There’s only one story on the front pages of the newspapers today as the untimely death of Gerry Ryan dominates all the headlines. Across the broadsheets and the tabloids, the Irish media is united in grief.  Gerry was found dead in his Dublin apartment yesterday afternoon after he failed to show up for the morning radio show on RTÉ 2fm that he’d hosted since 1988. He was 53.
Most papers have filled their front page with a picture of Gerry smiling warmly. The Irish Examiner combines this with tributes from his friends in the media.  “He lived life to the full, he was full of fun and hilarity and pure bloody devilment and that is how I will remember him,†says his early mentor Gay Byrne.
“Gerry was actually larger in life off air than on air. He’d entertain us all. He was very generous in every way,†says Pat Kenny. “So terribly shocking and sad… Life is just too cruel sometimes. RIP,†says Miriam O’Callaghan.
The Irish Times fondly remembered the “impish, irreverent, crass, supremely intelligent broadcasterâ€. “Tears for Gerry†says the Indo. The Irish Sun leads with “Gerry’s goneâ€, the Irish Daily Star’s deadline reads “Farewell to a national icon†and reports that it was Gerry’s girlfriend Melanie Verwoerd who went to his home after his radio no-show and recruited the help of a builder to break down the door. The Mirror reports on “The End of a Legendâ€.
Elsewhere there are reports that Quinn group founder Sean Quinn is devastated by the loss of 900 jobs at Quinn Insurance after administrators reported that more than a third of the workforce will have to go if the company is to remain viable.
