Shay Healy (29 March 1943 – 9 April 2021)
was an
Irish songwriter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known for his role as host of
''Nighthawks'', a
RTÉ Television
RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Ireland's public service broadcaster. Its first channel was Telefís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RTÉ Television has added chan ...
chat show of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and for composing "
What's Another Year", Ireland's winning entry in the
1980 Eurovision Song Contest.
Early life
Shay Healy was raised along with his five siblings in
Sandymount
Sandymount () is a coastal suburb in the Dublin 4 district on the Southside, Dublin, Southside of Dublin in Ireland.
Etymology
An early name for the area was Scal'd Hill or Scald Hill. in Dublin. His father, Seamus, was a civil servant and part-time stage actor who performed at the
Abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...
and
Olympia theatres. His mother, Máirín Ní Shúilleabháin, was a singer of
Irish traditional songs.
[''The Irish Times'', "Shay Healy", 26 July 1980] She also wrote plays and stories and encouraged young Shay's early talent for writing. This led to his first appearance at the age of 15 on the Irish national radio station,
Radió Éireann, reading a self-penned article.
Career
Healy had a varied career, never focusing too intently on any one of his various professional interests. Of his tendency to diversify he once commented: "I know it infuriates some people when you don't pigeonhole yourself, but I don't take on anything that won't stand up to public scrutiny."
Songwriting
Healy first received attention as a performer of his own "songs of social significance" during the 1960s. Later he wrote comedy songs for
Billy Connolly,
including "The Orient Express-a tale of intrigue and cross dressing", "The Shitkickers Waltz", and "The Country & Western Supersong". Healy achieved his greatest success as a songwriter with "What's Another Year", which won the
1980 Eurovision Song Contest. Over the course of the next 15 years, the song earned him a total of £250,000.
[''The Irish Times'', "THE MULTI-MEDIA ARTIST: Shay Healy", 28 December 1995] In 1983 his song, "Edge of the Universe", sung by
Linda Martin, was the overall winner of the
Castlebar Song Contest. Under the name of Crack, he and Dave Pennefather released a
parody song
Parody music, or musical parody, involves changing or copying existing (usually well known) musical ideas, and/or lyrics, or copying the particular style of a composer or performer, or even a general style of music.
In music, parody has been us ...
called "Silly Fellow", which was about
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
's arrest and jail experience in Japan. Healy and Pennefather also released a parody of Abba's song "Mamma Mia" that they called "Hey C'mere" and credited to Rubbish.
Musical theatre
In 1977, Healy branched into musical theatre with the script, co-written with
Niall Toibin, for a stage production entitled ''The King''. This was a show based on the life and music of
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
and was premiered at the
Cork Opera House two months after the singer's death. In contrast, Healy's
rock opera
A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...
, ''The Knowledge'', failed to receive commercial backing and was premiered in
Dundalk
Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...
by an amateur group in January 1989.
Healy was more successful with his musical, ''The Wiremen'', which received its premiere on 4 May 2005 at Dublin's
Gaiety Theatre in a production by John McColgan and
Moya Doherty that ran for six weeks. ''The Wiremen'' tells the story of the introduction of electricity into
County Mayo
County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...
during the 1950s. In March 2010 the show was revived in an amateur production by the
Birr Stage Guild.
Broadcasting
Healy joined
RTÉ Television
RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Ireland's public service broadcaster. Its first channel was Telefís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RTÉ Television has added chan ...
in 1963 as a trainee cameraman. Within five years he had moved to the other side of the lens with appearances on programmes such as ''Twenty Minutes With...'', ''Ballad Sheet'' and ''Hoot'nany''.
In the summer months of 1988 he hosted a series called
The Dublin Village with
Ingrid Miley it reran on Wednesday nights in 2005 and 2006 on
RTE 2.
Between 1988 and 1992 Healy hosted
''Nighthawks'', a late-night satirical chat show broadcast on
RTÉ Two, which he later described as "the best four years of my working life". In January 1992, the show became embroiled in political controversy as a result of Healy's interview with former
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.
Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
Justice Minister
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
Seán Doherty. During the interview, Doherty revealed that some members of the cabinet with whom he served in
1982
Events
January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
had been aware of his order to
illegally tap the phones of a number of Irish journalists. The revelation led to the resignation of
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Charles Haughey a few weeks later.
In January 1995, RTÉ terminated Healy's contract.
One of his last shows for the station was ''Where Are They Now?'' in which he interviewed former celebrities whose fame had largely faded. Healy then set up his own production company which made a series of television documentaries. His 1995 TV documentary on Irish musician,
Phil Lynott
Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the co-founder, lead vocalist, bassist, and primary songwriter for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy. He was known for his distinctive ...
, ''The Rocker'', was broadcast on
RTÉ Two and
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
, and later released as a DVD.
In 1998, Healy made two half-hour documentaries for the RTÉ One television series, ''Against The Odds''. The series focused on individuals who had overcome adversity in their lives. Healy's two films featured an actor, Chris Burke, who was born with
dwarfism
Dwarfism is a condition of people and animals marked by unusually small size or short stature. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dwarfism is . '' ...
, and a singer,
Ronan Tynan, whose legs were amputated when he was twenty.
[''The Irish Times'', "Success in a small way", 7 March 1998]
Among the other TV programmes Healy presented were ''Reach for the Stars'' (1971), ''Hullaballoo'' (1977), ''The Birthday Show'' (1993–1995), ''Beastly Behaviour'' (1998–1999), ''Ireland's Greatest Hits'' (2001) and ''A Little Bit Country'' (2006).
Healy won two
Jacob's Awards. He received the first in 1984 for ''Strawberry Fields Forever'', a radio documentary series on the 1960s in Ireland, which he presented and Siobhan McHugh produced. His second award came in 1989 for his television work.
In 2007, Healy joined the judging panel on
TG4's talent show, ''
Glór Tíre''.
Writing
In the early 1960s, Healy became Folk Correspondent for ''Spotlight'', an Irish pop music weekly, and he continued to write for the magazine until its demise in the mid-1970s. He wrote a weekly column for the ''
Irish Daily Mail''.
''The Stunt'' is the title of Healy's debut novel, published in 1992. It deals with the Irish rock scene and was described by one reviewer as "a more truthful... representation (of) the Irish music scene than ''
The Commitments''". His second novel, ''Green Card Blues'', is set among the illegal Irish immigrant community in New York City.
In 2005 ''On The Road'', Healy's memoir of his life in showbusiness, was published.
Personal life
Healy married Dymphna Errity from Landen Road, Ballyfermot at Our Lady of the Assumption Church Ballyfermot on 5 September 1967. They were married for almost 50 years up to Dymphna's death on 10 July 2017. They had two sons, Oisin and Fionain.
In 2004, Healy was diagnosed with the degenerative disorder,
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
.
[''Sunday Independent'', "Presenting with Parkinson's", 18 December 2005]
Healy died on 9 April 2021, aged 78.
Publications
*''The Stunt'', (O'Brien Press, 1992, )
*''Green Card Blues'', (O'Brien Press, 1994, )
*''Beastly Jokes'', (O'Brien Press, 2005, )
*''More Beastly Jokes'', (O'Brien Press, 2005, )
*''On The Road'', (O'Brien Press, 2005, )
References
External links
Official web site*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Healy, Shay
1943 births
2021 deaths
Irish documentary filmmakers
Eurovision Song Contest-winning songwriters
Jacob's Award winners
Irish columnists
Irish music journalists
Irish musical theatre composers
Irish novelists
Irish male songwriters
Irish television personalities
People from Sandymount
People with Parkinson's disease
RTÉ television presenters
Irish male novelists
Castlebar Song Contest winners
Broadcasters from County Dublin
Irish satirists