Charlie Bird has opened up on losing his voice to motor neurone disease admitting he fears it will rob him of his “humanity”.
The veteran RTE journalist, who was diagnosed with the degenerative condition in October 2021, said voice banking technology has given him a “new lease of life”.
In a deeply personal and emotional feature-length documentary to air next week, he tells of his fears over having to leave his daughters and his wife Claire.
Read more: Charlie Bird shares heartbreaking update on battle with Motor Neurone Disease
Cameras follow him as MND deprives him of his voice – a familiar and distinctive soundtrack in Irish households for more than four decades.
But viewers will see Charlie gain a new voice through the technology of an app which uses the vast archive of broadcast material he generated over 40 years on RTE.
Charlie admitted: “That is what frightens me about motor neurone, I’m losing my humanity.
“But now if I have no voice I still have a little way of communication [with voice software].
“But a bit of emotion, like a hug.”
He also revealed his regrets over his relationship with his mother, and how his work got in the way of his marriage and his family life.
Charlie, 72, said: “I remember the very moment when I felt that there was something seriously wrong.
“I felt all my arms shaking and twitching, at that stage I’d no definite diagnosis of motor neurone and then four weeks later, bang, it came.”
Charlie also described his shock at reading a letter his consultant wrote for his GP which said “Charlie Bird has a terminal illness”.
He said: “People have said to me ‘you’ve been so brave in your journalistic career’, but I’m being honest, I haven’t been very brave in this fight.
“I feel sorry for my wife Claire, I want to put my arms around her and protect her and make sure that whatever road she travels she’ll be OK.
“That makes me so upset that I’ll be leaving this relationship.”
His wife Claire, who affectionately calls him Bird, admits they lied about her age when the couple first started dating.
She said: “When I first met Charlie I was with my friends.
“My friends call him the Rugged Ride. We used to go Bird watching down to the canteen and we’d see him coming in with Joe [O’Brien] his best friend. And I don’t know what it was... he asked me out for a pint. I was 37, he was 57. When I met his daughters we added on a couple of years, just
to keep the daughters in the good books.”
She reveals the couple both have their “dark days” and for Charlie the thoughts about his illness can “wreck his head”.
Claire said: “He is emotional when he is here and it’s just the two of us. You can get caught up in your own thoughts. It’s overwhelming, it’s not about dying, it’s about how you’re going to die.”
Charlie allowed cameras to film him as he called on his good friends Brid and Peadar Poil on Inis Iar and visited the graveyard where his ashes will be buried.
He said: “For me it’s perfect, I just feel at least I’ve sorted that issue out and that is what I’m trying to do, sort every issue out.
“It’s so bizarre that I’m looking at it I’m happy that I’m going to be buried beside you on this beautiful island.”
Reflecting on his life Charlie admitted that he would have loved a closer relationship with his mother.
He revealed: “It is my one regret and it hurts me to this day. I didn’t have a great relationship with my mother.
“For the first few years when I was on RTE, she didn’t say anything, she never said a word, and she died without resolving it.
“She got hit by a car outside Dunnes Stores in 1983.
“She never, you know, put her arms around me and said, you know, well done, and I would love if it had happened.”
RTE’s former chief correspondent lists covering the Stardust tragedy in 1981, IRA ceasefires, the banks scandal and the marriage equality referendum among his career highlights.
Charlie is the father of two girls Orla and Neasa, from his previous 24-year marriage to Mary O’Connor.
He admits that his passion for his job got in the way of his home life. He said: “I think in a way because of my job my marriage suffered and my kids suffered as well.
“I was teaching Neasa to drive at one stage. In the middle of this my IRA contact rang me and told me to take down a statement.
“Here’s my daughter learning to drive and here’s her father writing down a statement.
“They grew up, and all along there were critical times when I was not at home.
“My two daughters are my life. It is sad for them too because their mother only passed away a few years ago.
“They’ve had a hard time and I think that they probably hoped their father would be around for longer. I know it is hard for them.”
Throughout the documentary Charlie’s indomitable spirit shines through –particularly as he attends a vigil for the victims of the Stardust fire. He said: “This story isn’t finished, the families are still waiting for justice and honesty, and I’m still with them.
“These are marvellous people... they are my friends.” His grit is also evident as he climbs Croagh Patrick, raising €3.25million (and counting) for two charities – Pieta House and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.
In the months since his diagnosis Charlie has received countless cards and letters from well-wishers which he said “really helps me”.
He added: “Even though I still cry a lot, and with my motor neurone crying is not that unusual, most times I cry now it is as a result of the kindness that is being extended to me every day.”
- Charlie Bird: Loud and Clear is
on Monday June 13 at 9.35pm on RTE One.
Read more: Vicky Phelan wishes Charlie Bird well in touching video ahead of charity climb
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