BBC Radio Ulster presenter Linda McAuley has been inducted into the IMRO Radio Awards Hall of Fame
At a ceremony held at the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) offices in Dublin earlier today (Friday 22 September), four new IMRO Radio Awards Hall of Fame inductees were announced, including BBC Radio Ulster’s Linda McAuley.
Published: 22 September 2017
This is a huge and deserved accolade for Linda and the wider BBC Radio Ulster On Your Behalf team who, for decades, have supported her in righting wrongs, solving problems and issuing advice to listeners across Northern Ireland and beyond, bringing about real changes and positive outcomes in their lives.
The IMRO Radio Awards celebrated the massive impact all four have had on the radio industry throughout Ireland. Friends and family of Linda McAuley (BBC Radio Ulster), Séamus Mac Géidigh RIP (RTÉ Raidió Na Gaeltachta), Billy McCarthy RIP (WLR FM) and Joe King (Broadcast Technical Services Limited) joined with them for the ceremony.
Linda McAuley from Bangor, County Down, who began her broadcasting career with BBC Northern Ireland in 1978, said of her induction: “I am overwhelmed to be given this honour, which I certainly wasn’t expecting. I’ve been waiting for a tap on the shoulder and someone saying, sorry it’s not your turn yet! But it’s happened, and I am so grateful to all the people I’ve worked with and the listeners who’ve been a huge part of my radio career which has spanned 40 years. For the last 22 years I’ve presented On Your Behalf on BBC Radio Ulster and meeting, helping and educating consumers has been an honour in itself.”
Michael Tumelty, Head of Radio, BBC Northern Ireland, says: “This is a huge and deserved accolade for Linda and the wider BBC Radio Ulster On Your Behalf team who, for decades, have supported her in righting wrongs, solving problems and issuing advice to listeners across Northern Ireland and beyond, bringing about real changes and positive outcomes in their lives.”
For more than two decades, Linda has been BBC Radio Ulster’s and Northern Ireland’s de facto consumer champion: the friend to whom thousands of listeners turn to solve their problems, big or small.
When all else fails, Linda and On Your Behalf, the programme she’s hosted continuously since its launch in 1995, will get it sorted, or their questions answered and voices heard. She is, as far as the audience is concerned, a one-woman dynamo, campaigner, wrong-righter, social service and broadcasting institution.
Linda’s radio career has spanned both commercial and BBC stations, from reporting and hard news to magazine and consumer programmes. She first joined BBC Radio Ulster in 1978 as presenter of the evening drive time programme Change Gear and returned in 1989 to present Morning Extra. In 1995, she helped launch the station’s first dedicated consumer affairs programme, On Your Behalf, remaining through various refreshments and formats to make it the flagship Saturday morning show it is today, blending consumer advice, information and education with robust confrontation of unfair trading.
Linda and her programme have brought about real changes in the real lives of BBC Radio Ulster’s listeners, from industry wide initiatives to standardised travel insurance terms for those booking flights in Belfast but leaving from Dublin to forcing big name retailers to adopt a more transparent and fair approach to online services and deliveries to NI residents.
Sean Murtagh, Chairperson of the IMRO Radio Awards Committee, says: “The Hall of Fame was established to pay enduring tribute to not just the well-known Irish radio Personalities, but also to those who worked quietly behind the scenes helping to make Radio in Ireland great. Today’s inductees are very worthy recipients of this Accolade, and held in the highest regard by their peers.”
Eleanor McEvoy, IMRO Chairman, says: “We are delighted to induct four of the most respected radio professionals on the island of Ireland into the IMRO Radio Awards Hall of Fame. Each of them in their own way has made an indelible mark on the broadcasting sector and they rightfully deserve to take their place alongside the many other great Irish radio luminaries whohave been honoured by their peers over the years.”
Speaking at the event, Professor Pauric Travers, Chairperson of the BAI said: “Since its establishment, the Hall of Fame has marked, in a meaningful and personal way, the level of esteem in which those who are honoured are held by their peers. In their various and unique ways, each inductee reminds us why it is that Irish radio continues to engage, inform and entertain listeners, reflecting their passions, interests and concerns.”
CC
