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Former RTE correspondent Charlie Bird has died aged 74 after a protracted battle with motor neurone illness.
The veteran broadcaster, who reported on a wide range of points from the Stardust fireplace tragedy in 1981 to the Northern Ireland peace course of, has been vocal about his terminal analysis.
He helped increase greater than 3.3 million euro for charity in a marketing campaign that noticed him climb Croagh Patrick in 2022.
Seamus Dooley, the Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, stated Mr Bird’s life “should not be defined by his illness”.
He stated: “Supported by his wife Claire, Charlie lived his battle with Motor Neurone Disease in the public gaze, with characteristic determination and searing honesty.
“The qualities he has manifested during his illness – grit, fierce determination and generosity of spirit, were the same qualities which marked Charlie Bird as a journalist.”
Former RTE presenter Charlie Bird reported on points together with the Stardust fireplace in 1981 (Niall Carson/PA)
(PA Archive)
Mr Dooley added that Bird, who was a former chair of the NUJ Dublin Broadcasting department, “was passionate about news and had a unique ability to develop relationships”.
“He was stubborn and relentless in pursuit of whatever he set out to achieve.
“His life should not be defined by his illness but by the remarkable qualities he displayed in the face of adversity. He leaves a remarkable legacy.”
Charlie Bird: From roving reporter to campaigner
For practically 40 years, Irish broadcaster Charlie Bird introduced tales from world wide to TV screens throughout the nation.
One of the best-known faces in Irish journalism for a number of many years, he was a roving reporter at RTE within the truest sense, together with his work taking him from his hometown of Dublin to Baghdad, Moscow and Belfast.
His instinctive grasp of the information business made him a well-known face on Irish TV whereas a burgeoning celeb profile in later life meant he was simply as well-known for his attribute type and campaigning work as his broadcasting profession.
In later years, that campaigning targeted totally on elevating money for analysis into motor neurone illness.
Mr Bird revealed in October 2021 that he had been recognized with the illness, prompting waves of sympathy from the Irish public.
He would go on to talk overtly about his struggles with swallowing and consuming, as he confronted down the debilitating illness.
A fundraising hike up Croagh Patrick organised by Mr Bird, dubbed Climb With Charlie, raised greater than three million euro for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association and Pieta in 2022.
(David Young/PA Wire)
By the time the climb took place, his actual voice had been changed with a man-made one generated by way of years of clippings within the RTE archive.
It was a voice that few individuals who watched the information throughout a turbulent period on the island might ever overlook.
Mr Bird, who joined RTE as a researcher in 1974, was by no means removed from the centre of the largest story.
His tenacity as a reporter made him a key media contact for the IRA throughout the latter years of the Troubles whereas his work on the scandal that engulfed the National Irish Bank cemented his popularity as a journalist with severe investigative clout.
His profession had each ups and downs.
A spell as Washington correspondent for RTE ended early as Mr Bird struggled to make inroads within the US.
“I was good at nosing out stories and meeting people. So you try and stick to what you are good at, but again, in hindsight, I wouldn’t have gone to America,” he stated years later.
He additionally generally discovered himself on the centre of the story, similar to when he was attacked throughout loyalist rioting in Dublin in 2006.
Latterly, he emerged as a campaigner.
One of the primary reporters on the scene of the Stardust nightclub fireplace in 1981, Mr Bird by no means severed his hyperlinks with the households and their marketing campaign for justice.
In February 2022, ailing well being didn’t preserve him away from the annual commemoration of the tragedy.
“I admire your courage and your bravery. Keep fighting for justice. If the Stardust tragedy happened in some middle-class area, or indeed on the southside of Dublin, we would not be here today, still trying to find out what happened,” he instructed the gang.
He additionally threw himself into the marketing campaign for same-sex marriage in Ireland in 2015.
Mr Bird, together with his uncommon identify and canny potential to smell out tales, was maybe all the time destined for fulfillment.
Yet he was all the time clear why he turned the go-to newsman of his era.
“I would have walked over absolutely anyone to get a story. I had to use my fingernails to make up for lack of talent,” he stated.
