Charlie Bird obituary: How RTÉ’s 'main man' in news went on to 'extend the hand of friendship'
Charlie Bird Sasko Picture: Ie Lazarov/rollingnews
When Charlie Bird confirmed that he had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease in October 2021, it was a measure of his public profile that hundreds of letters were sent to him, including several with no proper address.
'Mr and Mrs Charlie Bird, the nation knows who he is, County Wicklow' and 'The Main Man Charlie Bird, RTÉ' were among examples he cited in , the book he wrote in 2022 with former RTÉ colleague Ray Burke.
For almost four decades, he was RTÉ’s 'main man' in news and current affairs. Whether it was one of many political upheavals at home, or developments abroad - such as the false imprisonment of Columban missionary Father Niall O’Brien in the Philippines, the release of Irish hostage Brian Keenan in Syria, or the 9/11 Twin Towers attack in New York - Bird was on hand within hours to file reports.
“My day job left me little time for reflection,” he observed, recalling the horror he witnessed in the Haiti 2010 earthquake, one of many foreign assignments.
“I had reported on earthquakes in Turkey and Pakistan, but I had never seen anything like the death and destruction I encountered in and around Port-au-Prince,” he said.
An estimated 220,000 people died, with 300,000 others injured and 1.5m people left homeless in a tremor lasting just 35 seconds.
While in the US as RTÉ’s Washington correspondent in 2010, he tracked down Anglo-Irish banker David Drumm to his home in Cape Cod, near Boston. Drumm had left Ireland two years before, having resigned from his chief executive’s position amid revelations over hidden loans.
In the news report filmed for RTÉ, Bird shouted, “Why are you ducking down?” to Drumm, who had refused to open the door to him.
Bird later said that Drumm told him his children were scared and frightened and so the reporter turned around and walked away “because children should never have to carry the sins of their parents”.
Bird’s trademark tenacity and ability to ignore rules when necessary resulted in a hug from then US President Barack Obama. It was at a press briefing during a visit by then Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, and Bird had asked Obama if he would consider a visit to Ireland.
“As he was looking at me, I stretched out my hand to shake his,” Bird wrote, recalling how a White House pool journalist told him afterwards he would be in big trouble for breaching protocol.
However, the exchange was captured by White House pool photographer Doug Mills, and the nine images became “among the most treasured of my 40 years in journalism”, Bird said.
Bird’s inability to settle in Washington and his early return home may have been one of his rare low points in a stellar career that began when he joined RTÉ as a researcher in current affairs in 1974, having worked previously in The Irish Times. He was working in The Goat Bar in Dublin’s Goatstown, when he befriended news editor Donal Foley. Foley offered him a start in the newspaper’s library.
One of the few regrets Bird said he had was that neither of his parents, both from Macroom, Co Cork, lived long enough to witness his later success, after he failed the Leaving Certificate exam.
His father, who worked with the ESB and then with Irish Shipping, died on decimalisation day in 1971, and his mother died 12 years later after she was knocked down by a car outside Cornelscourt shopping centre in Dublin.
Bird took an early interest in left-wing politics, joining the Young Socialists and then Official Sinn Féin. He was a member of the Labour Party for a brief period but quit after former health minister Noel Browne left.
He had over six years of research experience on the current affairs programme and on when he transferred to RTÉ News in 1980. One of his first major assignments was the Stardust disco fire in Artane in the early hours of February 15, 1981, which claimed 48 lives.
He regarded the Troubles and eight years of negotiations leading to the 'peace process' as one of his highlights, and for many years he was the point of contact between the State’s broadcaster and the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
In 1998, Bird and RTÉ colleague George Lee exposed corrupt practices and tax evasion at National Irish Bank. Subsequently, he was one of several parties unsuccessfully sued by former Fianna Fáil TD Beverly Cooper Flynn in one of the State’s longest-running libel cases.
In November 2004 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws by University College Dublin for outstanding services to Irish journalism. After he returned early from Washington, he resumed his position as chief news correspondent until his retirement from RTÉ in 2012.
He had already participated in a number of documentaries, including a series produced by Crossing the Line films taking him to the Arctic, the Ganges and the Amazon rivers, and continued working. In 2017, he looked back on unanswered questions relating to the Stardust fire for a series titled , and he would remain in close touch with the relatives of those who died.
In April 2015, he chaired the launch of the Yes Equality marriage referendum campaign and published a book with Merrion Press the following year, titled , in which he interviewed 50 members, family and friends of the LGBT community. It was while working on a podcast series for , involving an exclusive story named Ransom, that Bird first noticed a change in his voice.
His wife, Claire Mould, who he married in 2016, became “his rock” after he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, along with his daughters Orla and Neasa, his five grandchildren, the couple’s dog, Tiger, and many colleagues and friends. Among those giving him public support were the late CervicalCheck campaigner Vicky Phelan and singer Daniel O’Donnell.
He subsequently made two appearances on RTÉ’s . On the first appearance with Ryan Tubridy, he pledged to lead a climb of Mayo’s Croagh Patrick. The climb in April 2022, in aid of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association and Pieta, the national suicide prevention charity, raised over €3.5m for both organisations.
With Mould’s help, he availed of voice banking technology after he lost his ability to speak, and he also completed two books. He arranged for his ashes to be interred on the Aran island of Inis Oírr, where he has spent many years.
He continued to appear at many events, supporting the Stardust families when the inquest they had called for opened in 2023, and campaigning for the Samaritans.
Just over a year after his Croagh Patrick climb, he hosted a 'Walk of friendship' for The Samaritans in Avondale Forest Park, Co Wicklow, with similar walks of one and five kilometres hosted in several Coillte sites across the country.
“Samaritans is a cause close to my heart, with its volunteers across the country extending the hand of friendship to others 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Bird said.
And he had one message when interviewed by the Irish Examiner in December 2022: “For someone who might be reading this and has motor neurone disease, or some other terminal illness, just try and live every day as if it is your last, and try and stay strong while you can…”