Irish broadcaster and Eurovision songwriter Shay Healy dies aged 78
- Published
Shay Healy wrote Ireland's 1980 Eurovision song contest entry What's Another Year
The Eurovision-winning songwriter and former ¸é°ÕÉ broadcaster Shay Healy has died at the age of 78.
Irish President Michael D Higgins said that the news of Mr Healy's death "will have been heard with sadness by so many".
"Shay's talents extended across so many areas and continued, even when challenged by illness, into the modern decades," said President Higgins.
"His approach to everything he did was original and conveyed with enthusiasm."
From Sandymount in Dublin, he started his career in ¸é°ÕÉ as a trainee cameraman, and went on to present present music programmes, as well as light entertainment and comedy shows.
His Eurovision-winning song was What's Another Year, sung by Johnny Logan in 1980.
Mr Healy was the presenter of Nighthawks, a late night talk show which covered entertainment and current affairs.
In 1992, it aired an infamous interview with former minister for justice Sean Doherty about phone tapping, which eventually led to the resignation of Charles Haughey as taoiseach (Irish prime minister).