John Bowman (born 28 July 1942) is an Irish historian and a long-standing broadcaster and presenter of current affairs and political programmes with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He chaired the audience-participation political programme '' Questions and Answers'' on

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís ...

for 21 years. He is the father of comedian and journalist

Abie Philbin Bowman Abie Philbin Bowman is an Irish comedian and journalist. His One Man Shows include ''Jesus: The Guantanamo Years'', ''Eco-Friendly Jihad'' and ''Developing the Country as a Hole''. He has worked on RTÉ programmes, including ''Arena'', ''CAKE'', ...

and the broadcaster and journalist Jonathan Philbin Bowman.

Life

Bowman was brought up in Ballsbridge in south

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. His father worked for Great Southern Railways (later

CIÉ Córas Iompair Éireann (''Irish Transport Company''), or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of Ireland, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport within the republic and jointly with its Northern Ireland counter ...

) and his mother was a nurse, originally from Co. Monaghan. Bowman was educated at Belvedere College and

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

where he received bachelor's degree in history and political science in 1970 and a PhD in political science in 1980. He joined

Radio Éireann Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

in 1962, later becoming the presenter and commentator on numerous current affairs programmes, as well as an analyst of political developments and interviewer of politicians on radio and later on television. In the 1980s, he presented the current affairs programme ''

Today Tonight ''Today Tonight'' is an Australian current affairs television program produced by the Seven Network. It aired from January 1995 to November 2019 in Adelaide and Perth. Editions in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne were previously produced befor ...

'', the precursor to '' Prime Time''. Bowman has won two

Jacob's Awards 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 ...

for his radio broadcasting, in 2016 and 2013 the latter for his presentation of the current affairs programme, ''Day by Day''. In April 2008, he commented on RTÉ television coverage of the state funeral of

Patrick Hillery Patrick John Hillery ( ga, Pádraig J. Ó hIrghile; 2 May 1923 – 12 April 2008) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the sixth president of Ireland from December 1976 to December 1990. He also served as vice-president of the Eur ...

, a former

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Ireland and the supreme commander of the Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.Constitu ...

. Bowman chaired the audience-participation political programme '' Questions and Answers'' on

television for 21 years, the final edition airing on 29 June 2009. He is the presenter of
Bowman: Sunday: 8.30
' (previously ''Bowman Saturday'') on radio, a weekly compilation of material from broadcasting archives at home and abroad. In May 2011, he fronted RTÉ television coverage of

Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the Republic of Ireland Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and her husband Prince Philip made a state visit to the Republic of Ireland from 17 to 20 May 2011, at the invitation of the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese. It ...

. Bowman wrote a history of RTÉ Television called ''Window and Mirror. RTÉ Television: 1961-2011''. It was launched by

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...

at the National Museum in Dublin on 23 November 2011. In January 2019 he was awarded the Freedom of the City of Cork.

Activism

Bowman served a two-year term as president of

The Irish Association for Cultural, Economic and Social Relations The Irish Association for Cultural, Economic and Social Relations is a membership-driven forum for the shared concerns of a wide range of organisations and individuals involved in North–South Irish affairs. The Association was founded in 1938 ...

from 1991 and of Comhar, an environmental pressure group, from 1999 until 200

Personal life

He is married to psychiatrist Eimer Philbin Bowman and they have had four children: Jonathan, Emma, Abie and Daniel. His eldest son Jonathan Philbin Bowman, a journalist, television and radio presenter, died in an accident in March 2000. His daughte
Emma Philbin Bowman
works in Dublin as a psychotherapis

His middle son

is a columnist for The Dubliner magazine and a stand-up comedian, while in 2005 his youngest son Daniel initiated ''Be Not Afraid''; a charity wristband campaign which raised over €80,000 in aid of ''Turning the Tide of Suicide'' and the Irish

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

and later set up a

youth marketing "Youth Marketing" is a term used in the marketing and advertising industry to describe activities to communicate with young people, typically in the age range of 11 to 35. More specifically, there is teen marketing, targeting people age 11 to 1 ...

firm, Spark.http://www.sparkhq.ie

Publications

* ''De Valera and the Ulster question, 1917-1973'' (1983) – , – won the

Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize The Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize was created in 1977, in memory of Christopher Ewart-Biggs, British Ambassador to Ireland, who was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1976. Founded by his Widow Jane Ewart-Biggs (fol ...

* ''Portraits: Belvedere College, Dublin, 1832-1982'' (1982) – * ''Jonathan: Jonathan Philbin Bowman – memories, reflections, tributes'' (2002) – * ''The Election Book, Reminiscences of an on-the-run Psephologist'' (2007) –

References

External links

Bowman SaturdayBowman Sunday MorningQuestions and Answers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowman, John 1942 births Living people Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish agnostics 20th-century Irish historians 21st-century Irish historians Jacob's Award winners People from Ballsbridge Psephologists RTÉ newsreaders and journalists RTÉ Radio 1 presenters Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize recipients People educated at Belvedere College People from the Republic of Ireland