Eimear Ní Chonaola

Eimear Ní Chonaola ([ˈeːmʲəɾˠ nʲiː xɔˈn̪ˠiːl̪ˠə]; born 1977^[1]) is an Irish journalist and television presenter from An Spidéal, County Galway. Since 2006, Ní Chonaola has been the news anchor on Nuacht TG4, the main evening news broadcast on the Irish language channel TG4.

Early life

Eimear Ní Chonaola was born in an Síán^[2] in the Gaeltacht town of An Spidéal. A native Irish speaker, she graduated from National University of Ireland, Galway.

Journalistic career

Eimear Ní Chonaola was part of the Nuacht TG4 team from the beginning, joining the newsroom as a journalist in October 2000. In 2001, she began presenting for the first time, beginning with the shorter weekend bulletins.

She took over as main anchor from Siún Nic Gearailt on 25 September 2006.^[3]

Ní Chonaola chaired the first ever election debate in Irish on 16 February 2011, when she hosted one of the official debates of the 2011 2011 Irish general election. The high-profile debate not only brought greater exposure, but her performance as chairperson of the three-way discussion between Enda Kenny, Eamonn Gilmore and Mícheál Martin was widely credited in the national press.

The debate was a big ratings win for TG4, with around 600,000 people watching live. Eimear Ní Chonaola took home three Oireachtas Awards as a result.

Irish language support

Eimear Ní Chonaola appeared on The Late Late Show on March 4, 2011 along with Coman Goggins and Róisín Ní Chúaláin to promote Seachtain na Gaeilge.

As part of Seachtain na Gaeilge 2012, she launched a business initiative along with Gaillimh le Gaeilge.

References