Micheál Ryan’s life is to be celebrated in a new documentary that broadcasts this week.
From Lahinch, Micheál known to many as Mick was in December posthumously named the Humanitarian of the Year by the Irish Red Cross. On March 10th, 2019, he was travelling from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, several minutes after take-off the Boeing 737 Max Aircraft crashed killing all 157 persons on board.
He dedicated his life to humanitarian work overseas helping people in need in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Liberia, and the world’s largest refugee camp in Myanmar. Mick worked as the deputy chief engineer with the United Nations World Food Programme.
On Friday at 11am, Clare FM will broadcast ‘Unsung Hero Mick Ryan’ which looks back at the Clare man’s life. The documentary was produced by Clare FM’s Programme Director, Padraic Flaherty with the support of Mick’s family. President Michael D. Higgins and Taoiseach Micheál Martin (FF) pay tribute to Mick in the documentary.
Naoise Connolly Ryan, Mick’s wife described the documentary as “a wonderful tribute”. She stated, “Padraic seamlessly weaves Mick’s story through conversations with people who knew Mick, to the point that I could believe Padraic met him and knew him too. He captures his character and the love and respect he earned by those who knew him and worked with him down through the years.
“Mick Ryan was a man that made a real difference to people’s lives and deserves to be called one of life’s unsung heroes. This documentary will bring a smile to your face, it will bring a tear to your eye but above all it will make you proud of Mick Ryan, proud of your county and proud to be Irish,” Padraic outlined.
Earlier this year, Flaherty produced ‘Between Worlds, the life story of Mícheál Ó’ Súilleabháin’, which was recently nominated for an IMRO award and follows previous award-winning documentaries “The Rescue” & “Top of the World”.
