Olivia O'Leary

Last updated

Olivia O'Leary
Born1949 (age 7374)
Nationality Irish
Education St Leo's College, Carlow
Alma mater University College Dublin (UCD)
Occupation(s) Journalist, writer and current affairs presenter
Spouse Paul Tansey (d. 2008)
ChildrenEmily

Olivia O'Leary (born 1949) is an Irish journalist, writer and current affairs presenter.

Contents

Education

Educated at St Leo's College, Carlow and at University College Dublin (UCD), she worked with the Nationalist and Leinster Times in Carlow. In the late 1970s, she began working for The Irish Times as parliamentary sketchwriter.

She currently broadcasts a weekly a political diary on Drivetime, a radio programme broadcast by Raidió Teilifís Éireann's channel RTÉ Radio 1. [1]

In 1972, she joined Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) as a current affairs presenter [2] and later worked as a presenter on Today Tonight, Questions and Answers and Prime Time . She became the first regular female senior presenter of the BBC's current affairs programme, Newsnight and also presented First Tuesday , a monthly documentary strand produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV.

She has co-authored the book Mary Robinson: The Authorised Biography, with Dr Helen Burke, and in 2004 wrote Politicians and Other Animals, a sketch on Irish politics.

She was Chairperson of the Office of the Ombudsman's 20th Anniversary Conference. [3]

In 2009, she left the Roman Catholic Church over the cover up of clerical abuse scandals and the long-standing refusal of the church to ordain women. [4]

She was married to Paul Tansey, Economics Editor of The Irish Times . He died suddenly in September 2008. [5] She has one daughter, Emily Tansey. On 5 December 2011 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by her alma mater UCD. In 2017, Trinity College Dublin awarded her with an honorary doctorate. [6]

She is a cousin of TV personality and wine expert Oz Clarke.

Awards and honours

O'Leary won three Jacob's Awards during her broadcasting career with RTÉ. Her first came in 1973 for her work as a radio news reporter. In 1982, she won her second Jacob's Award for her hosting of Today Tonight . Her chairing of Questions and Answers brought her a third award in 1986. She has also won a Sony Award for her BBC Radio 4 programme Between Ourselves. In 2019 she was admitted as a member of the Royal Irish Academy. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Tubridy</span> Irish TV and radio presenter (born 1973)

Ryan Tubridy is an Irish broadcaster. His broadcasting career with RTÉ spanned over two decades, where he presented many shows on radio and television, most notably The Late Late Show on RTÉ One from 2009 to 2023. Other shows he presented include RTÉ 2fm's The Full Irish (2004–2009) and Tubridy (2010–2015), RTÉ One's Tubridy Tonight (2004–2009), RTÉ Radio One's The Tubridy Show (2005–2010) and The Ryan Tubridy Show (2015–2023). He also hosted the Rose of Tralee contest on two occasions and worked for BBC Radio. In January 2024 he is scheduled to join Virgin Radio UK in London to present its mid-morning programme.

RTÉ News and Current Affairs, also known simply as RTÉ News, is the national news service provided by Irish public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). Its services include local, national, European and international news, investigative journalism and current affairs programming for RTÉ television, radio, online, podcasts, on-demand and for independent Irish language public broadcaster TG4. It is the largest and most popular news source in Ireland – with 77% of the Irish public regarding it as their main source of both Irish and international news. It broadcasts in English, Irish and Irish Sign Language. The organisation is also a source of commentary on current affairs. The division is based at the RTÉ Television Centre in Donnybrook, Dublin; however, the station also operates regional bureaux across Ireland and the world.

Derek James Mooney is an Irish radio and television presenter, as well as a radio producer. Until January 2015 he presented a weekday afternoon programme called Mooney on RTÉ Radio 1. He is the current executive producer across RTÉ Radio 1's nature and wildlife programming

Seán Moncrieff is an Irish broadcaster, journalist and writer. He currently presents the weekday afternoon radio show Moncrieff on Newstalk and is a columnist for The Irish Times. His television credits include his own Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) chat show Good Grief Moncrieff!, comedy panel show Don't Feed the Gondolas, and The Restaurant of which he is the voice. Moncrieff has also written novels and non-fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Doyle</span> Irish television and radio presenter

Craig Doyle is an Irish television and radio presenter. To British viewers he is recognisable as working for the BBC and ITV and more recently BT Sport. Irish viewers also know him as the host of RTÉ One chat show Tonight with Craig Doyle and RTÉ2's Craig Doyle Live. He is the main anchor on BT Sport Premiership, European Champions Cup rugby coverage and MotoGP motorcycle racing. Craig has also been a presenter on ITV's Rugby World Cup coverage. Since 2022, Doyle has been a regular relief presenter on ITV daytime series This Morning alongside Josie Gibson and Holly Willoughby. In September 2023, he replaced Laura Woods as host of The NFL Show on ITV.

St. Leo's College is a girls secondary school in Carlow, County Carlow, Ireland that was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1839.

Marian Concepta Richardson is an Irish television and radio presenter and producer.

Eileen Dunne is a retired Irish journalist, newsreader and presenter with RTÉ, Ireland's national radio and television station, where she presented the main television news programmes Six One News, Nine O'Clock News and One O'Clock News including all other news bulletins on both radio and television from 1980 to 2022. She was the co-anchor alongside Sharon Ní Bheoláin of RTÉ's flagship Nine O'Clock News and presented afternoon bulletins for RTÉ Radio 1.

Sheana Keane is an Irish presenter on Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). She presented the programmes Health Squad (2001–2006) and The Afternoon Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob's Award</span> Annual award for excellence in Irish radio and television (1962–1993)

The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients were selected by Ireland's national newspaper television and radio critics. Jacob's Award winners were chosen annually until 1993, when the final awards presentation took place.

Nuala Carey is an Irish full-time weather presenter on Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ).

Doireann Ní Bhriain is an Irish independent radio producer. She began her career as a radio and television journalist, and started out reading children's stories on television. From those beginnings, she went on to work for the Irish broadcaster RTÉ for over 20 years before moving on in 1993. She is best known for her work and affiliation with RTÉ Radio 1.

Desmond Cahill is an Irish sports presenter and commentator with national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. From 2009 to 2022, Cahill presented RTÉ television's GAA highlights programme The Sunday Game.

This is a summary of 2010 in Ireland.

John Murray is an Irish journalist and broadcaster. Currently heard on Weekend Sport, he presented The John Murray Show on RTÉ Radio 1, "focus[ing] on lifestyle and entertainment items", filling the slot from 09:00 to 10:00 previously occupied by Ryan Tubridy, who moved to RTÉ 2fm. Murray was one of the presenters of Morning Ireland, Ireland's most popular radio show, before going on to host his own weekly programme, The Business.

Maura Catherine Derrane is an Irish television presenter and journalist. She currently works for RTÉ, having previously worked for TV3 and TG4.

Gina Menzies is a frequent guest on Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the Irish national radio and television broadcaster and is described as a theologian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noel Curran</span>

Noel Curran is an Irish CEO, Chairperson and a former radio and television producer and journalist who has been the Director-General of the European Broadcasting Union since October 2017. He previously served as the Director-General of RTÉ from 2011 to 2016. He has worked in the Editorial, Management and Commercial areas of media.

Aoife Kavanagh is an Irish independent journalist and documentary producer. She was previously a reporter and presenter for RTÉ, working on both radio and television, with a particular interest in foreign news and international development stories. She resigned from RTÉ in the wake of the "Mission to Prey" documentary for Prime Time that resulted in a libel payment to Kevin Reynolds. She has since gone on to make a number of documentaries with Frontline Films in Dublin, including "The (Un)teachables", "Schizophrenia, Voices in My Head", and "I Am Traveller".

Caoilfhionn Shanley-Ferguson, also known as Keelin Shanley, was a journalist, newsreader and presenter with RTÉ, Ireland's national radio and television station, where she had presented the Six One News, alongside Caitríona Perry from January 2018 until her death in February 2020.

References

  1. "Drivetime Thursday 14 April 2016 – Drivetime – RTÉ Radio 1". RTÉ.ie. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  2. "The Afternoon Show: Olivia O'Leary – Party Animals". The Afternoon Show . Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Archived from the original on 2 March 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  3. "Press release" Archived 20 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine , Office of the Ombudsman Ireland, 15 October 2004.
  4. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/oleary-leaves-catholic-church-over-stance-on-women-priests-16095543.html?r=RSS#IDComment247782885 [ dead link ]
  5. "Irish Times' Paul Tansey dies suddenly". RTÉ News . Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 22 September 2008. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
  6. "Registrar : Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, Ireland". www.tcd.ie. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  7. "27 New Members elected to the Academy". Royal Irish Academy. Retrieved 27 November 2021.