Ireland: Songwriter of Irish winning entry “What’s Another Year”, Shay Healy Passes Away Aged 78

Ireland: Songwriter of Irish winning entry “What’s Another Year” Shay Healy Passes Away Aged 78
Monday, 12 April 2021

  • The songwriter behind the Irish Eurovision 1980 winning entry, "What's Another Year", Shay Healy, has passed away at the age of 78. 

    Saturday afternoon Shay Healy passed away aged 78. Despite diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2004  he remained active and continued to work. Over the year he had been a 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, performed by Johnny Logan. 

    Healy first received attention as a performer of his own "songs of social significance" during the 1960s. Later he wrote comedy songs for Billy Connolly, including "The Orient Express-a tale of intrigue and cross dressing", "The Shitkickers Waltz", and "The Country & Western Supersong". Healy achieved his greatest success as a songwriter with "What's Another Year", which won the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest.

    Healy joined RTÉ Television in 1963 as a trainee cameraman. Within five years he had moved to the other side of the lens with appearances on programmes such as Twenty Minutes With..., Ballad Sheet and Hoot'nany.

    In 1977, Healy branched into musical theatre with the script, co-written with Niall Toibin, for a stage production entitled The King, while his musical, The Wiremen, met wide success. 

    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". 

    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).