Across the country yesterday evening and today, we've all been sharing our stories, our memories and our sadness at the passing of Gay Byrne. There are lots of clips from his many years on radio and TV doing the rounds, one of which was from 1996 when Gay had a competition winner on the phone. That competition winner was 13-year-old Tom Rogers from Louth, and a now 37-year-old Tom joined Mairead on the phone today.
It was a Father's Day competition, and Tom's mum dragged him out of bed to get on the phone to Gay and tell him all about how great his dad is. As you'll hear in the chat, Gay ends up talking to Tom about so much more beyond that - like what he'd like to be when he grows up, the rest of his family, and Tom shared a few jokes too.
The whole conversation was so calm, and Gay took his time to chat to Tom and put him at ease. Gay was always brilliant with kids which was evident from his time on the Toy Show, that Tom says "hasn't been the same since he left".
When Mairead asked if Tom was famous in Blackrock after the phone call, his answer said it all. "With the aul wans, yeah - 10 o'clock mass was never the same"
Mairead also spoke about the first time she met Gay Byrne - he had come in for an interview and she was sent to ask him a few questions before it began. But it ended up that she didn't get to ask him a single question because Gay, being the naturally inquisitive person that he was, ended up being the one to ask her all the questions:
You can hear the chat in full by pressing the play button on screen.
