Shane Kenny (born 4 July 1947) is an Irish journalist and broadcaster who worked mainly at

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for th ...

. After gaining a BA from

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 ...

he studied journalism in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

and worked there for the ''

Journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

'' and ''

Chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

'' from 1970 to 1973. He was a weekend newscaster on BBC North East radio (1972–3) and later in 1973 he was recruited as a reporter and presenter of ''

7 Days Seven Days or 7 Days may refer to: * Week, an amount of time Film * ''7 Days'' (2010 film) (''Les 7 jours du talion''), Canadian thriller film * ''7 Days'' (2021 film), American romantic comedy film * ''Seven Days'' (1925 film), American silent ...

'' on

RTÉ television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...

(1973–5) before joining

RTÉ Radio RTÉ Radio is a division of the Irish national broadcasting organisation Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Radio broadcasts four analogue channels and five digital channels nationwide. Founded in January 1926 as 2RN, the first broadcaster in t ...

, where he became a

news editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual of ...

in 1980, in which role he launched and was the first editor of ''

Morning Ireland ''Morning Ireland'' is the breakfast news programme broadcast by RTÉ Radio 1 in Ireland and is noted as that country's most listened to radio programme. It is broadcast each weekday morning between 07.00 and 09.00 and alternate items are normall ...

''. He was a longtime

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

on '' News at One'' and '' This Week'', presented RTÉ radio's general election coverage, and also travelled extensively in the Middle East, Europe and the United States to report on international news stories and elections. From 1986 he was the US

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

network's Ireland

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

. In 1989 he won the top prize "for supreme contribution to Irish journalism" at the National Media Awards. He was

press secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Duti ...

to the 1994–97 "Rainbow Coalition" government, and to its 1996

Presidency of the Council of the European Union The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member state ...

. He returned to RTÉ when the government lost the 1997 election and he chose the less political post of

business news Business journalism is the part of journalism that tracks, records, analyzes and interprets the business, economic and financial activities and changes that take place in societies. Topics widely cover the entire purview of all commercial activi ...

editor. In 2003 he left RTÉ to research the role of the Russian Marshal Georgi Zhukov in WWII, and establish his own media business, Leader Productions, and a consultancy, Shane Kenny Media CRO. His radio documentary, Hitler's Nemesis – Georgi Zhukov was broadcast on RTE Radio 1 in April 2005 for the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII. RTE radio documentaries. He still appeared on RTÉ as an independent broadcaster, including his

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" ( ga, An Tíogar Ceilteach) is a term referring to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. ...

series ''Moneymakers'' interviewing business leaders, and fronting the "Entrepreneur of the Year" series which he brought to RTE television until he stopped in 2007. RTE Guide He became Director of Public Affairs at Dublin City University, and a member of the Executive Board, 2005–2011 with provision that he could continue his broadcasting and consulting work. He retired early in 2011 because of illness. In 2016 Kenny made a documentary recounting his experience of chronic pain and other side-effects of

benzodiazepine Benzodiazepines (BZD, BDZ, BZs), sometimes called "benzos", are a class of depressant drugs whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. They are prescribed to treat conditions such as anxiety disorders, ...

, which he had been prescribed first in 2001, but did not take until 2008, and then only for a short time to treat

Ménière's disease Ménière's disease (MD) is a disease of the inner ear that is characterized by potentially severe and incapacitating episodes of vertigo, tinnitus, hearing loss, and a feeling of fullness in the ear. Typically, only one ear is affected initial ...

. In 2020 he alleged that

aluminium sulphate Aluminium sulfate is a salt with the formula Al2 (SO4)3. It is soluble in water and is mainly used as a coagulating agent (promoting particle collision by neutralizing charge) in the purification of drinking water and wastewater treatment plant ...

in the water supply at his house on

Achill Island Achill Island (; ga, Acaill, Oileán Acla) in County Mayo is the largest of the Irish isles, and is situated off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It has a population of 2,594. Its area is . Achill is attached to the mainland by ...

had triggered a relapse of his debilitating symptoms. In December 2020 he drew first attention in the US and Ireland and the UK to a new study by the FDA which confirmed that benzodiazepines can cause long term injury with articles analysing the results in the famous US website Mad in America on 2 December, and The Sunday Times 6 December.

Books

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenny, Shane RTÉ newsreaders and journalists RTÉ Radio 1 presenters Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Living people 1947 births Press secretaries People associated with Dublin City University Writers from County Dublin People with Ménière's disease Broadcasters from County Dublin