Broadcasting legend Harry Castles passes away

The former Head of News at Downtown Radio and former Lurgan man Harry Castles has passed away.
Harry Castles.Harry Castles.
Harry Castles.

Mr Castles, who started life in the North Street area and is a former pupil of Lurgan College, was one of the first voices heard on air when Downtown started in 1976, hosting a Saturday afternoon sport’s show. The 67-year-old was also well known for his hugely popular phone in show on a Sunday morning.

Harry passed away after a short illness in Spain, where he’d been living with his wife since retiring in 2006.

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Downtown Radio passed on condolences to his wife Liz, his two children Darren and Julie and the wider circle of family and friends.

Downtown/Cool FM Managing Director David Sloan paid this tribute: “A lot of journalists out there started off with Harry and got advice from him.

“When he retired from Downtown he went off to Spain - he got a few good years but then his health started to fail and unfortunately in the last couple of weeks he deteriorated quite quickly and sadly he passed away in the early hours of this morning.”

David added: “Journalism is a serious business but Harry would always see the funny side of it and there was always a joke to be told, or a mishap, or something that went wrong.

“He was a really good broadcaster. With his easy, relaxed style of broadcasting he made everyone feel as if they were listening to a friend.”

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