Athlone resident's diverse career behind the television camera

"I think of news as a big monster that has to be fed every day," said Norman Dungan. "You give him different titbits and sometimes you just give him whatever's there. But he'll eat everything and he'll gulp and he'll burp and the next day he'll be hungry again!" From the early 1970s until the end of last month, Athlone resident Norman's work as a TV cameraman and soundman helped feed the 'monster' that is broadcast news. Now retired, his filming for RTE of the recent floods in Athlone constituted the last story of his varied and colourful career. Norman started his work in broadcasting with the BBC in Belfast in the early 1970s but was based in Athlone with RTE since 1990. While the majority of his work was in the midlands, his career took him abroad on occasion and he filmed in locations ranging from war zones and famine sites to the White House. A native of Leeson Street, Dublin, Norman had an interest in "technical things" as well as music, current affairs and drama from an early age. As a result, an advertisement in The Irish Times for trainee audio assistants with the BBC caught his attention. He applied and, after two interviews, was taken for three months of intense training in England before starting work with the BBC in Belfast in 1973. There, he enjoyed working on recordings of musical performances for Radio Two and Radio Three. In addition he was involved in current affairs coverage as well as general feature programming. Belfast, at the time, was gripped by the Troubles. "Being from the South, people used to remark on my brogue," he said. "That was grand when you were with friends, but you didn't know who's overhearing your brogue so you learned to speak softly and be pleasant to everybody because you had to assume that somebody next to you might take a different attitude. You just had to be very careful." His job with the BBC was studio-based involving occasional outside broadcasts, but on his 'days off' Norman worked as a cameraman filming news. At the beginning of 1979 he transferred to RTE and a new role which solely consisted of working on news coverage. "We would be out on the street, covering what was going on. That was pretty intense at times," he said. His time in Belfast incorporated the hunger strikes, numerous bombings and shootings, as well as the signing of the Anglo Irish Agreement. A turning point came when Norman and a colleague were attacked by loyalists in the mid-80s. "That was a bad one. On Saturdays we would cover loyalist events and on that week there was a march to Maryfield, in Hollywood, where the Irish secretariat were based. The loyalist mobs had paramilitaries with them and they tried to storm the gates, which were barricaded very securely. So they were petrol bombing the RUC, to keep them away, and they were bashing us up so we wouldn't report what was happening," he said. "I was part of a two-man crew and we were attacked. All of the equipment was destroyed and we were lucky to get out alive. By then, I had thought 'I've had enough of this' so I looked for a move (out of Belfast). There wasn't anywhere for me to move to at the time, so I thought the best thing was to resign and say goodbye." He then embarked on something completely different. Attracted by a business development scheme which the British government operated at the time, he moved to Whitstable in Kent in 1986 and opened a convenience store. Norman operated the store for four years before selling it on. "It was in a housing estate and I got friendly with the people there. I had up to 14 people working with me. The staff were all locals and the customers were all locals, so we got to know each other well and I get Christmas cards from a couple of them still." His move to the midlands came about by chance when he returned to Ireland in 1990. A sound recordist with RTE in Athlone was on maternity leave and Norman was asked to come to the midlands to help out in her absence. The woman on maternity leave didn't return and he was asked to stay on. He initially worked on sound as part of a two-man crew. "When it went to a one-man crew in 1997 Neilus Dennehy, the cameraman, went to Waterford and I got the job here in Athlone," he said. His work incorporated TV news bulletins as well as contributions to Nationwide, The Week in Politics, and other programming. "Almost all of the work was in Athlone but I used to be sent abroad as well, usually either for famines or wars. Sometimes it was for Presidential visits, which were great. I enjoyed those. They were very civilised and we were looked after well." He covered numerous heads of State and the visits to Ireland of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush ("though I'd prefer to forget about Bush"). While based in Belfast, his first trip abroad was to film Taoiseach Charlie Haughey's visit to the White House to meet Ronald Reagan on St Patrick's Day. One of the Taoiseach's engagements involved delivering an address to some of the world's leading business people at The Commercial Club of America in New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. "At the end of Charlie's speech it was thrown open to the floor," recalled Norman. "There had been a bank strike in Ireland and somebody asked Charlie: 'In view of the bank strike, can you assure us that if we consider investing in Ireland the banks will stay open for us?' "And Charlie put on a 'begorrah' sort of accent and said: 'Ah, sure in Ireland we don't need the banks there all the time, sure we have the pub.' And a few of us looked at each other and thought 'what has he just said?' These were intelligent people. They were not gombeen men. But that was said. I was doing Today Tonight and it wasn't used. I was sorry it wasn't, because I thought it was the quote of the trip." Closer to home he stated that a personal interest in horse racing meant covering the recent retirement of John Oxx's horse Sea The Stars was a particular highlight. Norman ran marathons and cross country events for a number of years while living in Belfast but was forced to quit as a result of a knee injury. However, recording a preview of last summer's triAthlone convinced him to give athletics another try and he joined the triathlon club in the town ("there's a great camaraderie in it and I think the mixture of activities is great as well," he said). In addition to his involvement with the triathlon club, he is involved in gardening and with the residents association for Mayfield Grove. A classical music enthusiast, he is also a member of the Gramophone Society in Athlone. A group of friends and colleagues gathered at the Palace in Athlone last Friday evening to mark a retirement Norman is looking forward to. "I had a great job, one that a lot of people would give their right arm for, but I wouldn't want to be starting out in the industry today. I am looking forward to retirement and the freedom of it," he concluded.