Derek Mooney
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Derek James Mooney (born 4 March 1967) is an Irish radio and television presenter, as well as a radio producer. Until January 2015 he presented a weekday afternoon programme called '' Mooney'' on
RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 () is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for the station in 2010 w ...
. He is the current executive producer across RTÉ Radio 1's nature and wildlife programming On television he has often presented game shows and talent contests: his presentation credits include ''
Echo Island ''Echo Island'' is an Irish television programme for children and young adults, shown on RTÉ Network 2. It was shown at 17:00 during ''The Den'', after which programmes like ''The Legend of the Hidden City'' would air. The show effectively to ...
'', ''
Gridlock Gridlock is a form of traffic congestion where continuous queues of vehicles block an entire network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a complete standstill. The term originates from a situation possible in a grid ...
'', ''
Winning Streak A winning streak, also known as a win streak or hot streak, is an uninterrupted sequence of success in games or competitions, commonly measured by at least three wins that are uninterrupted by losses or ties. In sports, it can be applied to te ...
'', the ill-fated ''
Cabin Fever Cabin fever is the distressing irritability or restlessness experienced when a person, or group, is stuck at an isolated location or in confined quarters for an extended time. A person may be referred to as stir-crazy, derived from the use of ''s ...
'', ''
You're a Star ''You're a Star'' is an Irish music competition series broadcast by RTÉ One from 2002 to 2008. Produced by the broadcaster and Screentime ShinAwiL, the series was similar to formats such as '' Idol'' and ''The X Factor''. For its first three ...
'', '' The Big Money Game'', '' Fame: The Musical'', '' The Genealogy Roadshow'' and '' Who Knows Ireland Best?''. At the end of these shows he uses his trademark farewell.


Career

Mooney is one of Ireland's best-known television personalities and one of the country's most prolific broadcasters in the area of natural history. He idolised the late
Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was as the first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late La ...
as a child. Mooney's first job in RTÉ was during the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
when he acted as a runner, working through the night. Mooney was one of the presenters of RTÉ children's television shows ''
Echo Island ''Echo Island'' is an Irish television programme for children and young adults, shown on RTÉ Network 2. It was shown at 17:00 during ''The Den'', after which programmes like ''The Legend of the Hidden City'' would air. The show effectively to ...
'' from its inception in 1994 up until he left the programme in February 1996. He presented ''
Gridlock Gridlock is a form of traffic congestion where continuous queues of vehicles block an entire network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a complete standstill. The term originates from a situation possible in a grid ...
'' later in the 1990s. He has presented ''
Habitats In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
'', '' The Nature Line'', ''
Nature Trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. How ...
'', all for
RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 () is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for the station in 2010 w ...
. He won an award – the ESB Millennium Environment Award – for the best item during the year on the environment in print, radio or television. His television shows on the natural history world include on
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, ...
and ''
Nature Detectives The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland Natural heritage, heritage. It has planted over 68 million trees since 1972 ...
'' for 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 ...
. First broadcast in 1995, '' Mooney'' is a radio programme on RTÉ Radio 1. Originally called ''Mooney Goes Wild on One'', it focused on nature and wildlife, aired at weekends on RTÉ Radio 1, but in October 2006 it became simply ''Mooney'', and the format changed to general chat and discussion and was given a regular weekday slot initially for two hours, then reduced to ninety minutes in 2007. After Mike Murphy retired from ''
Winning Streak A winning streak, also known as a win streak or hot streak, is an uninterrupted sequence of success in games or competitions, commonly measured by at least three wins that are uninterrupted by losses or ties. In sports, it can be applied to te ...
'' in 2001, Mooney became the new presenter of the Saturday night game show, but was temporarily replaced by Laura Woods while he presented ''
You're a Star ''You're a Star'' is an Irish music competition series broadcast by RTÉ One from 2002 to 2008. Produced by the broadcaster and Screentime ShinAwiL, the series was similar to formats such as '' Idol'' and ''The X Factor''. For its first three ...
'' from December 2005 and March 2006. In 2004, he was nominated for the Television Personality of the Year Award at the
Irish Film and Television Awards The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...
. In addition to all of this Mooney has also presented and produced RTÉ's ''
Liveline ''Liveline'' is an Republic of Ireland, Irish radio interview and phone-in chat show broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday afternoon between 13.45 and 15.00. The programme, which has been presented since 1999 by Joe Duffy, and is known for its ...
'', as well as various religious and daily magazine programmes. It was announced in July 2008 that Mooney was to step down as presenter of ''Winning Streak'', after seven years. RTÉ relaunched the programme as '' Winning Streak: Dream Ticket'' in the autumn of 2008 with new presenters,
Aidan Power Aidan Power (born 30 March 1979) is an Irish television and radio presenter. Career Born in Templeogue, Dublin, Power was educated at St. Mac Dara's community college and then Ballyfermot College of Further Education, Ballyfermot Senior Colleg ...
and
Kathryn Thomas Kathryn Thomas (born 20 January 1979) is an Irish television presenter. Thomas won her first contract with RTÉ to co-present the children's television programme ''Rapid'' with Jason Sherlock in the 1990s. From there she went on to present ' ...
, with new games and a new fresh feel to the show. In 2008, Mooney hosted the Lotto's first Millionaire Raffle draw during a break in the Rose of Tralee. There was subsequently a major controversy and a National Lottery spokesperson was attacked over the manner in which the draw was conducted, i.e. not live, plus the coincidence that one of the new millionaires was from Tralee. Mooney was the second host of the game show, '' The Big Money Game'', taking over in 2009. He did so until 2011, then he was replaced by
Brian Ormond Brian Ormond (born 16 August 1979) is an Irish television presenter, businessman and reality TV star. Early career ''Popstars'' In 2001 Ormond auditioned for the Irish version of ''Popstars,'' the television programme which created the pop band ...
and
Sinéad Kennedy Sinéad ( , ) is an Irish feminine name. It is derived from the French ''Jeanette'', which is cognate to the English Janet, itself a feminine form of the Hebrew ''Yohanan'', "God forgave/God gratified". In English, ''Sinéad'' is also commonly sp ...
in 2012. Also in 2009, he offered to take a ten per cent pay cut due to the recession, drawing praise and admiration from some quarters. In 2010 he presented '' Fame: The Musical'', an RTÉ reality talent competition, and in 2011 he presented '' The Genealogy Roadshow''. He dressed up as a leprechaun to beat a world record set by American talk show host
Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno ( ; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show'' from 1992 until 200 ...
. People came from
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
and
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
to participate. He hosted ''Mooney Tunes'' for RTÉ over Christmas 2011, an obvious pun on the similarity between the presenter's name and the word "Looney" as used in ''
Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...
'', the
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
animated cartoon Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...
series. In 2012 he presented RTÉ's quiz show '' Who Knows Ireland Best?''. Mooney announced the points given by
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
to other nations in the
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
in
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
,
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
and
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, just as he had previously done in
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
. He has become directly associated with this role in Irish life. He has expressed regret at not having had an opportunity to present '' The Late Late Show''. In February 2015, he took up the post of executive producer of RTÉ Radio 1's nature and wildlife programming.


Style

Mooney is often seen around Europe announcing the points for
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest Ireland has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 58 times since making its debut at the contest in Naples, missing only two contests since, in and . The current Irish participating broadcaster in the contest is (RTÉ). Ireland share ...
, and is recognised by
Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), known professionally as Graham Norton, is an Irish comedian, broadcaster, actor, and writer. He is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for the comedy chat show ''The Graham Norton Show'' (2007–present) ...
on the BBC. He is known for his trademark "BYEEEE!"


Personal life

Mooney is an avid nature lover. Originally from
Donnybrook Donnybrook may refer to: Places Australia * Donnybrook, Queensland, Australia * Donnybrook, Western Australia * Donnybrook, Victoria, Australia ** Donnybrook railway station, Victoria, Australia Canada * Donnybrook, Ontario, a former village in ...
, he resides in
Kilmacud Kilmacud () is a suburban area of Dublin in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland, at least partly contiguous with Stillorgan. It is in a civil parish of the same name. Name ''Kilmacud'' is an anglicisation of the Irish name , "church of aintM ...
, a south Dublin suburb. His brother David died aged 44 in January 2007. He has nephews and nieces but would prefer not to have children of his own despite saying in 2010 "I might marry a woman yet". He came out as openly gay in 2012. In interviews he lists his hobbies as travel, cinema, going to the gym and socialising in The George. He exercises in the gym because of his 6.2
cholesterol Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body Tissue (biology), tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in Animal fat, animal fats and oils. Cholesterol is biosynthesis, biosynthesized by all anima ...
level. He is a close friend of Alan Hughes and was best man at his wedding to Karl Broderick. In 2012, he had a guest starring role in the comedy series '' Mrs. Brown's Boys''. Mooney has constant incurable
tinnitus Tinnitus is a condition when a person hears a ringing sound or a different variety of sound when no corresponding external sound is present and other people cannot hear it. Nearly everyone experiences faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely ...
in his left ear, stemming from when he had a wet shave where "some kind of electronic device for massaging your face afterwards" was used on him. He felt a vibration jolt through his jawbone. Then there was "the 'zzzz' sound and it never leaving me". Because of this he leaves a television or radio switched on at night. He stated in 2010 that he sleeps for four hours. In 2013, he spoke of his intentions to "end his life" if he were ever to be diagnosed with a terminal illness, stating he made the decision after seeing his mother and brother suffering agonizing deaths. In 2012, he scaled a bridge and bounded across a
County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
motorway to save the life of a 57-year-old man whose collapse had left him "lying flat on his back with blood coming out of his nose and his mouth". Mooney began pumping the man's chest and eventually brought him back to life. Mooney and the man appeared together on ''
Liveline ''Liveline'' is an Republic of Ireland, Irish radio interview and phone-in chat show broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday afternoon between 13.45 and 15.00. The programme, which has been presented since 1999 by Joe Duffy, and is known for its ...
'' with
Joe Duffy Joseph Duffy (born 27 January 1956) is an Irish people, Irish radio and TV presenter employed by RTÉ. One of the public service broadcaster's highest-earning stars, he is the current presenter of ''Liveline'', an interview and phone-in chat s ...
the following day.


References


External links


Profile of ''Mooney''
at RTÉ.ie {{DEFAULTSORT:Mooney, Derek 1967 births 20th-century Irish LGBTQ people 21st-century Irish LGBTQ people Living people Birdwatchers Irish game show hosts Irish radio producers Irish gay entertainers Irish LGBTQ broadcasters LGBTQ producers RTÉ Radio 1 presenters RTÉ television presenters People from Dundrum, Dublin Broadcasters from County Dublin