Death of Gerry Ryan

The sudden death of RTÉ broadcaster Gerry Ryan occurred on 30 April 2010. He was 53. Ryan had been presenting The Gerry Ryan Show since 1988 and at the time of his death had the largest audience on RTÉ 2fm. Ryan also hosted several television series, including Secrets, Gerry Ryan Tonight, Ryantown, Gerry Ryan's Hitlist and Operation Transformation and Ryan Confidential, as well as one edition of The Late Late Show in 2008. Ryan co-presented the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 with Cynthia Ní Mhurchú. He died sixteen years later at his Upper Leeson Street apartment in Dublin, his body found by his partner Melanie Verwoerd. The broadcaster had split from his wife Morah in 2008: the couple had five children together.

Ryan's death provoked tributes from politicians, colleagues and ordinary people alike, culminating in a mass outpouring of public and private sympathy as thousands of people queued over several days to sign books of condolence at RTÉ's radio centre and the Mansion House. The media and psychotherapists compared this to public reaction following the deaths of Michael Jackson and Diana, Princess of Wales. His death was spoken in terms such as "practically br[inging] Ireland to a standstill", having "a seismic effect on Irish society" and having "shocked the Irish nation".The Irish Times reported that its website had the biggest traffic spike since its launch following Ryan's death.Google said it was the most searched story of the year in the country.

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