Irish Examiner View: Voice of solidarity has been heard during Zelenskyy visit

Wed, 03 Dec, 2025 - 01:02

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the joint Houses of the Oireachtas yesterday, a signal honour that puts him in select company. Older readers, for instance, may recall US president John F Kennedy enthralling Leinster House at a similar sitting over 60 years ago.

Yesterday’s address came in a very different context.

Hugh Wallace: A career built on personality

There was a sense of shock around Ireland in recent days when news broke of the sudden death of Hugh Wallace at the age of 68.

Mr Wallace had a distinguished career as an architect: He was a founding partner of Douglas Wallace Architects. Though the practice was based in Dublin, he worked on designs for hotels, retail spaces, and homes based all over the country.

However, he was best known as a judge and presenter on various design-related TV series such as Home of the Year, The Great House Revival, and My Bungalow Bliss. His engaging personality and keen eye for the telling design detail made him a huge hit with audiences, and he was the only judge who appeared in every series of Home of the Year since it first screened back in 2015.

Tributes have flooded in since his death, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin saying he was “deeply saddened” by the news, citing Mr Wallace’s “advocacy for good architecture, coupled with his wonderful communication skills, [he] performed a wonderful public service”.

He also did the public some service in speaking frankly about his alcoholism, telling Vickie Maye of this parish that “when I was 52, I went to the doctor at the bottom of the barrel and he said: ‘You’re an alcoholic’. I was very relieved I wasn’t going to die because now I knew I could stop it... I did counselling and went to the Stanhope Centre for rehabilitation”.

Condolences to his husband Martin, friends, and family.

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