Sean O'Rourke (born 22 May 1955) is an Irish journalist and broadcaster who works for the Irish public broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). From September 2013 until his retirement in May 2020, he presented the ''

Today with Seán O'Rourke Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'' show every weekday from 10:00am until midday on

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 ...

Career

An arts graduate from

University College Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

, O'Rourke has previously worked for the ''

Connacht Tribune The ''Connacht Tribune'' (''An Curadh Connachtach'') is a newspaper circulating chiefly in County Galway, Ireland. The main regional newspaper for the county, the Tribune Group prints two titles every week - the ''Connacht Tribune'' on Thursday ...

'', ''

The Sunday Press ''The Sunday Press'' was a weekly newspaper published in Ireland from 1949 until 1995. It was launched by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group following the defeat of his Fianna Fáil party in the 1948 Irish general election. Like its sister n ...

'' and ''

The Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

''. In 1989 he joined

RTÉ News and Current Affairs (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

. For RTÉ he has presented ''

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 ...

'' and '' This Week''. In 1995 he moved to the '' News at One''. On television he has presented ''

Today Tonight ''Today Tonight'' is an Australian current affairs television program produced by the Seven Network. It aired from January 1995 to November 2019 in Adelaide and Perth. Editions in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne were previously produced befor ...

'', '' Prime Time'' and ''

The Week in Politics ''The Week in Politics'' is an Irish news and current affairs programme broadcast on RTÉ One and the RTÉ News channel. It is presented by Áine Lawlor, occasionally by Sharon Ní Bheoláin or Paul Cunningham. In its original format in 1996 ...

''. From 2013 to May 2020 he presented the popular weekday radio programme, ''Today with'', as ''Today with Sean O'Rourke'', being succeeded by Sarah McInerney and then

Claire Byrne Claire Byrne (born 11 August 1975) is an Irish journalist and television presenter. Byrne presented ''The Daily Show'' from September 2010 to March 2012. In 2013, she became an anchor on RTÉ's flagship current affairs programme ''Prime Time''. ...

in that role. In August 2020, O'Rourke apologised for his involvement in the Oireachtas Golf Society scandal. RTÉ announced that planned projects involving O'Rourke would not proceed.

Awards

O'Rourke has won ESB National Media Awards: Radio Broadcaster of the Year 1997, NUI Galway Alumni Award for Arts, Media & Communications 2007 and 2008 PPI News Broadcaster of the Year. In June 2011 he was awarded an honorary

Doctorate of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...

by his alma mater,

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

Personal life

O'Rourke was born in Portlaoise, one of eight children of local school principal and hurling enthusiast Kevin O’Rourke. The family later moved to

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

. He is married to Caroline Murphy and has six children, one of whom is a human rights lawyer, Maeve O'Rourke. He is a practising

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. As of 2013, he was chair of NUI Galway's alumni association.

References

External links

RTÉ Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orourke, Sean 1955 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway People from County Galway People from County Laois RTÉ newsreaders and journalists RTÉ Radio 1 presenters