Tributes following death of 'first-rate journalist, raconteur and proud Kerryman' Michael O'Regan

Michael O’Regan after Kerry reclaimed the Sam Maguire in 2022.

COLLEAGUES, POLITICIANS, ACQUAINTANCES and readers have all been paying tribute to long-time journalist Michael O’Regan, who died at his home in Dublin.

O’Regan was a political correspondent with The Irish Times across four decades from the 1980s and has been a regular voice and face across radio and television.

In recent years, O’Regan used his vast experience to be a much-loved political commentator online and had a weekly ‘Call from the Dáil’ radio slot on Kerry Today.

A proud man of The Kingdom and advocate for its interests, O’Regan served as president of the Kerry Association in Dublin in recent years.

Famed for his honest observations, wit and affable nature, O’Regan’s death has been met with sadness across Irish politics and journalism.

Paying tribute, Tánaiste Micheál Martin called him “an outstanding journalist, raconteur and man of integrity”.

“A political journalist for all of my Dáil career, Michael was engaging, objective, and great company. A Kerryman to his core, he will be sorely missed by all,” Martin said on Twitter.

The Journal‘s Political Editor Christina Finn said that O’Regan was “a lovely, generous person and a great colleague in Leinster House”.

He always had a story to tell and was so encouraging to all, particularly new journalists starting out in the Dáil. RIP.

Speaking on the loss of a colleague, Editor of The Irish Times Ruadhán Mac Cormaic said: “Michael was a generous colleague and a first-rate journalist who leaves behind a body of work that chronicles a country in flux.”

“His coverage of the Kerry babies case was the work of a highly skilled reporter; his anger, recalling it many decades later, was that of a man of heart and compassion,” Mac Cormaic wrote.

He added: “He was sceptical but not cynical; his job was to understand politicians, and he did. We’ll miss that unforgettable voice.”

General manager of Radio Kerry Fiona Stack extended sympathy to O’Regan’s immediate and extended family and described him as “generous with his knowledge, insightful, kind and very proud of all things Kerry.”

Séamus Dooley, Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists wrote on X: “Michael was a man of wisdom, kindness, humour. He could be provocative, even annoying but never dull- the very best of company. He loved storytelling. It was what he did best.”

In a post online late last night, the Kerry Association said that it had lost “our beloved friend and wonderful President Michael O’Regan”.

“He was a brilliant and courageous reporter on national and local issues but it is as a proud Kerryman to his core that we will remember him – proud of his daughters, his grandchildren, his country, his county and his people. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h’anam dílis.”