PETER KELLY considers the broadcaster’s impact and influence, in a close friendship spanning 25 years.
Northern Ireland needed Éamon Phoenix. He epitomized the best of personal and professional qualities, and provided an enduring example of reconciliation. Sincerity and generosity; integrity with a deep and genuine curiosity about people were all among his trademarks.
With his famously lyrical speaking voice, whispering wisdom to ever-increasing and varied audiences, he carried an immediate authority for all things historical and political. Together with an important respect and weighing of all viewpoints.
Éamon lived reconciliation and the promotion of both historical and modern mutual understanding for the greater good. He was indeed the epitome of his academic job title – Director of Lifelong Learning.
In our broken era of misinformation, disinformation and brazen falsehood, he was the trusted sage for so many, up and down the hierarchy of society. The ‘Go-To’ for insight and knowledge. The reliable relief. And all encased within a personality that was immediately charming and authentic, courteous and courageous, ironic and comical.
That such effusive tributes have emanated from right across the spectrum – from republican to loyalist, pupil to professor, grassroots to Taoiseach, is a measure of the man’s impact and influence. It’s no wonder that Ireland’s President was represented at his final send-off.
Éamon Phoenix’s expertise wasn’t merely concerned or attributed with the past. I recall arriving at the President Obama event in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall press-pass in hand some summers ago. I wondered about the modern relevance of a US presidential visit to Northern Ireland from such a non-engaged figure as Barack Obama, hardly known for his interest, never mind expertise in conflict resolution endeavors in the land of his shoemaker forebears.
What could be dismissed as a mere symbolic presidential visit was quickly corrected by the appearance of Dr Phoenix and his erudite analysis to the contrary. Not for the first or last time, he provided immediate data points and compelling perspectives on occasions that gave them extra and eye-opening dimensions. In short: if Éamon Phoenix was present at an occasion, you knew it had historical gravitas.
He brought people and personalities to life, blew cobwebs off historical Irish events and figures, and made them extra compelling. From Carson to Craig, from Connolly to Collins. One description of his vast knowledge coined the term ‘oceanic repository’, but Éamon benefited from a clear photographic memory of people and places, their significance and consequence. He used this skill to charm and inspire those whom he met, often cross-referencing former encounters and people together for extra and charming effect. He leaves a legacy in this decade of centenaries of encouraging an agreed Ireland based on embrace of complex history rather than re-toxifying the past. A true reconciliatory example.
Dr Éamon Phoenix wasn’t just respected and admired. He was universally beloved.
May he rest in peace. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.