Day: 23 July 2023

From New York City, where I have lived for the last thirty years, I am so sorry to learn of Ian’s passing. As many others have said, he was not only a role-model, a mentor and an all-around wonderful man, he also helped me, as my career lumbered into fruition.

Annexe 3 in RTE was a laugh factory. Working for Mike Murphy on The Live Mike, I shared an office with Larry Masterson and John Keogh, and the little building rocked with laughter from morning to night. Occasionally, Ian and Carolyn would peer around the door and say, “Anyone for coffee?” The answer was always yes. Ian looked after me as I applied to a job in the BBC, counseling me on studio direction and production as I made my way through the interviews. We lost touch when I got the job, and moved to London.

Earlier, Avril McRory, Michael Murphy, and I did a piece with Ian for Youngline in which he ‘taught’ me to ski on the plastic slope in Kilternan. This was the first time I put on skis, and I have figuratively never taken them off since.

We all loved Ian. It was impossible not to. Like everyone else here, I am loving the stories, the anecdotes, the memories. I hope someone tells the story of Ian sitting in on drums with Van Morrison on the Late Late. Larry Masterson, John Keogh, probably Tony Boland and I watched one of the rehearsals. It was wonderful. Ian’s good humour carried him through Van’s glowering demeanour.

Thank you, Ian. You are a mensch. And I am proud to have known you, even for a very short time.

• Your Name: Ultan Guilfoyle

I have only ‘discovered’ Ian McGarry today, having seen his name many times in the credits of programmes and Eurovisions. To learn more about this man, I finally searched his name in curiosity, after digesting the credits of the 1997 Eurovision in The Point, where Ian’s name lingers over the final wide shot of Katrina and the Waves. I cannot believe he has only just departed in the past few days.

My sincere condolences to all his family and friends. His music direction style was solid, ‘classical’, and justly favoured the dynamism of a long-sequence jib-arm shot – using the innovation to its fullest potential.

It’s clear from video clips and comments here that he was a supremely talented and much-loved figure, who has left a significant contribution to Irish cultural life.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam

• Your Name: Graham Hickey

Oh how sad to hear this. I still remember the day he rang me in the Radio Centre in 1981 & asked me to drop over to his office (in one of those ubiquitous Portakabins, as I recollect) for a chat. ‘You know we have to do the Eurovision Sing Contest’, he said. ‘Would you be interested in presenting it?’ And so it came to pass. A gentleman, always.

• Your Name: Doireann Ní Bhrian