Miriam O'Callaghan
Encyclopedia
Miriam O'Callaghan is an Irish
television current affairs
broadcaster, chat show host and radio presenter with Raidió Teilifís Éireann
(RTÉ). She has presented the leading current affairs show, Prime Time
, since 1996, and her own chat show, Saturday Night with Miriam
, since 2005. In the summer of 2009, she began a radio show, Miriam Meets...
.
, Dublin, the second child in a family of five. Her father, Jerry, a senior civil servant in the Department of Energy, came from Currans, a small village outside Castleisland
in County Kerry
. He grew up on a small farm at Callaghan's Cross, where the young Miriam spent her childhood summer holidays. Her mother, also Miriam, was born in Ballylinan
, a village in County Laois
where her father was the local garda
sergeant. Miriam Snr. became a primary school principal and taught her daughters at the local St. Brigid's National School in Foxrock.
O'Callaghan attended secondary school at the Sisters of Charity School in Milltown
. She did her Leaving Certificate
exams at the age of 16 and then studied law
at University College Dublin
, where she also completed a post-graduate diploma in European Law. She studied to be a solicitor at Blackhall Place, while articled to a solicitor's practice in Merrion Square.
, and applied for a researcher's job in Thames Television
. She secured a position on This Is Your Life
, then presented by Eamonn Andrews
. She subsequently moved onto researching current affairs programmes for Thames and in 1987, she left to train as a BBC
producer in the BBC Television Centre in west London. As a producer, she worked on shows such as Kilroy
, Family Matters, and Prime Time
, responsible for specials from Hong Kong and Jerusalem. Though reluctant to move away from television production into presenting roles, in 1989, she agreed to present a BBC show called Extra, which was partly broadcast from Budapest. It was while working on this show that O' Callaghan was spotted by the Editor of Newsnight, Tim Gardam, who recruited her as a high profile reporter on the BBC's flagship news programme, Newsnight
, with Jeremy Paxman
.
On Newsnight, O'Callaghan covered major news stories in Northern Ireland including all of Newsnight's coverage of the peace process. She also reported and investigated on a number of major miscarriages of justice including the case of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who was subsequently released from prison after a long campaign, and the case of the UDR 4.
and returned to Ireland in 1993 to present Marketplace, an economics and business programme. She also acted as editor of the series for one season. She juggled working with the BBC and RTÉ at the same time and also worked on the debut series of the ITV
show Tonight with Trevor MacDonald. From 1996, RTÉ secured her services exclusively as the presenter of Prime Time. She continues to present RTÉ's Prime Time programme on Tuesday and Thursday nights, as well as budget and election programmes. She has anchored the Leader's Debate between the Taoiseach and the leader of the opposition for the last three general elections.
In 2005, she began the first series of her own chat show, Saturday Night with Miriam
, during the summer months. O'Callaghan made her debut as a radio presenter on 11 July 2009 on the programme, Miriam Meets, to run for eight weeks. It was confirmed in August 2009 that the programme would return permanently to RTÉ Radio 1
on Sunday mornings. In May 2010, O'Callaghan, confirmed the death
of her colleague, Gerry Ryan
, on her Twitter
page, an hour before the national broadcaster officially reported his death.
She was identified in the media as a possible Irish presidential candidate in 2010, though she was quick to deny her interest in the position.
In May 2011, she fronted RTÉ's coverage of Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the Republic of Ireland
.
On 12 October 2011, she did the Prime Time TV debate with the seven candidates standing in the Irish presidential election, 2011. Her treatment of Martin McGuinness resulted in more than 100 complaints to RTÉ.
She is to do RTÉ's 50th anniversary party on New Year's Eve 2011, with President of Ireland
Michael D. Higgins
and Jedward
expected to attend the event.
, while working on Newsnight. In 2000, the couple married and set up their own television company, Mint Productions.
O'Callaghan has had another four children in her second marriage. Her brother Jim O'Callaghan is a Fianna Fáil
party Dublin City Council
lor.
.
O'Callaghan was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) degree by the University of Ulster in Derry on 5 July 2011.
She has won the RTÉ Guide
Style Award.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
television current affairs
Current affairs (news format)
Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
broadcaster, chat show host and radio presenter with Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
(RTÉ). She has presented the leading current affairs show, Prime Time
Prime Time
Prime Time is an Irish news analysis, current affairs and politics programme. It is broadcast on RTÉ One on Tuesday and Thursday nights between 21:30 and 22:10. It is currently presented by Miriam O'Callaghan, who has presented the programme since its commencement in 1996...
, since 1996, and her own chat show, Saturday Night with Miriam
Saturday Night With Miriam
Saturday Night with Miriam is a television chat show which was first broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One in the summer of 2005. The show runs for six weeks as a summer filler, and is presented by Miriam O'Callaghan, the co-host of Prime Time.- Format :...
, since 2005. In the summer of 2009, she began a radio show, Miriam Meets...
Miriam Meets...
Miriam Meets... is an Irish radio talk show. The programme began initially in July 2009, as a summer filler, presented by Prime Time and Saturday Night with Miriam presenter Miriam O'Callaghan. The show is broadcast on a Saturday morning....
.
Early life
O'Callaghan was born in FoxrockFoxrock
Foxrock is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, in the postal district of Dublin 18 and in the parish of Foxrock.-History:...
, Dublin, the second child in a family of five. Her father, Jerry, a senior civil servant in the Department of Energy, came from Currans, a small village outside Castleisland
Castleisland
Castleisland is a town and commercial centre in County Kerry in south west Ireland. The town is renowned for the width of its main street. Castleisland has a population of 2,170....
in County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
. He grew up on a small farm at Callaghan's Cross, where the young Miriam spent her childhood summer holidays. Her mother, also Miriam, was born in Ballylinan
Ballylinan
Ballylinan or Ballylynan is a village on the County Laois/County Kildare border in the Ireland. The name means "Lynan's town", though exactly who Lynan was is now forgotten....
, a village in County Laois
County Laois
County Laois is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It was formerly known as Queen's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. The county's name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix. Laois County Council...
where her father was the local garda
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
sergeant. Miriam Snr. became a primary school principal and taught her daughters at the local St. Brigid's National School in Foxrock.
O'Callaghan attended secondary school at the Sisters of Charity School in Milltown
Milltown, Dublin
Milltown , Dublin 6, Ireland, is a suburb on the southside of Dublin. The townland got its name well before the 18th or 19th century. Both Milltown and Clonskeagh were "Liberties" of Dublin, following the English invasion and colonisation in 1290....
. She did her Leaving Certificate
Leaving Certificate
The Leaving Certificate Examinations , commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert is the final examination in the Irish secondary school system. It takes a minimum of two years preparation, but an optional Transition Year means that for those students it takes place three years after the Junior...
exams at the age of 16 and then studied law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
, where she also completed a post-graduate diploma in European Law. She studied to be a solicitor at Blackhall Place, while articled to a solicitor's practice in Merrion Square.
British career
Soon after qualifying as a solicitor in 1983, O'Callaghan moved to London with her then husband, Tom McGurkTom McGurk
Tom McGurk is an Irish poet, journalist, radio presenter and sportscaster from Brockagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.From 1983 to 1996 he was married to the broadcaster Miriam O'Callaghan...
, and applied for a researcher's job in Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
. She secured a position on This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience including friends and family.Edwards...
, then presented by Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews, CBE , was an Irish television presenter based in the United Kingdom.-Life and career:...
. She subsequently moved onto researching current affairs programmes for Thames and in 1987, she left to train as a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
producer in the BBC Television Centre in west London. As a producer, she worked on shows such as Kilroy
Kilroy (television series)
Kilroy is a BBC1 daytime chat show hosted by Robert Kilroy-Silk that began in 8 September 1986 and finished on 29 January 2004 after 18 years....
, Family Matters, and Prime Time
Prime Time
Prime Time is an Irish news analysis, current affairs and politics programme. It is broadcast on RTÉ One on Tuesday and Thursday nights between 21:30 and 22:10. It is currently presented by Miriam O'Callaghan, who has presented the programme since its commencement in 1996...
, responsible for specials from Hong Kong and Jerusalem. Though reluctant to move away from television production into presenting roles, in 1989, she agreed to present a BBC show called Extra, which was partly broadcast from Budapest. It was while working on this show that O' Callaghan was spotted by the Editor of Newsnight, Tim Gardam, who recruited her as a high profile reporter on the BBC's flagship news programme, Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
, with Jeremy Paxman
Jeremy Paxman
Jeremy Dickson Paxman is a British journalist, author and television presenter. He has worked for the BBC since 1977. He is noted for a forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when interrogating politicians...
.
On Newsnight, O'Callaghan covered major news stories in Northern Ireland including all of Newsnight's coverage of the peace process. She also reported and investigated on a number of major miscarriages of justice including the case of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who was subsequently released from prison after a long campaign, and the case of the UDR 4.
RTÉ career
O'Callaghan was head-hunted by RTÉRaidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
and returned to Ireland in 1993 to present Marketplace, an economics and business programme. She also acted as editor of the series for one season. She juggled working with the BBC and RTÉ at the same time and also worked on the debut series of the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
show Tonight with Trevor MacDonald. From 1996, RTÉ secured her services exclusively as the presenter of Prime Time. She continues to present RTÉ's Prime Time programme on Tuesday and Thursday nights, as well as budget and election programmes. She has anchored the Leader's Debate between the Taoiseach and the leader of the opposition for the last three general elections.
In 2005, she began the first series of her own chat show, Saturday Night with Miriam
Saturday Night With Miriam
Saturday Night with Miriam is a television chat show which was first broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One in the summer of 2005. The show runs for six weeks as a summer filler, and is presented by Miriam O'Callaghan, the co-host of Prime Time.- Format :...
, during the summer months. O'Callaghan made her debut as a radio presenter on 11 July 2009 on the programme, Miriam Meets, to run for eight weeks. It was confirmed in August 2009 that the programme would return permanently to RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...
on Sunday mornings. In May 2010, O'Callaghan, confirmed the death
Death of Gerry Ryan
The sudden death of RTÉ broadcaster Gerry Ryan occurred on 30 April 2010. He was 53. Ryan had been presenting The Gerry Ryan Show since 1988 and at the time of his death had the largest audience on RTÉ 2fm...
of her colleague, Gerry Ryan
Gerry Ryan
Gerard "Gerry" Ryan was an Irish presenter of radio and television employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann...
, on her Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
page, an hour before the national broadcaster officially reported his death.
She was identified in the media as a possible Irish presidential candidate in 2010, though she was quick to deny her interest in the position.
In May 2011, she fronted RTÉ's coverage of Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the Republic of Ireland
Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the Republic of Ireland
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh made a state visit to the Republic of Ireland from 17 May to 20 May 2011, at the invitation of the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese....
.
On 12 October 2011, she did the Prime Time TV debate with the seven candidates standing in the Irish presidential election, 2011. Her treatment of Martin McGuinness resulted in more than 100 complaints to RTÉ.
She is to do RTÉ's 50th anniversary party on New Year's Eve 2011, with President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
Michael D. Higgins
Michael D. Higgins
Michael Daniel Higgins is the ninth and current President of Ireland, having taken office on 11 November 2011 following victory in the 2011 Irish presidential election. Higgins is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, author and broadcaster. Higgins was President of the Labour Party until his...
and Jedward
Jedward
John Paul Henry Daniel Richard Grimes and Edward Peter Anthony Kevin Patrick Grimes are an Irish hip pop duo. They are identical twins and perform under the name Jedward...
expected to attend the event.
Private life
O'Callaghan separated from her first husband in 1995; she had four daughters at the time. She met her present husband, Steve CarsonSteve Carson
Steve Carson is an Irish director and producer of television. He is the editor of current affairs at Raidió Teilifís Éireann as of November 2011 and was appointed Director of Television in January 2009....
, while working on Newsnight. In 2000, the couple married and set up their own television company, Mint Productions.
O'Callaghan has had another four children in her second marriage. Her brother Jim O'Callaghan is a Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
party Dublin City Council
Dublin City Council
Dublin City Council is the local authority for the city of Dublin in Ireland. It has 52 members and is the largest local authority in Ireland. Until 2001, it was known as Dublin Corporation.-Legal status:...
lor.
Awards
In 2003, she won the Television Personality of the Year Award at the Irish Film and Television AwardsIrish Film and Television Awards
The Irish Film and Television Awards were first awarded in 2003. Its sole aim is to celebrate Ireland's notably talented film and television community...
.
O'Callaghan was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) degree by the University of Ulster in Derry on 5 July 2011.
She has won the RTÉ Guide
RTÉ Guide
The RTÉ Guide is a television and radio listings magazine in Ireland published by RTÉ Commercial Enterprises Ltd, a subsidiary of Raidió Teilifís Éireann....
Style Award.