Barry Cowan (1 February 1948 – 16 June 2004) was a high-profile journalist and broadcaster with BBC Northern Ireland. In 1974, he became the anchor of BBC Northern Ireland's flagship evening television news programme ''Scene Around Six'', which established him as a household name in Northern Ireland. This involved bringing the news into people's homes during some of the worst years of the

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed ...

. In 1986, he became the first presenter of BBC Radio Ulster's popular '' Talk Back'' programme (he was succeeded by his close friend David Dunseith in 1989) and also presented the station's ''

Good Morning Ulster ''Good Morning Ulster'' is the flagship Northern Irish radio breakfast news programme BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster is a Northern Ireland, Northern Irish national radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the ...

'', ''Evening Extra'' and ''Seven Days'' programmes. In the early 1980s he left the BBC for a short period to present ''

Today Tonight ''Today Tonight'' was 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 be ...

'' on RTÉ, for which he 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 ...

. Cowan died at the age of 56 after a long illness.

References

1948 births 2004 deaths BBC newsreaders and journalists Jacob's Award winners RTÉ newsreaders and journalists Place of birth missing {{BBC-tv-bio-stub