Ryan Tubridy said he’s glad Gay Byrne didn’t have to suffer through the pandemic as he paid tribute to him on the first anniversary of his death.
He joined fans and friends, including former colleague and pal Joe Duffy, to remember the broadcaster who died aged 85.
Tubs, 47, said: “It’s hard to believe that it’s a year since we said goodbye. As much as the newshound in him and the cultural aficionado would have been curious about [coronavirus], I think it was kinder he didn’t see all of this madness and we were all able to gather in the Pro-Cathedral that day to say goodbye.
“His picture still hangs above us on the studio floor, we think about him, we pass him by every day and he continues to be sorely missed.”
Joe added: “If the past is another country, last November seems like another planet.
“All the things that Gay loved from his daily walks across Howth Head, his morning dosage of vitamin C and his distrust and disdain of ‘anti-vaxxers’ would have come into sharper focus.
“In this pan-demic Gay would have tried to steady us.
“Every day since last November I am reminded of how lucky I was to know such a unique human being.”
Comic Deirdre O’Kane also paid tribute and recalled the shock and joy she felt when she first met Gay.
She said: “I didn’t know him well but he was incredibly lovely to me and generous.
“So much so I remember being quite shocked, not just that he knew, but that he would always go out of his way to tell me how great I was and I remember just being really floored by it.
“It was a generous act that meant so much. When you get that from somebody who has been at the pinnacle for so long, it means a great deal. He was lovely.”
Gay was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2016 and spoke publicly about the gruelling nature of the treatment regime he endured.
