"Derek's sense of humour and his wit were phenomenal." Thelma Mansfield "There was another part of him that was quite contemplative and, standing on a river bank on a drizzly day, catching nothing but a cold, he loved." Colm Davis "Fear mór abhí ann. Ach bhí pearsantacht mór aige. Bhí gach rud mór faoi Derek agus sin an fáth go raibh an méid sin grá ag daoine dó." Evelyn O'Rourke For over 30 years Derek was a familiar and distinctive voice in Irish broadcasting. Born in 1948 to a Protestant father and Catholic mother in Holywood, Co. Down and later something of a "blow-in" down South, Derek always saw himself as an outsider. But as an outsider he had licence to bring a certain irreverence to his commentary. Allied to his quick wit and skill as a wordsmith, this set his work apart. "Most of us who have any success are one-trick ponies. But there really wasn't anything in the business that Derek couldn't do." Brendan Keenan Highly versatile, Derek made a number of seamless transitions between quite diverse broadcasting disciplines. Unusually his career spanned news, TV and radio as he became in turn a news reporter, a newscaster, a presenter of light entertainment programmes, a documentary-maker and finally a radio essayist. His conversational skills, combined with a genuine interest in people and an almost encyclopaedic knowledge, meant that there were few topics which Derek was not equipped to tackle. "Bhí sé an-nádúrtha. Bhí spéis aige i ndaoine, rud atá fíor-thábhachtach do chraoltóir agus bhí réimse fairsing spéis aige fhéin. Ba bheag rud nach raibh spéis aige ann." Bob Collins "He was so versatile. There was no subject that he couldn't tackle and he was so competent, a brilliant scriptwriter and he could have done any programme." Thelma Mansfield "It did seem surprising sometimes that he wasn't getting more work." Brendan Keenan In his personal life Derek was a dedicated family man, a loyal friend and an entert