Caitríona Perry
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Caitríona Perry (born 15 October 1980) is an Irish journalist who works for
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
as a chief presenter based in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
She formerly worked for
RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...
, Ireland's national radio and television station, where she presented the '' Six One News'' from January 2018 to May 2023 and was the
RTÉ News RTÉ News and Current Affairs (), also known simply as RTÉ News (''Nuacht RTÉ''), is the national news service provided by Irish public broadcaster (RTÉ). Its services include local, national, European and international news, investigative ...
Washington correspondent from February 2013 to December 2017.


Career

Perry has a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in journalism from
Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...
, and a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in
international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...
. She joined
RTÉ News RTÉ News and Current Affairs (), also known simply as RTÉ News (''Nuacht RTÉ''), is the national news service provided by Irish public broadcaster (RTÉ). Its services include local, national, European and international news, investigative ...
in 2007 after working at
Newstalk Newstalk (formerly NewsTalk 106) is a national independent radio station in Ireland. It is operated by News 106 Limited, a subsidiary of Bauer Media Audio Ireland, and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Aut ...
and
Today FM Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio Ireland Limited. Broadcasting since 17 March 1997, it broadcasts mostly music, with a daily news and current affairs programme. Today FM holds a licen ...
. She became RTÉ's Washington correspondent in 2013, where she covered stories such as the 
US presidential election The election of the president and vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not directl ...
in 2016, the
first inauguration of Donald Trump The United States presidential inauguration, inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States marked the commencement of Trump's first term as president and Mike Pence's only term as Vice President of the United States, ...
and the
Berkeley balcony collapse On June 16, 2015, shortly after midnight, five Irish J-1 visa students and one Irish-American died and seven others were injured after a balcony on which they were standing collapsed. The group was celebrating a 21st birthday party in Berkeley, ...
. She subsequently wrote a book about her experience of the election entitled ''In America: Tales from Trump Country''. Perry herself became the subject of news stories in June 2017 after an encounter at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
with President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. While he was on a telephone call with Taoiseach
Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2017 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2024, as Tánaiste from 2020 to 2022, and as leader of Fine Gael from 2017 to 2024. A Teachta Dála, ...
, Trump summoned Perry to compliment her on having a "nice smile", which ''Irish Central'' described as Trump being "fixated with" Perry, ''The Daily Telegraph'' described as "creepy", and Perry herself described as "bizarre". In January 2018, she took over as co-anchor of the '' RTÉ News: Six One'' alongside
Keelin Shanley Caoilfhionn Shanley-Ferguson (24 August 1968 – 8 February 2020), also known as Keelin Shanley, was a journalist, newsreader and presenter with RTÉ, Ireland's national radio and television station, where she had presented the '' Six One News' ...
. She presented many ''RTÉ News Specials'', including the
US presidential election The election of the president and vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not directl ...
in 2020, the
inauguration of Joe Biden The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States took place on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, on the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It was the 59th inauguration and marked the commencement o ...
, the
visit by Pope Francis to Ireland Pope Francis visited Ireland on 25 and 26 August 2018, as part of the World Meeting of Families 2018. It was the first visit by a reigning pontiff to the country since 1979 (though Francis had spent time studying English in Dublin in 1980, as ...
, additional programmes during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, and Joe Biden's visit to Ireland. On 4 May 2023, she announced that she would be leaving RTÉ after almost 16 years to take up a new role as chief presenter with the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
in Washington D.C. She signed off for the final time as co-presenter of the ''Six One News'' on 26 May and started her new job with ''
BBC World News America ''BBC World News America'' is an American current affairs news program created by Garth Ancier and produced by BBC News, which premiered on October 1, 2007. Produced out of the BBC's Washington, D.C. bureau, Caitríona Perry and Sumi Somaskan ...
'' in August.


Personal life

Perry grew up in
Knocklyon Knocklyon () is a suburb of the city of Dublin, located in South Dublin, Ireland. Unlike many Dublin suburbs, Knocklyon was not developed around a village; rather it largely consists of modern housing, with a number of old cottages and farmhous ...
in Dublin. She gave birth to a girl on 29 July 2019, and to a boy on 20 September 2022.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Caitriona Irish women radio presenters Irish women journalists Living people RTÉ newsreaders and journalists 1980 births Alumni of Dublin City University Broadcasters from County Dublin People from Rathmines