Noel Thompson is a Northern Irish news journalist with BBC Northern Ireland. He was part of the presenting team for BBC Radio Ulster's flagship morning 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 Harv ...

.Noel Thompson's profile
BBC Newsline, 15 April 2008

Journalism career

Thompson began his broadcasting career at the BBC in 1979 as a researcher for '' Nationwide'' in Belfast.The thrill of the news for Noel
News Letter, 13 October 2008; retrieved 5 February 2009 He progressed through the corporation's internal training scheme, working on ''

Multi-Coloured Swap Shop ''Multi-Coloured Swap Shop'', more commonly known simply as ''Swap Shop'', is a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1976 to 27 March 1982. It was ground-breaking in many ways: by broadcasting on Saturday mornin ...

'' and '' Newsround''. In addition to his broadcasting career at BBC Northern Ireland, Thompson has presented ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...

'' and '' BBC Breakfast'' and, for a period, occasionally guest presented on

BBC News Channel 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 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 broad ...

' politics and arts interview programme ''

HARDtalk ''HARDtalk'' is a BBC television and radio programme broadcast on the BBC News Channel, on BBC World News, and on the BBC World Service. Broadcast times and days vary, depending on broadcasting platform and geographic location. ''HARDtalk' ...

''. Thompson was awarded Royal Television Society ''Regional TV Presenter of the Year'' for two consecutive years: 1997 and 1998. He was also nominated in the same category in 1999. In 2007, Thompson received an Award of Distinction from

Belfast Metropolitan College Belfast Metropolitan College, also known as ''Belfast Met'', is a further and higher education institution in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The college offers both vocational education and academic qualifications. With over 37,000 enrolments and ...

for his services to journalism. It was announced in 2019 that Thompson would retire from the corporation in 2020 along with three other BBC presenters.

Personal life

Thompson studied at

Campbell College Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...

in Belfast and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, reading MML (French and German), then Social and Political Sciences. Prior to joining the BBC, Thompson worked in a bar at the Europa Hotel in Belfast, and he also managed his brother's restaurant in the West Indies. He sings baritone with the Belfast Philharmonic and has regularly performed at many classical concerts with the august choir alongside the

Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra, based in Belfast, is the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. The orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United K ...

. He is a committed and highly experienced wildlife photographer and mountain walker. Thompson is married to Sharon and has two children, Patrick and Matthew, the latter a reporter for

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...

References

External links

Noel Thompson profile
BBC Newsline, 15 April 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Noel Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge BBC World News BBC World Service BBC newsreaders and journalists Living people Television presenters from Northern Ireland People educated at Campbell College Journalists from Belfast Year of birth missing (living people)