Derek Davis has died

Harry Palmr

Just news breaking. A hardy stand-by on the Liveline for several years of course. It was a pity when he ended his stint.

snubbleste

bbability

Just awful news. He was without doubt one of the most talented broadcasters this Island has produced. His natural ability to adapt to the task or show that was landed on his lap was unique. From the serious reporting to the Live at 3 shows. I really liked him broadcasting Liveline. He will be very sadly missed

Derek Davis,

Rest In Peace

Welsh Megaman

Decent tribute by Cathal Murray on Radio 1 just now, playing one of Derek's favourite Johnny Cash songs.

RIP

gjc

Derek .. Rip .... One in a million ..

padd b1975

RIP.

delbertgrady

Not just a consummate broadcaster, but an absolute gentleman too. People of a certain generation may immediately associate him with the fluffy cosiness of Live at Three, but he truly was one of the most accomplished of presenters.

gjc

He certainly had a lovely way and manner with also something that other presenters don't have ... wit and personality ... I'm not of the live at three era but I do recognise a true gentleman and a great broadcaster

gjc

Welsh Megaman wrote: »

Decent tribute by Cathal Murray on Radio 1 just now, playing one of Derek's favourite Johnny Cash songs.

RIP

What song exactly

John Joe Jones

Always the finest. RIP

Welsh Megaman

gjc wrote: »

What song exactly

Folsom Prison Blues

SEPT 23 1989

Best Liveline presenter we ever had,short lived stand in for Duffy because he was too good

RIP

randy hickey

Liveline was listenable when Derek was at the helm.

He always came across as an absolute gentleman who knew how to enjoy life.

History will record that today we lost an outstanding broadcaster and Irishman.

May you rest in peace Derek.

randy hickey

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Itssoeasy

And he was only on Marion finnucane at the weekend and talking about how he had lost a lot of weight.

I can kind of remember the live at three stuff but in any great detail. Any time I heard him on the radio or TV his voice kind of put you at ease straight away.

RIP

hullaballoo

RIP.

sligeach

I'm shocked and awfully sad news. It was always a pleasure to listen to him talk. A very intelligent person and I echo what many have commented upon, he was very underappreciated. RIP Derek and condolences to his family and friends!

furryvision

Had the pleasure of working with Derek, he was such a pro, broadcasting was an absolute breeze to him... He'd welcome the most cynical and moody guest to studio and in the end they'd fall in love with him, a very charming and very funny character. One of a kind. Thoughts with his family and friends.

Vorenus400

George Hook played a great old chat with Derek there about books after 6 o clock. Was really entertaining, he loved the Patrick O'Brien , Arthur Conan Doyle and Hillary Mantel. There was no sign of condescension or judgement about books, was just a nice pleasant chat between 2 men, (Thankfully Hook wasnt too opinionated on that day)

The Black Oil

Very sad. RIP.

Just catching up with the clip of his essay about the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

He also wrote a letter to the Times in 2011.

Csalem

Was shocked when I heard this, coming so soon after listening to him on Sunday.
He was a brilliant stand-in on Liveline. When he spoke you wanted to listen to him. He will be missed.

ford fiesta

Derek's work with 4FM hasn't been mentioned in any reports i've read or heard today.

He should really have been given a prime time slot on RTE Radio 1 after Live at Three finished up.

rosb

I could not believe the news. He sounded great on Marion Finucane ' s show on Sunday. I heard the news of his death on the radio at work. Had to go online to check it was true. Thought I had heard it wrong. Lovely man.

jimmyw

I just happened to tune into Pat Kennys show when I heard him talking to some man about Derek.I was totally dumbfounded.He came across as a total gentleman.I only just heard him talking on Sunday morning.

The man wanted to see a lot more of his grand kids so he lost alot of weight, but then fate still took him away, so bloody cruel.....................


RIP Derek.

gjc

Always enjoyed his quips and remarks...I vaguely remember a live at three segment on rabbits and .. How Derek explained to children watching that the rabbit was scratching the other rabbits back.....

Declan A Walsh

ford fiesta wrote: »

Derek's work with 4FM hasn't been mentioned in any reports i've read or heard today.

I noticed that too. Tom McGuirk was talking about Derek on The Last Word and he didn't mention it either and he was also a presenter on 4FM at the time!

For those who don't know, in the original 4FM schedule, Derek Davis presented a program mid-mornings on Sunday. It was similar to The Sunday Supplement/Sam Smyth Show on Today FM and Shane Coleman on Newstalk with its current affairs and guest panelists and paper reviews - all on around the same time. The main difference in the content was that the chat was interrupted on 4FM at intervals for music. Derek Davis was great at presenting this program, as you would expect. He also stood in for Tom McGuirk on occasions. Tom/Derek presented 4FM's own chat show on weekday evenings, interspersed with music.

I concur with all the nice things said already here about Derek Davis in relation to his broadcasting career. Another sad loss to the broadcasting world.

Red Fred

ford fiesta wrote: »

Derek's work with 4FM hasn't been mentioned in any reports i've read or heard today.

The report at the start of RTE News at One mentioned his work at 4FM but was ommitted from subsequent bulletins. Was also very little mention of his stand-in work on Liveline.

sligeach

Just to add further to my previous comment, some of my earliest memories are of him and Thelma on Live at 3. Still shocked and saddened. He was a real nice guy and anytime he came on the radio I'd always make it my business to listen to him. I didn't know he had been on 4FM.

furryvision

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

I noticed that too. Tom McGuirk was talking about Derek on The Last Word and he didn't mention it either and he was also a presenter on 4FM at the time!

Don't see why he would mention it. Derek took on that weekly 4FM show on in his retirement as a hobby.. it's doesn't hold much relevance with everything he has done in his career. Not to mention both Tom and Derek, having walked away from RTE radio were told they were no longer needed at 4FM after only 18 months or so.

Radio5

RIP. Happy memories of him reading the news and of course, Live at 3.

walshb

Always came across as such a sincere and genuine guy. Affable and jovial in nature. Gone too soon. He was only on the radio on Sunday on Miriam I think it was. What was the cause of his death?

Csalem

walshb wrote: »

Always came across as such a sincere and genuine guy. Affable and jovial in nature. Gone too soon. He was only on the radio on Sunday on Miriam I think it was. What was the cause of his death?

Don't think cause of death has been announced but one of his friends said on Liveline that after the interview with Aine Lawlor on Sunday he felt tired so went to bed after getting home. Later he woke and still felt bad so went to the hospital. And the rest sadly is history.

Atlantic Dawn

Someone on Liveline mentioned yesterday that Derek was after having a stroke on Sunday.

Declan A Walsh

furryvision wrote: »

Don't see why he would mention it. Derek took on that weekly 4FM show on in his retirement as a hobby.. it's doesn't hold much relevance with everything he has done in his career. Not to mention both Tom and Derek, having walked away from RTE radio were told they were no longer needed at 4FM after only 18 months or so.

They may have been only on 4FM for 18 months, but it was yet another detail in the varied broadcasting career of Derek Davis. Anyway, during his time there, he kept listeners entertained. I dipped in and out of his 4FM Sunday show (being a bit of a radio anorak!) on a number of occasions and he sounded very relaxed talking to his guests. I also heard him standing in for Tom McGuirk and he was very good dealing with serious stuff. He would have fitted in very well on Newstalk I think - one of the things I felt from his time on 4FM.

I accept, though, that the nature of their exit from 4FM may have had something to do with it not being mentioned by Tom and that is fair enough. I think it could have been mentioned more elsewhere. That said, I got the tail end of a phone interview this morning on TV3's Ireland AM with 4FM (and ex-2FM and RTE) presenter Gareth O'Callaghan. He may well have referenced Derek's time on 4FM.

But of course Derek Davis was much more than a 4FM presenter. We all know that! For many years, he was a frequent presence on RTE. I would have not been familiar really with his radiowork on Radio1. Not being a frequent listener of Radio 1 and being into newer stations, it was always more likely that I would have heard him on the adult-oriented commercially licensed stations like 4FM.

ford fiesta

There was a tribute to Derek Davis on The Saturday night show on TV. Sam Smyth mentioned that Derek was 'staff' at RTE, as in not a contractor.

If so, he should have got to present more radio after his main TV roles finished up in the late 90s. I presume he was still 'staff' up to his 4FM stint in 2009?.
He would have been around 60 years of age then, so what was Derek's role in RTE during the majority of the 00's, apart from filling in for Joe Duffy on Liveline etc... these were years I had not seen him on TV nor heard on radio much..

padd b1975

ford fiesta wrote: »

There was a tribute to Derek Davis on The Saturday night show on TV. Sam Smyth mentioned that Derek was 'staff' at RTE, as in not a contractor.

If so, he should have got to present more radio after his main TV roles finished up in the late 90s. I presume he was still 'staff' up to his 4FM stint in 2009?.
He would have been around 60 years of age then, so what was Derek's role in RTE during the majority of the 00's, apart from filling in for Joe Duffy on Liveline etc... these were years I had not seen him on TV nor heard on radio much..

He did a marine programme called Out Of The Blue.

As you said, he used fill in for Joe pretty much 100% of the time Joe was off.

He also used fill in for Pat Kenny on occasion and do a radio column on Drivetime.

He would have been ticking along, but not exactly stretched.

John Joe Jones

padd b1975 wrote: »

He also used fill in for Pat Kenny on occasion

George Galloway hung up on him one morning that he was filling in on the today with pk show.

padd b1975

John Joe Jones wrote: »

George Galloway hung up on him one morning that he was filling in on the today with pk show.

A few Christmases back Pat was having one of those time filling discussions about Christmas cooking that pop up across all stations at that time of year.

No better man than Derek to have on for such matters...he left Pat and the other guests almost speechless as he described in great detail the running buffet that ran in his house from early morning until they sat down for the actual dinner sometime in the late afternoon!

School Socks

It's pretty depressing that DD never made it to the top when ****e presenters like Duffy & Darcy did :-(

ford fiesta

Is Derek Davis the only presenter who has worked as part of the 4FM line up to have passed away?.
I cannot think of any others. The late Jim Kenny I know was working as the music selector in the early days, though not as a presenter.

Declan A Walsh

ford fiesta wrote: »

Is Derek Davis the only presenter who has worked as part of the 4FM line up to have passed away?.
I cannot think of any others. The late Jim Kenny I know was working as the music selector in the early days, though not as a presenter.

Noel McCaul is another example. He was a presenter with 4FM in its early days. He died from cancer in 2012.

Max Headroom

Ah man thats terrible news...i like him...i'd say Gerry Ryan will be gutted..

masculinist

Belated RIP

ford fiesta

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Noel McCaul is another example. He was a presenter with 4FM in its early days. He died from cancer in 2012.

Yes knew in the back of my mind, there was another and that was Noel.
Damien McCaul's father.

tayto lover

Never cared much for Derek as a presenter but RIP.

Duckjob

Max Headroom wrote: »

Ah man thats terrible news...i like him...i'd say Gerry Ryan will be gutted..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f_DPrSEOEo