Gay Byrne: I want to broadcast on RTE again but Kathleen says no

GAY Byrne has revealed RTE wants him back on air to present his Sunday show on Lyric FM but his family has imposed a well-meaning veto.

Ireland’s 84-year-old king of the airwaves has been battling cancer in recent times. He told Barry Egan in an exclusive interview for the Living section of the Sunday Independent that he regrets not being able to get back behind the microphone.

“RTE want me back on the air in January for my little Sunday afternoon programme and I won’t be let go,” he said.

He said his wife Kathleen Watkins and daughters Suzy and Crona ‘ganged up’ to tell him he must not do it.

“They just say I’m not up to it at the moment, and I suspect they may be partly right, but nonetheless I greatly regret that I can’t do it,” he said.

“It was my little outlet, that’s all. It was unimportant. It was only a Mickey Mouse radio programme but it was an appreciative listenership. In fairness, it affects Kathleen as well, because it was her Sunday too,” he explained.

The Sunday With Gay Byrne afternoon show featured the best of traditional jazz, big band and swing music, mixed with chat. Gay and Kathleen shared with this newspaper some memories from their careers and their encounters with many famous personalities over several decades.

The occasion marked the imminent publication of Kathleen’s new book Happy Christmas, Pigin! which is expected to end up on many Christmas gift lists. It is a follow-up to her 2016 bestseller, Pigin of Howth. The new book relates how the charming porker has a perfect Christmas day out in Dublin when he links up with his pal Badger for a spot of Christmas shopping.