Legendary radio man Tom Hardy has sadly passed away

The Irish broadcasting industry is united in its grief for Tom Hardy who's passed away after suffering a sudden heart-attack while attending hospital on Saturday. The former Programme Manager at Today FM, he'd most recently been working as Sourcebook & Digest Editor at the Public Relations Institute of Ireland.

An Englishman who very much became an honorary Irishman, Tom started his career during the 1970s on the Israeli offshore pirate station, the Voice of Peace, before joining the legendary Radio Caroline in the North Sea.

After Caroline's ship, the MV Mi Amigo, sunk in heavy seas in March 1980, Tom continued his illicit career on land with the first of the Dublin superpirates, Sunshine Radio, in Portmarnock. He then transferred to Radio Nova where he worked successfully under another ex-Caroline man, Chris Cary.

As well as being a fantastic DJ, Tom also had an intuitive grasp of the programming, music scheduling and people management side of things, which lead to a big gig back in England with Chiltern Radio.

He missed Ireland, though, and returned to programme Kiss FM in Monaghan before going legit at 98FM, which he helped make the Dublin market leader.

After a spell running round Europe programming stations in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Czech Republic and the UK, Tom was appointed Today FM Programme Manager in 1998 where he worked closely with the likes of Tony Fenton, Ray D'Arcy and Ian Dempsey.

"He was a real broadcaster's broadcaster who you couldn't help but learn from," says Hot Press Assistant Editor, Stuart Clark, who avidly tuned into Tom on Radio Caroline when he was a teenager before joining Today FM himself as a contributor. "There was always a great positivity about him – Tom was a 'do' rather than a 'don't' merchant. I remember meeting him for the first time in Marconi House – he had a little picture of the Mi Amigo on his corkboard, but otherwise he was never boastful about his illustrious radio past. They say don't meet your heroes, but Tom turned out to be as lovely a man as he was a genius DJ and programmer. I literally never heard anyone say a bad word about him, which is bloody rare in this industry."

Hot Press sends love and condolences to Tom's wife Brigid, their three children, other family, friends and colleagues.

Condolences to the family and friends of radio legend Tom Hardy who has died. Tom had a long and distinguished career on pirate and licensed radio in Ireland, the UK and further afield. Listen here to our interview with him in 2018. RIP Tom. https://t.co/L4RiOMhq0T pic.twitter.com/V2bXk4cQRF

— pirate.ie (@pirate_ie) March 3, 2022

Unless you are in radio this may not mean much to you, but Tom Hardy has passed away. I was a listener when I was a kid, and almost ended up working for him at @TodayFM at one stage.

My sincerest condolences to his family and friends.https://t.co/8xrovRkb1o

— Rick O'Shea (@rickoshea) March 3, 2022

Very saddened to hear the news that Today FM’s former P.D. @tomhardyradio has died. I worked with Tom for many years on the organising committee of the then PPI Radio Awards. He was an unassuming gentleman with great knowledge of and passion for the sector. RIP Tom.

— Kieran McGeary (@kieranmcgeary) March 3, 2022

Tom Hardy was a huge part of Today FM and its success for many years. He is and will be remembered so fondly by all his former colleagues here in the station 💛

Rest in Peace Brian Johnson aka Tom Hardy.

Condolences to Tom’s wife Brigid, his 3 children, family and friends. pic.twitter.com/b7e971a7tw

— Today FM 💛 (@TodayFM) March 3, 2022

In memory of Tom Hardy aka Brian Johnson aka Steve Zodiac. Husband, Dad, Friend,Mentor, Radio guru. 1954-2022. The last song Tom played on the govt. enforced closedown of 103.7KISSFM Monaghan Dec. 30th 1988: https://t.co/kA6qu8K6YE@RadioToday @AllAccess @TodayFM

— Enda W. Caldwell (@radioenda) March 3, 2022

Obituary News - Tom Hardy Death : The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame took to social media to mourn the death of former Radio Caroline DJ (1978-80) Tom Hardy who died yesterday in a...click to read and leave tributes. https://t.co/LMC8SowF8T

— InsideEko.com (@InsidEkoMedia) March 3, 2022

Extremely saddened to hear of the passing of a true gent Tom Hardy who has passed away. A gifted broadcaster/programmer who served radio in the UK and Ireland for many years. Condolences to his family and all who knew him RIP @RadioTodayIE @pirate_ie @radiowavesfm @radiotoday pic.twitter.com/rRudlLotFk

— David Baker (@davidbakerdj) March 3, 2022

Legendary radio man Tom Hardy has sadly passed away RIP love to Brigid and the family We had some stories to tell https://t.co/K0iVDrMFlz via @hotpress

— john kenny (@JohnKennyMedia) March 3, 2022

Shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of one of the greats of Irish and UK radio, Tom Hardy. When I started in radio Tom was incredibly generous with his time and advice, I spent many happy hours chatting with him in studio at Radio Nova. 1/…

— Liam Coburn (@liam_coburn) March 3, 2022