You just can’t avoid golf at the moment and the fact that Rory McIlroy is the golden boy, hopefully doing well at the Country Club in Brookline `Massachusetts which ends today, sadly not going to win but ‘is in contention.’ He won’t disgrace himself and he remains the darling of the crowd.
SPEAKING NATION ONTO NATION
“Every day is my own, freedom, no more clock watching.”There speaks a happy man who has fulfilled his working life with great skill and dignity. 44,000 news bulletins over the last 44 years, taking the latest stories be they happy or sad and delivering them to us in measured tones. And now Keith Burnside has retired, last week he was relaxing, making plans, meeting friends and colleagues for lunch, being with his family and looking forward to his new existence.
Keith is something of a modest star of radio and television, he has worked in all outlets, UTV, GMTV, Downtown, BBC, not only news coverage but he took over from Charles Witherspoon to present Police 6, a programme that had a great following and tremendous results, then launching Crimecall in 1994 appealing for information on everything from specialist drawing pens nicked from Belfast shipyard to looking for someone to come forward and claim 34 pairs of men’s jeans.
He has seen and reported on dreadful days during The Troubles, he was on duty the day of 9/11 when the horror of rolling news reached a new level.
Two personal events stand out: “The day I had to report that my great buddy Lynda Jane Caithness had died and when my own mother passed away. Linda Jane helped me settle into working with Downtown, she was kind and thoughtful, 12 months later I had to bring the tragic news to the public.” The media outlets agreed that, although she had died some hours earlier, it would be aired on the nine o’clock bulletin that morning in April 2000 and the news rocked listeners in Northern Ireland. He closed with the heartfelt words: ‘And that’s the news on the day that Lynda Jane Caithness has died.’
“Then, when my mum went into a nursing home I’d a photo taken in the newsroom for her bedside table.” It was beside her when she tuned into the news first thing every morning to hear her son and then take his phone call a few minutes later for a chat. They were very close and when she passed away Keith still had to do the morning bulletin knowing that for the first time in his life she wasn’t there to hear him, there would be no more phone calls.
Time Marches On
“There have been many changes during my 44 years, obviously technically but also with the people, I learned from professionals who ‘let the story crystallise’ before preparing the bulletin, time to consider the words and emphasis, preparing for live broadcasting needs careful preparation. More often today news broadcasts are largely driven from a desk and by pressing buttons on computers consuls. Undoubtedly technology has moved on and speed is of the essence and basically, since the pandemic a lot is pre-recorded with a live element in case there were any changes at the last minute.
“I’ve always thought broadcasting is like being a snooker player having to look two or three shots ahead, one eye on the time and the other being prepared for any hiccups and how to cope. I once introduced Barra Best but the relevant machine slowed down and the audio didn’t come up so, to fill time, I pretended to chat to him asking are you there Barra and that gave time for the tape to catchup. I can honestly say I have learned something every day.”
With 44,000 bulletins in his professional life, how was his last day with BBC after 20 years with the broadcaster?
“Emotional. In March I told management I was going to retire once the pension kicked in but I didn’t want any fuss so when the day came on 3rd June I was touched when so many friends in the building came to shake my hand and wish me well and social media went mad but it really only came home to me when the postman knocked the door on Wednesday and said: “I hear you’ve retired, all the best.”
Retirement Doesn’t Mean Languishing.
For years Keith has been an enthusiastic ham radio operator and when a former colleague got in touch with him three months ago the news was exciting. “Jim Lee, Radio 4 newsreader, contacted me to say we’d been granted permission to use a special call sign to celebrate the 100th birthday of the BBC. We’ll be able to use GB100BBC around the UK and he asked me to organise it here in Northern Ireland. So last Sunday we set up a short wave station at Broadcasting House and transmission will go round the world and on Tuesday 14th, we went to to Divis mountain top transmitter site and set up a VHF (very high frequency) and UHF. (Ultra high frequency) station and begin transmitting throughout Ireland and into parts of Scotland.” But there’s a serious side to this hobby. “As a member of RAYNET, radio amateurs emergency network, we provide communications when medical teams are needed urgently, for instance, if there’s a natural disaster, at sporting events like the North West 200 race, also we can provide assistance in extreme weather conditions when communities are cut off.”
As well as this, Keith is proficient in sending messages to other radio operators via Morse code. “When people say, I suppose you don’t tweet, I tell them as a radio ham I’ve been sending short, fast, instant messages all my life thanks to Morse code!”
But it could all have been very different. When he was just nine years old he had his left kidney removed. There was a chance it might have been cancerous but fortunately it wasn’t. When his parents arrived the surgeon told them it all went well. “But, he said, I have another small operation to perform. I’m going to take his tongue out. He talks too much”
Good thing for us that surgeon didn’t carry out his threat! Thanks Keith, enjoy your busy retirement.
LOVE THIS
A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching
his wife, who was looking at herself in the mirror.
Since her birthday was not far off, he asked what
she’d like as a gift. “I’d like to be eight again,” she
replied, still looking in the mirror.
On the morning of her birthday, he rose early, made
her a nice big bowl of Coco Pops, and then took her to
Adventure World theme park. What a day! He put her
on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of
Fear, the Screaming Roller Coaster, everything there
was.
Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park.
Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside
down. He then took her to a McDonald’s where he
ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a
chocolate shake.
Then it was off to a movie, with popcorn, a soda pop,
and her favorite candy, M&Ms. What a fabulous
adventure!
Finally she wobbled home with her husband and
collapsed into bed, exhausted.
He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingly
asked, “Well dear, what was it like being eight again?”
Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly
changed.
“I meant my dress size, you idiot!!!”
There is an answer ………
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIR PAUL
What a star, brilliant and shining out of the firmament, cascading down the joy of his music and his lyrics. You can see I am a fan! But then, who isn’t. Two memories stand out for me. When the Beatles were in Ireland in the 60s I was scheduled to travel to the Border with an Ulster Television film crew to interview the boys. What excitement. I wore my new cream suit, tights and stilettos, hair done up like Dusty Springfield, a real beehive! We were about to set off when I got a message to go back to the production office to be told I had to remain in the building to cover for another production assistant who had called in sick. WHAT. I couldn’t believe it but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
My other memories is travelling to Enniskillen to do some interviews including one with singer songwriter Charlie McGettigan. When the chat was over we went to a jetty on Lough Erne to take some photos for the newspaper and on the way back to the hotel walking along the Lough side, a blackbird started singing. We all stopped to listen and then Charlie began to sing that most beautiful McCartney song about the American Civil Right Movement, Blackbird Singing In The Dead Of Night. We stopped and listened to the pair of them and it is was a moment out of time.
