobile phones!) But I’ve added one of me wearing one of our polo neck shirts from that time which I still wear with pride occasionally.
