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Shay Healy (29 March 1943 – 9 April 2021) was an Irish people songwriter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known for his role as host of Nighthawks, a RTÉ Television chat show of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and for composing "What's Another Year", Ireland's winning entry in the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest.
Healy was more successful with his musical, The Wiremen, which received its premiere on 4 May 2005 at Dublin's Gaiety Theatre in a production by John McColgan and Moya Doherty that ran for six weeks. The Wiremen tells the story of the introduction of electricity into County Mayo during the 1950s. The Irish Times, "Singing power to the people", 7 May 2005 In March 2010 the show was revived in an amateur production by the Birr Stage Guild.
In the summer months of 1988 he hosted a series called The Dublin Village with Ingrid Miley it reran on Wednesday nights in 2005 and 2006 on RTE 2.
Between 1988 and 1992 Healy hosted Nighthawks, a late-night satirical chat show broadcast on RTÉ Two, which he later described as "the best four years of my working life". On The Road, p. 172 In January 1992, the show became embroiled in political controversy as a result of Healy's interview with former Fianna Fáil Justice Minister Seán Doherty. During the interview, Doherty revealed that some members of the cabinet with whom he served in 1982 had been aware of his order to illegally tap the phones of a number of Irish journalists. The revelation led to the resignation of Taoiseach Charles Haughey a few weeks later. The Irish Times, "Obscure hints on 'Nighthawks' led to Haughey's darkest hour", 25 January 1992 Irish Examiner, "Telephone bugs that toppled a Taoiseach", 10 May 2001
In January 1995, RTÉ terminated Healy's contract. One of his last shows for the station was Where Are They Now? in which he interviewed former celebrities whose fame had largely faded. The Irish Times, "RTE makes home-produced television drama 'a priority'", 9 August 1994 Healy then set up his own production company which made a series of television documentaries. His 1995 TV documentary on Irish musician, Phil Lynott, The Rocker, was broadcast on RTÉ Two and BBC Two, and later released as a DVD. In 1998, Healy made two half-hour documentaries for the RTÉ One television series, Against The Odds. The series focused on individuals who had overcome adversity in their lives. Healy's two films featured an actor, Chris Burke, who was born with dwarfism, and a singer, Ronan Tynan, whose legs were amputated when he was twenty. The Irish Times, "Success in a small way", 7 March 1998
Among the other TV programmes Healy presented were Reach for the Stars (1971), Hullaballoo (1977), The Birthday Show (1993–1995), Beastly Behaviour (1998–1999), Ireland's Greatest Hits (2001) and A Little Bit Country (2006).
Healy won two Jacob's Awards. He received the first in 1984 for Strawberry Fields Forever, a radio documentary series on the 1960s in Ireland, which he presented and Siobhan McHugh produced. His second award came in 1989 for his television work.
In 2007, Healy joined the judging panel on TG4's talent show, Glór Tíre.
The Stunt is the title of Healy's debut novel, published in 1992. It deals with the Irish rock scene and was described by one reviewer as "a more truthful... representation (of) the Irish music scene than The Commitments". The Irish Times, "Live rock", 6 March 1993 His second novel, Green Card Blues, is set among the illegal Irish immigrant community in New York City.
In 2005 On The Road, Healy's memoir of his life in showbusiness, was published.
In 2004, Healy was diagnosed with the degenerative disorder, Parkinson's disease. Sunday Independent, "Presenting with Parkinson's", 18 December 2005
Healy died on 9 April 2021, aged 78.
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