Brenda Power (born 1962) is an Irish journalist, barrister and a radio and television broadcaster on

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...

(RTÉ) and Newstalk.

Career

Power is a former presenter of '' Crimecall''. Prior to this, she filled in for Marian Finucane and Joe Duffy on their respective radio shows. Power worked as a presenter/reporter on ''

Would You Believe Would You Believe may refer to: Music Albums * ''Would You Believe'' (Billy Nicholls album) or the title song, 1968 * ''Would You Believe?'' (Hollies album), 1966 * ''Would You Believe'', by Ray Charles, 1990 Songs * "Would You Believe" (song), ...

'', on RTE 1 TV. She has also featured as a panelist in TV3's '' Midday'' Programme and RTE's ''Cutting Edge'' panel show. She also presented her own radio shows, including the phone-in programme ''Your Call'' on Newstalk, and had worked for RTÉ since 2000, also presented her own show ''The Brenda Power Show'' on RTE Radio 1. During the summer of 2006, Power stood in for George Hook on '' The Right Hook'' on Newstalk. She has also worked for '' The Irish Press'' group writing ''The People Column''. She wrote for

Magill ''Magill'' was an Irish politics and current affairs magazine founded by Vincent Browne and others in 1977. ''Magill'' specialised in investigative articles and colourful reportage by journalists such as Eamonn McCann (who wrote its anonymous ' ...

and ''Image'' Magazines, and as a columnist with The Sunday Times and the Irish Daily Mail. In 1996, Power qualified as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, specialising in Common Law. Power also works as a media and public relations consultant. In 2010 she published, ''The Noughties: From Glitz to Gloom'' (Collins), about Ireland from the Celtic Tiger to crash and the Recession.

Views and controversy

Power has been known for her Catholic, conservative and often controversial viewpoints. For instance, she has written that '...all of the seven deadly sins have since been rebranded as lifestyle choices — envy is motivation, lust is polyamory, and sloth is me-time'. She has accused doctors allowing children under 16 access to abortion without their parent's consent of being guilty of assault. Regarding suicide, Power has argued 'failing to voice even the mildest social disapproval of suicide...we may be making it too easy for troubled people to escape themselves and their responsibilities'. Power has also voiced opposition to LGBT rights. She has opposed same-sex marriage, having campaigned against it in her Times Online column. She is highly critical of LGBT adoption (" I wouldn't like a child to be brought up by two men dressed all day in women's clothes, to be frank"), gay pride ("foolish and anachronistic"), and the Irish gay community, which she describes as "misogynistic". In addition, Power has compared

gender dysphoria Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder (GID) was used until ...

to eating disorders and other mental illnesses. She has stated her support for the 2020 High Court Ruling in the UK regarding puberty blockers. In 2015, she was criticised by

Traveller Traveler(s), traveller(s), The Traveler(s), or The Traveller(s) may refer to: People Generic terms *One engaged in travel *Explorer, one who searches for the purpose of discovery of information or resources *Nomad, a member of a community withou ...

advocacy group Pavee Point and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties for a column that accused Travellers of 'beating their own cousins in family rows' and 'torturing and murdering old folk and causing mayhem on school playgrounds'. Despite being interviewed by the Gardaí, the Irish

Director of Public Prosecutions The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...

declined to pursue legal action, a result Power claimed was a victory for free speech. She went on to compare herself to

Charlie Hebdo ''Charlie Hebdo'' (; meaning ''Charlie Weekly'') is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. Stridently non-conformist in tone, the publication has been described as Anti-racism, anti-racist, sceptica ...

. Her views on Muslim immigration to Europe, which Power claims will reduce the freedoms of Western women, drew criticism from a number of prominent members of Ireland's Muslim community, including Dr.Umar Al-Qadri. Additionally she has voiced strong opposition to proposals aimed at accommodating Muslim students in primary and secondary schools

Personal life

Power is the eldest daughter of Patrick and Rose Power of Ballynooney, Mullinavat,

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

. She is separated and has five children. Brenda won the A.T. Cross Young journalist of the year award in the early 1980s. Power is a graduate of the College of Commerce, Rathmines, with a diploma in journalism. While working as a journalist, Power studied at the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...

and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Brenda Living people Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology Alumni of King's Inns Irish barristers Irish columnists Irish women lawyers LGBT adoption Newstalk presenters People from Kilkenny (city) RTÉ Radio 1 presenters RTÉ television presenters Irish women television presenters Irish women radio presenters Irish women columnists 1962 births People from Mullinavat Broadcasters from County Kilkenny