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16 WEDNESDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2012 EVENING HERALD
NEWS
By Claire Murphy
THESE are the fresh-faced childrenquizzed by Twink for the Live Mike –30 years ago.RTE put out a call to track down the
children who were interviewed for theshow in 1981.And some of the individuals have come
forward after spotting their faces featuredin the Herald.Maurice Byrne said that there was a
huge buzz in his school, St Mary’s School,Belmont Avenue, Donnybrook, on the daywhen the RTE camera crew arrived.“I remember it vividly. We were in Ms
Forde's class,” he said. “Twink was askingus questions about love.“She asked me if I would marry a
woman if she was fat.“I said, ‘yes, if she had lots of money’.”A sheet metal worker by trade, Maurice
said that a number of his friendsemigrated, some of whom were featuredin the TV show.“I would have been one of the cheekiest
in the class. It was just before our
communion, shortly after that I lost myfront teeth. I got on alright in the end,” hesaid.“The teachers probably wrote me off
but I've never been in trouble. I nevermade it to prison.”Maurice, who now lives in Blackrock,
says that he keeps in touch with hisclassmates through Facebook.
“A lot of people are scattered aroundDonnybrook,” he added.Lee Horan, who will be 40 in
September, said he remembers the day inSt Mary's well. “I was eight or nine in thesnap. I remember she was asking us about
school. We were asked different topics –Ithink I spoke about Hansel and Gretelbecause it was the book I was reading atthat moment in the class.”
EXPECTATIONSLee is living in Longford now and saidthat life has more or less lived up to hisexpectations. “In primary school I wasfairly well behaved but when I got tosecondary school, it was a different story.“I did want to be a long distance driver,
which I became. My father was in thehaulage business.“I went all over the continent – to
Algeria, Spain, France. But I got out of it –it was too many hours.”The Live Mike, presented by Mike
Murphy, ran for several years from its firstbroadcast in 1979.Anyone who recognises themselves or
their friends in the photos is asked to clickon the Twitter feed @RTETV50, or log onto Facebook page, www.facebook.com/RTETV50, or contact the Herald.
By Claire Murphy
ONE of the young boysfilmed as part of theLiveMike series diedtragically justmonths later, it hasemerged.Little Kevin
Waters passed awayfive months afterthis photo was taken.The schoolboy was
knocked down by acoal lorry as he playedin his home town ofNewtownmountkennedy,CoWicklow.His sister Helen Gregory said
she instantly recognised her brotherfrom the picture published in theHerald last Friday.“He was 7-years-old and in first class in St Joseph's
Boys School. Hemade his communion shortly after thispicture was taken,” she explained.Helen, who still lives beside the family home, said
that there was huge excitement on the day that the RTEcrew visited the school.“I'll never forget the day he told us Twink came,” she
said. “He told us, ‘There was an awful smell of perfumeoff that lady’.''Helen even recognised some of the other faces in the
original line up from the school inNewtownmountkennedy, but has lost touch with a lotof them.Kevin and Helen's mother died four years ago, but
their father John was thrilled to see the photo.“Daddy was delighted,” Helen said.“It was really nice to see it in the paper. We would
love to see a clip of it again.”
That’s me! 80s Live Mike starsstep forward...were you one?
PAST PUPILS: Maurice Byrne (left) and Lee Horan (right) both recognised themselves in the Herald article
Tragic Kevin (7) died justfivemonths after theground-breaking series
Twink asked if I wouldmarry a woman if shewas fat. I said, ‘yes, ifshe had lots of money’.
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