Doireann Ní Bhriain (; born 1952) is an Irish independent radio producer. She began her career as a radio and television journalist,
/ref> and started out reading children's stories on television. From those beginnings, she went on to work for the Irish broadcaster

RTÉ (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, whil ...

for over 20 years before moving on in 1993. She is best known for her work and affiliation with RTÉ Radio 1. She was a long-running reporter on the radio current affairs programme ''Women Today'',1981 photograph
/ref> for which she is well known. She was the presenter of the Eurovision Song Contest 1981, held in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

.Nul Points – Eurovision 1981
In 1993, she won a

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

for her work on RTÉ Radio.''The Irish Times'', "Higgins warns of threat to service", 15 November 1993

Early life

Ní Bhriain was the first of three children born in Dublin in 1952, to Neasa Ní Annracháin, an actress, and Seán Ó Briain, a civil servant. She made her broadcasting debut at the age of eight in a radio play with her mother, who was part of the

Radio Éireann Players The Radio Éireann Players (RÉP) were a repertory company for radio in Ireland, formed in 1947, which performed in regular drama productions for Irish broadcaster, Radio Éireann. After the depredations of the war-time years and a devastating fir ...

. Bilingual in Irish and English,RTÉ Guide Vol.4. No.14 (3 April 1981) she studied at the

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

and graduated in French and Spanish.

Early career, 1972–1981

Ní Bhriain started her career with RTÉ in 1972, as a presenter of children's programmes. She then went on to co-present the magazine show ''Tangents'' and became one of the first Irish female broadcasters to break into current affairs. She worked as a presenter of the flagship

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

programme, ''Féach''. She took a break from journalism in 1976 and spent a year in Kenya, teaching in a rural school, and later in Nairobi. In 1979, she became a reporter on the landmark radio current affairs programme, ''Women Today'', which was hosted at that time by

Marian Finucane Marian Finucane ( ; 21 May 1950 – 2 January 2020) was an Irish broadcaster with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). She began working with the national broadcaster in 1974, starting as a continuity announcer. She was the first presenter of '' ...

. She subsequently became presenter of the programme after Finucane's departure.

Eurovision 1981

Outside Ireland, Ní Bhriain is best known for being the solo presenter of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest. The dress she wore for the occasion was designed by Richard Lewis, while the gold jewellery was designed by Mary Grey. In a 2004 interview with the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' (Irish edition), she said of the experience, "I did it for a laugh...it was offered me because I was quite well known, and because I spoke French and Irish with some ease...I always tell people that there was no autocue in those days: I had to learn it all off." Ní Bhriain provided the RTÉ Radio commentary for the 1991 Contest.

Radio work, 1981–1993

After hosting Eurovision 1981, Ní Bhriain left RTÉ again, this time to pursue a scholarship granted to her from the Journalists in Europe programme in Paris. On her return, she co-presented ''The Women's Programme'' with Marian Finucane. This was a groundbreaking, prime-time magazine and current affairs programme. She also worked the RTÉ

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 Kingdom ...

newsroom (where she met her husband,

Andy Pollak Andy Pollak is a journalist, editor, writer and commentator focusing on cross-border cooperation in Ireland. Biography Pollak was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, and largely brought up in London. His father, a Czech citizen of German-speaking Je ...

) and presented the ''Book Programme'' on RTÉ Radio 1. The late 1980s saw her take her first courses in radio production, and soon after she worked as a producer on ''The Arts Show'' with Mike Murphy. She also produced several radio documentaries, winning a

in 1983 for her work with Nuala Hayes on 'Moving Statues', a documentary on the work of sculptor Louise Walsh. She left RTÉ in 1993 to run the ''L'Imaginaire Irlandais'' festival in France, living between Dublin and Paris until the festival was over in 1996.

Career in the 2000s

In 2000, she moved on to work in arts project management and consultancy for a number of years. She developed an expertise in festival management and cultural tourism. She also continued to work in radio as an independent producer, producing series on volunteering, on minority religions in Ireland, on urban development in Ireland, and documentaries for RTÉ radio and Raidió na Gaeltachta. In recent years, she has specialised in voice and presentation training, independent radio production and television voiceover work in English and Irish. Ní Bhriain currently provides the recorded announcements on the Luas, the tram system in Dublin, in both Irish and English.

References