Caoilfhionn Shanley-Ferguson (24 August 1968 – 8 February 2020), also known as Keelin Shanley, was a journalist, newsreader and presenter with

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 had presented the '' Six One News'', alongside Caitríona Perry from January 2018 until her death in February 2020.

Early life

The daughter of Derry Shanley and his wife Orna, Keelin Shanley grew up in Monkstown with her siblings. She studied biochemistry at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

Career

Shanley worked as a reporter and presenter with RTÉ's flagship current affairs television programme, ''

Prime Time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

'' for over 10 years, Shanley made a number of award-winning documentaries. Shanley presented special budget and election coverage, '' Crimecall'', ''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 a ...

'', ''The Consumer Show'' and documentary ''Hacked'' on

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

, as well as ''

Morning Ireland ''Morning Ireland'' is an Irish breakfast news programme broadcast by RTÉ Radio 1 and is noted as the country's most listened to radio programme. It is broadcast each weekday morning between 7 am and 9 am and alternate items are normal ...

'', ''Today with Seán O'Rourke'' and ''The Late Debate'' 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 ...

. She also worked as a news reporter for

Radio France International Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...

and for CNN World Report.

Personal life

Shanley lived in

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

. On 8 February 2020, RTÉ announced that Shanley had died following a two-year battle with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, aged 51. Shanley, who died on the same day as the

2020 Irish general election The 2020 Irish general election took place on Saturday 8 February, to elect the 33rd Dáil, the lower house of Ireland's parliament. The election was called following the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil by the president, at the request of the Tao ...

, had first been diagnosed during the

2011 Irish general election The 2011 Irish general election took place on Friday 25 February to elect 166 Teachta Dála, Teachtaí Dála across Dáil constituencies, 43 constituencies to Dáil Éireann, the lower house of Republic of Ireland, Ireland's parliament, the Oir ...

and spoke of her experience on '' The Late Late Show'' in 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shanley, Keelin 1968 births 2020 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Deaths from cancer in the Republic of Ireland Irish radio presenters Irish women radio presenters Irish television presenters Irish women television presenters Irish journalists Irish women journalists Television personalities from Dublin (city) RTÉ newsreaders and journalists