Ray D'Arcy

Raymond Michael D'Arcy (born 1 September 1964) is an Irish television and radio presenter currently on his second stint at state broadcaster RTÉ.

D'Arcy was born into a working-class family of nine with one earner, his father, a non-commissioned officer, in Tipperary in 1964.

His grandmother died at the age of 54 from lung cancer when D'Arcy was 11.

Always into his music and his broadcasting, D'Arcy began discoing in 1979 at the age of 15.

He attended Trinity College Dublin, to take a degree in psychology, and graduated in 1985.

D'Arcy has been a presenter for both TV and radio, beginning this career by joining RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta in 1985.

D'Arcy's first position as TV presenter began in 1988 on the show Jo Maxi.

D'Arcy came to prominence in the 1990s with a television career on RTÉ, presenting children's television on The Den, a quiz show called Blackboard Jungle and the youth music show 2Phat.

In 1990, D'Arcy replaced Ian Dempsey as the presenter of The Den, RTÉ's flagship children's television series.

He remained its main human presenter until 1998.

In 1998, one year after the station's launch, D'Arcy began presenting The Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM.

Initially the show occupied the 10:00 to 12:45 timeslot, replacing a show presented by Tim Kelly.

This slot was later changed to 9:00 to 12:00, entering direct competition with The Gerry Ryan Show on RTÉ 2fm.

D'Arcy credited much of the show's success to the team that served him well over the years: Jenny Kelly, Will Hanafin and Mairead Farrell.

The show achieved something of a cult status due to its "quirky" segments, among which were "Fix-It Friday" and the "Odd One Out Quiz".

In the 2000s he presented television coverage of The Rose of Tralee beauty pageant each August for four consecutive years until 2010.

D'Arcy once presented a self-titled weekday morning radio programme on the Denis O'Brien-owned Today FM.

Television roles dried up as the 2000s progressed, though he presented When Dreams Come True in 2005 and hosted Eurosong 2008 at the University of Limerick Concert Hall.

and presented one episode of The Panel later that year.

That same year, he ruled out applying to host The Late Late Show, despite being linked to this prime-time slot.

Until 2005 he presented You're a Star, a talent show established to find Ireland's entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2005, D'Arcy took over as Rose of Tralee presenter.

His career in children's television later featured in the 2008 documentary Best Bitz From Back Den.

D'Arcy also presented the quiz show Blackboard Jungle at the time before presenting youth music quiz 2Phat.

In addition, he presented the UTV and RTÉ collaborative travel show Bon Voyage! for one season.

He was the presenter of several short-running or once-off broadcasts for RTÉ, including Ireland's version of the Test The Nation franchise and the Irish Young Scientist Awards.

On 1 December 2008, he announced on his Today FM radio show that he would be participating in the second season of Celebrity Bainisteoir; he managed County Kildare team Rathangan.

On the weekend of 21–22 March 2009, someone placed nude images of the then Taoiseach in the National Gallery of Ireland and the gallery of the Royal Hibernian Academy.

The artist anonymously emailed D'Arcy's radio show, claiming responsibility for the creation of the paintings, but not their hanging.

Gardaí subsequently raided the Today FM studios and producer Will Hanafin was asked to hand over the emails, on the basis that the placing of the paintings constituted indecency, incitement and criminal damage.

Hanafin refused to provide the emails without a warrant.

On 1 April 2010, after five years, he stood down so as to spend more time with his family as they grew older.

His professional partner on that show, Jenny Kelly, became his wife on 24 August 2013 and they have two children.

In July 2014, D'Arcy experienced backlash from mixed martial arts fans by inviting Cathal Pendred onto his show then grilling him on his part in the "violent and disturbing" sport.

In December 2014, D'Arcy left Today FM. He resumed his employment as radio presenter with RTÉ Radio after being approached by them "a number of times" over the years.

The Ray D'Arcy Show continued as a broadcast on RTÉ Radio One.

It was later announced that his wife Jenny Kelly would join him at RTÉ to produce the new radio show.

D'Arcy rejoined RTÉ in 2015.

His first show back at RTÉ went out on 2 February 2015 on Radio 1.

His show began airing every weekday from 3 to 4.30pm.