When Uaneen Fitzsimons, who died on November 22nd aged 29, left her birthplace in the little fishing village of Ardglass, Co Down, it didn't take long for her to find a new home within Irish broadcasting.
As the smiling, bubbly presenter of Network 2 music show, No Disco, she was the pin-up girl for a nation of young music fans who tuned in every week to watch the show's mix of music videos and celebrity interviews. Among the strange selection of indie bands and dance acts, her shock of red hair and startling smile were the two consistent ingredients of the programme.
At just 29, Uaneen Fitzsimons was already a nationally-recognised face, especially to a younger audience and it appeared certain her effervescent personality would soon make her a household name.
Uaneen Fitzsimons, the daughter of schoolteacher Brian and school secretary Mary (nee Fitzsimons), EE went to St Nicholas's Primary School in Ardglass, where her mother worked. She then attended Assumption Grammar School in Ballinahinch, around 20 miles away. "I was a bit of a messer," she admitted. "I skived and messed and talked and all the teachers told me I was going to flunk. Every report card says that I was the clown of the class, just entertaining everybody else."
Despite the predictions Uaneen Fitzsimons went on to get four A-Levels, thanks to the encouragement of her teachers at the Down College of Further Education in Downpatrick. Fuelled by a long-standing desire to work in broadcasting, and a dream of one day meeting her favourite pop stars, she applied for a training course in radio journalism at BBC Northern Ireland. Part of the course involved working on Mike Edgar's radio show Across The Line.
For the young, restless and music-obsessed redhead, Dublin seemed to offer the perfect media mecca, and so Uaneen Fitzsimons headed south. She took a three-year communications degree at Dublin City University and embarked on a love affair with the blossoming Irish rock scene.
She reviewed bands on the young people's television show, Jo-Maxi, did PR work at the Ormond Multi-Media Centre, a forerunner of the Temple Bar Music Centre, and made her own television programme for cable channel, Celtic Vision. And she went to all the gigs.
Whether it was an Irish band like The Frames or The Frank & Walters, or an international act like Tindersticks or Smashing Pumpkins, Uaneen Fitzimons's smile could always be spotted in the crowd as she soaked up the electrifying atmosphere of live rock 'n' roll.
When TV presenter Donal Dineen left Network 2's No Disco in 1997, Uaneen Fitzsimons was chosen to be the new face of late-night indie music on TV, interviewing top acts like The Prodigy, Primal Scream, Beastie Boys, Massive Attack and U2. Her favourite band was the English rock group, Radiohead, and meeting them was a dream fulfilled.
It took only a few short seasons with No Disco for Uaneen Fitzsimons to become synonymous with Irish rock music. Soon she was making documentaries on the Heineken Green Energy Festival in Dublin, the Big Day Out in Galway, and Liss Ard in Cork. She was also in demand as a compere: one of her biggest gigs was at Slane Castle in 1998, where English band The Verve were headlining.
When she stepped onstage in front of 80,000 fans to introduce the Welsh band Manic Street Preachers, everyone knew the smiling, red-haired presenter of Irish rock, and their cheers echoed over the River Boyne.
Last year, 2FM decided it wanted to attract younger listeners, so Uaneen Fitzsimons was put into the 11 p.m. slot, right after Dave Fanning. To share studio time and space with her hero of Irish broadcasting was another dream come true, and though it couldn't be seen, her trademark smile still crackled over the airwaves.
"People ask me do I enjoy my job," she said. "I get paid to watch music videos, listen to music, go to gigs and talk about music every day. It's a gift."
She is survived by her parents, Brian and Mary, brothers, Ciaran and Shane, and sister Sharon.
Uaneen Fitzsimons: born 1971; died, November 2000