Henry Kelly.RollingNews.ie
Henry Kelly, the Irish reporter, journalist, and broadcaster, died yesterday, February 25. He was 78 years old.
Kelly “died peacefully” on Tuesday "after a period of ill health,” his family said in a statement to BBC on Wednesday.
"Henry will be sorely missed by his friends and family," the statement continued, "including his partner Karolyn Shindler, their son Alexander, Henry's daughter Siobhán and her mother Marjorie.”
Kelly was born in Athlone, Co Westmeath on April 17, 1946. When he was still a child, he and his family moved to Dublin, where he went on to be educated at Belvedere College and University College Dublin.
While studying English at UCD, Henry began writing theatre reviews for The Irish Times. In 1969, The Irish Times sent him to Belfast on a week’s holiday cover - he ended up spending four years there covering the Troubles as a reporter and editor.
“He always held The Irish Times very firmly in his heart and was very proud of the work he did in Northern Ireland and the time he spent there,” Henry’s daughter Siobhán told The Irish Times.
“I think probably looking back that was his proudest time.”
While living in Northern Ireland, Henry married his first wife Marjorie and Siobhán was later born in Belfast. He also published the book “How Stormont Fell" in 1972.
In 1976, Henry exited The Irish Times and joined the BBC, working in London as a reporter and presenter for Radio 4’s “The World Tonight.”
“It was too good of an opportunity for him to refuse," Siobhán said, "but he still always went back to Ireland whenever he could and did various pieces for The Irish Times.”
In a big career shift in the early 1980s, Henry became the frontman of ITV’s “Game for a Laugh” breakfast television show and presenter of the lunchtime quiz show “Going for Gold,” which lasted 10 series until the mid-1990s.
“I think he probably thought he himself was mad, making that change from news to entertainment,” Siobhán told The Irish Times.
“But it was an opportunity, something different and exciting, and he was still young enough to give it a go.”
Siobhán recalled how her father was soon enough recognized everywhere he went - “It was always really positive, never a negative.”
Henry also went on to appear on the comedy show "Dinnerladies," the morning programme "TV-am," and the talk show "After Dark."
At the peak of his fame, Henry often returned to Northern Ireland to do charity work.
“Other people would have been nervous about travelling to Northern Ireland then," Siobhán told The Irish Times, "But he was keen to do that whenever he could.
“Even with the success of 'Game for a Laugh' and 'Going for Gold,' he always considered himself a journalist. He was always a journalist at heart, that was always the defining part of his career.”
Later, Henry became one of the launch presenters of Classic FM and also hosted shows on LBC and BBC Radio London.
In 1994, he was voted National Broadcaster of the Year at the Sony Radio Awards in the UK.
Siobhán told The Irish Times that her father remained "sharp" until the very end, maintaining a "fascination" with current affairs. She said she and her father spoke about Ukraine and Ireland's thrilling Triple Crown win in the Six Nations, which he watched with his son Alex, over the weekend.
“He never left me in any doubt that I was loved and that I could achieve whatever I wanted,” Siobhán told The Irish Times. “I had his support for everything, it was the same for Alex.”