Pat Kenny facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pat Kenny
Kenny in 2011
Born	Patrick Kenny (1948-01-29) 29 January 1948 (age 76) Dublin, Ireland
Education	University College Dublin Georgia Institute of Technology
Occupation	Broadcaster
Employer	Newstalk TV3
Known for	Today Tonight Kenny Live The Late Late Show Today with Pat Kenny The Frontline The Pat Kenny Show Pat Kenny Tonight Eurovision Song Contest 1988
Spouse(s)	Kathy
Children	3

Patrick Kenny (born 29 January 1948) is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk and the current affairs show Pat Kenny Tonight on Virgin Media One.

Prior to this, Kenny had a 41-year high-profile career at RTÉ, in which he was their highest paid presenter for several years. He presented radio show Today with Pat Kenny on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday morning between 10:00 and midday until 2013. He hosted The Late Late Show from September 1999 until May 2009, then returned as a stand-in host in January 2013. He presented the current affairs programme The Frontline, each Monday night from 2009 until its axing in 2013.

He was the co-host of Eurovision Song Contest 1988, as well as numerous other television shows, including Today Tonight, Saturday Live and Kenny Live, and has worked for both RTÉ Radio 1 and RTÉ 2fm, sometimes simultaneously, in a career that has spanned five decades. He is the holder of a Jacob's Award and was perennially cited as the highest paid employee at RTÉ. He was named 23rd most influential person of 2009 by the magazine Village.

Early career

Kenny was educated at the O'Connell School and obtained a chemical engineering degree from University College Dublin (UCD) in 1969. Subsequently, he was a postgraduate student at Georgia Institute of Technology and then a lecturer at Bolton Street College of Technology in Dublin. He began his broadcasting career in parallel to his academic "day-job" by working as a continuity announcer on RTÉ radio in the mid-1970s. He subsequently became a radio disc jockey.

In 1986, Kenny won a Jacob's Award for his "unusual versatility" in presenting three diverse radio shows: Saturday View on RTÉ Radio 1, and, on RTÉ 2fm, The Kenny Report and The Outside Track.

Television career

Today Tonight, Eurovision, The Pat Kenny Show, Saturday Live, Kenny Live!

Kenny became a television broadcaster on RTÉ's Today Tonight, a current affairs programme in the mid-1980s. He moved in an unexpected direction for a current affairs presenter when he filled the role of co-presenter of the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest. This he did alongside Michelle Rocca at the Royal Dublin Society's Simmonscourt Pavilion. Kenny continued to be associated with Eurovision, providing television commentary for Irish viewers of the event on nine occasions from 1991 to 1999. He was criticised for referring on-air to the transsexual Israeli singer Dana International as "he, she or it" during the 1998 edition of the contest and later refused to apologise for the remark.

He presented The Pat Kenny Show. Subsequently, he had a guest slot on the weekly chat show Saturday Live. He went on to host the show permanently and its title was changed to Kenny Live!. There was a much publicised rivalry between Kenny Live!, broadcast on Saturday nights and The Late Late Show, broadcast on Friday nights. Saturday Live, latterly Kenny Live!, had been conceived as preserving the weekend slot on a Saturday night to prevent loss of viewers and corresponding loss of advertising revenue.

The Late Late Show (1999–2009)

Gay Byrne retired from presenting The Late Late Show in 1999. Kenny was announced as Byrne's replacement on 24 May 1999. He was in Israel for the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest when the announcement was made that he was taking over at the age of 51.

Among the highlights of Kenny's career in presenting The Late Late Show was his Toy Show interview with comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld remained tight-lipped, even as Pat Kenny referred to him as Jerry Sein-field. Kenny also came under fire after an interview on The Late Late Show with Babyshambles' lead singer Pete Doherty.

On 27 March 2009, Kenny announced that he would resign as host of The Late Late Show at the end of the season. Guests on his final night included U2, who presented Kenny with a rare Gibson guitar and a pair of shades. During the final programme, which included an outside party, Kenny thanked the crew for their work during his ten-year reign as host.

The Frontline and Prime Time (2009–2013)

In September 2009, Kenny began presenting The Frontline every Monday night on RTÉ One, a topical debate show revolving around the interaction between Kenny, his guests and an invited audience. The Frontline ended in January 2013 as Kenny became the co-host with long-time main presenter Miriam O'Callaghan of a revamped Prime Time in February 2013 until he departed RTÉ on 31 July 2013.

Departure from RTÉ

Kenny at the 2014 Dublin Web Summit.

On 31 July 2013, it was announced that Kenny would not be renewing his contract with RTÉ after a 41-year presence there, and would be leaving RTÉ to join radio station Newstalk to host a current affairs magazine show on weekdays from 10 am to 12.30 pm, starting on 2 September 2013.

Return to television

It was announced in August 2014 that Kenny would return to TV screens in 2015 on UTV Ireland with a new show titled Pat Kenny in the Round, recorded in the Round Room in the Mansion House in Dublin. However the show was axed in September 2015.

In 2016, Kenny joined TV3 to host the current affairs show Pat Kenny Tonight along with Colette Fitzpatrick. Later the series was hosted just by Pat Kenny. A new series Pat Kenny's Big Debate was launched and in 2021 it was announced that Pat Kenny was no longer working with Virgin Media TV.

Earnings

Kenny was the highest-paid presenter on RTÉ in 2008 earning €950,956. His pay was reduced to €729,604 in 2009 due to the economic climate.

In March 2013, it was revealed he had earned €630,000 in 2011. Pat Kenny Media Services Limited, the private company of which Kenny and his wife are sole directors, posted accumulated profits of €1.52 million in 2018.

Awards

In September 2012, Kenny was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by University College Dublin for "exceptional contributions to public service broadcasting." In 2016, he received a lifetime achievement award by the Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTA).

Personal life

Kenny is married to Kathy. She has publicly defended him against the criticism he received over the amount of money he was paid by RTÉ. They live in Dalkey, Dublin, in a house built in the early 1990s on a site purchased in 1988. They have two daughters and Kenny is also the father of another child from a previous relationship, whom he sees regularly and supports financially. Kenny's family home was on Infirmary Road, Dublin. Kenny's father, Jim, died in 1982, aged 74. After Kenny's mother Connie died in 2008, her burial received media coverage as it led to Kenny's non-appearance on an edition of The Late Late Show that was aired that same evening.

See also

• List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters