Seán Rocks, the presenter of Arena, RTÉ radio’s main arts and culture programme, has died at the age of 64 following a brief illness.
President Michael D Higgins was among those who paid tribute to Rocks, describing him as “a public service broadcaster in the truest sense”.
Rocks had presented Arena since it was launched, in 2009. The show aired Monday to Friday from 7pm to 8pm.
He is survived by his partner, Catherine, his sons, Morgan and Christian, and a large circle of family and friends.
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Mr Higgins said Rocks was “a warm and engaging person, loved by all who had the opportunity to meet him or to listen to his programme”.
“Ireland has lost one its finest broadcasters and advocates for the arts and artists. Seán’s show Arena on Radio One was an example, for all generations of listeners, of the deep, wide and supportive curiosity that he delivered from a rich insight into all aspects of the arts and culture,” he said in a statement.
“Working with Seán has been described as a joy by all who knew him. He was a warm and engaging person, loved by all who had the opportunity to meet him or to listen to his programme.”
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RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst said: “It is with enormous shock and sadness” that the broadcaster learned of his “untimely passing”.
“Seán said once: ‘Radio is never about the presenter. It’s about the person who is opposite you’. Loyal listeners, especially to Seán’s beloved and long-running Arena on RTÉ Radio 1, will recognise the man in that quote: modest yet learned; subtle yet probing; curious yet polite. The listener at home was always his focus,” Mr Bakhurst said.
“Not only is radio the poorer for his passing, but so too has Ireland lost one of its most passionate advocates for the arts, and one of its most informed and versatile voices.”
Patricia Monahan, RTÉ’s director of audio, said: “He was interested in everyone’s point of view and had a great ability to command an audience’s attention. He was never more at home than when he was on stage.”
Rocks, who grew up in Monaghan town, was a teacher and a celebrated actor before moving into broadcasting.
Throughout his tenure on Arena, Rocks interviewed many artists, musicians, actors and writers, including Edna O’Brien, Danny DeVito, Saoirse Rónan, John Banville, Brendan Gleeson, Emma Thompson and Salman Rushdie.
Rocks also made regular appearances at national and international arts festivals.
He had worked with RTÉ radio since 2000, presenting several daytime programmes on Lyric FM, including The Lyric Breakfast and Lunchtime Choice, as well as Seán Rocks on Sunday. He also guest-presented, produced and wrote several series for the national broadcaster. He won a silver medal at New York Festival of Radio for the Soul of Ireland, a documentary he made for BBC Radio 4.
As an actor Rocks worked extensively both at home and abroad, appearing at the Abbey,and Gate theatres in Dublin, as well as at the Royal Court, National, Donmar Warehouse and Tricycle theatres in London.
His screen credits include The Bill, Glenroe and Fair City.
Rocks was the MC at the State banquet at Dublin Castle for the 2011 visit of Queen Elizabeth to Ireland.
In a 2014 interview with the Irish Examiner, Rocks explained his route into acting. “I worked as a teacher for seven years. I liked teaching younger kids, but it remains the most difficult job I’ve ever done. When you’re on, you’re on – it’s like acting and live radio. The skill sets are similar too – the most important trait in all those jobs is to be able to listen,” he said.
“I didn’t set out to be an actor. When I was at college I got involved in am dram, doing concerts and plays, which meant acting at night, and my voice was getting really tired, yet it was vital for my work as a teacher.”
In the same interview, he said he “always loved telling stories, even as a kid”. “That’s what acting and presenting is: telling stories.”
Author Kevin Barry said Rocks was “the ultimate kind of pro”.
“He was always the guy who’d read the book, who’d seen the film or who’d seen the exhibition and was really well prepared and just really kind of genuinely interested in what you were doing and what you had to say,” he said.
Caitríona McLaughlin, artistic director of the Abbey Theatre, said Rocks was “a rigorous interviewer” whose passion for the arts and culture “was second to none”.
“The sort of detail and research that he did was that of an artist himself,” she said. “And that’s where his curiosity came from, and that’s what made him so capable in terms of how he would sort of bridge the gap for the audience between how the work is made and how the artists approach the work and the audience experience it.”
Author John Banville said Rocks was “a wonderfully spirited interviewer”.
“He took the arts seriously, but not solemnly. He saw himself as the interviewer. He never tried to impose his views, he never tried to catch one out,” he said.
“He and Mike Murphy were very alike in that you felt when you were talking to them that they knew your stuff. They were going to give you the best. They were gonna encourage you to give the best possible version of yourself and of the work and the discussion that was there.”
Broadcaster Oliver Callan said his colleague took the arts seriously “but he wasn’t solemn about it and he knew that the kernel of truth was the important part of the culture”.
