Lauda and Walker had the formula for success
MICHAEL Lyster has of course chatted with many of the greats in the world of sport over the years, but perhaps it’s no surprise that the one-time rally driver selects a three-time Formula 1 World champion as his best ever interviewee.
In the past Michael competed in a number of rallying events with great friend Vincent Hogan of the Irish Independent alongside him as his co-driver, but it’s an international star - who sadly passed away in 2019 - whose brutal honesty and humour struck him in the very early days of his broacasting career.
Taking up the story, he said: ‘It was actually a piece I was doing for radio in the early 1980s when Niki Lauda was on a promotional visit to Ireland.
‘His day was all organised in advance, but I managed to get a slot with him when he was in the car from the airport into Dublin.
‘I found him totally fascinating. He was passionate about his sport and very willing to talk over the phone.
‘I was worried about asking him about his terrible accident which left him disfigured, but I said to myself I’ll take a chance and he talked completely openly about it even though he must have been asked so many times.
‘He was actually quite funny about it. He said when he was in hospital after the crash he demanded a mirror to see what his face looked like. He took one look and said ‘I look like a pig’.
Michael’s lifetime favourite sporting commentator also comes from the world of Formula 1 - the legendary Murray Walker.
‘The thing with Murray was that he brought out the excitement of motor racing with his high-octane style,’ Michael reflected.
‘I met him once or twice and he was always prepared to tell stories about himself - and he said a lot of stupid things in his time!
‘I remember in one race he was banging on about one of the drivers going back through the field - I think it was Alain Prost or Rene Arnoux - and he was up to high dough about it, wondering what was happening.
‘He had James Hunt alongside him [doing commentary} who was very calm, and James just came out and said ‘he’s missing the back left wheel of his car, so that could be the reason he’s slowing down’!
IF there was any serious competition for the remote control in the Lyster household, it has surely abated since live sport disappeared off our TV screens a few weeks ago.
Retired RTE Sport broadcaster Michael has little to watch these days and finds himself with considerably more time on his hands, but in the overall context of life in Ireland at the moment that’s not important.
The long-time presenter of The Sunday Game has had too many ‘near misses’ over the last decade and knows that the same doctors and nurses who helped save his own life are now putting theirs on the line for the sake of the country in its greatest hour of need.
Relaxing at home in Cabinteely last week, Michael was asked whether he was struck more than most by the stories of over-worked health workers going well beyond the call of duty, only to fall victim to the coronavirus themselves.
He replied: ‘One hundred per cent right. Through all those years, with the heart failure (2012), a mini stroke in 2013 and cardiac arrest in 2015 I have seen a lot of hospitals and have so much admiration for nurses and doctors for the jobs they do.
‘You would raise a few questions sometimes about how the health service is run from a management point of view, but for the people on the ground it’s a vocation.
‘I have a defibrillator inside my chest because I would not have time to wait for somebody to find one if something happened to me. It’s monitored in St Vincents and basically looks after itself, but after the heart failure I have to go for check-ups a couple of times a year. I was actually due one in the last couple of weeks and it hasn’t happened yet, but in my situation my heart is either ticking or it’s not and as long as it’s ticking I’m fine. If it’s not then there’s not much I can do about it!’
Even in retirement Michael would usually be busy with various engagements. Charity commitments, for example, and compering at functions - he has been MC at the annual Fingal Independent Sport Star Awards for more than two decades and does the same role at the Drogheda Independent awards.
But now he’s becoming accustomed to the new normal.
‘[Former Dublin and Offaly manager] Tommy Lyons rang me last night and that’s grand, but nobody actually has anything to say to each other because they’re not doing anything,’ said Michael.
‘I would have been involved in a major campaign by the Irish Heart Foundation a couple of weeks ago, but they have had to defer it because they can’t put out a campaign when there’s other more pressing issues at the moment.
‘In a way it suits me because I would be in a high-risk category. Self-isolation is okay for me because it’s what I should be doing, but I’m not concerned about myself or hiding behind a couch because there’s no point in wrecking your head.
‘I’m not being cavalier and I’m not going out looking for trouble, but if something happens it happens.’
While the Gardai have been given extra powers to deal with the tiny few who flout the social distancing rules or travel unnecessarily, Michael believes the country has handled the pandemic better than some of its closest allies.
‘I think we’re handling it well and