Des Cahill
Encyclopedia
Desmond 'Des' Cahill is an Irish
sports presenter and commentator with national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann
. He presents a daily radio programme called Drivetime Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
, while on television he has presented The Sunday Game
, The Road to Croker
, Play It Again, Des, and Up for the Match
.
In 2011, he was blacklisted by the Football Association of Ireland
.
, in Dublin, and he began his career as a newspaper reporter. While studying journalism in Rathmines
, he spent a couple of years working with The Irish Press
group, before moving on to two of Ireland's leading provincial newspapers - the Carlow Nationalist
and The Kerryman.
.
He has presented programmes from many of the world's top sporting events, including some memorable Irish victories at Olympic Games
, FIFA World Cup
s, UEFA European Championships, Tour de France
and the Ryder Cup
.
For 20 years he was associated with early morning radio - presenting the sports news on the main news programme, Morning Ireland
on RTÉ Radio 1, and in a very different style, with Ian Dempsey
on 2FM
. It was on Dempsey's show that he began the ABU (Anyone But United) Club and each year he supported the main rivals of football team Manchester United
in the English Premier League. He designed an ABU shirt, with a crest in Latin, reading "Uppus Cantonis Aris". He engaged with listeners, whose letters and e-mails became a key part of the show.
out with The Gay Byrne Show
before Byrne retired in 1998.
On television, he presented Sideline View, RTÉ's first midweek Gaelic Games
Championship programme, in the mid-1990s. Apart from special reports from the counties, the programme used the existing panellists from The Sunday Game
, and added the likes of Pete Finnerty
and Tommy Lyons
who themselves went on to become panellists on The Sunday Game.
This was followed by Play It Again, Des where Cahill invited some of Ireland's top sporting names to choose their favourite sporting moments from the archives. Guests included Mick O'Dwyer
, Johnny Giles
, Eamonn Dunphy, Ken Doherty
, Moss Keane
, Christy O'Connor Jnr
, Fergus Slattery
, Jimmy Barry-Murphy
, Ted Walsh
, Liam Brady
, Kevin Moran, Mick Doyle, Ger Loughnane
, Ollie Campbell
and Brian Kerr
.
In 1993, Cahill received a Jacob's Award for his radio broadcasts.
's first victory over Offaly
in 55 years with Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh
on Morning Ireland, Cahill attracted criticism for his remarks that Westmeath had been under BIFFOs for all that time.
Before the launch of The Road to Croker
a weekly Gaelic Games programme, that included a live audience as it visited clubs around the country ahead of the big Championship. When Cahill went to Beijing for the Summer Olympics in 2008, Bertie Ahern
took over presenting duties on The Road to Croker. Cahill also presents Up for the Match
, the RTÉ entertainment programme that celebrates the All-Ireland final, on the eve of both the Hurling
and Gaelic Football finals. Initially he co-presented with Mary Kennedy
, but in 2008, Gráinne Seoige
became his co-presenter.
He has appeared on The Restaurant
, where he scored five stars from the critics.
In 2009, he became the presenter of the evening highlights edition of The Sunday Game. Also that year he celebrated 25 years in broadcasting, and was reunited with Ian Dempsey when he appeared on The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show
on Today FM
.
Irish heats at Thomond Park
with Ian Dempsey
.
In July 2011, the Football Association of Ireland
complained about remarks made by Cahill while discussing the organisation's AGM on the Saturday Sport radio show. RTÉ bosses "rejected outright" the complaint, and the FAI threatened to sue. Dion Fanning in the Sunday Independent said, "Refusing to talk to Des Cahill is a bit like forbidding your children to read Gentle Ben
because playing with bears is dangerous."
Cahill is featured on Nob Nation
.
in 1993, an ESB Journalist of the Year award for sport, and was named PPI Sports Presenter of the Year in 2007.
|-
| 1993 || Des Cahill || Jacob's Award ||
|-
| ???? || Des Cahill || ESB Journalist of the Year ||
|-
| 2007 || Des Cahill || PPI Sports Presenter of the Year ||
|-
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...
sports presenter and commentator with national broadcaster 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...
. He presents a daily radio programme called Drivetime Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...
, while on television he has presented The Sunday Game
The Sunday Game
The Sunday Game is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ Two every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ Two’s longest-running shows, having been on air since 1979, one year after the channel first...
, The Road to Croker
The Road to Croker
The Road to Croker is a magazine style sports television programme broadcast on RTÉ Two during the Gaelic games season. The programme features input from clubs, players and managers or Banisteoirí. Retired Gaelic Athletic Association figures, such as Michael "Babs" Keating, have also made...
, Play It Again, Des, and Up for the Match
Up for the Match
Up for the Match is an Irish Gaelic games-themed variety show currently hosted by Des Cahill and Gráinne Seoige. The show is broadcast live in two editions each year on RTÉ One on the eve of the respective All-Ireland hurling and football finals...
.
In 2011, he was blacklisted by the Football Association of Ireland
Football Association of Ireland
The Football Association of Ireland is the governing body for the sport of association football in the Republic of Ireland. It should not to be confused with the Irish Football Association , which is the organising body for the sport in Northern Ireland.For the full history, statistics and records...
.
Early life
Cahill was educated at Colaiste MhuireColáiste Mhuire
Coláiste Mhuire, which is part of the Marino Institute of Education , is a primary teacher training college which is affiliated with Trinity College, Dublin. It is located on Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9. Coláiste Mhuire is primarily focused on providing for pre-service primary education...
, in Dublin, and he began his career as a newspaper reporter. While studying journalism in Rathmines
Rathmines
Rathmines is a suburb on the southside of Dublin, about 3 kilometres south of the city centre. It effectively begins at the south side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranelagh to the east and Harold's Cross to the west.Rathmines has...
, he spent a couple of years working with The Irish Press
The Irish Press
The Irish Press was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995.-Foundation:...
group, before moving on to two of Ireland's leading provincial newspapers - the Carlow Nationalist
Carlow Nationalist
The Carlow Nationalist is an Irish regional newspaper, published each Wednesday. It has three comprehensive sections, containing news, sport and 'living' articles.-History:...
and The Kerryman.
1980s
Cahill joined RTÉ in 1984 as a TV news reporter, but quickly began reporting for the Sunday Sport programme on RTÉ Radio 1. By 1987 he had taken over as presenter of the flagship programme from Jimmy MageeJimmy Magee
Jimmy Magee is a longstanding Irish sports broadcaster. Known as 'the Memory Man', he has spent over half a century in sports broadcasting...
.
He has presented programmes from many of the world's top sporting events, including some memorable Irish victories at Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
, FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
s, UEFA European Championships, Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
and the Ryder Cup
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...
.
For 20 years he was associated with early morning radio - presenting the sports news on the main news programme, Morning Ireland
Morning Ireland
Morning Ireland is the breakfast news programme broadcast by RTÉ Radio 1 in Ireland and is noted as that country's most listened to radio programme. It is broadcast each weekday morning between 07.00 and 09.00 and is presented by Aine Lawlor, Cathal Mac Coille, Rachael English and Aoife Kavanagh...
on RTÉ Radio 1, and in a very different style, with Ian Dempsey
Ian Dempsey
Ian Michael Dempsey is an Irish presenter of television and breakfast radio. He is the long-running presenter of the breakfast show on Today FM, self-titled The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show, which runs from 07:00 - 09:00 each weekday morning...
on 2FM
RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm, or 2FM as it is more commonly referred to, is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's second national radio station. It broadcasts popular music programming aimed at a young Irish audience.- History :...
. It was on Dempsey's show that he began the ABU (Anyone But United) Club and each year he supported the main rivals of football team Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
in the English Premier League. He designed an ABU shirt, with a crest in Latin, reading "Uppus Cantonis Aris". He engaged with listeners, whose letters and e-mails became a key part of the show.
1990s
In the mid-1990s, Cahill began a sports phone-in programme on RTÉ Radio 1, Sportscall. At one stage it ran three nights a week, but it was on Monday nights, after the weekend games, that fans from all over the country let off steam. He also helped Gay ByrneGay Byrne
Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne is a veteran Irish presenter of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of The Late Late Show over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999...
out with The Gay Byrne Show
The Gay Byrne Show
The Gay Byrne Show was an Irish radio programme, which ran from 1973 until 1998. The programme was presented by Gay Byrne, and aired Monday to Friday for two hours each day. It was a favourite of Irish housewives...
before Byrne retired in 1998.
On television, he presented Sideline View, RTÉ's first midweek Gaelic Games
Gaelic games
Gaelic games are sports played in Ireland under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The two main games are Gaelic football and hurling...
Championship programme, in the mid-1990s. Apart from special reports from the counties, the programme used the existing panellists from The Sunday Game
The Sunday Game
The Sunday Game is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ Two every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ Two’s longest-running shows, having been on air since 1979, one year after the channel first...
, and added the likes of Pete Finnerty
Pete Finnerty
Pete Finnerty is an Irish retired hurling coach and former player.Regarded as one of his county's all-time greats, Finnerty enjoyed a distinguished playing career at club level with Mullagh and at inter-county level with Galway...
and Tommy Lyons
Tommy Lyons
Tommy Lyons is a retired Irish Gaelic football manager from County Mayo who has managed 2 inter-county sides in his time. He also managed club side Kilmacud Crokes to All-Ireland glory on St. Patricks Day, 1995. He also spent time as chairman of Crokes, until 2007. He is also a regular...
who themselves went on to become panellists on The Sunday Game.
This was followed by Play It Again, Des where Cahill invited some of Ireland's top sporting names to choose their favourite sporting moments from the archives. Guests included Mick O'Dwyer
Mick O'Dwyer
Mick O'Dwyer , is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. He played Gaelic football with his local club Waterville and was a member of the Kerry senior team from 1956 until 1974...
, Johnny Giles
Johnny Giles
Michael John "Johnny" Giles is a former association footballer and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s...
, Eamonn Dunphy, Ken Doherty
Ken Doherty
Ken Doherty is an Irish professional snooker player. He is the only player ever to have been world amateur and world professional champion...
, Moss Keane
Moss Keane
Maurice Ignatius "Moss" Keane was a rugby union footballer who played for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions.-Life and career:...
, Christy O'Connor Jnr
Christy O'Connor Jnr
Christy O'Connor Jnr is an Irish golfer. He is known as "Junior" because he is the nephew of another leading Irish golfer Christy O'Connor.O'Connor was born in Galway. He turned professional in 1967...
, Fergus Slattery
Fergus Slattery
John Fergus Slattery is a former rugby union player who represented Ireland. He played schools rugby for Blackrock College and then moved on to play senior rugby for UCD, before earning a call up to the Ireland team in 1970. During his career Slattery earned 61 caps, 18 as captain, and scored 3...
, Jimmy Barry-Murphy
Jimmy Barry-Murphy
James "Jimmy" Barry-Murphy is a former Irish hurler, Gaelic footballer and association footballer and is the current manager of the Cork senior hurling team...
, Ted Walsh
Ted Walsh
Ted Walsh is an amateur jockey turned racehorse trainer, based in Kill, County Kildare, Ireland. He was born and raised in Co. Cork. As a rider, one of his most important wins was on Attitude Adjuster in the 1986 Cheltenham Festival Foxhunter Chase...
, Liam Brady
Liam Brady
Liam Brady is a former Irish association football player, and former assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland national football team....
, Kevin Moran, Mick Doyle, Ger Loughnane
Ger Loughnane
Ger Loughnane is a Irish hurling manager and former player. He played hurling with his local club Feakle and with the Clare senior inter-county team in the 1970s and 1980s...
, Ollie Campbell
Ollie Campbell
Seamus Oliver Campbell was an Irish rugby union player from 1976 to 1984. He was educated at Belvedere College, a famous Irish rugby school, where he was on the teams that won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup twice in a row in 1971 and 1972...
and Brian Kerr
Brian Kerr
Brian Kerr, is an Irish football manager, most noted for managing the Republic of Ireland national side. He was most recently the manager for the Faroe Islands national football team.-Early days:...
.
In 1993, Cahill received a Jacob's Award for his radio broadcasts.
2000s
In May 2004, while discussing WestmeathWestmeath GAA
The Westmeath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Westmeath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Westmeath...
's first victory over Offaly
Offaly GAA
The Offaly County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Offaly GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Offaly...
in 55 years with Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh
Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh
Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh is an Irish Gaelic games commentator for the Irish national radio and television, RTÉ. In a career that has spanned six decades he has come to be regarded as the "voice of Gaelic games." His prolific career has earned him a place in Guinness World Records.-Early...
on Morning Ireland, Cahill attracted criticism for his remarks that Westmeath had been under BIFFOs for all that time.
Before the launch of The Road to Croker
The Road to Croker
The Road to Croker is a magazine style sports television programme broadcast on RTÉ Two during the Gaelic games season. The programme features input from clubs, players and managers or Banisteoirí. Retired Gaelic Athletic Association figures, such as Michael "Babs" Keating, have also made...
a weekly Gaelic Games programme, that included a live audience as it visited clubs around the country ahead of the big Championship. When Cahill went to Beijing for the Summer Olympics in 2008, 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....
took over presenting duties on The Road to Croker. Cahill also presents Up for the Match
Up for the Match
Up for the Match is an Irish Gaelic games-themed variety show currently hosted by Des Cahill and Gráinne Seoige. The show is broadcast live in two editions each year on RTÉ One on the eve of the respective All-Ireland hurling and football finals...
, the RTÉ entertainment programme that celebrates the All-Ireland final, on the eve of both the Hurling
All-Ireland Hurling Final
The All-Ireland Hurling Final is the last match to be played in the All-Ireland Hurling Championships . The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final is one of the biggest sporting occasions to be held in Ireland every year...
and Gaelic Football finals. Initially he co-presented with Mary Kennedy
Mary Kennedy
Mary Kennedy is an Irish writer, television personality and former newscaster. She presented Eurovision Song Contest 1995 from the Point Theatre in Dublin. She has also presented her own Saturday night chat show called Kennedy, a precursor to Saturday Night with Miriam. Kennedy was co-presenter of...
, but in 2008, Gráinne Seoige
Gráinne Seoige
Gráinne Seoige is an Irish television presenter, Gaeilgeoir, and "fashion icon",Gráinne Seoige is one of the few television presenters who has worked for all terrestrial channels in the Republic of Ireland at some point. She has worked as a news anchor on TG4, TV3 and Sky News Ireland...
became his co-presenter.
He has appeared on The Restaurant
The Restaurant (Irish TV series)
The Restaurant is a successful Irish reality television programme broadcast on RTÉ One. The seventh series began on 16 November 2008, running on Sundays at 20:30. In each episode a celebrity head chef takes on the culinary challenge of producing a top class, three-course meal with two...
, where he scored five stars from the critics.
In 2009, he became the presenter of the evening highlights edition of The Sunday Game. Also that year he celebrated 25 years in broadcasting, and was reunited with Ian Dempsey when he appeared on The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show
The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show
The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show is an Irish radio show broadcast on weekday mornings from 07:00 - 09:00 on Today FM. Presented by Ian Dempsey, it is noted for its Gift Grub feature, performed by Mario Rosenstock...
on Today FM
Today FM
Radio Ireland Ltd, trading as 100-102 Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station which is available nationally. The station, which commenced broadcasting on Saint Patrick's Day in 1997, can be received nationally and carries a mix of music and talk...
.
2010s
On 9 June 2010, Cahill co-hosted the opening ceremony of the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games
The 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games is a sporting event held from June, 25th 2011 - July, 4th 2011 in Athens, Greece. The opening ceremony of the games took place on 25 June 2011 at the Panathinaiko Stadium and the closing ceremony was held on 4 July 2011."Over 7,500" athletes, from 185...
Irish heats at Thomond Park
Thomond Park
Thomond Park is a stadium located in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and count Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. The capacity of the stadium is 26,500 following its large scale redevelopment in...
with Ian Dempsey
Ian Dempsey
Ian Michael Dempsey is an Irish presenter of television and breakfast radio. He is the long-running presenter of the breakfast show on Today FM, self-titled The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show, which runs from 07:00 - 09:00 each weekday morning...
.
In July 2011, the Football Association of Ireland
Football Association of Ireland
The Football Association of Ireland is the governing body for the sport of association football in the Republic of Ireland. It should not to be confused with the Irish Football Association , which is the organising body for the sport in Northern Ireland.For the full history, statistics and records...
complained about remarks made by Cahill while discussing the organisation's AGM on the Saturday Sport radio show. RTÉ bosses "rejected outright" the complaint, and the FAI threatened to sue. Dion Fanning in the Sunday Independent said, "Refusing to talk to Des Cahill is a bit like forbidding your children to read Gentle Ben
Gentle Ben
Gentle Ben is a children's novel by author Walt Morey, first published in 1965. The book concerns the friendship between the title character, a bear, and a young boy named Mark...
because playing with bears is dangerous."
Cahill is featured on Nob Nation
Nob Nation
Nob Nation is the title of a series of topical comedy pieces broadcast since November 2006 on two national radio stations in Ireland, RTÉ 2fm and RTÉ Radio 1. The programmes are broadcast Monday through Saturday each week...
.
Awards
During his career, Cahill has won a Jacob's AwardJacob's Awards
The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients were selected by Ireland's national newspaper television...
in 1993, an ESB Journalist of the Year award for sport, and was named PPI Sports Presenter of the Year in 2007.
|-
| 1993 || Des Cahill || Jacob's Award ||
|-
| ???? || Des Cahill || ESB Journalist of the Year ||
|-
| 2007 || Des Cahill || PPI Sports Presenter of the Year ||
|-
External links
- Des on Drivetime Sport
- Des Cahill coverage at The Score