Marian Finucane


Marian Finucane was an Irish broadcaster with Raidió Teilifís Éireann. She began working with the national broadcaster in 1974, starting as a continuity announcer. She was the first presenter of Liveline and presented The Marian Finucane Show at weekend lunchtimes on RTÉ Radio 1 until her death.

Career

Marian Finucane was born in Dublin and educated at Scoil Chaitríona, Glasnevin. She studied architecture at the Technological University Dublin, Bolton Street. She practised as an architect until 1974 when she joined RTÉ as a continuity announcer, having been recruited by Eoghan Harris. In 1976 she became a programme presenter working mainly on programmes concerned with contemporary social issues, especially those concerning women, in particular Women Today.
Finucane in 1979 was the recipient of a Jacobs' Award for Women Today. Her Liveline programme on radio, was a combined interview and phone-in chat show on weekday afternoons. In 1980 Finucane won the Prix Italia for a documentary on abortion: she interviewed a woman who was about to have an abortion, had travelled with her to England, been with her in the hospital and talked to her afterwards. The Radio Journalist of the Year Award followed in 1988.
Her television work included information programming on RTÉ such as "Consumer Choice" and the Garda investigation programme Crimeline.
On Gay Byrne's retirement in 1999, she took over his early morning radio slot to present The Marian Finucane Show. Another broadcaster, Joe Duffy, took over her Liveline programme. On 24 June 2005 she presented her final Marian Finucane Show in that time-slot. Later that afternoon she received an honorary degree from NUI Galway. Apart from her media work this degree was in recognition of her work raising funds along with Clarke, towards the building of an AIDS hospice and orphanage in Cape Town, South Africa. In June 2005 she was replaced in her radio timeslot by Ryan Tubridy, and took over morning slots on Saturday and Sunday.

Personal life and death

Her first marriage ended in separation. She then had two children with her partner, John Clarke. Their daughter developed leukaemia and died, aged eight, in 1990. She and Clarke married in January 2015.
Finucane died unexpectedly at her home in Naas, County Kildare on 2 January 2020 at age 69, with her funeral taking place on 7 January 2020.