Vere Wynne-Jones: Vere Wynne-Jones, who has died aged 56, was best known as a newsreader and sports commentator with RTÉ, where he began working in 1978.
He also worked as a senior journalist and news editor with the station and was a founding member of the 2FM sports department. In 1990 he left RTÉ to work in public relations, while continuing to contribute to the RTÉ radio sports department.
In recent years he also presented sports and current affairs programmes with radio station Q102.
Until 2000 he was director of the consumer division at Slattery Communications and most recently was a director of the media and communications consultancy High Performance Training.
Journalist Leo Enright this week remembered him as a very good broadcaster who "applied himself to news with the same vigour that he brought to sports". There was no word in English that described Vere accurately, he said; the Yiddish word mensch [ someone admirable and of noble character] came closest.
His former colleague Pádraig Slattery described him as follows: "Exceptionally bright, creatively talented, generous of spirit, communicator supreme, demonstrably emotional, entertainer par excellence and loyal to a fault; great to be with for a night out, could drive you bats by times and yet impossible to fall out with because of his innate decency and genuine goodwill towards all."
Born in June 1950, he was the son of Martin and Joan Jones. His father was Church of Ireland rector at Knockaney, Co Limerick and his mother was a member the de Vere family of Curragh Chase, Adare.
He was educated at Villier's School, Limerick, and at Trinity College Dublin, where he studied history and political science. On graduating he took up teaching and taught at Newpark Comprehensive, Blackrock, Co Dublin. There he was a member of the team that developed and implemented the transition year for secondary-school pupils.
Deciding on a change of career and opting for broadcasting, he joined RTÉ as the station's first male secretary, having learnt shorthand and typing in order to get his foot in the door. He soon found himself working in the radio sports department and his work took him to race meetings around the country as well as the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
In later years he provided in-house commentary at racecourses such as Leopardstown and Punchestown, and he was much in demand as an MC at corporate hospitality events.
As a consultant in media communications he advised clients that verbal fluency does not always translate into effective communication. He encouraged business people who sought his advice to clarify exactly what their message was before they sought to convey it.
In early 2002 he was told that he had bowel cancer. He had to undergo surgery and then chemotherapy for liver cancer. He had strong feelings about the language used to talk about the disease. He believed that cancer charities, the media and those treating cancer should talk up the success of cancer treatments and talk down mortality figures.
"What we need to say is listen, folks, you can get better, particularly if you get problems checked out early. People are significantly more likely to have confidence in their treatment if the survival statistics are talked up."
As a public figure, he felt duty bound to speak out about his ill health and became a role model for cancer patients facing up to their illness.
A member of the Masonic order, he was a master mason in the third level. He defended the order on the RTÉ programme Would You Believe? in 2004, insisting that Freemasons' business practices were completely above board and that there was nothing underhand about their activities.
"There is no doubt whatsoever that we are not involved in a closed-shop type organisation," he said.
He added that the Freemasons had helped him during his illness and had given him an opportunity to become involved in charitable work. His wife Jenny, son Stephen and daughter Ruth survive him.
Vere Wynne-Jones: born June 29th, 1950; died July 23rd, 2006