Joe Brolly has shared the story of an unexpected run-in he once had with the late Gay Byrne on a Co Donegal beach.
The pundit was going for a swim on his own one morning when he unexpectedly ran into Gay.
In his column for the weekly GAA newspaper Gaelic Life, Joe explained how he had gone to the beach near Donegal Airport and ‘stripped naked’ before going for a swim.
‘I stripped naked, left my clothes and glasses in a pile on the sand, and jumped in the freezing ocean,’ Joe explained.
Coming out of the water 20 minutes later, he heard Gay’s ‘unmistakable voice’ saying: “Young Joseph. What a sight for sore eyes.’
Gay Byrne had been out for his morning walk on the beach when he happened across Joe Brolly emerging from his dip in the sea.
The GAA pundit described how Gay joked to him: ‘I see you are making trouble again. Do make sure you keep it up,’ as he strolled past.
Joe Brolly also remarked in his Gaelic Life column: ‘He was a colossus in our living rooms, giving the country a break from the tedium of daily life, thrilling and surprising us and making us laugh or cry.’