Colm Revolutionised Sports Broadcasting

It was a testimony to his decade long stint with RTE that led to Colm Murray being headhunted for a newly created Sportscaster job in 1989.  His beginnings in the new television Sports Department that year was not as a result of the American style positive declaration, “You’re Hired,”.  Instead Colm heard some colourful orders which changed his professional life, and then he heard - “You’ll Do,”

Colm died early today, Tuesday, July 30^th after a three year battle with Motor Neuron disease.
The Westmeath man had since the early 1980’s, been one of the main newscasters on the national broadcaster, but following the setting up of the Six One News, there was a hunt for ‘Sportscasters’.  So Colm found himself sent for by head of news, Rory O’Connor, who told him that they were hoping to put sport on the news in a larger format than had been done in previous times.  Ironically Rory also died just a few weeks ago.  At the time, in 1989, he asked Colm to consider taking the job, but the Moate man believed that he knew very little about sport.
But the bossman said to him: “You play golf, you back horses, you go to an odd gaelic football match and you enjoy it, don’t you?”
Colm had to agree with him on everything, but still he was doubtful.
But then the bossman shouted at him in a blue fashion, followed by the welcome words, “You’ll do!”
Colm was in stitches of laughter when he remembered that incident, when this writer interviewed him in 2005.
“That’s how I got the job that I’m in today and that’s what I was told, whether I liked it or not,” laughed Colm, eight years ago.
Colm Murray was the first man who had to set the plan for the presentation of television sport on RTE in ’89, and had to do it fast!  On his first day he had three or four minutes of television to fill and hadn’t a clue what to put on.  He needed pictures for his broadcast, and he found an interesting, albeit humorous sports story.
“The battle for me was to get pictures and I got pictures from Shelbourne Park of a great greyhound of the time called Randy,” laughed Colm.  “So the first picture I put on was Randy the Greyhound, running around for sixty or seventy seconds.”
Although it was a battle, it was also a dream job for the Moate born and bred horse racing lover. 
It wasn’t a road he had envisaged he’d travel when he was growing up in the family home, which was situated over their grocery shop in Church St., Moate.  His main hobby at the time was drama, but he inherited his sports passion for horse racing from his late father, Michael.  His first meeting was in Kilbeggan and he was enthralled by the carnival atmosphere at Westmeath’s popular race course.  He loved the scene of the bookies out on the course, and looking at the horses, and seeing the colours of the jockeys’ silks.
“When I got older I used to study the form and when I could get my hands on a half crown I’d place it on an outsider, hoping to win it, those are my earlier memories of Kilbeggan, and Roscommon Race Course, and of course Galway,” said Colm.
Moate was a great town to grow up in the 1960’s, Colm said, and he was proud of it being the near the centre of Ireland.
Finding himself too tall to be a jockey, Colm decided to go the more conventional route of employment, by studying at UCG and Maynooth College, eventually ending up as a secondary school teacher.  Before his RTE days he taught at the Athlone Vocational School and then in Tullamore Vocational School. 
It was at the Co. Offaly school that Colm met and fell in love with another teacher, Ann, who became his future wife, Ann.  The couple had two daughters Patricia and Kate.
Ar Dheis De Go Raibh Anam Dilis