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Actor

1948-01-29 · Dublin, Ireland · Male

2 series in the catalog

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 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 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. Kenny became the new host, but not without criticism of his style during his tenure; Sunday Independent columnist Eilis O'Hanlon expressed this sentiment in 2006, writing:

"In the same way that Gay Byrne's Late Late can now be seen, looking back, as a reflection of the man's character, then Pat's Late Late is a reflection of his. And that's the problem. The switches from light to dark and back again are now handled too clunkily to convince; the exaggerated mateyness with the audience is cringemaking, making Pat look like the class geek who's too desperate to be seen as one of the lads. At the same time, he can never quite let go of that urge in him that we know how smart he is."

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. Kenny repeatedly questioned Doherty over his much talked about drug habits, with Doherty appearing visibly uncomfortable. Doherty, obviously annoyed, stated that Kenny had asked him "about 12" questions about drugs and Kate Moss, but nothing about his music; "I don't know if you could even name a song that I've written", Doherty quipped at one point. "Possibly not", Kenny replied.

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. On 19 July 2012, Kenny appeared as host of Prime Time, the current affairs programme which replaced Kenny's pre-Late Late Show programme, Today Tonight. The Evening Herald called this " a surprise return to a familiar slot... It was a return to his roots for Mr Kenny who made his name as a current affairs broadcaster". 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.

On-air attacks and interruptions

Kenny has sustained several on-air personal attacks during his career as presenter of The Late Late Show and The Frontline. These include:

In November 2006, Paul Stokes, an intruder on the set of The Late Late Show, confronted Kenny live on air calling the show host and his predecessor Gay Byrne "insufferable arseholes". Eight days later Stokes rammed his car into the entrance of RTÉ's television centre and was subsequently charged with harassment after daubing walls near Kenny's home with threatening messages.

During an interview with SIPTU general president Jack O'Connor on The Frontline on 2 November 2009, O'Connor suggested that a "reasonable level of tax" should be levied on "trophy houses". When asked to define the term "trophy house", O'Connor replied: "A house like yours, probably", to which Kenny replied, "I built my house in 1988. How is it a 'trophy house'? I don't want this crap coming at me!" O'Connor apologised a few moments later.

During an interview with Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin on The Frontline on 9 November 2009, an audience member berated Kenny over the issue of an excessive wage. He compared Kenny's wage to that of the President of the United States for 11 hours of broadcast per working week. He alleged that Kenny had no right to pontificate about social welfare, or people who had no means. When Kenny attempted to resume, he was repeatedly interrupted by the audience member who continued to shout. The attack lasted for several minutes before a commercial break was taken.

Departure from RTÉ

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. It caused some surprise in RTÉ. RTÉ presenters said the defection of Pat Kenny to rivals Newstalk was a "major loss" for the national broadcaster. Gay Byrne described his decision as a great loss for RTÉ; Miriam O'Callaghan said she has learnt greatly from Kenny; saying that he "... is an incredibly talented…