Brian Hanrahan (22 March 1949 – 20 December 2010) was a British television journalist, who was the Diplomatic News Editor for the

British Broadcasting Corporation #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 exam. ...

(BBC).

Early life, education and early career

Hanrahan was born in the county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

, England, on 22 March 1949, the son of a construction worker. He was educated at St Ignatius' College,

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about 5.5 miles north-east of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a sub-district of Hackney, the major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the ...

, in

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Walthams ...

, and subsequently studied Politics at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

, where he was a member of an amateur dramatic society. In 1970, Hanrahan joined the BBC as a photographic stills clerk. He was one of the six news trainees appointed by the BBC in 1971, and went on to become a news scriptwriter with the organisation, and then a Duty Editor in the BBC Television Newsroom. He worked for a spell as the BBC's Northern Ireland correspondent, during which time he reported on

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

Falklands War

As a BBC war correspondent Hanrahan joined the press corps attached to the Task Force dispatched by the

Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal coat of arms of t ...

to counter the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982. One report filed by Hanrahan whilst travelling with the Task Force southwards through the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

aboard the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

aircraft carrier was particularly notable. He was reporting on an early air strike by Harrier jump jets operating from ''Hermes'', when, to work a way around reporting restrictions regarding disclosure of classified military information, he stated "I'm not allowed to say how many planes joined the raid, but I counted them all out, and I counted them all back." The phrase later inspired the title of a book about conflict that he co-authored. Hanrahan later went ashore on

East Falkland East Falkland ( es, Isla Soledad) is the largest island of the Falklands in the South Atlantic, having an area of or 54% of the total area of the Falklands. The island consists of two main land masses, of which the more southerly is known as Laf ...

during the land campaign, and reported from amidst British Armed Forces units in the frontline whilst under fire, and was present at the liberation of

Port Stanley Stanley (; also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a popula ...

by them on 14 June 1982, which ended the war.

Later career

During the mid-1980s he was a BBC correspondent in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

reporting on the negotiation by the British Government for transferring the governance of the territory to China. He later visited

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, reporting on the end of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in 1989.

Death

Hanrahan died of

bowel cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowe ...

on 20 December 2010, aged 61.

Martin Bell Martin Bell, (born 31 August 1938) is a British UNICEF ( UNICEF UK) Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 1997 to 2001. He is sometimes known as ...

wrote of him in an obituary published in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'': "In the world of television news, where inflated egos are not unknown, Brian Hanrahan stood out for his modesty as well as his way with words."

Personal life

Hanrahan married radio producer Honor Wilson in 1986. They had a daughter, Catherine.

Publications

References

External links

BBC Profile of Brian Hanrahan

* ttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/dec/20/brian-hanrahan-obituary Obituary of Brian Hanrahan, ''The Guardian'', 20 December 2010
Obituary of Brian Hanrahan, ''The Independent'', 21 December 2010

Audio clips

Counting returning Harriers

Bombing in Bluff Cove

Argentinian surrender

Video clips

Chernobyl

As the BBC's Diplomatic Editor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanrahan, Brian 1949 births 2010 deaths Alumni of the University of Essex British people of the Falklands War British reporters and correspondents British Roman Catholics British war correspondents BBC newsreaders and journalists Deaths from cancer in the United Kingdom People educated at St Ignatius' College, Enfield Television personalities from London Place of death missing