Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
FORMER RTÉ JOURNALIST Tommie Gorman has died.
The broadcaster spent more than 40 years working in the industry, covering developments in the north, in Europe and in his native north-west.
In a statement from his family, read on RTÉ’s Liveline, it was announced that the Sligo man had died today “surrounded by his family” aged 68.
“Tommie was a cherished husband, father, brother, and friend whose innate kindness and generosity of spirit touched the lives of all who knew him,” his family said.
“His memory will forever remain in our hearts, and his spirit will continue to guide and inspire us every day.”
A Book of Condolence will open at the Mansion House in Dublin from tomorrow until Friday. It will be available to sign from 11am to 4pm on both days, while it will also be available to sign online from tomorrow morning.
President Michael D Higgins said Tommie Gorman was a “widely trusted and deeply insightful” commentator during his time in journalism, singling out his contribution during his 20 years spent as RTÉ’s Northern editor during a critical period for the region.
Throughout that time, Tommie was respected by all sides of the political spectrum and was a trusted source of information for the public during challenging years, the fostering of peace, and all that was achieved in Anglo-Irish relations over that time,” Higgins said.
RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst also paid tribute to Tommie, saying he was “deeply saddened” by his sudden passing.
“I met Tommie on Monday evening – he was in good form and optimistic ahead of planned surgery this week,” Bakhurst said.
Tommie was not only a great friend and colleague to me, and to so many in RTÉ and beyond, he was also a journalist of outstanding pedigree, integrity and incredible tenacity.
“As RTÉ’s Northern Editor he was the voice of an era as that era itself transformed from violence to peace. Tommie guided us through the intricacies with colour, command and panache. He was a storyteller journalist like no other. I am so deeply sorrowed by his loss and extend my personal sympathies to Tommie’s family.”
Taoiseach Simon Harris paid tribute to Tommie as someone who had made an “incredible contribution not just to broadcasting, but indeed to peace on this island” thanks to his work covering the development of Northern Ireland after the Good Friday Agreement.
“To say he took this responsibility seriously is an understatement and as a result the Irish people trusted Tommie. If Tommie Gorman said it, then it happened.”
I am profoundly shocked and saddened at the death of Tommie Gorman.
— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) June 25, 2024
Tommie was a journalist of enormous standing who carried out his job and duty to report fairly and accurately with the utmost professionalism. https://t.co/bApj338ELU
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said his personal friendship with Tommie “was one I valued very highly” and described him as “the voice of the peace process”.
“His knowledge and wisdom enriched those in the negotiating rooms just as much as it informed those outside, while his humour and generosity kept negotiators going just as optimism may have flagged.”
Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys described Tommie as “a true gentleman and a good friend”.
“Tommie’s record in broadcasting was mirrored by his contribution to shaping Ireland’s Peace Process,” she said.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald described the death of Tommie as “shocking” and said he was a “tremendous man”, who had “an unparalleled journalistic career”.
“He conducted some of the most legendary interviews to have appeared on Irish television, and while he was a tough interviewer, he was always fair,” she said.
SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood paid tribute to Tommie for an “endless dedication to telling the stories of ordinary people” in his work.
“It didn’t matter who you were or where you came from, he was interested in raising up the voices of people who needed to be heard. And I will always be grateful for his kind storytelling for the people of Derry,” Eastwood added.
Sligo Rovers confirmed that they would pay tribute to him at the team’s game against Shamrock Rovers on Friday.
In a statement, the club described Tommie as “one of our most dedicated supporters and treasured figures within our community and beyond”.
Sligo Rovers today mourn the loss of Tommie Gorman, one of our most dedicated supporters and treasured figures within our community and beyond.
— Sligo Rovers (@sligorovers) June 25, 2024
Read:https://t.co/ymdDOadfQy pic.twitter.com/LXIcrtvGr1
“Tommie, who grew up on Cairns Road, secured his first byline in The Sligo Champion in the form of match reports of Sligo Rovers away games in Dublin in the 1970s while studying in the capital,” the statement read.
The club said Tommie hosted many events for them and was instrumental in countless fundraising campaigns.
Sligo Rovers chairman Tommy Higgins said the club are “simply devastated by the loss of Tommie”.
Tommie Gorman was educated in Summerhill College and at the College of Journalism in Rathmines, Dublin.
He spent over 40 years at RTÉ, becoming a well-known face thanks to roles including as the Northern Ireland editor.
He spent three years at the Ballina-based Western Journal before joining RTÉ in 1980 as North-West correspondent. He later held the role of Europe Editor before his appointment as Northern Editor in 2001.
He made several documentaries for RTÉ, including about his cancer diagnosis, while tracking the ups and downs of Stormont politics.
His 2002 documentary Europe, Cancer and Me drew praise from the president, who said it was a “courageous and generous work” which brought a greater public awareness and understanding of the conditions and the treatments available for them.
The documentary was made after, in the early days of his diagnosis, Tommie discovered that under EU law, he was entitled to treatment available in another EU state if that treatment was cost effective and useful.
In 1998, he became the first Irish citizen to access treatment at a Swedish Centre of Excellence, availing of an EU directive to qualify for that care.
One of his most famous interviews related to sport and was an interview with Roy Keane after the Ireland captain’s row with manager Mick McCarthy in the Republic of Ireland team’s 2002 World Cup training camp on Saipan.
Tommie retired from the broadcaster in 2021. Recent years saw him writing commentary on a range of political and sporting issues for online publication The Currency. He also wrote a book, Never Better, My Life in Our Times.
Higgins said Tommie’s love of sport saw him be a “tireless champion” for Sligo, most especially its soccer club Sligo Rovers, while also supporting London’s Tottenham Hotspur from afar.
Tommie would know “every minute detail of the clubs and their fortunes”, the president added in a statement issued by Áras an Uachtaráin this afternoon.
The family’s statement said that Tommie had “touched the lives of all who knew him” with his “innate kindness”.
He is survived by his wife Ceara and their two children Moya and Joe.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
It won’t fund any climate protection measures, it will fund their mistakes
@Caoimhín O Neill: An increase in Carbon Tax wouldn’t have stopped the last five mass extinctions.. Mother Nature is a mad scientist, when she tells us our time is up, it’s up.. No amount of carbon tax is going to save us..
@Caoimhín O Neill: and their big fat pensions!
@Caoimhín O Neill: bring on the election. More expensive to go to work now.
When are the government going to tax the big firms and not the average Joe
@Marty Lawless: not any time soon. Not a uniquely Irish problem. The big companies rule the roost.
@Marty Lawless: when hell freezes over
@Marty Lawless: just heard Irish cement have been granted a licence to burn used tyres in there furnaces
@Marty Lawless: When the government doesn’t consist of FFG…
@Marty Lawless: they reject hundreds of millions apples tax because there are 4 million Irish sheep they can rob money from.
@Sea Graham: Did you not hear, the climate experts are telling us that hell will freeze over sometime in the next million years and we need to be prepared.
Motorist shafted again
@Jim O Brien – TechBuzz Ireland: Force them to live 1 or 2hrs drive away from work, then tax them to get there… Tories…
@Jim O Brien – TechBuzz Ireland: The carbon tax will be €26 per tonne of CO2 by next year.
1 litre of petrol generates 1.74 kg of CO2
1.74 kg CO2 / 1000 = 0.00174 tonne of CO2
0.00174 tonne of CO2 x €26 = €4.5 cent per litre of petrol (an increase of 1 cent)
The cost increase for filling up a 60 litre petrol tank will be 60 cent (€0.60).
@David Jordan: You’re in the wrong place to be posting detailed factual calculations. This is the journal.ie!!! Sweeping generalisations and rhetoric welcome only!!
So €0.60 per full and approx 50 fills per year. €30 per year for me approx. I’ll hardly miss it but I wish they would ring fence this money for environmental measures.
@David Jordan: No its no 60 cent per fill.
@David Jordan: Wonderful knowledge from the internet . Its there for everyone the way you put down comments one would think you worked it out yourself.
I have no issue with moving away from cars but there are awful alternatives in Ireland – shortage of rail, buses that are very pricey and often late (or just don’t show up) and no consistent cycle lanes.
People want to help and make changes but it should be made as easy as possible to do so with valid options.
@Fergal Kelly: Ah but sure that would be difficult, why not just tax people instead – FG 2019
@Fergal Kelly: there are no bus services outside the cities. People HAVE to rely on cars to get around. The Midlands particularly have been shafted for years with their best young people forced to leave. The IDA have never crossed the Shannon promoting jobs only in Dublin. We are educating our children for export again and it will get worse with Bord an Mona and ESB job losses. If you keep voting for the same chancers you will keep getting the same austerity.
Achieves nothing, only strangles motorists & homeowners even more.
This is not about Greta or climate change its squeezing the middle as usual.
Boo urns! sort out the national public transport infrastructure before adding new taxes!
@Ross McGann: and where do you think the money to fix it comes from?
@Ross McGann: We have nobody to blame but ourselves when we continually vote these parties in.
@davey boy: and which party in the last 25 years would have prioritised this as I cant see any they have all been as useless as each other.
@Ross McGann: you are having a laugh!
Fuel goes up so transport goes up so everything goes up.
So does that mean they are not going to be taking 5% of the local property tax and giving it to climate action change? 2 taxes added both for the same thing robbon c@=(_
@Karl Charlie: It’s your local councillors that set the property tax rate so get onto them about it. Some other local authorities have reduced the rate, mines going up 10% and I see the waste of money in the council and not one councillor has ever raised the wastage or the large increase in staff since the embargo was lifted.
Good to see positive action on climate change!
@Cathal O’Neill: how is that positive action tax the workers not the firms
@Cathal O’Neill: I still have to drive to work, how is it positive. Its a money making machine. Lol
@Marty Lawless: exactlyl freeze the pensioners and poverty stricken great solution
@Marty Lawless: I’m pretty sure it taxes anyone that uses petrol and diesel, whether private citizens or ‘firms’. And even if they taxed the ‘firms’, as you suggest, wouldn’t the cost be passed onto the consumer in any case?
@Marty Lawless: Taxing the firms results in the cost being passed to the consumer, often with a little tacked on to protect profit margins.
Why do people find that so hard to comprehend these days?
@RJ: It is a benefit to everyone to reduce carbon emissions and promote low carbon technology in the hope of staving off the effects of climate change
@Cathal O’Neill: I’m afraid I have no faith in these guys being able to stave off anything …. except of course their salaries increasing!
@Cathal O’Neill: All public transport and haulage firms use diesel. Who do you thinks pays for it in the end..
@Cathal O’Neill: Cathal please explain how taxing the problem is going to fix it?
Did taxing cigarettes or alcohol stop the problems? No, decades of education did and even then not completely.
I have a gad bottle for the hob, why? Because the electricity network is completely unreliable, every storm and I’m out of power, the longest was over 7 days. So now I’m getting punished because of the government failure to invest in the ESB over the years!
Where’s rural public transport? Proper road network etc.
This is just another cash cow for the government
@Cathal O’Neill:
Where did the previous Carbon Tax revenues go ?
Where did the PSO levies revenues go ?
Where di the previoues ber 50% tax on petrol & diesel revenues go ?
Where did the Sugar Tax revenues go ?
@Jim Buckley Barrett: From 2001 through 2015, increases in state-level excise taxes were associated with declines in prevalence of cigarette smoking. The effect was strongest in young adults (age 18–24) and weakest in low-income individuals (<$25,000). https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0204416
@Cathal O’Neill: take the family on trips on the bike ??
@Cathal O’Neill: Positive action would be if China, the USA, India and South Korea reduced carbon emissions, that would make a difference not the few farts our cows emit here. It’s a con so either you are a FFG troll or just deluded ?
@Cathal O’Neill: rubbish
What’s that on a litre of petrol?
@Ed: about a cent
@Ed: not enough
@Padraig Fitzpatrick: WTF are you on about ? is the over 50% tax that is already on petrol and diesel not enough ?
F sake
Do they know what ringfenced means! So on one hand the money will be ringfenced for what it is actually being collected for i.e. to fund new climate action measures etc. etc. then he says “funding will also be used to provide additional resources for Revenue and An Garda Síochána to prevent an increase of cross-border smuggling” .. seriously, I am sick and tired of this country ringfencing funds and not using them for what they are being collected for.
@Lydia McLoughlin: Well, some might argue it’s a bit of a stretch but I think it does fall in line with the ringfence. The whole endeavour is jeopardised if cheaper, smuggled fuel is used instead of the taxed fuel. So, essentially, it falls within the ringfence as it is a protective measure of the carbon tax itself.
green party will disappear again at the next election
Excellent news. Great to see a fiscal move being made to push people away from using their car
@Greg Murphy: what about us that live rurally ? What are we supposed to do , cycle to work 10 miles away?
@Greg Murphy: push the away from cats but into what?
@Greg Murphy: brilliant observation, so what about us with no public transport.
@JillyBean: yes, many already do.
@Greg Murphy: being pushed away yes, but what alternative provisions are there?
@Greg Murphy: that’s a smart response..must be a city slicker.. What about all the people that travel endless kilometres to work daily.. And have no access to public transport.. Tax on cars tax on diesel petrol etc.. Stay in your bubble..
@Greg Murphy: good news for you bad news for people like me who need to drive for work, i cant exactly put all my work equipment on a bus id need 2 people to help me carry it all
@Greg Murphy: and into what alternative Greg????
@Greg Murphy: so how am i to get to work which is 30 kms away ???
@Greg Murphy: do you not think a proper replacement transport should be available first? To ALL.
@Greg Murphy: it’s good and bad it’s good for the environment but bad because there is a lack of rural public transport. We need a infrastructure development plan and it needs to be moved up not pushed back easier and cheaper transport is the more likely people are to leave cars at home. I would suggest copying Hong Kong’s transport system which is cheap and efficient.
@JillyBean: yes…I did 23km each way for years. Anyone living around 10km from work should be cycling provided their place of work has proper facilities……secure place to lock bike, shower and changing rooms…
@Michael Carolan: Michael have you seen the state of rural roads. Are they going to provide cycle lanes on every road because otherwise it’s totally unsafe. Sorry but ur suggestion applies urban solutions to rural problems… grand if you live in Utopia… sadly we don’t. With respect Airy fairy thinking without realistic practical solutions will not get us very far and before you ask I hold my hands up and say that I don’t have s workable solution either.
@Michael Carolan: and the roads are adequate for cyclists to get to work and back safely and people can work flexible hours to add extra time for the commute to work not to mention the loss to already eroded family time. It’s just another tax on an already strangled public.
Cycling is fine if you live in an area that is suited to it but those are few and far between.
@Greg Murphy: if you think that you are,as brainless as those on the dail
@Greg Murphy: Can’t push people away from their car as we only have a part time public transport system which still thinks we all work mon to fri for some outdated reason. In over 30 years of work, I’ve never had a job that public transport is available for and they still have no intention of fixing the issue.
@Michael Carolan: Unfortunatly a lot of places simply dont cater for cyclists. even in Intel,most staff are not allowed access to showers or changing rooms.
@Greg Murphy: how is it. I live 80klm away from my job I start at 7 am and finish at 7 pm I’d be late for work every morning my boss wouldn’t be happy with that this government just wants to take every penny away from us and give nothing in return
@Greg Murphy: so people in the country (there is no bus service in the country) start buy horse and carts to get to work? Are you for real?
@William Bryan: he obviously lives in Dublin with a comment like that.
@Michael Carolan: not every worker is a racing snake like yourself, some people have medical problems and as for the 6 months of rain….
Absolute tosh. They’re several ways to get the big bash of cars off the road, into our cities each day and significantly reduce emissions but that’s not the real goal of course
Surprise surprise
What we need is an Org that represents Irish Motorists and we should go and protest and block streets like the ‘Kids’ and the ‘Extension Rebellion’ crowd .. that seems to get action.
Varadkars pension sorted .hungry hounds this government are
This is what happens when your country is under corrupt corporate governance
Thanks to Greta and the bullshit …Her family making millions and we pay higher taxes…Saving the environment ha ha ha
@Gerard Smyth: clown
@Gerard Smyth: yeah I’m sure petrol and diesel definitely wouldn’t have gone up if Greta had just’ve kept her mouth shut. Good one.
@Cupid Stunt: Oh great argument.
But lets not tax Google…makes sence.!
What’s €90m going to do?
@Damian Clarke: 90m in the back pocket for the boys in the Dáil
@Damian Clarke: Top up bonuses I’d say
@Damian Clarke: copper fasten their pension
FG’s slogan should be ” Vote Fine Gael, the party of promises, lies and betrayals”
The money should be ring fenced to improve public transport infrastructure.
@Adam Ryan: i agree, not to support electric vehicles companies. Electricity is still generated from fossil fuels and batteries are very polluting to produce so there’s no net benefit to the environment from electric cars. It’s hype. I concede they have use in polluted cities because you can move the pollution outside the city.
If the government were actually serious/concerned about the environment, they should make all public transport zero-emission by 2023. A marginal tax increase like this isn’t going to raise enough money to fund change or discourage people from continuing on as normal.
@Brian McCarthy: no such thing as zero emission transport- manufacturing vehicles is very polluting. The best thing is to have public transport instead of private cars. Rural transport needs to be rolled out. More bus services.
@SC: no mention of aviation
Cue the complaints about tax.
@The Thinker: hhmmmmm why?
Feck Government regime tax fuels
I will reduce some reasons for driving, I will stop going to the recycling yard and forget about our near zero waste household and start burning rubbish.
Incoming climate change deniers moaning
@D: wwwwwoah hang on there , I’m not a climate change denier at all but this is nuts. They’re applying a carbon tax in order to push people away from cars to public transport without providing that public transport. Also we all know that the money raised will NOT be ring-fenced for use in environmental projects but used to buy loads of magic beans and on consultants to advise them on the best and most efficient use of magic beans
@D: climate change due to ———- -population explosion
By How much tonight ?
Easy target for a robbing shower of dimwits
Kicking the can down the road again. Why wait until the summer to tax heating fuel.
@Padraig Fitzpatrick: common sense for a change, the question should be why tax home heating oil at all !
What less than 5 cents a litre on Petrol and Diesel we will still be cheaper than a huge amount of Europe stop moaning people it’s all for a good cause.
@tgemainman: people will still use the same amount of fuel. Upgrading to a 35k car is still going to cost more than buying a load of fuel, most will just continue burning fuel
@tgemainman: ah stick it up your hole. We’re a tiny country with no impact. India, china, brazil, russia, the states. Its just another tax ffs
@tgemainman: What planet are you on .. all for a good cause mehole
Where did the previous Carbon Tax revenues go ?
Where did the PSO levies revenues go ?
Where di the previoues over 50% tax on petrol & diesel revenues go ?
Where did the Sugar Tax revenues go ?
@tgemainman: you are an idiot telling us to stop moaning are you an ffg lover it sounds like it
@tgemainman: yes a good cause to keep the clowns in the Dail in their subsidised bar and pensions
They should abolish the dole, except for Elderly, Disabled or Widowed/ Widowers, any one of working age,calibre shouldn’t get it, also Rent allowance, Hap , all should be gone, free medical should go too, instead we all pay a Medical Insurance premium, childrens allowances all should go, very quickly we would have a Country of Entrepreneurs, definately tax big business , should introduce a road tax for Cyclists, scooters etc to pay for cycling infrastructure , lots of money wasted on lifestyles of the dole
I wonder how this is going to effect our International reputation?
@Jack Cass: what reputation? A nation like New Zealand maybe…full of sheep.
The easy mark again. Thieving incompetants
ah lol i KNEW this would happen. Public demand for government action to tackle climate change, and now everything they implement will be met with: ‘Oh that wont work, thats not fair’ ect ect ect
?
have your say