Mary Kennedy

Mary Kennedy was born in Clondalkin, Dublin, on 4 October 1954, making that working-class edge the quiet engine behind her sharp national voice. She taught English in Brittany before returning to Ireland, where she joined RTÉ in 1978 and helped shape its television identity for decades. Her career spanned Eurovision, chat shows, local affairs and major state events, giving ordinary Irish lives a stage large enough to be seen.