Steve Carson is 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...

 director and producer of television. He is the editor of current affairs at Raidió Teilifís Éireann

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...

 (RTÉ) as of November 2011 and was appointed Director of Television in January 2009.

With his wife, the RTÉ presenter Miriam O'Callaghan

Miriam O'Callaghan

Miriam O'Callaghan is an Irish television current affairs broadcaster, chat show host and radio presenter with Raidió Teilifís Éireann . She has presented the leading current affairs show, Prime Time, since 1996, and her own chat show, Saturday Night with Miriam, since 2005...

, he is co-owner of the successful television production company Mint Productions

Mint Productions

Mint Productions is an Irish production company that has produced documentaries and television series for RTÉ, BBC and Channel 4. The company, founded by RTÉ television presenter Miriam O'Callaghan and her producer husband Steve Carson, has produced a number of series, including Fine Gael: A Family...

, whose work has been amongst the nominees and winners at the Irish Film and Television Awards

Irish Film and Television Awards

The Irish Film and Television Awards were first awarded in 2003. Its sole aim is to celebrate Ireland's notably talented film and television community...

 (IFTAs).

Early life and career

Carson was born in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 and trained as a producer/director with the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 on flagship current affairs

Current affairs (news format)

Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....

 programmes such as Newsnight

Newsnight

Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....

and Panorama

Panorama (TV series)

Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...

before setting up his Mint Productions company in 2000. He continues to direct documentaries alongside his overseeal of Mint's output. Carson has won a number of awards including a Royal Television Society award, two Irish National Media awards and the Jury Prize at the 2008 Celtic Media Festival

Celtic Media Festival

The Celtic Media Festival, previously known as the Celtic Film and Television Festival, aims to promote the languages and cultures of the Celtic nations on screen and in broadcasting. The festival is an annual three-day celebration of broadcasting and film from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall...

.

In 2008, he acted as co-executive producer—alongside his wife—on the genealogy

Genealogy

Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...

 series Who Do You Think You Are?

Who Do You Think You Are? (Irish TV series)

Who Do You Think You Are? is a six-part Irish genealogy documentary series that first aired on RTÉ One in 2008. In each episode, a popular Irish personality embarks on a journey to trace their family tree...

.

RTÉ

On 30 January 2009, Carson was named by RTÉ as its new Director of Television.

In 2011, he was made RTÉ's editor of current affairs following RTÉ's defamation of Fr. Kevin Reynolds

Fr. Kevin Reynolds

Fr. Kevin Reynolds is an Irish Catholic priest, falsely alleged by Raidió Teilifís Éireann in its Prime Time programme, to have raped and impregnated a minor Kenyan woman named Veneraanda and fathering a child called Sheila, during his time as a missionary...

 in "Mission to Prey

Mission to Prey

"Mission to Prey" is the title of an episode of the RTÉ programme Prime Time Investigates broadcast in May 2011. It was presented by RTÉ's Aoife Kavanagh....

".

Personal life

Carson is married to Miriam O'Callaghan and is her second husband following her split from fellow RTÉ host, Tom McGurk

Tom McGurk

Tom McGurk is an Irish poet, journalist, radio presenter and sportscaster from Brockagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.From 1983 to 1996 he was married to the broadcaster Miriam O'Callaghan...

, a poet and journalist who is presently the main anchor of live rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 coverage on the channel. O'Callaghan was noted in the social pages of newspapers for her 2008 attendance at a charity event alongside a number of her many children where she complained that Carson was absent due to him being "still holed up in an editing suite" where he was "chopping and changing" the finishing touches of the final episode of his IFTA-winning documentary series Bertie

Bertie (TV series)

Bertie is an IFTA-winning four-part miniseries documenting the life of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, which was broadcast on Irish television channel, RTÉ One in 3 November 2008. The series examined in close detail how he operated as leader of the country and what drove him through his political...

, a biopic of former Taoiseach

Taoiseach

The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

 Bertie Ahern

Bertie Ahern

Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....

.