Our former colleague, Andrew, one of the founders of the AEJ Irish section and former President of the International section of the AEJ, has died. He was 88.
Born in Berlin in 1938, and into a Jewish family, Mr Sheppard managed to survive the war in the German capital before moving to Britain in the late 1940s.
He joined RTÉ in 1972, as the broadcaster’s London Correspondent, following a five-year stint as political correspondent on the Manchester Evening News.
Mr Sheppard relocated to Ireland in 1977, where he specialised in Anglo-Irish affairs for RTÉ. He was later appointed Special Correspondent.
He also provided diplomatic coverage, including reporting from the funeral of the Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito in 1980.
Mr Sheppard was appointed Deputy Foreign Editor and then Foreign Editor before retiring in 2001 after nearly 30 years at the station.
He was a lifetime member of the National Union of Journalists.
Mr Sheppard was also one of the earlier members of the Irish section of the Association of European Journalists. He was a two-term president of the international AEJ.
A graduate of Manchester University in anthropology and sociology, he had an interest in film and was a reviewer in London.
An avid reader and lover of jazz, he was also a supporter of Arsenal Football Club.
Mr Sheppard’s death followed a long illness. He is survived by his wife, Órla, his son, Danny, his niece, Karen and nephews, Ian and Alastair.
He has donated his body to medical research.
Andy is remembered by his AEJ colleagues as an intensely serious journalist whose analysis of European affairs was peerless. They remember just as clearly his mischievous humour, which could lift any conversation.