LETTERS OF HEARTBREAK
IN THE history of Irish radio, one of the most earth-shattering programmes was delivered on the morning of February 23, 1984.
For two hours, Gay Byrne read out letters from women who had given birth in their teens. They were written in response to the tragedy of Ann Lovett. Speaking in 2016, Mr Byrne said Ann’s story exposed the ‘underworld of nastiness’ behind the Church for the first time.’ However, he initially dismissed the story on his Late Late Show while reviewing the newspapers: ‘Girl dies giving birth in a field. My goodness me, and that happened in Co. Longford apparently.’ He went on to review a few more stories. ‘Nothing terribly exciting there,’ he said, flinging the paper to the ground.