Cloch Le Carn

The title of this occasional series "Cloch le Carn " could be literally interpreted as "adding a stone to the funeral mound" but in reality the series takes a constructive but not always uncritical look at public figures who've made a contribution to Irish society in their lifetimes.

Episodes

Programme One: Dermot Earley

RTÉ One, Monday 21 February, 7.30pm
"Dermot Earley was a good man; in fact he was a great man, but to the people of Roscommon, he was a mighty man." These were the word spoken by Monsignor Eoin Thynne, Head Chaplain of the Defence Frces at the funeral mass of the former Chief of Staff, who died in June 2010 at the age of 62.

Regarded as a born leader on the football pitch, he played minor championship football for Roscommon in 1963 at the age of 15, two years later he was promoted to the Roscommon senior side and won the first of five Connacht championship medals in 1972 as well as an All Ireland medal in 1966. Twice an All Stars award winner, he won a National League medal in 1979, an All Ireland runners-up medal in 1980 and two Railway Cup medals .He retired from inter-county football in 1985 and as a measure of his popularity was carried shoulder high from the pitch by members of the opposing Mayo team. Dermot Earley was also both a skilful rugby and soccer player, often lining out for the Army rugby teams under the pseudonym "Lieutenant Late" in the days of the GAA "Ban".

Having joined the Defence Forces as a cadet in 1965 Dermot Earley rose through the ranks to emerge as one of its most highly regarded chiefs. He had a variety of operational and administrative appointments including two tours of duty with UNIFIL in Lebanon and later as a UN military observer. From 1987 to 1991 he served as Deputy Military Observer to UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar. He called on his international experience to reform and modernise the Irish Defence Forces as Chief of Staff.

Dermot Earley was known for his impassioned oratory, especially while addressing younger members of the Defence Forces reminding them of the confidence he had in them. Both his military and sporting colleagues remember him as an inspirational figure who bought out the best in people. It has been suggested that his unique leadership qualities would have made him an ideal candidate for the Presidency however he fell seriously ill in 2009. This giant of a man was cut down within months by a rapid degenerative brain disease - CJD (Creutzfeld-jakobs disease). His last public appearance was in April 2010 when he was presented with a distinguished service medal by an Taoiseach, Brian Cowen.

".He was the greatest footballer never to win an All Ireland".
(Colonel John Courtney)

"Dermot shook my hand. I felt this great surge of strength going through ."
(Gerry Fitzmaurice, former Roscommon player)

"I would like to remember him from the army as a man who led us from the front ."
(Major General David Ashe)

."In the end he didn't know who he was or what he was.you had to bring him with you and mind him and steer him. that was the horrible part of it."
(Mary Earley - Dermot's Wife)

I'm very proud to be able to say that, yes, Dermot Earley was my father and I learnt so much from him and felt so much love from him.".
(Capt. Dermot Earley Jnr.)

Programme Two: Alex "Hurricane" Higgins

RTÉ One, Monday 28 February, 7.30pm
Alex Higgins, world champion snooker player twice over, died last summer alone in his native Belfast. Although a tragic figure in death, he had lived up to his nickname as "The Hurricane" and stormed the professional snooker world hitting the headlines throughout his career - not always for the right reasons.

Higgins began playing Snooker when he was nine years of age but really wanted to be a jockey. After failing to make it as an apprentice jockey in England he switched back to Snooker and quickly rose through the ranks, reaching world class level within a few short years. In 1972 he won the World Championship. His unorthodox style of play, as well as his showmanship, set him apart. Alex arrived on the Snooker scene at a key moment; up to then Snooker was an obscure, minority sport with a shady reputation of dark, smoke filled rooms but in the 1970's Snooker became a hugely popular TV sport and the top players were stars. In this pantheon Alex Higgins became the "People's Champion".

But wherever Alex went trouble never seemed far behind. He seemed always in conflict (often physically) with the Snooker Authorities. His game could be brilliant but was hugely inconsistent and that was the element of danger that attracted so much interest. With Alex you never knew what you were going to get.

The title of this occasional series Cloch le Carn could be literally interpreted as "adding a stone to the funeral mound" but in reality the series is taking a constructive, but not always uncritical, look at public figures who have made a controversial contribution to Irish society in their lifetimes.

With contributions from Ken Doherty, Nell McCafferty, Ronan Collins, Louis Copeland, Aonghus McAnally and Ruth McAvinia - We look at the life and controversies of "The Hurricane" in the calm after his passing.

"Everyday at 3pm you'd go down to "Agro Corner" on the Bogside and start a row with the soldiers. but when Alex Higgins played the rioting stopped and we'd go home and watch Alex Higgins." Nell McCafferty

" He was one of our own, a working class fellow who did good,. and he blew it!" Nell McCafferty

"I always said - if you wanted Alex to go right you tell him to go left because no matter what you said to him he'd go the opposite way." Louis Copeland

"Alex always wanted everything to be about him and if that's a fault, he had it big time." Ronan Collins

"Three geniuses we in the North - Van Morrison, George Best and Alex Higgins - All of them from East Belfast, Working Class Protestants. How come the north produced that? How come that happened? " Nell McCafferty

"He was at his best at the snooker table on his own" Ronan Collins