Sarah O'Flaherty (born 1973), known as Sarah O', is an Irish television presenter who has worked on Irish, English and Scottish television shows.The Afternoon Show RTÉ Television - accessed 1 November 2007 She began her career as co-presenter of ''The Grip'' (
Ryle Nugent
Ryle Nugent was born in Dublin and is an Irish sports broadcaster, reporter and former Head of RTÉ Sport. Prior to his appointment, he was RTÉ's commissioning editor for sport primarily specialising in rugby union. He is the resident rugby unio ...
also presented this).
Early life
O'Flaherty grew up in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, Ireland with her parents and three brothers. She was a member of the
Girl Guides
Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...
, during which time she learned "good team player, listen to and help others" and put her in good stead for the workplace.Sarah O'Flaherty - TV and Radio Presenter Interview with Girl Guiding Scotland
Career
O'Flaherty began her career as a co-presenter of
RTÉ
(RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
's ''The Grip'' enabling her to travel the world covering sporting events and allowing her participate in many extreme sports such as skydiving and bungee jumping. This was followed by a stint in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia for the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
.
Scotsport
O'Flaherty was signed to co-present
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...
's (STV)
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
show ''
Scotsport
''Scotsport'' is a Scottish sports television programme, broadcast on STV in northern and central Scotland between 1957 and 2008, as well as on ITV Border in southern Scotland.
It was first broadcast in 1957 as ''Sports Desk'' and continui ...
'', along with
Jim Delahunt
James Martin Delahunt (born 1962)Time & Place: Finding m ...
and
Julyan Sinclair
Julyan Sinclair is an Orcadian television and radio presenter. He won a BAFTA in 2002 for "Best New Television Presenter" for his work on various Scottish Television arts and entertainment programmes.
Television career
He has previously hosted '' ...
. The aim was to try and entice new and younger views to the flagship sport show but viewers tuned out and the presenters were criticised for their apparent lack of football knowledge. Over 2,000 fans signed an online petition calling for O'Flaherty and Sinclair's dismissal however with a view base of over 250,000 this was a very small proportion. After two years the pairs' contract was not renewed in 2006.
On the Radio and in the Paper
From 2003 to 2007, O'Flaherty worked for
Radio Clyde
Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio and Gr ...
as their news, show business and sports reporter as well as DJing on Saturday nights with her own music show called the ''Mix Monkey''. She also wrote a weekly "Diary" column for the ''