Gay Byrne's secret to a happy marriage? Holding hands
The veteran broadcaster had hoped to get back on the airwaves, but never wanted to be President, despite much support, writes
In January, Gay Byrne said he hoped to be back on the airwaves this year.
The broadcaster also revealed in an interview that he was never interested in running for President despite being flattered by speculation that he should throw his hat into the race.
He divulged the secret behind his famously rock-solid marriage to Kathleen Watkins:
Someone mentioned once in a photoshoot that he always connected me and Kathleen with holding hands. I said yes, we are always holding hands because if we ever let go, we would strangle one another.
“I suppose one of the secrets to our happy marriage is that every single day of my working life I would leave the house at 6.50am, because I was doing the radio show, and I didn’t get home until seven or eight o’clock at night.
“Kathleen raised the two girls and kept up with radio, television work and her work as an author in her own right. During the working week we didn’t see a great deal of each other and perhaps absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
He touchingly told magazine he wished for good health for his wife for 2019.
“Personally for 2019, I hope that Kathleen stays healthy. She has been fantastic to me, always, and I hope my two daughters and their husbands, and their children all stay healthy.
“My parents said it, your health is your wealth and they were all right.”
The broadcaster said he wad been overwhelmed by the good wishes he had received from the public since he contracted cancer.
“The kindness that has been shown to me and my family has been something special,” he told .
“There were truckloads of cards, mass cards, holy medals, prayers, just a great outpouring of good wishes which took me completely by surprise.
“It was so thoughtful and well received and appreciated, and what is a prayer only a good wish?
I have a lot to be grateful for. I got through 83 years of robust good health, aside from a couple of minor setbacks.
“The life I knew has changed forever. I can no longer ride my bike. I walk with a crutch and am curtailed in my diet.
“The treatment is very heavy, and it really sets you back on your heels. But having said all that I’m still here and looking forward to the new year.”
He said he is hoping to get back on the airwaves if his health improves.
He said: “Ideally I would like to get back doing my Sunday afternoon radio show on Lyric FM, but my wife and my daughters tell me I’m not ready and won’t let me do it. I may not make it back in January but it is my intention to do it, so we will see how things go. It’s only a small radio show but like any job you have to be in the proper form to do it.”
In the interview, he also recalled that the got a dismal response when it first aired in July 1962.
“It was detested by everyone,” he said. “The viewers thought they were tuning into a variety show and they hated the idea of talk show but eventually the tide turned. “I was producer and presenter. I wanted complete control of the show. I would host the show for 37 years.”
He dismissed any notion that he ever wanted to run for the presidency.
“I can honestly say I never wanted to be President.
“Of course, it was flattering and charming that a group of people would have liked me to do it, but it was never part of my plans.”
