Paddy O'Connell
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Guy Patrick O'Connell (born 11 March 1966 in
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
, Surrey) is an English television and radio presenter, working mainly for the
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 exam. ...
...
. He presents
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' ...
's ''
Broadcasting House Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The main ...
'' programme each Sunday morning. He is also an occasional presenter of Radio 4's '' PM'' programme. O'Connell is a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
.


Education

Paddy O'Connell was educated at
Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...
and the
University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
.


Career

O'Connell began his broadcasting career in 1989 on the BBC's local radio trainee scheme, leading to five years spent as a BBC local radio reporter in
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, Essex and
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. He then joined
BBC Radio 5 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 covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...
at its launch in 1994, before moving to the US to present
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
's ''The World'' programme. He has also presented and reported for a range of other radio stations across the world, including in Australia and Canada. In 1997, O'Connell became
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
' North America Business Correspondent and
Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
anchor, based in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He appeared regularly on
BBC World BBC World News is an international English-language pay television network, operated under the ''BBC Global News Limited'' division of the BBC, which is a public corporation of the UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and S ...
,
BBC News 24 BBC News (also known as the BBC News Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television news channel for BBC News. It was launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 5:30 pm as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic telev ...
and
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
news bulletins, reporting on and presenting business news. Alongside
Richard Quest Richard Austin Quest (born 9 March 1962) is a British journalist and non-practising barrister working as a news anchor for CNN International. He is also an editor-at-large of CNN Business. He anchors ''Quest Means Business'', the five-times-we ...
, he was the US-based anchor for the BBC's ''
World Business Report ''World Business Report'' is a television business news programme produced by BBC News and shown on BBC World News, the BBC News Channel and BBC One on weekdays. There are two editions broadcast each weekday, at 0530 and 0630 GMT as a result of t ...
'' programme, on BBC World and BBC News 24, on which he became well known for his relaxed but incisive style, and deadpan delivery. O'Connell was in New York City at the time of the
September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, and was due to attend a meeting inside the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
on that day. He reported from the scene of the attacks just hours later, interviewing survivors in the aftermath, and anchored the BBC's coverage from the scene that evening. He stayed in New York for a further two years but left the US, and the BBC, in 2003. He then did a variety of freelance work, including a wide range of work for the BBC. He fronted a wide range of news and entertainment shows on the corporation's youth-orientated digital channel
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
. He presented '' Celebdaq'', a show based around a celebrity stock exchange, allowing O'Connell to mix his vast business knowledge with his interest in showbusiness. He also worked on ''
Liquid News ''Liquid News'' was a daily round up of entertainment news for BBC Three (and before that BBC Choice) running from 30 May 2000 to 1 April 2004. The show was also broadcast weekly on BBC One and internationally on BBC Prime and BBC America. The p ...
'' (replacing the late Christopher Price as its main presenter), presented the one-off '' Flashmob – The Opera'' and was a main anchor on the offbeat current affairs show ''BBC Three News''. O'Connell was one of the main presenters on the daily
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
business news programme ''
Working Lunch ''Working Lunch'' is a television programme which was broadcast on BBC Two covering business, personal finance and consumer news; it was broadcast between 1994 and 2010. The programme was first aired on 19 September 1994. It had a quirky, relaxed ...
'' and anchored the show every Friday and occasionally at other times, presenting alongside Adam Shaw or Nik Wood. He joined the programme in 2003 and produced a number of special reports alongside his presentation duties. He left the programme on 26 September 2008, ahead of a relaunch with new presenters. He also appeared regularly on ''
BBC Breakfast ''BBC Breakfast'' is the BBC television Breakfast television, breakfast news programme. Produced by BBC News, the programme is broadcast on BBC One and the BBC News (TV channel), BBC News channel. The simulcast is presented live, originally from ...
'', presenting the programme's business news segments from the
London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
, filling in for regular business reporter
Declan Curry Declan Gerald Curry (born 5 September 1971) is a Northern Irish freelance journalist, news presenter and businessman, best known as the former business correspondent for '' BBC Breakfast''. Early life Curry was born and raised in Strabane, Coun ...
. He presented the weekday evening TV quiz show ''
Battle of the Brains Battle of the Brains is a quizbowl show in the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas of Virginia. It currently airs on WTVR in the Richmond area, and WTKR in Hampton Roads. The current show began in Richmond in 1975, and it originally aired on a l ...
'' on BBC Two, before being replaced by
Nicky Campbell Nicholas Andrew Argyll Campbell, OBE (born Nicholas Lackey, 10 April 1961) is a Scottish broadcaster and journalist. He has worked in television and radio since 1981 and as a network presenter with BBC Radio since 1987. Early life Campbell wa ...
. Alongside these BBC commitments, O'Connell was also a regular presenter on London's
LBC 97.3 LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment, Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed Commercial broadca ...
radio station.


Current TV and radio work

O'Connell currently works on a wide range of BBC radio and TV programmes. He presents the weekly
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' ...
Sunday morning news programme, ''
Broadcasting House Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The main ...
''. He joined the programme full-time in 2006, having previously covered for its former presenter
Fi Glover Fiona Susannah Grace "Fi" Glover (born 27 February 1969) is a British BBC journalist and presenter who formerly presented the ''Fortunately'' podcast, '' The Listening Project'' for BBC Radio 4 and ''My Perfect Country'' for the BBC World Ser ...
while she was on maternity leave. On a March 2013 episode of ''Broadcasting House'', O'Connell was so moved by journalist Emilie Blachère's poem, "A Love Letter from Emilie Blachère to Rémi Ochlik" that he had difficulty continuing the show and Radio 4's programme fell silent for around twelve seconds. Blachère read her poem as a remembrance on the first anniversary of her partner's death. Photojournalist
Rémi Ochlik Rémi Ochlik (16 October 1983 – 22 February 2012) was a French photojournalist who was known for his photographs of war and conflict in Haiti and the Arab Spring revolutions. Ochlik died in the February 2012 bombardment of Homs during the ...
died with veteran war correspondent
Marie Colvin Marie Catherine Colvin (January 12, 1956 – February 22, 2012) was an American journalist who worked as a foreign affairs correspondent for the British newspaper '' The Sunday Times'' from 1985 until her death. She died while covering the siege ...
during the Syrian Civil War in 2012. The printed version of Blachère's poem also mentions fallen photojournalist Lucas Dolega, the first journalist to die during the
Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...
revolutions in
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
. O'Connell is also an occasional presenter of '' PM'' on BBC Radio 4, standing in for regular host
Evan Davis Evan Harold Davis (born 8 April 1962) is an English economist, journalist, and presenter for the BBC. He has presented ''Dragons' Den'' since 2005. In October 2001, Davis took over from Peter Jay as the BBC's economics editor. He left this p ...
, and often stands in for
Jeremy Vine Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio personality, presenter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guest ...
on his
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
lunchtime news and current affairs programme. In addition to covering news based radio programmes, he also regularly sits in for a wide array of presenters on Radio 2 including
Zoe Ball Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British radio and television presenter. She was the first female host of both ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' and ''The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' for the BBC, and presented the 1990s children's show ''Live & K ...
,
Vanessa Feltz Vanessa Jane Feltz is an English television personality, broadcaster, and journalist. She has appeared on various television shows, including Vanessa (British TV series), ''Vanessa'' (1994–1998), ''The Big Breakfast'' (1996–1998), ''The Vane ...
and
Paul O'Grady Paul James O'Grady Order of the British Empire, MBE Deputy Lieutenant, DL (born 14 June 1955) is an English comedian, broadcaster, actor, writer and former drag queen. He achieved notability in the London gay scene during the 1980s with his d ...
. He also previously worked as a regular reporter on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
's evening current affairs programme ''
The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...
'', and has occasionally presented
South East Today ''BBC South East Today'' is the BBC South East regional television news programme, serving Kent, East Sussex, part of West Sussex and a small part of Surrey. Prior to its launch on 3 September 2001, most of the viewers in the region received ''N ...
. As well as news programmes, O'Connell continues to dabble in both light and prime-time entertainment programmes. From 2004, he commentated on the ''
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
''semi-finals on BBC Three. He also presented various behind-the-scenes segments at the main final of the contest, shown on BBC Three. In 2010, O'Connell took part in a Eurovision edition of ''
PopMaster PopMaster (briefly known as Celebrity PopMaster from 2007–2008) is a popular music quiz on the ''Ken Bruce Show'' on BBC Radio 2 that has aired on weekday mornings since February 1998. It usually takes place at around 10:30 every weekday. The qu ...
'' on ''
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
's'' ''
Ken Bruce Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a British broadcaster who is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 from 1986 to 1990, and then again since 1992. Early life and career Bruce was born a ...
Show'', losing to
John Kennedy O'Connor John Kennedy O'Connor (born 1964) is a television and radio broadcaster, author and entertainment commentator. He was born in North London, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He has written, reported and broadcast for numerous m ...
. He was again a contestant on 17 May 2013, winning the contest against Ken Bruce, with John Kennedy O'Connor as question master. On 17 March 2011, he announced via Twitter that he had been replaced as a commentator for the Eurovision semi-finals as the BBC 'refreshed' their Eurovision team. He appeared in the 2011 documentary '' The Secret History of Eurovision''. In 2017 he appeared alongside Ken Bruce on Radio Two's Eurovision Song Contest coverage of the final and in recent years he has often been heard in conversation with Ken Bruce during Radio Two's Eurovision Song Contest coverage of the final. In 2016 he presented a series, ''Travels with Bob'', on BBC Radio 4 visiting various places in Britain with his
Border Terrier The Border Terrier is a British breed of small, rough-coated terrier. It originates from the area of the Anglo-Scottish border, and shares ancestry with the Dandie Dinmont Terrier and the Bedlington Terrier from the same area. The dogs were ...
. He also regularly chairs the First Wednesday discussions, hosted by the
Frontline Club The Frontline Club is a media club and registered charity located near Paddington Station in London. With a strong emphasis on conflict reporting, it aims to champion independent journalism, provide an effective platform from which to support div ...
in west London, in which a panel of experts and key figures debate current geopolitical events happening around the world.


Personal life

O'Connell is gay, and is an ambassador for the charity Stonewall.


References


External links

*
Agent's webpageWorking Lunch profileBroadcasting House website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Paddy People from Guildford BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC World News BBC World Service English television presenters Living people People educated at Gresham's School 1966 births LGBT broadcasters from the United Kingdom LGBT people from England LGBT journalists from the United Kingdom