Dick Warner (19 July 1946 – 16 June 2017) was an Irish environmentalist, writer and broadcaster.

Career

Warner was best known for presenting three series of the half-hour documentary programme, ''Waterways'', in which he explored

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

's canals by barge. ''Waterways'' was first broadcast in 1991 on

's national TV station, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) and later transmitted internationally on channels such as

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. In 1992, Warner won a

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

for ''Waterways''. He worked on over ninety other broadcast television documentaries, including ''Spirit of Trees'' and ''Ironing the Land''. Warner also carried out work for the Central Fisheries Board, The Loughs Agency, The Office of Public Works, the National Botanic Gardens and Tourism Ireland Warner wrote a weekly column for the ''

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Republic of Ireland, Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork (city), Cork, though it is ...

'', published every Monday, and another season of ''Waterways'' began airing on RTÉ in 2011. Prior to its closure Warner wrote a column in the ''

Evening Press The ''Evening Press'' was an Irish newspaper which was printed from 1954 until 1995. It was set up by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group, and was originally edited by Douglas Gageby. Its principal competitor was the ''Evening Herald'', whic ...

''. Warner was a graduate of

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

where he studied English literature and German and started a lifelong association with the media when he edited the college newspaper. He was married with two children and resided in

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

. Warner died suddenly on 16 June 2017, after falling ill while travelling on a boat on the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( or archaic ') is the major river on the island of Ireland, and at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of I ...

near

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway, Ireland. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-centur ...

Bibliography

*''Waterways: by steam launch through Ireland'' (1995) *''Voyage: Around the Irish Coast'' (1999) *''The Liffey: Portrait of a River'' (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Dick 1946 births 2017 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish columnists Irish environmentalists Irish Examiner people Irish radio producers Jacob's Award winners RTÉ television presenters Place of birth missing