Richard Downes (journalist)

Richard Downes
Born	Raheny, Dublin
Nationality	Irish
Occupation	Journalist, broadcaster, author
Notable credit(s)	Morning Ireland RTÉ News
Spouse(s)	Mairead Downes
Children	2

Richard Downes is an Irish broadcaster and journalist. He has worked for the Press Association, Reuters, the Financial Times, the BBC and RTÉ. He was one of the presenters of Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1 from 2002 until 2010 and was Washington Correspondent for RTÉ News from 2010 until 2013.

Downes was reared on in Edenmore on Northside Dublin, born the ninth of ten children. His father was a civil-servant whose library Downes became fascinated with from an early age. He admired the souvenirs brought back from Africa by his cousins who were missionaries. His brother was also based in Nigeria.

He is married to Mairead and they have two children. He lives in North Dublin.

Downes's career in journalism started in 1985 in London, where he worked for the Press Association, Reuters, and the Financial Times. He later moved to the BBC. There he was made Southern Africa Correspondent. In 1998 he was a based in Baghdad for two years. He grew to know the country and was sent to report on the Desert Fox aerial assault against Saddam Hussein which took place that December. He was to later write of his experiences in his 2006 book In Search of Iraq: Baghdad to Babylon.

In 2000, he moved to RTÉ News and Current Affairs. He was later redeployed to Iraq, this time with RTÉ. He covered many events in the country since the start of the Iraq War. He left before Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled, claiming he was "at an advanced stage of psychological disintegration" and that the pressure on his family was too much to bear.

...
Wikipedia