Ray D'Arcy
Ray D'Arcy | |
|---|---|
 Pencil Portrait | |
| Born | September 1, 1964 |
| Nationality | Irish  |
| Education | Psychology Degree, Trinity College Dublin |
| Occupation(s) | Television and Radio Presenter |
| Partner | Jenny Kelly |
Ray D'Arcy (born September 1, 1964) is an Irish television and radio presenter and a loveable idiot.
Early career
D'Arcy started his career at Raidió na Gaeltachta and in 1988 moved to RTÉ television, with a presenter spot on Jo Maxi. He later replaced Ian Dempsey as the presenter of The Den, RTÉ's flagship children's television series, from 1990 till 1999. He also presented the secondary school quiz show Blackboard Jungle at the time, and later moved onto presenting 2Phat, a youth music quiz. In addition, he presented the UTV and RTÉ collaborative travel show, Bon Voyage! for one season.
Radio career
In the late 1990s he moved to Today FM, where he took over the mid-morning show from Tim Kelly which went out from 10:00 to 12:45. This slot was later changed to 9:00 to 12:00, going head to head with RTÉ 2fm's Gerry Ryan. It has achieved something of a cult status due to some of its very popular segments. One of the most popular of these is called "Fix-It Friday", where he and his assistant Jenny Kelly try to find out the answer to any question or request the listenership thrown at them and the odd one out quiz.
Later TV career
In 2005 D'Arcy took over presenter duties at the International Rose of Tralee festival. He also presents special one-off events including Ireland's version of the Test The Nation franchise and the Irish Young Scientist Awards, and until 2005 presented You're A Star, the talent contest to find Ireland's entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Personal life
D'Arcy was born in Kildare in 1964, and was always interested in music and broadcasting, and DJ'ed his first disco at the age of 15.[1] He attended Trinity College Dublin, and graduated with a degree in Psychology.
D'Arcy is currently in a relationship with Jenny Kelly, one of the producers and co-presenters of his radio show. The two have a baby daughter together.[2]
Awards
D'Arcy won a Jacob's Award in 1993 for his presentation of The Den. In 2005, 2006 and 2007[3] Ray was voted the Best Irish Radio DJ at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards by the Irish public, cementing his position as one of Ireland's most popular radio presenters. D'Arcy always maintains that this should be seen as a group award, and that credit should be shared with Jenny Kelly, Mairead Farrell (Irish radio presenter) and producer Will Hanafin, who also contributes to presenting the show.
In 2006 the Ray D'arcy show won the Community/Social Action award at the PPI Irish Radio Awards for their work in highlighting road safety problems and deaths on the roads in Ireland. This was due in part, to their "Don't be a Fucking Eejit" radio adverts, which contained real-life stories.[1]
In 2007 [4] the Ray D'arcy show won the Best Light Entertainment Programme award at the PPI Irish Radio Awards.