He even added a new dimension to the Late Late Show of asking viewers to dig deep for good causes during Covid and at Christmas. He became, “The Toyman”.Įvery week he trowelled on the empathy and played like a virtuoso on the heart strings of the nation. He became a superhero version of “Gaybo”, the housewives’ favourite. That trade secret - the contract of empathy with the audience and their little stories - was passed down to his protégé, Ryan Tubridy.Īnd in typical Tubs’ fashion, he added turbo boosters to it when it was his turn. Once that was secure, he could retire at the end of the show to the biggest house on the Hill. The housewives of Ireland needed to feel Gaybo had their back. Read more: Larissa Nolan: Ryan Tubridy and RTE will pay for their grubby secrets over payments Ratings equalled advertising punts and more fame and fortune for those in the Montrose golden circle.īut you would never hear that said loud enough to drown out the breast beating about “public service broadcasting”. Whether it was tearing down the Church or gutting Annie Murphy, if it was good for ratings, it was good by Gaybo.Īnd good for Gaybo. That he could shape-shift between these split personalities - like the deranged TV host in Fr Ted - was his greatest asset.īut the thing that squared the Gaybo circle and made sense of the enigma was his one ultimate value: ratings. A pillar of conservative, official and insider Ireland on the other. ![]() The original Late Late Show host remains a great contradiction of modern Ireland.īeloved by the nation’s housewives and a force for sweeping social change and sexual revolution on the one hand. But in Gaybo he also saw something too good to be true. Some might say the jury of history is still out on the second. Read more: Inside Irish broadcaster RTÉ's secret slush fund used to bring clients to top sports fixtures and concerts Read more: 'There is no way back at RTE for Ryan Tubridy' The first was a view he shared with many that would be spectacularly vindicated. He didn’t believe either was what they appeared to be. He drove a bus in Dublin for CIE, was a union representative and had a nagging suspicion of two men - Charlie Haughey and Gay Byrne. ![]() My father was a typical blue-collar worker in the bleak 1980s.
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