Veteran reporter and broadcaster Paddy Clancy was remembered as a newsman who loved reporting but always sought to involve his family in his work, bringing them to events whenever possible, mourners at his funeral Mass in Co Donegal heard on Tuesday.
Mr Clancy (82), a native of Sligo, began his career with the Sligo Champion and later worked for the Donegal People’s Press before joining the Irish Press. From there, he moved to Fleet Street in the 1960s, covering Bloody Sunday for the Daily Telegraph.
Returning to Ireland, he covered the famine in Somalia for the Irish Sun in 1992, and later wrote a column for the Irish Mirror. From the 1980s, he presented It Says in the Papers on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland for 25 years.
Mr Clancy and his wife Bernie moved to Ballyshannon in Co Donegal upon his semi-retirement from journalism. On Tuesday, mourners at St Patrick’s Church in Ballyshannon heard Fr Eugene Doherty say everyone in Ireland felt they knew him from his time on It Says in the Papers.
Journalist Paddy Clancy was awarded a lifetime achievement award by Newsbrands Ireland in 2019. Photograph: Newsbrands Ireland
Mr Clancy’s daughter Tara said her father was a man of great compassion and that informed his work. She recalled childhood in Lucan, where he worked endlessly to be first with the news but always tried to involve his family in his work where possible.
“Our home was a hive of activity and buzz,” she said. “Our lives were filled with excitement and a never-ending ringing of phones, beepers, fax machines and pagers – endless piles of newspapers, the news running constantly on the radio or TV and then there were the press badges.
“These were little plastic pads with his photo, his credentials, and the event he was attending – there were so many press cards hanging from the corner of every mirror, beside his bed, in his office. It seemed everywhere you looked there was a passport-sized photo of my handsome dad.
“He wasn’t a nine-to-five man. This was his life, he lived and breathed it from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep. No days off, always ready to be the first to break the next scoop. His passion and excitement about his work rubbed off on us all.
“The house became a living representation of who he was and we loved it and he included us in everything where he could. If there was an event he could bring us to, he would – we ended up with passes to endless concerts and parties and this will always hold great memories for us.”
A devoted fan of Sligo Rovers FC, Mr Clancy, who is survived by his wife Bernie, son Ciaran and daughters Niamh and Tara, and stepdaughter Patti, as well as his eight grandchildren and seven surviving siblings, was buried in Abbey Assaroe Cemetery in Ballyshannon.
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