Gong for Larry the legend

LEGENDARY disc jockey Larry Gogan will receive a lifetime achievement award at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin tonight.

As the RTÉ 2FM DJ steps up at the IRMA Honours - the annual awards show of the Irish Recording Music Association - the only conundrum will be why he is not receiving two gongs as he has fit in enough in his career for two lifetimes.

Many of his peers, such as Ronan Collins and Barry Lang, have long since departed, but Larry has proven especially difficult to shift. Despite the attempts of RTÉ bosses to make the station more youth-orientated, Gogan’s strong listenership figures have been one argument for his retention - that he is adored the length and breadth of the country another.

Then there is the mystery of his age, more closely guarded than the third secret of Fatima. When the 52-year-old Dave Fanning can look up to Larry as a father figure then you know Larry has been guzzling from the fountain of youth.

Larry started in radio straight from school in the 1960s and was an instant success. He was voted top DJ in various polls over the years and although Radio Éireann was a wasteland for pop fans, Larry plugged away, also doing his bit on TV.

He spun the first disc, Like Clockwork by the Boomtown Rats, on RTÉ 2FM (then Radio 2!) and his Golden Hour show, featuring the famous Just A Minute Quiz, became a national treasure.

Proceeds from the evening will be divided among Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children Crumlin, the Chernobyl Children’s Project and the IRMA Trust.