Gerry Ryan - He enriched all our lives

The sudden death yesterday of Gerry Ryan, at the relatively early age of 53, came as a profound shock, and the Irish Examiner offers its condolences to his family and many friends.

He was a brave, pioneering force in Irish radio and one of its great success stories.

His three-hour daily programme, The Gerry Ryan Show, which went on air in 1988, was probably the driving force in helping to establish 2FM after the station’s launch in 1979 and overcome its shaky existence during much of the 1980s.

For years he was the alternative to Gay Byrne’s radio programme, and he was phenomenally successful, especially among listeners in the 15-35 age bracket.

His success is probably one of the reasons why radio is so popular in Ireland, where some 85% of the population tune in daily. That is well in excess of the European average of around 70%.

Gerry Ryan was one of those people who subscribed to the philosophy that variety is the spice of life. He sometimes took a kind of vicarious delight in shocking listeners.

That was part of his charm and the great attraction of his radio programme.

“He was one of the greats of modern Irish broadcasting,” Taoiseach Brian Cowen declared yesterday.

Gerry Ryan enriched our lives and contributed in his own distinct way to broadening so many horizons. He will be greatly missed.

Ar dheis láimh Dé go raibh a anam dílis