Colm Quinn, the director of the new documentary Ransom '79, has paid tribute to the late Charlie Bird for his indefatigable spirit and determination to tell his last story on the big screen.
Bird's final scoop and first film make a fine coda to a remarkable life and career in Ransom '79.
In August 1979, the Department of Agriculture received a typed letter threatening that Foot and Mouth Disease would be let loose in Ireland unless a ransom of £5 million was paid. Contact was to be made via the personal columns of The Irish Times. Over the next eight months, a cat-and-mouse 'game' played out on the back pages.
In the present day, Bird and Murphy attempt to make all the pieces of the puzzle fit in Ransom '79. Under documentary maker Quinn's assured and pacy direction, the film combines Bird and Murphy's investigations with the realities of Bird's final years with Motor Neurone Disease. He died in March at the age of 74.
"With Colin and Charlie investigating the story, within those particular scenes, obviously, you would get a very clear sense of the challenges Charlie was facing in the present tense. But there was something very powerful in that too: it showed Charlie's determination to get the story done."
Indeed, Ransom '79 shows Bird still having the enthusiasm of a young reporter who had just been sent out on his first job.
"'Wide-eyed wonder' puts it so well," said Quinn. "Those moments are all over the film, just those reactions that he has to people when he's engaging in the interviews. I think he was amazed that he hadn't heard anything about this. His reactions are so great throughout the film as people are telling him the details of this story. It's lovely to have been able to capture that. It's just fundamental to him, isn't it? It was just part of his DNA - that desire to chase the story. I think that's why himself and Colin made such a powerful duo as well."
"They had that lovely dynamic between them," Quinn continued. "It's both professional and amicable. There's real trust and real empathy and probably even more growth over the making of the film in that sense too. There's even more of a closeness between them by the time we were coming closer to the end of filming."
For Quinn, Ransom '79 was an opportunity to learn from "these two brilliant journalists, brilliant storytellers" - but the life lesson Charlie Bird taught him is just as important.
"Even as the illness got very difficult for him, Charlie had this great sense of humour and he retained that sense of just being able to engage in a situation in a sort of a fun way," said Quinn.
"There's a scene at the end of the film where Charlie's in a hospice and he's doing the Bewley's coffee morning and he's doing a handprint and then he talks at the microphone for a few minutes and stuff. There was a lovely moment just before that...
"There was music playing in the hospice and it was a lovely atmosphere. One of the musicians that was playing had this cowboy hat on. Charlie goes up to him and nicks the cowboy hat and wears it himself and goes around the room shaking everyone's hand! Still being able to communicate with the people at each of the tables he was going around - this was even without a voice bank and without a notepad. It was just a series of hand gestures and movements and just these lovely interactions with people. He always retained that lightness, just that ability to connect with people."
Now, he will connect with people all over again in cinemas around Ireland.
"I think we're on about 40 screens around the country," concluded Quinn. "It's testament to the interest that people have in Charlie, and I really hope people come out and see the film.
"There was no stopping him. Nothing was going to stop him going after this one. It was a privilege to be with him for it."
Ransom '79 is in cinemas now.
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