IRELAND'S music and arts community is mourning the loss of one of the country's best known musical conductors.
Noel Kelehan, who passed away this week aged 76, was the former conductor of the RTE Concert Orchestra, and was a jazz pianist of great renown.
However, he was perhaps best known for his Eurovision Song Contest legacy. He conducted the accompanying music of five winning Irish entries between 1980 and 1996, and notched up an overall total of 29 Eurovision performances.
Despite Eurovision's cheesy reputation, Kelehan gave the contest a degree of gravitas as his work in other fields of music was highly regarded.
He wrote the string arrangements for the 1984 U2 album "The Unforgettable Fire," while he played in several Irish jazz quartets throughout his decades in the music business.
Paying tribute to Kelehan, who conducted the music for countless RTE shows before retiring from the broadcaster in 1988, Director General Noel Curran said: "Noel Kelehan became indelibly associated with music at RTE and with musical excellence as an expression of Ireland's confident participation in the wider world.
He was greatly liked by his many colleagues who knew him as a warm personality and as tremendous company. He will be missed by all who knew him."
