Maurice O'Doherty was an Irish

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...

 broadcaster best known as a newsreader for the RTÉ News

RTÉ News

RTÉ News and Current Affairs , is a major division of Raidió Teilifís Éireann responsible for news programming on television, radio and online within the Republic of Ireland. It is, by far, the largest and most popular news source in Ireland - with 77% of the Irish public regarding it as their main...

 from 1966 until 1983. As a contemporary of Charles Mitchel

Charles Mitchel

Charles Gerald Mitchel was an Irish actor and broadcaster best known as a newsreader for the RTÉ News from 1961 until 1984. He was the first person to read the news on Telefís Éireann.-Early life:...

 the two men made the Nine O'Clock News

RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock

RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock is the flagship evening news programme for Irish television channel RTÉ One. It is presented by Anne Doyle, and deputised by Eileen Dunne. It is the final comprehensive news programme of the day on RTÉ One...

 the most watched news programme on Irish television.

Early life

The son of a member of an Garda Síochána from Donegal

Donegal

Donegal or Donegal Town is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" ....

, O'Doherty was born in Limerick in 1932. He was educated locally before later boarding at St. Flannan's College

St. Flannan's College

Saint Flannan's College is an Irish secondary school located in Ennis, County Clare. Formerly an all-boys boarding school, the first girls class was entered in 2002 and in 2005 the boarding school was closed. In 2003 an extension which added over 20 new rooms to the college was completed...

 in Ennis

Ennis

Ennis is the county town of Clare in Ireland. Situated on the River Fergus, it lies north of Limerick and south of Galway. Its name is a shortening of the original ....

. After completing his secondary schooling O'Doherty worked with the state transport provider CIÉ

CIE

-Organizations:* Cambridge International Examinations, an international examination board* Cleveland Institute of Electronics, a private technical and engineering educational institution — the International Commission on Illumination...

 at Foynes

Foynes

Foynes is a village and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. The population of the town was 606 as of the 2006 census.-Foynes's role in aviation:...

 before joining Met Éireann

Met Éireann

Met Éireann is the national meteorological service in Ireland, part of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.-History:...

 in Shannon

Shannon, County Clare

Shannon or Shannon Town , named after the river near which it stands, is a town located in County Clare. It was given town status on 1 January 1982. The town is located just off the N19 road, a spur of the N18/M18 road between Limerick city and Ennis....

. It was here that he developed an interest in acting and he became a key member of the College Players in Limerick. In 1961 O'Doherty was transferred to Met Éireann's Central Analysis and Forecasting Office in Dublin.

Broadcasting career

After moving to Dublin O'Doherty applied for a position as an announcer with Radio Éireann and was accepted. He started out presenting music shows such as Hospital Requests and Today in the Dáil. During a newspaper strike in 1966 he was invited to read both radio and television news bulletins. Over the next two decades he became one of the most recognised faces and voices in Irish broadcasting. His unscripted and humorous asides that he would slip into his bulletins also became popular, much to the ire of the RTÉ authorities. In 1983 O'Doherty announced his retirement from the state broadcaster, blaming bad working conditions. He subsequently toured the country as a comedy act before moving to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

Private life

O'Doherty was married to theatre producer Philomena "Phyl" Savage whom he met during his earlier acting days in Limerick. The couple had four children.

Death

O'Doherty died at the Adelaide Hospital in Dublin on 5 April 1998 aged 65. He had been suffering from cancer. In keeping with his dry sense of humour his epitaph reads "I'm sorry, I'll read that again."