Miriam O'Callaghan (born 1959 or 1960) is an Irish television current affairs presenter with

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

. O'Callaghan has presented ''

Prime Time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

'' since 1996, and her own summer talk show, ''

Saturday Night with Miriam ''Saturday Night with Miriam'' was an Irish talk show first broadcast on RTÉ One in the summer of 2005. The show runs for six weeks as a summer filler, and is overseen by Miriam O'Callaghan, a co-presenter of ''Prime Time''. Format ''Saturda ...

'', from 2005 onwards. In the summer of 2009, she began a radio show, '' Miriam Meets...'', since replaced by live show ''Sunday with Miriam''. She is also the first woman to present a full episode of '' The Late Late Show''.

Early life

O'Callaghan received her Bachelor of Civil Law in 1979 and a Diploma in European Law in 1981. Her brother, politician

Jim O'Callaghan Jim O'Callaghan (born 5 January 1968) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration since January 2025. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Bay South constituency since the 2 ...

is a

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

TD and since 24 January 2025 has served as

Minister for Justice (Ireland) The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration () is a senior minister (government), minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migratio ...

. Her sister, Anne, had cancer and died aged 33.Bielenberg, Kim
"The broadcaster talks to Kim Bielenberg about the highs and lows of social media, missing out on the Late Late Show gig and those RTÉ leaving party photos"
Irish Independent. 19 June 2021.

Career

O'Callaghan worked for British national broadcaster the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

before returning to Ireland after being headhunted by RTÉ in 1993 to present ''

Marketplace A marketplace, market place, or just market, is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from ...

'', an economics and business programme. She worked on the first series of ITV's '' Tonight with Sir Trevor McDonald'' until 1999. Since 1996, RTÉ secured her services exclusively as the presenter of ''Prime Time''. In 2005, she began the first series of her own summer talk show, ''

''. O'Callaghan made her debut as a radio presenter on 11 July 2009 on the programme, ''Miriam Meets'', to run for eight weeks. It was confirmed in August 2009 that the programme would return permanently to

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 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 the station in 2010 w ...

on Sunday mornings. In 2013, she stood in as a long-term replacement on RTÉ Radio One in the daily morning slot from 9am to 10am when presenter John Murray was on extended sick leave. After this she was given a new live Sunday morning radio show on RTÉ Radio One from 10am until 11am. In 2011, O'Callaghan fronted RTÉ's coverage of Queen Elizabeth II's state visit to Ireland in May 2011, and in October of that year hosted the ''Prime Time'' debate with the seven candidates standing in the

2011 Irish presidential election The 2011 Irish presidential election was the thirteenth presidential election to be held in Ireland, and was contested by a record seven candidates. It was held on Thursday, 27 October 2011. The election was held to elect a successor to Mary ...

. Her treatment of

Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman for Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during The Troubles. He was the deputy First Minist ...

resulted in more than 100 complaints to RTÉ. She hosted RTÉ's 50th anniversary party on New Year's Eve 2011, attended by

President of Ireland The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins (; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, broadcaster, and sociologist who has been serving as the president of Ireland since 2011. Entering national politics through the Labour Party, he served as a senator ...

and

Jedward John and Edward Grimes (born 16 October 1991), collectively known as Jedward, are Irish media personalities and singers. They are Monozygotic, identical twins who first appeared as John & Edward in The X Factor (British TV series) series 6, th ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she hosted '' The Late Late Show'' when

Ryan Tubridy Ryan Tubridy (born 28 May 1973) is an Irish broadcaster. He currently presents the weekday mid-morning programme ''The Ryan Tubridy Show'' on Virgin Radio UK, as well as a weekend programme on Sundays. His broadcasting career with RTÉ spanned ...

was unavailable. She was the first female presenter of a full episode of the show (

Marian Finucane Marian Finucane ( ; 21 May 1950 – 2 January 2020) was an Irish people, Irish broadcaster with RTÉ. Finucane began working with the national broadcaster in 1974, starting as a continuity announcer. She went on to host ''Women Today'' (1979– ...

having presented part of an episode on 15 November 1980). O'Callaghan hosted the RTÉ Leaders Debate for the

2020 Irish general election The 2020 Irish general election took place on Saturday 8 February, to elect the 33rd Dáil, the lower house of Ireland's parliament. The election was called following the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil by the president, at the request of the Tao ...

. RTÉ defended O'Callaghan against accusations of bias, her brother was standing for re-election as a Fianna Fáil candidate. She will host the final debate of the

2024 Irish general election The 2024 Irish general election to elect the 34th Dáil took place on Friday, 29 November 2024, following the dissolution of parliament, dissolution of the 33rd Dáil on 8 November by president of Ireland, President Michael D. Higgins at the re ...

with government party leaders Taoiseach

Simon Harris Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish Fine Gael politician serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence since January 2025, having previously served as Taoiseach from 2024 to 2025. He has ...

, Tánaiste Mícheál Martin and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

Mary Lou McDonald Mary Louise McDonald (born 1 May 1969) is an Irish politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition in Ireland since June 2020, as President of Sinn Féin since February 2018, and as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituen ...

. O'Callaghan's earnings from her work with RTÉ were €307,000 as of 2011, which were reduced to €263,500 as of 2023.

Marriages and children

O'Callaghan married her first husband in 1983 and they separated in 1995 after having four daughters. She met her second husband, Steve Carson, while working on ''Newsnight''. In 2000, they married and set up their own television company, Mint Productions. She has four sons with Carson.

Awards

In 2003, she won the Television Personality of the Year Award at the

Irish Film and Television Awards The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...

. O'Callaghan was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) degree by the

Ulster University Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

on 5 July 2011.

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

conferred to her an Honorary Doctor of Laws by University College Cork in June 2017. In 2015, she was awarded UCD Alumnus of the Year in Law from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

. She has won the ''

RTÉ Guide The ''RTÉ Guide'' is a television and radio listings magazine in Ireland published by RTÉ Commercial Enterprises Ltd, a subsidiary of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). The magazine offers detailed programme listings for RTÉ channels, as w ...

'' Style Award in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocallaghan, Miriam 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Irish television talk show hosts People from Foxrock RTÉ newsreaders and journalists RTÉ Radio 1 presenters Irish women radio presenters 20th-century Irish women journalists 21st-century Irish women journalists Broadcasters from County Dublin Year of birth missing (living people)