Fionnuala Sweeney facts for kids

Fionnuala Sweeney is an Irish television presenter and reporter. She was born in 1965. Fionnuala worked for the news channel CNN, based in Atlanta, USA, and later in London. She is also well-known for hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 in Millstreet, County Cork, Ireland.

Early Life and Education

Fionnuala Sweeney was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1965. She lived there until she was 12 years old. After that, her family moved to Dublin, the capital of Ireland.

She went to University College Dublin. There, she earned a special degree in English and History. She also got a diploma in Education, which means she could teach.

Career Highlights

Starting in Radio

Fionnuala began her career in broadcasting in 1987. She worked as a newscaster for a radio station called Energy Power 103 FM in Dublin. She helped present a morning show called "Wake Up With Energy."

In 1988, she moved to another radio station, RTÉ 2FM. After that, she became a television reporter for RTÉ news. In 2018, she returned to radio to co-host a political show called "Late Debate" on RTÉ Radio 1.

Working in Television News

While working as a journalist at RTÉ, Fionnuala had a very special job. She was the only host of the 38th Eurovision Song Contest in 1993. This is a big music competition watched by many people around the world.

Later, she moved to CNN, a major international news channel. She started as an anchor at CNN's main office in Atlanta. Then, she moved with CNN to London. In London, she presented World News Europe. She also traveled often to report from places like the Middle East and Europe.

Fionnuala also hosted a show called Design 360. This program explored how design influences many parts of our lives. In 2002, she became the anchor for Your World Today. She also hosted International Correspondents, which showed how global news stories were made. Later, she returned to Atlanta to host CNN Newsroom. She was also a main substitute anchor for The International Desk.

Awards and Recognition

Fionnuala Sweeney and her team have won important awards for their news coverage.

• In 2006, she reported from Haifa during the Israel-Hezbollah war. For this work, CNN received an Edward R. Murrow Award. This award recognizes excellent journalism.
• In 2012, she was part of the news team that won an Emmy Award. This was for their live coverage of the "Revolution in Egypt" in 2011. The coverage also won a Peabody Award, another highly respected award in broadcasting.
• That same year, her team was nominated for another Emmy. This was for their coverage of the "Libya Revolution" in 2011.

See also

• List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters