The passing of Mícheál O’Muircheartaigh is one that will touch almost every Irish person. He was the voice of the summer. As a commentator on sport he was among the very best, but as a touchstone for what it meant to be Irish and to be proud of both our past and our present was perhaps his gift of greatest importance.

I had the pleasure of meeting him on a number of occasions. He was a gentleman to his core, never impatient and always willing to converse.

When his autobiography was published back in 2005, I queued up outside Dubray Books, well, actually down more than half of Grafton Street, to get him to sign a copy with a personal message and a chat. The queue was so long because everyone was worthy of that chat.

I couldn’t explain at the time why it was important to queue. I could have got him to sign it at a later stage but there was something in how he drew us towards him.

As the news broke yesterday, my eldest son Jack messaged me to ask if I remembered queuing up for the signing. He did. He was seven at the time. It is perhaps one of his earliest memories and one that has stuck.

That is again what the Micheál O’Muircheartaigh gift could perhaps be best explained as.  There was something of an ability to slow time, to capture a moment indelibly.

His voice, his smile, and his presence will all be sadly missed by his family and by the whole country.

Others will write more comprehensive memories of his many achievements, but I could not let the day go without paying tribute.

He was a humble giant of his craft and every one of those whose lives he touched became a little richer for the experience.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

 

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