Marty Whelan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Marty Whelan
Whelan in 2018
Born	Martin Whelan (1956-06-07) 7 June 1956 (age 69) Dublin, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Occupation	Broadcaster
Employer	Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)
Spouse(s)	Maria Whelan ​ (m. 1985)​
Children	2
Parent(s)	John and Lilly Whelan

Martin "Marty" Whelan (born 7 June 1956) is a very well-known Irish radio and television presenter. He works for Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), which is Ireland's national broadcaster.

Marty has hosted many popular shows over the years. These include TV game shows like Millionaire and Fame and Fortune. He also presented the weekday afternoon show, Open House.

From 1997 to 2003, Marty was the host of the famous The Rose of Tralee festival. His radio show, Marty in the Morning on RTÉ 2fm, ended in 2007. However, Marty has continued to be a familiar face on Irish TV and radio. He even won the reality series Celebrity Bainisteoir in 2008. Since 2009, he has been a co-presenter of the popular game show Winning Streak.

Marty Whelan is also famous for providing the television commentary for RTÉ's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest. He did this in 1987 and has done it every year since 2000.

Early life and beginnings

Marty Whelan was born in Dublin, Ireland, on 7 June 1956. He was an only child. He remembers his childhood as being full of fun. He often played with his cousins and friends.

Marty went to school in Killester, Dublin. Before starting his career in broadcasting, he worked for an insurance company for five years. He then began his radio journey at a station called Radio Dublin. Later, he moved to another station called The Big D in April 1978. Marty started by working on weekend shows. Soon after, he got his first daytime slot, presenting the drivetime show.

Career highlights

Starting out in radio and TV (1979–1990)

In 1979, Marty Whelan joined RTÉ Radio 2, which is now known as RTÉ 2fm. Before this, he used the name Marty Hall on pirate radio. During his first time at RTÉ Radio 2, he presented shows like Drivetime and Marty till Midnight. He also hosted the RTÉ 2fm Breakfast Show for three years. He would return to this role later in his career.

In the mid-1980s, Marty started working in television. He became the first male presenter of the popular fashion show Head 2 Toe. He also hosted other well-known TV shows. These included the quiz programme Where in the World? (from 1987 to 1989). He also presented Video File (from 1983 to 1989), where he interviewed famous music stars.

In 1989, Marty left RTÉ radio to work for a different station called Century Radio. When that project didn't work out, he found it difficult to return to RTÉ right away.

Returning to RTÉ (1991–2004)

Marty Whelan came back to RTÉ in the mid-1990s. He presented shows like Go For It, Off the Record, and Millionaire. For about ten years, he hosted Fame and Fortune, a summer lottery show on RTÉ One. He also spent ten years presenting the John Player Tops.

In 1997, Marty became the host of the annual Rose of Tralee contest. He hosted it until 2003, when Ryan Tubridy took over. In 2004, RTÉ's afternoon show Open House was cancelled. Marty had been a co-host with Mary Kennedy since 1998. He was very surprised and disappointed when the show ended.

Current work (2004–present)

In the summer of 2005, Marty filled in for Gerry Ryan on his morning radio show on RTÉ 2fm. This led to him getting his own show, Marty in the Morning, which started in September 2005. However, this show ended in March 2007. Marty continued to fill in for Gerry Ryan when he was on leave.

Since then, Marty has appeared in movies as himself. He also made a guest appearance on the soap opera Fair City. He continues to provide commentary for RTÉ's television coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest every May.

In March 2009, Marty presented a two-hour show called Sunday with Marty Whelan on RTÉ lyric fm. In July 2009, he provided commentary on the Michael Jackson memorial service for RTÉ Two. Following his Sunday show, he got his own weekday lunchtime show on RTÉ lyric fm, called Marty at Midday, starting in September 2009. In the same month, he began co-presenting Winning Streak on RTÉ One every Saturday night. He has been doing this ever since.

As of October 2010, Marty Whelan presents Marty in the Morning on RTÉ Lyric FM. This show is on weekday mornings between 7 and 10. More recently, he presented TV series like A Little Bit Funny in 2009 and A Little Bit Eurovision in 2011.

Eurovision Song Contest

In 1987 and 1988, Marty Whelan co-hosted Eurosong. This was the Irish competition to choose the song for the Eurovision Song Contest. Other presenters took over the commentary job between 1988 and 1999. In late 1999, it was announced that Marty would return as the commentator. He has been providing commentary for Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest since the 2000 Contest and continues to do so.

Personal life

Marty Whelan is married to Maria. They have two children. Marty and Maria first met in 1974. They dated for over ten years before getting married on 13 August 1985. Maria used to work as an air hostess for Aer Lingus but stopped after they got married.

Marty enjoys playing badminton, rugby, and football. He also likes doing DIY projects around the house. In his free time, he plays indoor football with some of his colleagues from RTÉ. In October 2015, Marty released his own book of memories called That’s Life.

Awards

In 1986, Marty Whelan won a Jacob's Award for his work on the show Video File.

Advertising

In 1984, Marty appeared in an advertisement for Knorr sauces. From 1992 to 1996, he was also featured in a series of advertisements for Daz washing powder.