Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, 15 February 2025

Sula gcríochnaíonn muid suas ba mhaith liom cúpla focal a rá agus mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le cúpla duine.

Sa gcéad dul síos, gabhaim buíochas do Stephen Rea. Stephen, it has really made it a very special occasion to have you here with us this evening. I know Bob really appreciates it, all of our family appreciate it, and I am sure everyone here does too. Go raibh míle maith agat. I also want to thank my sister, Hannah – who was nominated for an IFTA last night at the awards in Dublin! – and who worked with Stephen on the series The Stranger on Netflix. Thank you Hannah for bringing Stephen down today. 

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le Vinny Browne agus an fhoireann ar fad anseo i Charlie Byrne’s. Vinny has been a terrific supporter of Bob’s work, and my own writing and publishing too. We’re so lucky to have Charlie Byrne’s in Galway. I don’t know what we would do without it, so thank you to Vinny and all the staff for hosting this event.

I have one detail to clear up. The child on the cover of the book is not me. It is my big brother Robert, who is here, now a well-known film and TV director, and still available for photo shoots. It’s a classic photo from 1976 outside our house in An Cheathrú Rua. Sin an áit ar chuir Bob tús le Cinegael i 1973, níos mó ná 50 bliain ó shin, agus an áit a raibh an phictiúrlann ag Bob agus mo mháthair Helen.

Maidir leis an leabhar, b’fhéidir gur chonaic cuid agaibh an píosa a scríobh mé san Irish Times trí seachtaine ó shin fúm féin agus faoi Bob. Tá an píosa sin sa leabhar freisin. Bhí mé ag scríobh faoin gcineáil nóis a bhíonn againn, ag teacht le chéile gach seachtain, ag dul go dtí an pub ar an gCeathrú Rua, agus ag caint faoin domhan ar fad agus i mbun díospóireachta faoin ceol agus an litríocht.

The idea for this book came out of those conversations with Bob that I wrote about in the Irish Times recently. We had discussed the idea of a book before the pandemic but in 2023, with everything that was going on, I re-read Bob’s book Maverick and I could see his ideas surfacing again in public discussion, and that encouraged me to look at putting together a collection of his writing. 

But putting together a collection of his writing was just an idea until I started mentioning it to friends and colleagues of Bob’s, all of whom, without hesitation, came on board to support it, and it would not have been possible without them. They are all listed at the beginning of the book and in the acknowledgements at the back of the book, but I want to mention them here this evening. First of all, Grattan Healy, a great friend of Bob’s for many years, and when I told him about the book, he said ‘Count me in!’ straight away. I also want to mention the great composer Bill Whelan, who is here this evening, another great friend of Bob’s and Bill came on board to support this publication.

Tá mé buíoch freisin d’Alan Esslemont agus TG4. In this book, there are foundational essays on the idea of a Gaeltacht television station, scríofa ag Bob roimh bhunú TG4, agus thuig Alan an tabhacht a bhaineann leis na haistí sin, and so we are delighted that TG4 supported the book to help us bring those essays to a wider public. Gabhaim buíochas freisin do Paul Cummins ó Telegael. Paul tells me that Bob was one of the first customers for Telegael when he established the company in the 1980s, so tá muid an-bhuíoch de Thelegael as an tacaíocht a thug siad dúinn. Agus, mo bhuíochas freisin d’Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge ar an gCheathrú Rua – our Gaeltacht university, part of the University of Galway. Nuair a scríobh mé chuig Aodh Ó Coileáin agus Treasa Uí Lorcáin, tháinig siad ar ais chugam láithreach agus bhí siad an-sásta cúnamh a thabhairt. And so you can see it is the combination of all of these friends and colleagues and their organisations who have helped to make this book a reality – it would not have been possible without them – and please could you join me in thanking them all this evening.

This book is dedicated to the ten wonderful people – the grandchildren – they are not children any more! – Saise, Samir, Katie, Jamie, Cal, Jacob, Leo, Ruby, Oliver agus Oisín. A number of them are here. Tá súil agam, nuair atá an leabhar léite acu, go mbeidh tuiscint níos doimhne acu ar an oidhreacht a bhaineann leo, faoi Cinegael, na fréamhacha atá acu sa Ghaeltacht, an ceangail atá acu leis an nGaeilge, agus an méid a rinne Bob, agus mo mháthair Helen, agus Miriam, thar na blianta, agus a gcairde, Lelia Doolan, Joe Comerford, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe, Seosamh Ó Cuaig, Brian Bourke agus Jay Murphy, agus Desmond Fennell nach maireann. 

The extraordinary thing is that what Cinegael began 51 years ago, it still goes on. Tá éacht  déanta ag Alan agus TG4 agus iad tar éis scannánaíocht as Gaeilge a thabhairt go dtí na Oscars. The eldest of the grandchildren, Oisin Fleming, has just made his first short film, as Gaeilge. The youngest of the grandchildren, Saise, starred in TG4’s Arracht and went on to have a fantastic role in Bad Sisters on Apple TV, which last night won Best Drama at the IFTAs. Tá muid an-bhródúil ar fad as chuile rud atá déanta ag na garpháistí.

I want to thank you all for being here this evening, particularly those who have travelled – Bob’s brother Colm is here with his wife Kay. My mother Helen and my aunt Marian are here, our great friend Oonagh Ryan, my sister Bairbe and my little brothers Marcus and Dominic, my children Oliver, Ruby and Saise, and lots more family and friends. Tá súil agam go mbainfidh sibh taitneamh as an leabhar. I hope you all enjoy the book. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.