On the 30th. April 1988, RTBF from Belgium hosted their main evening news, 6 to 7pm, Live from Dublin, ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest from the RDS. We at TVM were asked to put together the technical facilities and also a suitably experienced Production team and crew. An experienced Director was going to be the key to making this work and we immediately thought of Ian. True to form, he agreed….and to be fair, this was a big leap of faith in us as we would be very much green-horns at this level of complexity. As this was for the French speaking RTBF station, we thought Ian would be ideal, as being a French speaker himself. He had an ace up his sleeve though! The programme involved a Presenter on Dame Street, a Reporter on O’Connell Street and a traditional Irish music performance in the Stags Head Pub to close the show. With Ian in his Tux and his ace translator, Jane in her lovely evening dress, doing the sometimes fast-flowing changes coming in over the talkback, the show was a great success. And as soon as we were off-air Ian and Jane were dashing to the RDS for the Eurovision, getting there with minutes to spare.
This turned out to be the the first of many shows the Ian and ourselves have worked on over the years. And always that gentle smile and air of calm confidence that helps keep us on track to deliver the vision that he has for the show.
- Bart Arnold