Brendan Balfe
Encyclopedia
Brendan Balfe is an Irish
radio personality, who has been on-air consistently for more than 40 years on RTÉ
. Comedy has been a feature of many of Balfe's programmes. He has won three International Awards for radio comedy and his "Pathetic News" feature on Balfe Street, was the only original satire on Irish radio for many years.
From 1999 to 2010, Balfe was the Music Policy Co-ordinator for RTÉ Radio 1
, responsible for the choice of contemporary music across the schedule and was the first ever voice on RTÉ 2fm
.
He also set an international Radio record (now broken) for a 12-hour broadcast as the story of the assassination of Robert Kennedy was unfolding.
In 1986, Balfe won a Jacob's Award for his radio documentary series The Spice of Life.
From 1998 until 2001 and again in 2004, Balfe provided the RTÉ Radio
commentary for Irish listeners in the Eurovision Song Contest
.
He published his autobiography, entitled Radio Man, in 2007.
On 24 March 2008 Balfe hosted the last radio show to be broadcast on RTÉ
's medium wave service, Medium Wave Goodbye was a personal selection of items broadcast on the service since 1926.
Balfe retires from RTÉ
in September 2010, following the final episode of his 11-part radio documentary series, The Irish Voice.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
radio personality, who has been on-air consistently for more than 40 years on RTÉ
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
. Comedy has been a feature of many of Balfe's programmes. He has won three International Awards for radio comedy and his "Pathetic News" feature on Balfe Street, was the only original satire on Irish radio for many years.
From 1999 to 2010, Balfe was the Music Policy Co-ordinator for RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...
, responsible for the choice of contemporary music across the schedule and was the first ever voice on RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm, or 2FM as it is more commonly referred to, is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's second national radio station. It broadcasts popular music programming aimed at a young Irish audience.- History :...
.
He also set an international Radio record (now broken) for a 12-hour broadcast as the story of the assassination of Robert Kennedy was unfolding.
In 1986, Balfe won a Jacob's Award for his radio documentary series The Spice of Life.
From 1998 until 2001 and again in 2004, Balfe provided the RTÉ Radio
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...
commentary for Irish listeners in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
.
He published his autobiography, entitled Radio Man, in 2007.
On 24 March 2008 Balfe hosted the last radio show to be broadcast on RTÉ
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
's medium wave service, Medium Wave Goodbye was a personal selection of items broadcast on the service since 1926.
Balfe retires from RTÉ
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
in September 2010, following the final episode of his 11-part radio documentary series, The Irish Voice.