James Fahy (21 November 1946 – 14 January 2022) was an Irish journalist broadcaster, journalist and documentary-maker. He was the Western Editor for

RTÉ News RTÉ News and Current Affairs ( ga, Nuacht agus Cúrsaí Reatha RTÉ), also known as RTÉ News (''Nuacht RTÉ''), is the national news service provided by Irish public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Its services include local, nationa ...

and was RTÉ's longest-serving regional correspondent at the time of his retirement in 2011.

Early life

Fahy was born in Kilrickle,

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

, in 1946. He was educated locally in Kilrickle National School, De la Salle School, Loughrea and

Garbally College St. Joseph's College, Garbally Park (Irish: ''Coláiste Sheosaimh Naofa'') is an Irish voluntary Catholic secondary school situated in Garbally Park, the former seat of the Earl of Clancarty, near Ballinasloe in County Galway. It is a single-s ...

(1960–1964). He aspired to become a pilot, but instead embarked on a career as a journalist.

Career

Fahy started working in 1965 for ''

The Tuam Herald ''The Tuam Herald'' is a weekly Ireland, Irish newspaper, founded in 1837 by Richard Kelly (The Tuam Herald), Richard Kelly, which serves the town of Tuam and County Galway. It has a circulation of about 10,000 copies. The newspaper is printed ...

''. While working at the paper he wrote a social diary which he called ''Nitescene''. He was looked upon with great respect by his former colleagues at the paper. Fahy joined

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

in 1974 as its first Western News Correspondent. In his early career in this role he reported on events such as the building and controversy of

Ireland West Airport Knock Ireland West Airport ( ga, Aerfort Iarthar Éireann Mhuire), officially known as Ireland West Airport Knock ( ga, Aerfort Iarthar Éireann Chnoc Mhuire), is an international airport south-west of Charlestown, County Mayo, Ireland. The vi ...

, the kidnapping of Don Tidey by the IRA and the affair that local Bishop

Eamon Casey Eamonn Casey (24 April 1927 – 13 March 2017) was an Irish Catholic prelate who served as bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh in Ireland from 1976 to 1992. His resignation in 1992, after it was revealed he had had an affair with an American woman, ...

had. He is well known for making over 450 editions of ''Looking West'' for

RTÉ Radio RTÉ Radio is a division of the Irish national broadcasting organisation Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Radio broadcasts four analogue channels and five digital channels nationwide. Founded in January 1926 as 2RN, the first broadcaster in th ...

between 1977 and 1984, a programme about storytellers and musicians in the West of Ireland. It was described by ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' as "ground-breaking". While working for

RTÉ News and Current Affairs (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

, Fahy also travelled abroad, making many documentaries, a large number of which featured Irish aid workers. With producer Dick Warner, he interviewed

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was bo ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in 1976 and journeyed across Africa for documentaries. More recently, he reported from

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

and

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. He was also on the scene of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

and profiled the Irish-American victims of them. In 2002, his documentary ''Stories from the Twin Towers'' won a gold medal at the New York Festivals Television Programming Awards. Fahy won numerous other awards, including a

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

in 1984, as well as forty other national and international awards, many with producer Caroline Bleahen. Fahy was appointed to the position of Western Editor by RTÉ in 2005, and was based in the station's

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

studio. In 2011, he retired along with other high-profile news broadcasters

Anne Doyle Anne Catherine Doyle (born 30 January 1952) is an Irish journalist, presenter and former newsreader. She is best known as a long-serving newsreader for RTÉ, who anchored the broadcaster's main evening television news programmes, during her 3 ...

and Michael Ryan. He worked for the station for 37 years and was accomplished as the longest-serving regional news correspondent. His final news report was broadcast on RTÉ on 31 December 2011. A tribute was paid to him from President

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national politics throug ...

, who said that he would be "missed" and that he has a "seductive charm".

Personal life

Fahy was married to Christina until his death. Together, they had two children: Shane and Aideen. Fahy died at his home in

Tuam Tuam ( ; ga, Tuaim , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. Humans have lived in the area since the Bron ...

on 14 January 2022, at the age of 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahy, Jim 1946 births 2022 deaths Jacob's Award winners People from County Galway RTÉ newsreaders and journalists The Tuam Herald people