# Gerry Ryan found dead.



## MANTO (30 Apr 2010)

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/gerry-ryan-found-dead-455930.html

Anybody hear anything on this?


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## galleyslave (30 Apr 2010)

just heard via sms myself. no details


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## Towger (30 Apr 2010)

Story as been all over the internet for the last hour. Some reports are that he was dead for some time.


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## RonanC (30 Apr 2010)

Died of a suspected heart attack this morning in his apartment

Sad news indeed. 

RIP G Ryan


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## z104 (30 Apr 2010)

He wasn't on the show today, thought that was a bit strange. Hope it's not true but if it is 
R.I.P. Gerry


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## ney001 (30 Apr 2010)

What a shock RIP - poor kids


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## The_Banker (30 Apr 2010)

It will take the economy off the front pages for a while.


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## Betsy Og (30 Apr 2010)

Weird though isnt it, wasnt he supposed to be a hypochondriac, and all the slagging he was getting re the Health of the Nation programme, you'd imagine he's have had himself well checked out. Now ok theres only so much you can do but a man of that age shouldnt just drop without any warning signs.


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## The_Banker (30 Apr 2010)

The warning sign was his weight.


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## truthseeker (30 Apr 2010)

Agree with The Banker - his weight had ballooned a lot in the past number of years, looked like someone who was leading an unhealthy lifestyle in terms of food and exercise. 

Very sad - his familiar voice will be well missed.


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## The_Banker (30 Apr 2010)

I remember him from the early Lambo days and all the females my age loved him... 

He slowly but surely put on weight over the years but I was shocked to see how ballooned he was when presenting the new series of the Ryan Confidential last week with Bill Cullen.
He always said on his show how he loved fine wine, fine food and the occasional cigar. That kind of stuff eventually catches up with you.


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## Pickle (30 Apr 2010)

I have to say I am really sad at the death of Gerry Ryan, He had a great way of making people feel good and I used to think it was great that on eminute he would be chatting about bras,sex pure dirty things then a caller would get on and and tell him about how her son had dies aged four years old.He would the be able comfort that woman like no other I had seen either on radio or tv remarkable talent.
How he could change mood to suit the topic with th edrop of a hat. 
RIP Gerry you will be missed


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## truthseeker (30 Apr 2010)

The_Banker said:


> ....but I was shocked to see how ballooned he was when presenting the new series of the Ryan Confidential last week with Bill Cullen.


 
I saw that and was completely shocked as well, in fact myself and hubby saw him and then spent a few minutes wondering was the make up artist just really bad or was his colour bad.

Guess it was the latter.


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## Caveat (30 Apr 2010)

Bit of a shock alright.

My sympathy goes out to his family. Whatever anyone thought of Gerry (and I know opinion can be deeply divided about his particular "shtick") he was very popular, made a lot of people happy, was very good at what he did and by most accounts was a pretty nice guy too. 

I met him once myself, years ago, kind of randomly in a non-celeb environment and I have to say I thought he was a decent guy. A nice balance of cheeky and charming.

RIP Gerry.


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## RMCF (30 Apr 2010)

Never liked his style or radio shows to be honest, but this news still shocked me today.

I know he had a huge following and I really feel for his partner, ex wife and children.

Far too young.

RIP.


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## becky (1 May 2010)

When I was in 2nd year in the RTC, 6 of us rented a damp 1 bedded cottage for a week until we found a proper house.

I remember us up the attic room one morning proper belly laughing listening to the show (it was about people having funny names like Annet Curtain etc.) He was such a shock jock at the time.

I spoke with 2 of the people today and both remembered that morning laughing, eating a breakfast of brack with jam cos we had no butter with black tea cos we had no milk. 

He made me laugh a good few times after that.

May he rest in peace.


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## Purple (1 May 2010)

I remember about 18-20 years ago listening to him one morning when a girl called in who was pregnant. She was 15 and her parents wanted her to go to England for an abortion but she didn’t want to. When she told that much of the story Gerry just said that this isn’t something to discuss in public but he’d get her help. For the next 10-15 minutes he was off air (there was music playing) and when he got back on-air he didn’t say anything about it. I always respected him for that.


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## papervalue (3 May 2010)

Always had only good things to say about him, found him very entertaining. 
I enjoyed his paper review in the morning the times I did get to listen in.

R.I.P. Gerry Ryan


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## mtk (3 May 2010)

sorry to see anyone pass away but isn't media hysteria (mainly because its one of their own), books of condolences etc. not over the top ?


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## Sue Ellen (3 May 2010)

mtk said:


> sorry to see anyone pass away but isn't media hysteria (mainly because its one of their own), books of condolences etc. not over the top ?



No.  Its very sad to someone as young as 53 pass away.  He wasn't my cup of tea but obviously a lot of people did like him and they are showing this appreciation now.


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## Calico (3 May 2010)

mtk said:


> sorry to see anyone pass away but isn't media hysteria (mainly because its one of their own), books of condolences etc. not over the top ?


 
Yes.


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## Chocks away (3 May 2010)

Yes, it seems to be going the Diana/Stephen Gateley/Jane Goody way. Totally over the top. The audience do not know these people although they think they do. The ordinary person that goes through life without any of the padding of wealth, fame and gofors is the real hero and should be lauded. Anybody out there with a knowledge of psychology to explain this phenomen?


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## mtk (3 May 2010)

glad i am not the only one who thinks its nuts


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## jasconius (4 May 2010)

I agree with you Yorkie.
Am I one of the few people that never met him? Everyone else seems to have! I must say that I found his programmes and interviews 'borderline' and 'turnoffable'. Judging by all the epitaphs broadcasted by RTE and the Daily Mail, he was a lovely fellow. Maybe he was, but then most women would say that.
The comment today in the Daily Mail about the way RTE management treated him seemed a bit harsh, but then if he chose to contract his services to them rather than being an employee, they had every right to deal with him at arms length. After all, if a plumber or painter did not show up to do the job because he was sick, you wouldn't give him sickpay.
Still he was a father and husband who will be sorely missed.


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## mathepac (4 May 2010)

My condolences to his children, his estranged wife, his family, partner and friends.

I didn't think much of him when he was alive and I don't think less (or more) of him now that he's died so young.

Like others I find the whole orgy of grief thing strange and get a sense that it's all been manufactured to relegate some really significant news to the back pages (e.g. we're borrowing €1.3bn  at 3% to loan to Greece because the Greek government lied their way into the EU). 

Two books of condolence and pages of waffle for some mickey-mouse wannabe shock-jock whose only real claim to fame was publicly lying about killing and eating a lamb in Connemara twenty odd  years ago; methinks our sense of proportion has gone a mite askew.


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## Betsy Og (4 May 2010)

I wasnt a fan, hadnt listened to him since I was a kid, thought he was a bit bloated in many ways (remember the cringeworthy autobiography), but having said all that I dont deny the affection so many had for him and I think the reaction is fairly understandable given the shock nature of his death.

Isnt it a news break for a week from the grind of economic doom & gloom.


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## Liamos (4 May 2010)

Good to see the Irish way of kicking someone when they are down (literally) is alive and well. I think Mathepac's comments in particular are inappropriate. Maybe on reflection you might retract them?


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## ney001 (4 May 2010)

Betsy Og said:


> , but having said all that I dont deny the affection so many had for him and I think the reaction is fairly understandable given the shock nature of his death.
> 
> Isnt it a news break for a week from the grind of economic doom & gloom.



I would agree with the above sentiments, although I would say that I was a fan  I listened to him every morning and although he frequently annoyed me I did always tune in to the show.  I don't think his death is comparable to that of Jade Goody - a reality TV star for a couple of years.   Gerry made a genuine contribution for over 25 years -like him or loathe him he really appears to have connected with a large number of people and there is genuine sadness at his death.  People including myself will really miss his voice in the mornings - I have listened to it every morning for the duration of my working life and he also played pretty decent music.

I am pretty damn sad this morning!


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## Ceist Beag (4 May 2010)

Betsy Og said:


> I wasnt a fan, hadnt listened to him since I was a kid, thought he was a bit bloated in many ways (remember the cringeworthy autobiography), but having said all that I dont deny the affection so many had for him and I think the reaction is fairly understandable given the shock nature of his death.
> 
> Isnt it a news break for a week from the grind of economic doom & gloom.



+1 Betsy Og. Remember he had 200K listeners every morning, that is a lot of people who had a lot of affection for him so I think the reaction is perfectly understandable and appropriate. As with Betsy I wasn't a huge fan but I certainly have a lot of respect for him. He was a force in broadcasting and a talent, of that there can be no doubt (despite whatever mathepac might think).


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## MrMan (4 May 2010)

Books of condolence etc are there for those who want to wish the family well, celbrate a life etc, if you didn't like the man thats fine too, but your comment isn't neccessary and does not add anything positive to anyones life. We don't have to change perceptions when someone dies, but a bit of respect for those that do feel a sense of loss shouldn't be difficult to muster.


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## LDFerguson (4 May 2010)

MrMan said:


> Books of condolence etc are there for those who want to wish the family well, celbrate a life etc, if you didn't like the man thats fine too, but your comment isn't neccessary and does not add anything positive to anyones life. We don't have to change perceptions when someone dies, but a bit of respect for those that do feel a sense of loss shouldn't be difficult to muster.


 
+1

Nobody is forcing anyone here to sign a book of condolence or read the various tribute articles. If nobody or very few had bothered to turn up to sign one of the books, then it could be said that it was inappropriate to have them. The fact that thousands did queue to sign them implies to me that it was the right thing to do, as the public demand was there. 

Like him or not, Gerry Ryan was one of the most famous men in Ireland. What Irish person can honestly say that they simply did not know who he was or what he did for a living? Given this level of fame and the fact that he spent over 30 years working in the Irish broadcast media, I think the level of media coverage is appropriate.


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## Brendan Burgess (4 May 2010)

And with that, we will close the thread. 

Brendan


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