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Tributes paid to 'genius of music and comedy' Shay Healy

Updated / Saturday, 10 Apr 2021 14:37
The great Shay Healy was hailed "an absolute legend" and "true gent" by many of his former colleagues
The great Shay Healy was hailed "an absolute legend" and "true gent" by many of his former colleagues

Tributes have flooded in for Eurovision winning songwriter and former RTÉ broadcaster Shay Healy following his passing aged 78.

Johnny Logan said Healy's death was "very hard to take" and said his talented friend and colleague "was very easy to like and very easy to love".

Speaking on RTÉ Radio, Logan said: "Shay was very easy to like and very easy to love. My thoughts and prayers are with his sons. I am sure they are heartbroken."

Actor and television presenter Simon Delaney said he is "heartbroken" over the news and said Healy was "a true gent".

Former RTÉ broadcaster, musician, magician and an international billiards player, Aonghus McAnally, said Healy was a "brilliantly wonderful genius of music and comedy".

Veteran broadcaster with RTÉ Radio, John Creedon, said he will "miss the gags, theories, enthusiasm and phone calls" from his dear friend.

Singer-songwriter Declan O'Rourke said he was "always blown away by his openness, warmth, understated talent but unabashed drive to pursue it, devilish razor wit, and general coolness and brilliance as a human being".

Musician and songwriter Eleanor McEvoy praised Healy for being "an absolute legend" and shared a beautiful photo of her late friend from "a wonderfully memorable night".

Actor, comedian and writer Pat Shortt said Healy had an "immense talent".

Stand-up comedian and actor PJ Gallagher echoed the sentiment of many of the late songwriter's former colleagues and fans, saying "he was an absolute gent" and recalled how Healy and Brendan Courtney gave him his first job.

RTÉ Archives paid tribute to the late broadcaster, entertainer and presenter by sharing some incredible moments from Healy's "remarkable career".

Dublin Airport's Twitter account shared an image of Healy and Johnny Logan returning to Dublin after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980 with What's Another Year.

Singer-turned-politician Frances Black spoke about the first time she met Healy and said "he was a great songwriter and was passionate about music".

Playwright and columnist Fiona Looney said it "was a privilege to have known" such a "funny, mischievous, subversive, wise, kind" man.

RTÉ Today Show presenter Dáithí Ó Sé said he was sad to hear of the passing of "my old buddy" and said he had "a great time working with him on Glór Tíre and other shows".

RTÉ broadcaster and journalist John Kenny also hailed Healy as a "gentleman" and explained how the former songwriter was "very good" to him in the early days of his sports broadcasting career.

Broadcaster and former presenter of late-night radio chat show FM104 Phoneshow, Adrian Kennedy, said he had "the pleasure of spending an evening in his company a few years ago" and said he was an "absolute gentleman".

Former 2FM DJ and broadcaster Keith Walsh said he is "genuinely sad to hear that the great Shay Healy has passed".

Actor Killian Donnelly praised Healy for his kind words of encouragement when they worked together on a 2005 musical called The Wireman.

Television producer, broadcaster and writer, Maïa Dunphy, said Healy was "such a talented, lovely man".

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