Brendan O'Connor (media personality)
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Brendan O'Connor | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Irish  |
| Education | University College Cork |
| Occupation(s) | Newspaper editor, columnist and television presenter |
| Employer(s) | Life magazine, Sunday Independent, RTÉ |
Brendan O'Connor is a columnist and television presenter. He is currently a member of the judging panel on Radio Telefís Éireann's (RTÉ) You're A Star TV talent contest. Programmes he has appeared on include Don't Feed The Gondolas. He is an editor of Life Magazine and works as a columnist for the Sunday Independent.
He is a past pupil of Colaiste an Spiorad Naoimh, where he was runner up in the Denny Schools Debating Competition. He is also a graduate of University College Cork where he was Recording Secretary of the UCC Philosophical Society.
O'Connor, as a member of the band "Fr. Brian & The Fun Loving Cardinals", produced a single, Who's In The House?, which topped the Irish single charts in 2000 for 12 weeks[citation needed]. The song, a novelty number that played on the popularity of Father Ted, featured lines such as "What's the time? It's time for God". The name "Fun Lovin' Cardinals" is itself a pun on the band Fun Loving Criminals. The character Fr. Brian has appeared on Don't Feed The Gondolas, and the popularity of the song led to its release, and subsequent chart position.
O'Connor is known for his conservative right-wing views, and puts these across in his regular Sunday Independent articles. A regular target of O'Connor's ire is Sinn Féin, anti-war protesters (whom he labels disparagingly as "anti-American"), travellers and students. In You're A Star O'Connor claims that he "is only saying what the people at home are thinking".
O'Connor, along with Eoghan Harris, strongly supported Bertie Ahern during the 2007 general election and during his appearances before the Mahon Tribunal. O'Connor wrote frequent articles about the model Katy French, who died on December 6, 2007.