‘Wee Man from Strabane’ vows to keep working

‘Wee Man from Strabane’ vows to keep working

26 April 2023

ONE of Northern Ireland’s most popular broadcasters says he doesn’t worry about harsh personal attacks on social media.

Hugo Duncan — who hosts one of the longest running shows on Radio Ulster — made light of such criticism when he appeared before a live audience at The Saint Patrick Centre in Downpatrick last Thursday evening.

In conversation with Gerry Kelly, Hugo was asked about harsh comments on Facebook. “Sure, I can’t read,” he joked.

With a career spanning more than five decades, Hugo declared with humour: “Not everybody likes you. My wife doesn’t like me.”

On a more serious note, he said: “Those people writing that must have a very black moment themselves. Something black in their mind causes them to make little of other people. I don’t get on the radio to hurt anybody. I go on the radio to bring people together.”

Hugo was welcomed by Dr Tim Campbell, director of The Saint Patrick Centre.

Nicknamed ‘the Wee Man from Strabane’, Hugo spoke for two hours, sharing on his life and also his love of music.

He recalled insults he had endured from childhood because of the circumstances of his birth — and became emotional when speaking of his late mother, Suzi, who raised him as a single mother in Strabane.

“In 1950 it was a scandal for a woman to have a child on her own — even people who were down every day at the altar rails were still giving you the worst word in your mouth,” he recalled.

“I was teased at school — even my daughter when she came along…I remember people calling her the b word… …One night Suzanne, my daughter, was standing in a chip shop and someone tried to belittle Suzanne saying, ‘Your father’s mother was never married. I know all about it’.”

Hugo spoke of the comfort he gets from his own faith and going to mass in Strabane. He says it was the kind words of a Christian minister that helped him face the embarrassment he felt over financial bankruptcy in 2017.

He said he was feeling very vulnerable after it became public. He said the next day he only went out to visit his daughter in hospital but was planning on staying home the rest of the time, when he received a text from a friend, who is a Free Presbyterian minister.

“Hugo, I want you to do me a favour today. Would you get up and take your wife out for the day and get her lunch because the work you do on the radio is keeping us all together and happy. Forget about it.”

Duncan said this gave him the courage to go out and that his daughter’s cancer diagnosis also put his financial problems in perspective. And he paid tribute to his wife and family for standing by him and spoke of how the BBC supported him also.

Hugo shared other trials such as the death of his mother, an early battle with alcohol and rejection by his father. But he also injected much humour, bantering with Gerry Kelly as he regaled the audience with quick-witted anecdotes about his first job at a nylon factory, courting his wife and his own lack of education. “The only thing I passed at school was the school itself.”

He said one of his regrets was not asking his mother more about the circumstances of his birth and about his father. “And I regret not saying I love you as much as I should have.”

He advised anyone listening to ask questions and not to bottle up feelings. 

Aged 73, he said he had no plans to stop working and that he would retire when the nails were going in his coffin.

Dr Campbell said it was a very special evening.  “We were delighted to have Hugo Duncan as a guest. He brings a lot of joy.

“Hugo has a great gift for laughter and story-telling. Hugo was clearly among friends and I think one of the highlights was the audience singing along to One Day at a Time.”

Emma Killen, chairperson of the centre, said: “We are looking forward to more evenings like this in the months ahead. The centre has already attracted many amazing personalities from singer Nathan Carter to composer Phil Coulter and Eurovision legend Dana.”

“In fact we have a loyal audience who come back again and again because of the quality of the live interviews and the warm and engaging conversations that take place both on and off the stage.”

The Saint Patrick Centre has just launched a new high-tech exhibition featuring a new IMAX film, high-definition video presentations, interactive storyboards and a huge immersion projection table in the shape of Ireland.