Sean Rafferty

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

is a

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

-born, Northern Irish broadcaster, now best known for his work on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

Early life

Rafferty was born in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and spent his childhood in

Newcastle, County Down Newcastle () is a small seaside resort town in County Down, Northern Ireland, which had a population of 7,672 at the 2011 Census. It lies by the Irish Sea at the foot of Slieve Donard, the highest of the Mourne Mountains. Newcastle is known fo ...

. He went on to study law at

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

Career

Rafferty's original career was as an accountant. In 1969, he met the head of

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...

at a conference, and this meeting led to Rafferty joining the BBC as a researcher. He went on to become a regular presenter on the BBC Northern Ireland news television programmes, ''Scene Around Six'' and ''Inside Ulster''. In 1990, he fronted the first chat show on BBC

Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. It is ...

, entitled ''Rafferty''. From 1994, he joined the morning radio news programme, ''

Good Morning Ulster ''Good Morning Ulster'' is the flagship Northern Irish radio breakfast programme broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster. The main presenting team is Sarah Brett and Chris Buckler: this core team is augmented with Joel Taggart, Mark Devenport, Declan Harvey ...

'', and the arts programme ''29 Bedford Street'', and the following year, he launched the

drivetime DriveTime Automotive Group Inc. is an American used car retailer and finance company. It is based in Tempe, Arizona, and sells and finances cars to customers around the nation. The company was formerly known as Ugly Duckling and was renamed Driv ...

news and current affairs programme on Radio Ulster, ''

Evening Extra ''Evening Extra'' is the BBC's drive time news and current affairs radio programme in Northern Ireland. It is broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle and BBC Sounds on weekday evenings, from 4pm to 6pm. It is presented by Richard Morg ...

''. Rafferty also fronted a makeover show, ''Room for Improvement''. After years working mainly in news and current affairs, Rafferty decided to cross over into arts broadcasting, and in 1997, he moved to London to present the drivetime music magazine programme on

, '' In Tune''. Under Rafferty, the programme features a mix of live and recorded classical and jazz music, interviews with musicians, and arts news.

Honours and awards

In 2004, Rafferty was named Radio Broadcaster of the Year at the

Broadcasting Press Guild Awards The Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) is a British association of journalists dedicated to the topic of general media issues. History The Guild was established in 1974 as a breakaway of The Critics' Circle. Currently it groups over 100 staff and fr ...

. Rafferty was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

for services to broadcasting.

References

External links

''In Tune''
(BBC Radio 3) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rafferty, Sean BBC Radio 3 presenters Living people 1940s births Mass media people from Belfast Members of the Order of the British Empire