Gerry Ryan

Gerry Ryan (born 4 June 1956) is a veteran Irish radio presenter, for RTÉ 2fm.

Gerry Ryan was born in Clontarf, Dublin. His father Vinnie was a dentist, and his mother Maureen worked in the theatre. He was educated at St. Paul's College, Raheny, graduated in law at Trinity College, Dublin, and then went to work as an apprentice solicitor. He was an acquaintance of the family of Charles Haughey in his childhood, and made frequent visits to his residence at this time.

Career

Previously involved part-time in pirate radio, Ryan joined RTÉ in 1979 as a DJ where he presented a selection of speech- and music-based programmes on the newly-launched Radio 2 (as RTÉ 2fm was known then). His current show, The Gerry Ryan Show, began in 1988, and quickly became one of Ireland's most popular radio programmes. In recent years, the listening figures have declined somewhat, but the most recent JNLR figures of August 2007 showed that he has reversed that trend and increased his listnership.^[1]

Ryan has hosted several series of television shows, including Secrets, Ryantown, Gerry Ryan Tonight and Gerry Ryan's Hitlist. None of these shows have succeeded in cornering audiences on the scale of his radio - although some of them have still proved very successful. He currently presents a series called Ryan Confidential, which is now in its sixth season.

In 1994, Ryan co-presented the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin along with co-presenter Cynthia Ní Mhurchú.

Ryan has been a presenter for The RTÉ People in Need Telethon several times since 1988, he presented Inside 252 in 2004 and, previously travelled around on a helicopter in a reputed 3D viewable treasure hunt.

Ryan was paid €487,492 by RTE in 2004,^[2] making him the second highest paid presenter to colleague Pat Kenny. He earned €462,442 in 2003, and €601,882 in 2002^[3]. RTÉ offered Ryan a new five year contract worth €600,000 a year in July of 2007.^[4]

He was awarded an honorary degree from the Open University. ^{[citation needed]}

Style

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Ryan's broadcasting style is that of what he calls "tabloid radio"; talk radio with interviews and phone-ins and occasional sketches such as Nob Nation,His verbal dexterity is his main asset. His show and has been the subject of several upheld complaints to the broadcasting authorities [5] [6] [7]. He does not hold back in putting forward his own opinions, however controversial[8]. He is regarded as Ireland's leading shock jock [9].

References

External links

• The Gerry Ryan Show - Home website

Commentary on Gerry Ryan:

• Sunday Business Post - earnings and personality
• Irish Times - declining listenership
• Blogorrah - long-running blog
• Irish Independent - declining listenership

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