Anna Carragher (born 9 July 1948) is an Irish former broadcasting executive and television producer. From 2000 to 2006, she was Controller of

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. BBC Northern Ireland is one of the four BB ...

Early life and education

Carragher was born on 9 July 1948 to Thomas Carragher and Eileen Carragher. Her father was a shipyard electrician and trade unionist, and Irish Labour councillor. Her parents were founding members of the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...

(SDLP), which formed in 1970. Carragher was educated St Dominic's High School, now called

St Dominic's Grammar School for Girls St Dominic's Grammar School for Girls (Irish: Scoil Ghramadaí Naomh Doiminic do Chailíní), formerly St Dominic's High School and originally St. Mary's Dominican Convent, is a Catholic grammar school for girls aged 11–18 (Years 8–14), in ...

, a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland. Her mother taught Maths at St Dominic's, and became the school's Vice-Principal in 1976. She studied English Language and Literature at

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA Hons) degree.

Career

Carragher joined the

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

(BBC) in 1970. Her early years were spent in

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

: she was a

studio manager Studio manager, studio director, or studio head is a job title in various media-related professions, including design, advertising, and broadcasting. Design and advertising A design or advertising studio manager's responsibilities will typically ...

from 1970 to 1973, and then a producer for the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

''Today'' program from 1973 to 1981. Carragher moved to

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

in the 1980s. Between 1981 and 1985, she worked as a producer for various Television News programs. In 1985, she joined BBC1's '' Question Time'' as its producer. She produced Radio 4's ''

Any Questions? ''Any Questions?'' is a British topical discussion programme "in which a panel of personalities from the worlds of politics, media, and elsewhere are posed questions by the audience". It is typically broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Fridays at 20: ...

'' from 1989 to 1992. From 1992 to 1995, she worked on the new Five Live station, and was Editor of European and Correspondent Programmes for Radio 4. Carragher became Head of Programmes at

in 1995, and its first female Controller in 2000. She left the BBC on 17 November 2006; she had been with the BBC for thirty-six years. Carragher was a member of the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission from 1995 to 2001. Since 2009, she has been a Commissioner on the

Equality Commission for Northern Ireland The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is a non-departmental public body in Northern Ireland established under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. "The Commission is responsible for implementing the legislation on sex discrimination and equal pa ...

. Carragher was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2021 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2021 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to the arts in Northern Ireland.

Personal life

In 1974, Carragher married Alain Le Garsmeur; the couple had two sons and a daughter. They have since

divorced Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

References

External links

Arts Council Northern Ireland

Her mother
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carragher, Anna 1948 births Living people Alumni of Queen's University Belfast BBC executives BBC Northern Ireland Irish radio producers Irish television producers Irish women television producers British radio producers British television producers British women television producers People educated at St Dominic's Grammar School for Girls Officers of the Order of the British Empire Women radio producers