By Katie Ascough - 04 January, 2020
Marian Finucane
One of RTÉ’s most popular and veteran broadcasters and presenters, Marian Finucane, passed away suddenly at the age of 69 in her home on Thursday.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said he was saddened by the news of her death and spoke of her immense courtesy and professionalism as a broadcaster. He said he is keeping her family and friends in his prayers.
It is believed that Ms Finucane had been unwell for a number of weeks as she had been absent from her weekend radio show since November.
According to RTÉ, Marian Finucane was born in Dublin and studied architecture in the College of Technology on Bolton Street. She left for RTÉ in 1974 where she became a continuity broadcaster, presenting announcements and messages between programmes. Clearly marked with talent, she became a programme presenter after two years. Between 1985 and 1999 she hosted the popular Radio One programme, Liveline. For almost twenty years she presented The Marian Finucane Show and received a PPI Radio Award for outstanding achievement in broadcasting in 2008.
Marian leaves behind not only a legacy in broadcast media but also in philanthropy, according to her friend Melanie Verwoerd, former South African Ambassador to Ireland. As Verwoerd wrote in The Irish Times yesterday: “They [Marian and her husband, John] started feeding schemes for orphans and child-headed households and they got anti-retroviral drugs to mums and babies. Remarkably, after the initial work in Cape Town, they went to some of the most remote places in South Africa. For almost two decades they worked where no one else dared to go…Today there are thousands of children and young adults who are alive because of their work.”
Let us join Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in praying for the soul of Marian and the consoling of her family and friends. May she rest in peace.
