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Gerry Ryan, one of Ireland's best known broadcasters, has died.The body of the 53-year-old was found at his Leeson Street apartment in Dublin on Friday at 1300 BST.
From Clontarf in Dublin, he had been broadcasting on RTE 2fm for over two decades. He also presented television programmes.
Mr Ryan is survived by his wife Morah and five children. The Irish prime minister, Brian Cowen, said he was "deeply saddened by the news".
"He was one of the greats of modern Irish broadcasting on radio and television," Mr Cowen said.
"As a broadcaster, Gerry Ryan was both informed and intelligent, forthright and articulate.
"As a man, he was generous, famously irreverent and witty. I had had the pleasure of meeting him many times, both in front of and away from the microphone. He was always engaging company and a man of considerable charm."
Irish police have said they are investigating but that foul play is not suspected.
Fellow RTE broadcaster and long-time friend Joe Duffy choked back tears live on air as he recalled the "bold schoolboy" he first met in 1979 at Trinity College Dublin.
Professional
"He was the best company you could ever have," he said.
"He was bold in every sense of the meaning of that word. He was brave in his broadcasting; he was brave in his life; he lived his life to the full.
"He was bold in the sense of being cheeky, bold in the sense of being arrogant, bold in the sense that you loved hanging around with the bold schoolboy in your class."
The Independent Broadcasters of Ireland, the body representing the country's independent commercial broadcasters, also offered its condolences.
A statement said: "A great voice has been lost to Irish radio and the entire industry is deeply saddened to lose one of Ireland's most professional broadcasters."This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.