Charlie Bird is “loved” as one of Ireland’s greatest, Bertie Ahern has said at the veteran journalist’s book launch.
ird looked close to tears as the former Taoiseach told attendees at the Shelbourne Hotel launch in Dublin, how Charlie had been a formidable journalist who’d been at the centre of huge events throughout his career.
The book, Time and Tide, details Charlie’s journey with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and his journalistic career at RTE.
“In 2007, Charlie broke the scoop of scoops telling me I had become the grandfather to twins,” Ahern said.
“People trust Charlie,” he added, explaining how the former reporter had covered all stories, “big or small.”
But the former Taoiseach admitted: “Charlie was dangerous,” as a journalist, explaining how he never gave up on a story.
“You will never be forgotten, Charlie,” he said. “You’ll always be remembered and loved and in our prayers.
“Thanks Charlie for the fun and stories and thanks for the rest.”
Using a digital voice box, Charlie told the crowd he could never “in my wildest dreams” have imagined the former Taoiseach would be launching his “last book.”
Charlie labelled Bertie a “loving” man and he thanked him for “your efforts to keep the peace process,” adding that he hoped he would continue to ensure it stayed in place.
He also thanked his wife Claire, family and “RTE family” for standing by him and writer Ray Burke, who helped pen the memoir.
He said he’d “won the Lotto in 1980” when “I got the job as a reporter.”
Video of the Day
Charlie’s wife Claire told the Irish Independent: “Tonight is such an achievement. Absolutely. And he’s still going.
“Charlie’s got another campaign he wants to do with the Samaritans, an awareness campaign. “He is just like a machine. He keeps busy everyday because he wants to help others and it also keeps his mind off his condition.”
Smiling lovingly towards her husband, who was busy signing books, Claire told how her favourite part of his book was when Charlie was writing about being Washington correspondent.
In the book Charlie, who has lost his speech, wrote about how his decision to take the U.S correspondent job for RTÉ in 2009 and how this had been “probably the biggest mistake of my career.”
The former reporter admitted he’d been lonely in Washington and missed his then girlfriend, Claire, whom he married in 2016.
