There has been much sadness following the passing of Joe Mulholland, who was the founder and driving force behind the MacGill Summer School in Glenties.
The former Managing Director of RTÉ Television died yesterday in Dublin aged 85 after a long illness.
Born in 1940, Dr Mulholland grew up the eldest of a family of five children in Ballybofey.
Dr Mulholland also had a long standing friendship with the writer Brian Friel and was a founding member of the Brian Friel Trust.
Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan has lead tributes to the late Mr Mulholland, he said his death marks the end of a remarkable chapter in the history of Irish broadcasting and intellectual life.
“A man of immense vision and uncompromising integrity, Joe was a titan of the media landscape, most notably through his transformative leadership as Managing Director of RTÉ Television. He didn’t just report on the world; he sought to deepen our understanding of it,” he said.
“Nowhere was his passion for civic discourse more evident than in the MacGill Summer School. As its founder and driving force, Joe turned Glenties into a national crossroads for ideas, challenging the powerful and providing a platform for the voices that shaped modern Ireland. He possessed a rare ability to blend rigorous intellectualism with a legendary warmth and wit.
“Joe was a mentor to generations of journalists, a champion of the arts, and a proud son of Donegal who never lost his sense of place. His legacy lives on in the high standards of public service broadcasting he championed and the vibrant culture of debate he leaves behind. He was a gentleman of the old school, and his absence leaves a void in the heart of our national conversation,” the minister concluded.
