Veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne has died at the age of 85.
RTE Director-General, Dee Forbes, paid tribute to the former Late Late Show host, who died after a long illness.
"We are all greatly saddened by the passing of Gay Byrne who has been a household name in this country for so many years," she said.
"Gay was an exceptional broadcaster whose unique and ground-breaking style contributed so much to the development of radio and television in this country.
"Gay's journalistic legacy is as colossal as the man himself - he not only defined generations, but he deftly arbitrated the growth and development of a nation.
"Ireland grew up under Gay Byrne, and we will never see his like again. My deepest sympathies to Kathleen and his family."
Mr Byrne had been undergoing treatment for cancer.
Broadcaster Ryan Tubridy also paid tribute to Mr Byrne on Monday.
"It is with enormous and profound sadness that I heard of the passing of my friend and mentor, Gay Byrne," he added.
"He was the master, a once off and the likes of which we will never see again.
"I watched him as a child, worked alongside him as a young man and he guided me as I grew older and I will forever be indebted to him.
"We in RTE have lost a friend, a family have lost a father and a husband and the country has lost an icon."
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