Dermot Murnaghan

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Dermot John Murnaghan (born 26 December 1957, in Devon, England) is a British television presenter and journalist, best known for his work as presenter of ITV and BBC News and of the shows Eggheads (2003–) and Treasure Hunt (2002–2003).

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Trivia 5 External links

[edit] Early life

Born in Devon, England to Irish Catholic parents, his family later moved to Northern Ireland; first to Armagh where he attended Saint Malachy's Boys Primary School, then to Newry, County Down, where he boarded at Saint Patrick's Grammar School, County Armagh and later to Holywood where Murnaghan attended Sullivan Upper School, the local grammar school.

Murnaghan was educated at the University of Sussex, graduating with an MA in History in 1980. He then completed a postgraduate course in Journalism at City University.

[edit] Career

He worked as a trainee reporter on local newspapers before joining Channel 4 as a researcher and then became a reporter for The Business Programme.

He presented the European Business Channel in Switzerland before being recalled by ITN to present the World News on The Channel 4 Daily.

Murnaghan graduated to other ITN broadcasts, presenting programmes on ITV such as the Lunchtime News and News At Ten. He later presented the ITV Evening News and the ITV Nightly News when ITV relaunched its news output in 1999. He also worked on ITV's General Election coverage in 2001.

Since October 2002, Dermot has been the main presenter of BBC Breakfast where he replaced Jeremy Bowen. He has since presented the show alongside Natasha Kaplinsky and now Sian Williams. He is also a regular stand-in on the BBC Six O'Clock News and BBC Ten O'Clock News.

Apart from the news, Dermot presents the BBC Two daytime show Eggheads and also presented the BBC show Treasure Hunt with Suzi Perry.

Murnaghan has also guest presented reports for different travel shows including ITV1's Wish You Were Here...? and BBC One's rival programme Holiday.

In 2007, Murnaghan appeared on Chucklevision, where he was reading the news for something Barry Chuckle had appeared to upset Paul Chuckle.

[edit] Personal life

Murnaghan is married to the former Maria Keegan, with whom he has four children.

[edit] Trivia

• When he stands in for George Alagiah on the BBC Six O'Clock News, Murnaghan appears on two different shows on BBC One and BBC Two simultaneously, the Six O'Clock News and Eggheads, which is not broadcast live.

• His presenting style on Breakfast was lampooned in the impersonation sketch show Dead Ringers by Jon Culshaw, his widely spaced legs on the presenting couch mocked with the phrase "I'm Dermot Murnaghan, watch my crotch follow you round the room".

[edit] External links

• BBC Breakfast profile
• Dermot Murnaghan - Official Agent's website
• Dermot Murnaghan at the Internet Movie Database