President tunes in to wish Finucane well

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese contacted the Marian Finucane Show yesterday to pay tribute to the presenter on the last broadcast of her morning show.

Ms Finucane made her last weekday broadcast from Galway yesterday, and was presented afterwards with an honorary law degree from the city’s university.

Ms McAleese said she fully deserved the accolade. “You are a broadcaster with empathy rather than attitude,” she said.

Ms Finucane was one of seven “outstanding” individuals each chosen for his or her contribution to society through social work, philanthropy, medicine, arts or culture.

President of NUI Galway, Dr Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, described Ms Finucane as one of Ireland’s best broadcasters.

“In a career spanning four decades she has been a transforming influence in the lives of Irish people, highlighting social injustices and encouraging social change,” Dr Ó Muircheartaigh said.

Ms Finucane’s morning show ran for six years and she will take a well-earned break before returning in the autumn to take over two two-hour slots at the weekend.

Ms Finucane said she had long hankered for a weekend slot, especially as it would mean an end to getting up at the crack of dawn.

She said part of her job would be to lift the popularity of the weekend morning slots to weekday levels.

“People’s lifestyles have changed and there are so many couples working now that I’m hoping to nab them at the weekend,” she said.

Ms Finucane, who grew up in Glasnevin, Dublin, worked as an architect before becoming a continuity announcer with RTÉ in 1974. She became presenter of the frequently controversial Women Today in the late 1970s and then left RTÉ for a while to edit the women’s magazine Status.

Ms Finucane returned to present Liveline in 1985, which she did for 13 years before changing over to the Marian Finucane programme in the morning.

While she presented a number of television programmes, she prefers radio. “Heading for the stairs, briefs under the arms, red lights on - I just absolutely love it,” she said.

Other honorary degree recipients included Fr Alex Reid, who was honoured for his role in the Northern Ireland peace process.