Ryan funeral to be broadcast on radio and web

THE private and public sides of Gerry Ryan will be respected at his farewell tomorrow when his funeral Mass takes place in the intimate setting of his small local church while thousands follow the service live on radio and internet.

RTÉ have taken the unprecedented decision to broadcast the Mass live on 2FM while simultaneously streaming the proceedings by webcam on the 2FM website.

Head of 2FM John MacMahon said the decision was influenced by the reaction of Gerry’s legions of fans and the fact that St John the Baptist Church in Clontarf where the Mass will be held was too small to accommodate them.

“It is a small church and because of the enormous response we’ve had since the news filtered out on Friday afternoon we feel that his listeners would want to take part in it. The easiest way for us in radio to do that is to broadcast it. Radio was Gerry’s life and we want to pay tribute to that.”

The Mass will begin at 11.30am tomorrow, with the broadcaster’s remains being brought directly to the church from the family home in Clontarf which he shared with his wife Morah and their five children until their separation two years ago.

His remains were brought there yesterday evening after a postmortem was completed and Morah Ryan and the children were to spend the evening in private mourning. Extended family and close friends are to gather at the house from 3pm this afternoon to wake him through the night.

Family friend and public relations representative, Joanne Byrne, said St John the Baptist was chosen because, despite its size, it was special to the Ryan family as the venue for many of their key events.

All five Ryan children were baptised there, Gerry and Morah were married there and the funeral services for Gerry’s parents were also held there in recent years.

“Morah and the family want to ensure that everybody who was close to Gerry actually is in the church so yes, it’s a small church, it seats about 350, but we are putting speakers outside and if anybody would like to be there but not in the church then that will be possible. They will hear the Mass.”

Ms Byrne said the format of the funeral service was still being finalised by Morah and the children.

“They keep saying what would dad want? What would Gerard want? They’re trying to make an occasion of what would be a really good reflection of what and who Gerry was.”

She said while the last few days had been extremely tough on the family, they were taking comfort from the many expressions of support from the general public.

“They are so aware of the lines for the condolence book, they are so aware of the 50,000 people that have signed up to Facebook.

“They are very conscious that although their grief is so private and they have lost their dad, they are sharing their loss with so many other people which actually does give them comfort.”

The family have asked that only family bring floral tributes and that anyone else who wanted to make a gesture, make a contribution to charity instead and raise a toast to Gerry in the process.