Former RTÉ Sport producer and director Michael O'Carroll died earlier this week.
Joining the broadcaster in 1961, O'Carroll directed more than 50 All-Ireland finals in his career as well as Muhammad Ali's 1972 fight against Al 'Blue' Lewis at Croke Park, and several state visits, including those of Queen Elizabeth II and US Presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. His mark on cycling and motorsport was huge too.
His final directorial duty was to oversee Mr Obama's 2011 visit to Moneygall.
Stephen Alkin, formerly of RTÉ Sport, has paid tribute to his colleague and friend....
I first got to know Michael in July 1981 when I joined the RTÉ sports department as a production assistant.
That’s not quite true as Michael was part of the full-time training course for us back in the summer of 1979 when a dozen hopefuls embarked on what we hoped would be a career in television.
Part of that course was an assignment to an outside broadcast – something Michael knew a thing or two about.
To say he was 'larger than life’ would be an understatement. He was nearly 20 years my senior and he joined RTÉ in 1961 as television was in its infancy. He saw the ‘service’ expand from its humble beginnings to become an institution that touched the hearts and minds of the entire country.
From the first time you met him to the last, he would regale you with stories of derring-do: his job as a chef in the merchant navy in the 1950s amongst the. He had so many ‘outside the box’ revelations, you just knew this was a man who wasn’t tied down by convention or conservatism.
In his role as a producer/director, he pushed the envelope to breaking point, always pursuing his own path with innovative television on the edge of what was technologically possible. In my humble opinion the Nissan Classic cycling coverage was what I, personally, remember him for - though there were so many others.
He left a legacy that will be hard to match in the TV business.
The Nissan Classic brought our cycling heroes Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly to every corner of the country. What that programme achieved in its time was what Michael was all about.
From Tuesday to Sunday in late September, we produced highlights and live sports at the pinnacle of what was possible with the technology available at that time: Jimmy Magee and Pat McQuaid would be putting their voices on part two or three while part one was going out ‘live’ – it was seat of the pants television like no other – and it was all done to Michael’s incredible master plan.
He wrote a production document hundreds of pages long of the minutest detail so everyone in the production team would know exactly where and when they had to be for the entire seven days from Monday to Sunday of Nissan week.
Cameras on motorbikes would deliver cassette tapes to helicopters that would get them to the stage-end each day.
Maurice Reidy and I would be there to view the material and with some incredible editors, piece together the story of the day; The start; the sprints; the mountain climbs; the crashes and retirements; the stage finish; but it didn’t stop there…
Michael devised the ‘sync shoot’ – a helicopter camera overhead with two cameras on motorbikes with the main peloton. These would be synced up an played through the outside broadcast unit to create an ‘as live’ segment for the highlights programme. To have even thought of this as an idea was genius. To achieve it and turn it into cutting edge TV could only be devised by one man – that was our Michael O’Carroll.
Innovative, always driven by his passions: motorsport, he was Mr Motorsport in RTÉ, from the Phoenix Park to Mondello and RTÉ’s live coverage of Grand Prix racing.
Gaelic football and hurling – when he started the only live events were the All Ireland semi-finals and finals and the Railway Cups on St Patrick’s Day, but that expanded as the years went by.
Know Your Sport with George Hamilton and Jimmy Magee, a quiz programme like no other – he was its producer for years;
The Superstars, a global series that he and Vera Sullivan worked on with such love knowing that the final would be in some faraway and exotic place and they would get to go there.
And many National Events too many to mention: Papal and Presidential visits; St Patrick’s Day parades; times of national commemoration and mourning – he was often there, pulling the televisual strings.
Michael’s infectious enthusiasm rubbed off on everyone that knew him; his directing style was unique and sometimes abrasive.
He’d often start rehearsals with "righty, righty cameras, give me shots." At times he didn’t suffer fools gladly - but in the world of live TV you were always on the edge.
I shared that world with Michael. He was one of my greatest mentors. He gave his heart and soul to every production and has left an indelible mark on the history of Irish television. My life was enhanced by knowing him – he came a long way from his roots on the Tipperary/Offaly border. If they played each other he would wear odd socks, one for each of the counties he loved so much.
To all his family, I can safely say that Michael gave everything to everyone – be proud of him, he was some man.
