Paddy O'Flaherty (1942/43 – 27 September 2016) was a broadcaster and journalist for

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 ...

. He was known for his work 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 ...

, including Good Morning Ulster and

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 ...

, as well as his love for

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

Career

O'Flaherty grew up in the

Ballyhackamore Ballyhackamore () is a townland in County Down, Northern Ireland, it is a suburb of Belfast located on the Upper Newtownards Road. It is also a ward in the UK Parliamentary constituency of East Belfast. The Sunday Times named Ballyhackamore th ...

area of

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 Kingd ...

, Northern Ireland. In the 1960s and 1970s, O'Flaherty worked as a journalist for ''

The Irish News ''The Irish News'' is a compact daily newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest selling morning newspaper and is available throughout Ireland. It is broadly Irish nationalist in its viewpoint, though it al ...

''; he covered topics from Irish civil rights to the

column. In the 1990s, O'Flaherty worked as

angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techni ...

reporter on the

Your Place and Mine ''Your Place and Mine'' is a Northern Irish radio programme. The programme went on air for the first time in September 1991 and "was commissioned to bring something different to Saturday mornings on BBC Radio Ulster, which was originally music ...

programme. He also presented the Make Mine Country programme on BBC television and reported on many 'lighter' issues on radio and television. O'Flaherty's last programme on Good Morning Ulster was a discussion of the use of telephone boxes in an age of mobile phones.

Death and tributes

O'Flaherty died on 27 September 2016; his death was announced by Noel Thompson on Good Morning Ulster. Speaking after his death was announced, Peter Johnston, the Controller of BBC Northern Ireland, said that "We were all deeply saddened to hear of the death of Paddy, who for many years was a well-known face and voice across our airwaves and television screens" and that "Paddy was for many years a well-known face and voice across our airwaves and television screens." Northern Ireland

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of '' ...

Arlene Foster Arlene Isobel Foster, Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (née Kelly; born 17 July 1970), is a British broadcaster and politician from Northern Ireland who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2016 to 2017 and from 2020 to 2021 and ...

said that she was "really sorry to hear about Paddy's death. Such a gentle person", whilst deputy First Minister

Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness ( ga, Séamus Máirtín Pacelli Mag Aonghusa; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman from Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during ...

said that O'Flaherty was "a wonderful broadcaster, fiddler and like myself, a fly fisherman". Séamus Dooley from the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Structure There is ...

said that O'Flaherty was "the embodiment of all that is best in public service broadcasting". He was remembered at the 2016

Phonographic Performance Ireland Phonographic Performance Ireland CLG (PPI) is a music licensing company which controls the public performance, broadcasting, reproduction of recording, and other rights of the recordings under its jurisdiction, which comprise the recordings of seve ...

Radio Awards along with

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 week ...

. His funeral was held at St Gerard's Church in Belfast, and was attended by 300 people. O'Flaherty's wife Brenda died in 2003, and he is survived by his two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OFlaherty, Paddy Journalists from Northern Ireland 2016 deaths Mass media people from Belfast Radio personalities from Northern Ireland Year of birth uncertain 1940s births