A service to celebrate Charlie Bird's life is to be held in Dublin on Thursday.
The veteran RTÉ broadcaster and leading motor neuron disease campaigner died yesterday following a long battle with the illness at the age of 74.
He served as RTÉ’s Chief News Correspondent for many years, reporting on some of the biggest stories in modern Irish history.
In 2008, he was appointed RTÉ’s Washington Correspondent, a role he bowed out of early because of homesickness.
He retired in 2012, after working with the broadcaster for nearly 40 years.
Charlie Bird at RTÉ studios in Dublin on his last day before retiring, 25-8-12. Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ieAfter he was diagnosed with motor neuron disease in 2021, his Climb with Charlie campaign raised over €3 million for Pieta House and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.
A service to celebrate his life will be held at 12 noon on Thursday, March 14th in the Round Room of Dublin's Mansion House.
His death notice says he will be "sadly missed by his beloved wife, Claire, loving daughters Orla and Neasa, little wingman Tiger, his sons-in-law Rob and Aidan, adored grandchildren Charlie, Hugo, Abigail, Harriet and Edward, his extended family, former colleagues and a wide circle of friends both at home and abroad".
'When I get uncontrollable crying episodes, he is minding me.' @charliebird49 on the comfort his pet dog has brought him throughout his illness. @PatKennyNT pic.twitter.com/kcJq0BSDjW
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) November 25, 2022
Leading tributes President Michael D Higgins said it was “hard to underestimate” the value of Charlie’s charity work.
RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said he was a huge inspiration to his friends and colleagues.
Speaking in Boston, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Ireland has lost a special person.
"I was really, really sorry in the last few hours to hear that Charlie Bird had passed away," he said.
"He's somebody I knew well; I worked with him during his time as a journalist and got to know him a little bit in more recent years through his advocacy.
"He was a special person, there isn't going to be somebody like him again I don't believe".
Charlie Bird with his 'little wingman' Tiger at Buswells Hotel in Dublin, 15-2-22. Image: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ieMr Varadkar said Charlie Bird had the trust and respect of the Irish people.
"From the Asian tsunami and 9/11, to the peace process and the banking crisis, people knew they could rely on Charlie for the story," he said.
"When Charlie told his own story of motor neurone disease he became an inspirational figure to so many people in the way that he dealt with the physical and mental health impacts of his illness.
"His can-do attitude, his dedication to helping others through charity work and the open manner in which he discussed the impact of the disease on his life, and on his family, was exemplary," he added.
Mr Bird's family has asked for donations, if desired, to Wicklow Hospice.
