A social animal: Gay Byrne's life and legacy

Gay Byrne was the epitome of showbusiness, weaving a thousand different threads into a one-of-a-kind chat show that was the social media of its day

Gay Byrne pictured in 2013, more than a decade and a half after retiring from The Late Late Show Picture: Mark Nixon
‘I’m not so bad myself, Mr Byrne’: Gaybo came a cropper when interviewing Annie Murphy in 1993 Pic: RTÉ Photo by Eoin O'Hara

Gay Byrne was a fastidious man in a careless country. That made him lonely, but it made us lucky. We could rely on him. His death reminds of us of what broadcasting once meant in this country – freedom – and of what it has now become. He can truly be said ...