Tributes are continuing to be paid to Co Monaghan broadcaster and actor Seán Rocks who has died at the age of 64.
Mr Rocks began presenting programmes on RTÉ Lyric FM in 2000 and became the voice of Arena on RTÉ Radio 1.
As a result of his role as anchor on ARENA, he has interviewed major artists across all artforms including the likes of Emma Thompson, Danny De Vito, Saoirse Rónan, Brendan Gleeson and Roddy Doyle.
Well-known to listeners right across the country, Seán Rocks was raised in Monaghan town with two brothers and two sisters.
It's reported that the Co Monaghan man died in Dublin last night following a brief illness. Kevin Bakhurst, RTÉ Director-General, said "It is with enormous shock and sadness that we learned today of Seán’s untimely passing, adding that not only is radio the poorer for his passing, but so too has Ireland lost one of its most passionate advocates for the arts, and one of its most informed and versatile voices."
Head of RTÉ Radio 1, Tara Campbell says Sean was a wonderful broadcaster, "Sean was a brilliant colleague, and he was a fantastic broadcaster. The breadth of his knowledge was off the scale, and yet he always made it so accessible, and he didn't talk down to people.
"He was able to change his tone and he was able to change, to flip from the serious to the more ridiculous.
"The range that he had was just incredible. What he's done for RTE and for the arts and culture and sector in general, I mean in terms of the audience that he had, a much loved audience on the Arena programme and the breadth of material that he covered from music to books to theatre, you name it he covered it."
Evelyn O'Rourke, Arts and Media Correspondent for RTE says Sean was a beacon for the arts in Ireland. "One minute he's interviewing booker award winning authors, and the next minute you see him shooting the breeze with whoever was passing. He was the most kind of on snobby person and you know, the arts sometimes people can be intimidated by that whole world."
"Sean was the complete opposite, he loved his art, and he loved introducing it to all his listeners and just making it all very easy, very accessible and he was so positive what it meant to artists and he was a real beacon really for artists, you know, even though he struggled sometimes to get the message across. He was happy to talk to, but he could talk to you about your art and talk about your movie, he would talk about a cartoon you know his range was amazing."
President Michael D Higgins said he and Sabina "were honoured to welcome Seán to Áras an Uachtaráin on a number of other occasions over the years.
"Seán’s show Arena on Radio 1 was an example, for all generations of listeners, of the deep, wide and supportive curiosity that he delivered from a rich insight into all aspects of the arts and culture.
"Seán’s interest in all forms of the arts shone through on every topic and he expanded so many people’s appreciation of performance and culture of all kinds, a public service broadcaster in the truest sense," President Higgins said.
"Just last month, we had the benefit in the Áras on Bloomsday this year of Seán’s brilliant critical and presentational skills and of welcoming his family."
Kevin Bakhurst, RTÉ Director-General, said: “It is with enormous shock and sadness that we learned today of Seán’s untimely passing. Seán said once: “Radio is never about the presenter. It’s about the person who is opposite you.” Loyal listeners, especially to Seán’s beloved and long-running Arena on RTÉ Radio 1, will recognise the man in that quote: modest yet learned; subtle yet probing; curious yet polite. The listener at home was always his focus. Not only is radio the poorer for his passing, but so too has Ireland lost one of its most passionate advocates for the arts, and one of its most informed and versatile voices. I want to extend my most sincere sympathies to Seán’s beloved Catherine, his children Christian and Morgan, his friends, and his colleagues at this terrible time.”
Patricia Monahan, RTÉ’s Director of Audio, said: “Seán’s passion for radio and the arts was infectious and the curiosity with which he approached topics ranging from cinema to theatre and books to classical music was compelling to listen to. He was interested in everyone’s point of view and had a great ability to command an audience’s attention. He was never more at home than when he was on stage.
"He was full of energy and ambition for the future and is a huge untimely loss to radio and RTÉ. He will be sorely missed by his RTÉ Radio 1 colleagues and his wider RTÉ family. Our thoughts are of course with his beloved, Catherine, children Christian and Morgan and his extended family and friends. As you take your final bow Seán, May you rest in peace.”
