Beloved broadcaster and journalist Charlie Bird has sadly passed away.
The RTÉ journalist was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2021.
Since then he has been campaigning tirelessly to raise awareness about his disease.
He has also raised money for research into the illness as well as for mental health charities.
In his final Twitter post he wrote: “I want to extend the hand of friendship to all carers across the country. I now have first hand experience of the valuable work they do.”
He made a personal pilgrimage up Croagh Patrick as part of a ‘Climb with Charlie’ campaign which raised €3.4m for a number of charities including the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association and Pieta.
Born in Sandymount, Dublin, in 1949, first joined the RTÉ newsroom in 1972 and worked on some of the biggest news stories nationwide and internationally.
One of his earliest assignments was the Stardust fire in Artane in Dublin in 1981 that saw 48 young people died in the tragedy.
He was sent to report on the arrest and imprisonment of Fr Niall O’Brien who was an Irish Columban Missionary priest falsely accused and detained in the Philippines on multiple murder charges.
He was one of the journalists at the fore of the peace process in Northern Ireland in the 1990s.
He is survived by his wife Claire, his two daughters Orla and Nessa, his grandchildren Abigail, Charlie, Edward, Harriet and Hugo, and his three brothers.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
