DJ IAN ROCKS UP 20 YEARS ON TODAY FM
With Mario Rosenstock IAN Dempsey celebrated 20 years on Today FM yesterday with celebrity fans paying tribute to the radio legend.
The breakfast show host joined the station on September 21, 1998, and has been there ever since.
Dempsey was famously poached from RTE by the radio station two decades ago, having worked with the State broadcaster for 19 years before his move.
Leading tributes to the 57-year-old Dubliner was Ian’s Today FM co-star Mario Rosenstock, who has worked with him since 1999.
She said: “Ian’s been through everything with me and I’ve learned everything from him. The person you hear on the radio is 100% the person he is – warm, mischievous, genuine and a legend. Here’s to another 20 years”
Retired Irish rugby ace Donncha O’callaghan was among the celebrities who surprised Dempsey live on air during his anniversary show yesterday morning.
The sports legend said: “Everyone is saying congrats but on behalf of everyone who listens in, I want to say thanks.
“In a rollercoaster world, you’re the constant, we’ve always enjoyed it.
“I’d be trying to get the kids in the car – all the panic – then we listen in [to the show] and you make everyone feel at ease.
“If you played rugby, you’d be Brian O’driscoll.” Donncha’s former team-mate Ronan O’gara echoed his kind words.
She said: “Congratulations on putting a smile on people’s faces for the last 20 years.
“I think what they all like about you is that we all see a bit of ourselves in you and you keep it real.
“Fair play to you, keep doing what you’re doing.”
RTE star Daithi O Se also phoned in the show to congratulated Ian on his radio milestone.
He said: “I feel like person because of you.
“You make me look very, very good. I have to say one thing, you’re a horse and cart of a man.” Today FM paid I’m
TODAY FM YESTERDAY
a good tribute to the broadcasting icon, with the station’s programme director Adelle Nolan saying they are “honoured” to have Dempsey working with them.
She added: “We are thrilled that Ian has been part of Today FM, and so many lives, for the last 20 years.
“He is a genuine, lovable, passionate professional, whose greatest joy is to entertain.
“We are so fortunate to have Ian waking our listeners up every day and honoured to call him our friend and colleague.”
A genuine, lovable, professional whose greatest joy is to entertain ADELLE NOLAN