Sad news
I was sad to hear of the death of Nuala O’Faolain this morning. Although we both worked for the same paper for many years, I only met her once, more than ten years ago at a press event which had the aim of bringing senior journalists from north and south together and getting them very, very drunk - although to what end, I can’t really remember and what I was doing there, I’ve never known. All the journalists from the south sat at one table while those working for papers and broadcasters on the other side of the border sat at another - so I’m not sure if the aim of fostering togetherness, if that was the plan, was achieved.
Anyways, I ended up sitting beside Nuala and her buddy Marian Finucane at dinner on the first night. She was hilarious, instantly engaging, interested in other people’s stories and wonderfully indiscrete, (direct might be a better word ) particularly when it came to winding up the editor of ireland.com, Seamus Martin, about the low rates which the people working on the website (including myself) were then being paid. She was one of very few journalists working on the big paper to show solidarity with the web journalists at the time and for that I’ll always think of her fondly. Like many people, I found her recent interview on the Marian Finucane show compelling and moving, if very difficult, radio, and I am glad, for her sake, that she did not suffer the slow lingering death that had filled her with completely understandable dread.
I too was very sad to hear of Nualas’ death this morning and, although i never met her, i felt i did know her a little because she was so open and honest when she spoke. I also feel that she has helped a lot of people who are terminally ill and sometimes find it hard to express how they are feeling. Perhaps her interview with Marian will continue to help others in the future. There are so many stories to be told about Nuala and in this way she will live on… may she rest in peace
Comment by mary jennings-corcoran | May 10, 2008 at 5:16 pmI was shocked when, for the very first time, I went to the Irish Times website to see if Nuala was still a columnist there - and saw on the front page that she died yesterday. I spent the past week listening to her lovely voice on the “Almost There” cassette recording she made, and cannot believe such a thoughtful, beautiful soul has passed.
Comment by Leo McCarthy | May 11, 2008 at 1:12 amOf all the voices in broadcasting that I loved, it was Nuala O’Faolain’s and to hear her last interview has filled me with awe and respect for a truly special human being. Please God she got the death she wished for - peaceful and in the company of her loved ones. She has left us a wonderful legacy in that candid interview. As she said, passion is important but reflection is too and she has left a lot for us to reflect on.
Comment by Mary Drum | May 12, 2008 at 3:23 amMary Drum