Ryan Tubridy paid tribute to Irish gardener Dermot O’Neill on his RTE Radio One program this morning.
The broadcaster recalled his final meeting with Dermot after he bumped into him in the supermarket recently.
Ryan said Dermot “was not well” while they stopped and had a quick chat in their local supermarket in Blackrock and expressed his sadness at his sudden death not long after.
Read More: Tributes pour in for 'gentleman' RTE gardener Dermot O'Neill who died suddenly aged 58
Ryan told listeners of their final meeting: “He always stopped for a chat and he wasn’t well and sadly he passed away quite suddenly, according to his family at the weekend.
“So I just want to pass my condolences on to his family today and just to let his family know that he was highly regarded, deeply respected and somebody that everyone wanted to stop, say ‘hello’ to, to meet and to have on their programs as well.
“He was a gentleman, a gentleman gardener, as you know, but he had a passion for horticulture and for what he did, and very kind to us.
“It’s a desperately sad development over the weekend and a very sad addition to the news.
"May he rest in peace."
Dermot passed away aged 58 on Friday July 1 in St. Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin. A death notice said the gardener died “suddenly” but peacefully while surrounded by his loving family and in the care of “wonderful doctors, nurses and staff of the ICU”.
“He is predeceased by his father Peter O’Neill and his mother Maura O’Neill (nee Hall),” read the death notice.
“He will be sadly missed by his sisters Carol and Louise, his brothers-in-law Robin and James, his nieces and nephews Ciara, Jack, Leon and Hannah and his great nephew Pearce as well as by his uncles, aunts, cousins and friends.”
Dermot was well known for his many contributions to the horticultural community of Ireland via his writings and television appearances.
Notably, his popular TV series Dermot’s Secret Garden, which followed his restoration in depth of Clondeglass walled garden in Laois, as well as his popular travel show Time On Their Hands.
He also wrote as the gardening columnist for the Sunday Times and for the Sunday Independent, and was a regular familiar voice on Irish radio.
He is the author of two gardening books and served as the editor of Irish Garden News magazine.
He was previously diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2009.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.
READ NEXT:
Soldiers ordered on trip of more than 500km to work security at Dublin Airport
Christmas could come early for 1.4 million people as 'government plans bonus'
Met Eireann's forecast shows best days of the week as summer returns to Ireland
Former RTE producer Kieran Creaven wants prison transfer over 'bullying issues'
