''Nighthawks'' was 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 ...

television series broadcast on Network 2 (now known as

RTÉ Two (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

Shay Healy Shay Healy (29 March 1943 – 9 April 2021) was an Irish songwriter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known for his role as host of ''Nighthawks'', a RTÉ Television chat show of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and for composing "What's An ...

presented.. Retrieved 1 February 2009. It was part of the major re-brand of RTÉ Two as Network 2 in 1988. The programme, which began broadcasting in the late 1980s, was a three times-weekly, late-night series. ''Nighthawks'' was produced for its first two seasons by David Blake-Knox. In its third season the series producer was

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, later to become a

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-winning novelist. In its final season, it was produced by Briain Mac Lochlainn. The

Irish Film and Television Awards 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 ...

-nominated director Charlie McCarthy and producers David McKenna and Philip Kampf also worked on the programme. The show's signature tune was composed by Ronan Johnston. It also featured several contributory sketches from Nuala Kelly, Joe Taylor, and Orla McGovern. An early star of the series was Irish comedian

Kevin McAleer Kevin McAleer (born 1956) is an Irish Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. He came to prominence on the RTÉ television show ''Nighthawks (TV series), Nighthawks'' which began broadcasting in the late 1980s. McAleer became known for his three-mi ...

, who specialised in rambling but amusing monologues to camera. The Irish actor/comedian-turned

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television presenter

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator, and presenter. Well known for his work in the UK, he is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comedy ...

also appeared on ''Nighthawks'' early in his career. ''Nighthawks'' was produced by RTÉ

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...

. It was broadcast three nights per week. The regular soap opera was originally written by David Blake-Knox, and started off as a two-hander between "Hay Healy",and Tanya (the comic creation of Joanne McAteer) They were later joined by burly Russian character Boris, played by Stanley Townsend. Many stand-ups, comedy actors and comedy writers wrote for the show but, from the second season, the late Gerry McNamara was the chief writer and script editor.

Morgan Jones Morgan Jones may refer to: *Morgan Jones (actor, born 1879) (1879–1951), American silent film actor and screenwriter *Morgan Jones (actor, born 1928) (1928–2012), American film and television actor *Morgan Jones (broadcaster), Welsh television ...

, Joe Taylor and Ann Marie Hourihane were some of the regular "company" actors. Hourihane also wrote a number of sketches and presented a weekly film review. ''Nighthawks'' was devised by David Blake Knox. John Comiskey created the shooting "grammar" of the series, and Shay Healy introduced the "4" Minute" Interview. In 1992, Brian Mac Lochlainn won a

Jacob's Award 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 production of ''Nighthawks''. In December 2012 a one-off special called ''Nighthawks Rehashed'' was aired on RTÉ. The documentary took a look at the unique show that mixed comedy and current affairs with a compilation of vintage interviews from the series.

References

External links

*
''Nighthawks Rehashed''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nighthawks (Tv Series) 1988 Irish television series debuts 1992 Irish television series endings 1980s Irish television series 1990s Irish television series Irish comedy television shows RTÉ original programming