THE Celebration for Commonwealth Day will be broadcast on BBC One, live from Westminster Abbey today.
But who its presenter, Fergal Keane? Here’s all you need to know…
Who is Fergal Keane?
Fergal Keane, 61, is an award-winning journalist who currently works for the BBC.
Today he and Reeta Chakrabarti are presenting live coverage from Westminster Abbey of a special service for Commonwealth Day, celebrating the Queen’s platinum jubilee.
Fergal was born in Ireland and grew up in Dublin and Cork.
His father was actor Eamonn Keane and his uncle was the world famous playwright, novelist and essayist, John B. Keane.
Keane formerly worked for Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE before becoming the BBC’s South Africa correspondent.
In 2020 he was praised for speaking out about suffering from PTSD after reporting from areas of conflict across the world.
His reporting has been honoured with an Amnesty International Press Award, and an Order of British Empire Award for services to journalism.
Who is Fergal Keane’s wife Anne Frances Flaherty?
Fergal Keane’s wife Anne Frances Flaherty is also a journalist.
The couple met while working together at The Irish Press in Limerick.
Anne is a freelance journalist and has worked alongside her husband in bringing stories from Hong Kong, South Africa, Northern Ireland and Vietnam to the world.
She also is the editor of ChiswickW4 – a west London website.
Does Fergal Keane have children?
Together Fergal and Anne have two children, 26-year-old Daniel, and 19-year-old Holly, adopted from an orphanage in southern China in 2005.
In 1996 Fergal read a letter to his newborn son on the BBC radio program “From Our Own Correspondent.”
