Kerry McLean, born in

Ballymoney Ballymoney ( , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated ...

, is a broadcaster with

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 BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. Acc ...

. She was educated at Dalriada School, Ballymoney, La Sainte Union,

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, where she studied French, Education and English Literature, and Psychology at

Ulster University Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

. She joined 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 1993 and over the next six years worked in the following: news and current affairs in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

on ''

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 ...

''; in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on ''

Good Morning Scotland ''Good Morning Scotland'' is a Scottish morning news and current affairs radio programme on BBC Radio Scotland, broadcast weekdays from 06:00 to 09:00 and produced by BBC News Scotland. It was established in 1973, making it the longest-running ...

''; in London on the ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' programme on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

; and later for the Ukrainian and then Education sections of the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

. Her broadcasting career includes early stints as a traffic and travel reporter, presenting the English/French bilingual output for

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

for the

and, ''Weekend Extra'' for

. From 2014 until 2019, Kerry had an afternoon slot, 15:00 - 17:00, Monday - Thursday. From 2019 until 2023 she presented on Sunday afternoons, and since February 2023 hosts the weekend morning shows on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle replacing the late

Kim Lenaghan Kim Lenaghan (24 December 1960 – 11 September 2022) was a Northern Irish freelance radio and television broadcaster, writer and critic who was based in Belfast and worked mainly in the fields of the visual and cinematic arts, music and cuis ...

who died last year. Kerry has also worked as a newspaper columnist for the

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media, which also publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and various other newspapers and magazines in Ireland. Its e ...

and hosts the Parentline podcast. Kerry lives in

with her husband Ralph and has three children, Tara, Dan and Eve.

References

External links

''Kerry McLean''
(BBC Radio Ulster) 1975 births British radio personalities Living people {{UK-radio-bio-stub