Anna Carragher (born 9 July 1948) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

former broadcasting executive and television producer. From 2000 to 2006, she was Controller of

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...

Early life and education

Carragher was born on 9 July 1948 to Thomas Carragher and Eileen Carragher. Her father was a shipyard electrician and trade unionist, and Irish Labour councillor. Her parents were founding members of the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

(SDLP), which formed in 1970. Carragher was educated St Dominic's High School, now called St Dominic's Grammar School for Girls, a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Northern Ireland. Her mother taught Maths at St Dominic's, and became the school's Vice-Principal in 1976. She studied English Language and Literature at Queen's University Belfast, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(BA Hons) degree.

Career

Carragher joined the

British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

(BBC) in 1970. Her early years were spent in

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

: she was a

studio manager Studio manager, studio director, or studio head is a job title in various media-related professions, including design, advertising, and broadcasting. Design and advertising A design or advertising studio manager's responsibilities will typically ...

from 1970 to 1973, and then a producer for the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

''Today'' program from 1973 to 1981. Carragher moved to BBC Television in the 1980s. Between 1981 and 1985, she worked as a producer for various Television News programs. In 1985, she joined BBC1's ''

Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

'' as its producer. She produced Radio 4's ''

Any Questions? ''Any Questions?'' is a British topical discussion programme "in which a panel of personalities from the worlds of politics, media, and elsewhere are posed questions by the audience". It is typically broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Fridays at 8 p ...

'' from 1989 to 1992. From 1992 to 1995, she worked on the new

Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadcasting of sports events, covering sport in ...

station, and was Editor of European and Correspondent Programmes for Radio 4. Carragher became Head of Programmes at

in 1995, and its first female Controller in 2000. She left the BBC on 17 November 2006; she had been with the BBC for thirty-six years. Carragher was a member of the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission from 1995 to 2001. Since 2009, she has been a Commissioner on the

Equality Commission for Northern Ireland The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (Irish language, Irish: ''Coimisiún Comhionannais do Thuaisceart Éireann'', Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Equalitie Commission fer Norlin Airlan'') is a non-departmental public body in Norther ...

. Carragher was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to the arts in Northern Ireland.

Personal life

In 1974, Carragher married Alain Le Garsmeur; the couple had two sons and a daughter. They have since

divorced Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

References

External links

Arts Council Northern Ireland

Her mother
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carragher, Anna 1948 births Living people Alumni of Queen's University Belfast BBC executives BBC Northern Ireland Irish radio producers Irish television producers Irish women television producers British radio producers British television producers British women television producers People educated at St Dominic's Grammar School for Girls Officers of the Order of the British Empire Women radio producers