TV presenter Henry Kelly, who grew up in Athlone, dies aged 78

The journalist and TV presenter Henry Kelly, who grew up in Athlone and went on to achieve fame as the host of BBC shows Game for a Laugh and Going for Gold, has died at the age of 78.

Mr Kelly's family said he died peacefully on Tuesday of this week, following a period of ill health.

Born on April 17, 1946, Mr Kelly grew up in Athlone, where his family lived in Glenavon Terrace.

His father, also Henry Kelly, worked in the civil service and served as Inspector of Taxes in Athlone for a period.

Henry Kelly was educated in Dublin, at Belvedere College and UCD, and started his career as a news journalist with The Irish Times, where he became its Belfast-based Northern Editor during the Troubles in 1970.

In the early 1980s, he changed course, becoming a presenter of light entertainment television shows in the UK.

He co-hosted the successful Game for a Laugh from 1981 to 1983. He is perhaps most associated with Going for Gold, a lunchtime television quiz show on BBC One which had contestants from across Europe and which Mr Kelly presented from 1987 to 1996.

In 1995, the Westmeath Independent reported on a controversy over disparaging remarks made by Mr Kelly about his home town in an interview with the Manchester Evening News.

He was quoted as saying at the time, "I was brought up in Athlone in County Westmeath, which would make Sarajevo look like Las Vegas. A one-horse town, if we'd only had a horse."

The remarks were strongly criticised by Senator Sean Fallon at the time, who said they had been brought to his attention by Athlone people who were living in Manchester and had read them in the paper.

Senator Fallon expressed his unhappiness with the comments during a meeting of the Athlone Urban District Council, saying he had written to Mr Kelly, "telling him I look offence from his comments, which were not at all helpful to... commerce, trade and tourism between Ireland and Britain."

The following year, Mr Kelly wrote a travel book, In the West of Ireland, in which he was more positive about his early years, describing his childhood as quiet and loving - a time when treats were few and pleasures were simple but wonderful.

His family's statement on his passing this week said Henry Kelly, "will be sorely missed by his friends and family, including his partner Karolyn Shindler, their son, Alexander, Henry’s daughter, Siobhan and her mother, Marjorie."

Taoiseach Micheál Martin paid tribute to the broadcaster in a post on social media, writing: "Very saddened to learn of the passing of Henry Kelly.

"From his time as northern editor of The Irish Times to presenting BBC shows including Going For Gold, Henry made a huge contribution to journalism and broadcasting here and in the UK.

"My thoughts are with his family at this time."