Paul Cunningham (journalist)

Cunningham started to write articles for local newspapers in Dublin, before freelancing with The Irish Times and The Irish Press.

Quickly he began to pick up freelance shifts on RTÉ Radio 1 and RTÉ 2FM as a sub-editor and news-reader. After 2 years, he was appointed to the RTÉ Newsroom as a reporter.{{cite web|title=Paul Cunningham|date=September 2009 |url=http://www.eolasmagazine.ie/paul-cunningham/|publisher=Eolas Magazine|access-date=29 January 2014}}

From 1999 to 2001, Paul Cunningham reported on the infection of Irish people with haemophilia, with HIV, and with Hepatitis C from contaminated blood products. In recognition, he won "National Radio Journalist of the Year" in the ESB National Media Awards in 2000.{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2000/1102/00110200052.html|title=Winners of media awards|date=11 November 2000|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=13 January 2010}} He followed this up with a documentary exposing the practices of US-based drug firms that exported infected blood products to Ireland. The programme, Bad Blood, won an Irish Film and Television Award.{{cite news|url=http://www.iftn.ie/?act1=record&aid=73&rid=2454&sr=1&only=1&hl=aon&tpl=archnews|title=IFTA Awards - Nominees and Winners 2003|date=22 January 2003|work=IFTN|access-date=26 March 2010}} He co-wrote a book, with Rosemary Daly, on the impact of contaminated blood products called A Case of Bad Blood for Poolbeg Press.{{cite news|url=http://www.alibris.co.uk/booksearch.detail?invid=9118795499&browse=1&isbn=9781842231609&qsort=&page=1|title=A Case of Bad Blood|work=Alibris|access-date=26 March 2010}}

Cunningham has reported extensively from abroad. His first assignment was on the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. He followed up with reports on numerous conflicts including Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Lebanon, Kosovo, Algeria, Pakistan/Afghanistan, Guatemala, Nepal, Darfur and Chad. He has also reported on flooding in Mozambique and New Orleans; racism in South Africa; and Chile post-dictatorship.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Cunningham has been a stand-in radio news presenter over many years for programmes such as Morning Ireland, News At One and This Week.{{cite web|title=Paul Cunningham - Conference Chairman|publisher=Public Relations Institute of Ireland|url=http://www.prii.ie/annualconference/PaulCunningham.asp|date=15 April 2011|access-date=29 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202122127/http://www.prii.ie/annualconference/PaulCunningham.asp|archive-date=2 February 2014}} He is a regular presenter / editor of European Parliament Report.{{cite web|title=European Parliament Report|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/player/european-parliament-report/2013/1215/|publisher=RTÉ News|date=15 December 2013|access-date=29 January 2014}} In 2007, he presented an edition of RTÉ's current affairs interview programme One to One, in which he interviewed award-winning journalist Seymour Hersh.{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/1105/onetoone.html |title=One to One – Seymour Hersh |date=2007-11-05 |access-date=2009-04-04 |publisher=RTÉ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511044302/http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/1105/onetoone.html |archive-date=11 May 2008 }} In 2008, after Cunningham interviewed civil servant Padraig O hUiginn for the same series, Sunday Independent columnist Brendan O'Connor compared Cunningham to the hero in US television series Columbo: "seemingly awkward, nerdy and self-effacing and merely innocently asking odd questions, while all the time letting his subject reveal himself".{{cite news|author=Brendan O'Connor|author-link=Brendan O'Connor (journalist)|url=http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/rare-insight-into-a-public-sector--laid-bare-by-naked-civil-servant-1428421.html|title=Rare insight into a public sector laid bare by naked civil servant |date=6 July 2008|access-date=15 January 2010|newspaper=Sunday Independent}}

As RTÉ's Environment Correspondent, between 2001 and 2010, Cunningham regularly reported on climate change. In October 2006, he reported and blogged on the melting of glaciers in Greenland for RTÉ.{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/features/climatechange/greenland.html|title=Greenland: Ground Zero of Global Warming|date=October 2006|access-date=15 January 2010|publisher=RTÉ}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} In 2008 Cunningham travelled to Chad to film a series of reports on the country for RTÉ.{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/features/chad/index.html |title=Chad: Africa's forgotten crisis |access-date=15 January 2010 |publisher=RTÉ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105064410/http://www.rte.ie/news/features/chad/index.html |archive-date=5 January 2010 }} Cunningham covered the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference for RTÉ.{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1206/climate2.html|title=Climate data emails overshadowing Copenhagen|date=6 December 2009|access-date=15 January 2010|publisher=RTÉ}}{{dead link|date=June 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1217/climate.html|title=Push for agreement at Copenhagen climate talks|date=17 December 2009|access-date=15 January 2010|publisher=RTÉ}} He also reported from the UNFCCC meetings in Bali (2007) and Montreal (2005).{{cite web|title=Climate Change|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/features/climatechange/index.html|publisher=RTÉ News|archive-url=https://archive.today/20071208135817/http://www.rte.ie/news/features/climatechange/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 December 2007|access-date=29 January 2014}}

Cunningham is the author of the book Ireland's Burning,{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/features/climatechange/index.html |title=Climate Change |access-date=13 January 2010 |publisher=RTÉ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328211529/http://www.rte.ie/news/features/climatechange/index.html |archive-date=28 March 2010 }} which was published in 2008. It features interviews with Irish people concerned about the environment, including weatherman Gerald Fleming, journalist Kevin Myers and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government John Gormley.{{cite news|author=Maeve Dineen|url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/off-to-environmental-hell-in-a-handcart-1422340.html|title=Off to environmental hell in a handcart|date=28 June 2008|access-date=13 January 2010|newspaper=Irish Independent}}

Cunningham has worked as a reporter and producer on several TV documentaries, apart from Bad Blood, including:

Kidnapped: Sharon Commins' hostage ordeal in Darfur - 2010 {{cite web|title=Prime Time Special - Kidnapped|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2010/1221/295791-21december2010_primetime/|publisher=RTÉ News|date=21 December 2010|access-date=29 January 2014}}

Green Gold: Search for Ireland's Green Economy - 2010 {{cite web|title=Green Gold? In search of Ireland's Green Economy|publisher=New Decade|url=http://www.newdecade.ie/greentech/|access-date=29 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201081136/http://www.newdecade.ie/greentech/|archive-date=1 February 2014}}

Far Away - So Close: Conflict in Guatemala - 2008 {{cite web|title=Far Away Up Close - About the show|publisher=RTÉ One|url=http://www.rte.ie/tv/farawayupclose/|access-date=29 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502100306/http://www.rte.ie/tv/farawayupclose/|archive-date=2 May 2010}}

Poptarts and Chemotherapy: Robbie Dillon's story - 1998{{cite web|title=Robbie Dillon: A Short Biography|url=http://www.iol.ie/~rdillon/biog.htm|access-date=29 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803150831/http://www.iol.ie/~rdillon/biog.htm|archive-date=3 August 2016}}

A Noble Failure: The Bosnian War and Irish efforts to help - 1994

Cunningham has been RTÉ's Europe Correspondent, where most of the work focused on the Eurozone debt crisis. Other stories included

Arrest and detention of former Bosnian Serb Commander Ratko Mladic,{{cite web|title=Ratko Mladic called to account at The Hague|url=https://www.rte.ie/blogs/european/2012/05/16/220/|publisher=RTÉ News|date=16 May 2012|access-date=29 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915062139/http://www.rte.ie/blogs/european/2012/05/16/220/|archive-date=15 September 2012}} the 20th anniversary of the siege of Sarajevo,{{cite web|title=Paul Cunningham reports on the 20th anniversary of the 1992 {{sic|sei|ge|nolink=y}} of Sarajevo|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/player/2012/0404/3247705-paul-cunningham-reports-on-the-20th-anniversary-of-the-1992-seige-of-sarajevo/|publisher=RTÉ News|date=4 April 2012|access-date=29 January 2014}} Greek elections,{{cite web|title=Paul Cunningham on the latest from Greece's parliamentary election|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/player/2012/0507/3278907-paul-cunningham-on-the-latest-from-greeces-parliamentary-election/|publisher=RTÉ News|date=7 May 2012|access-date=29 January 2014}} Portuguese elections,{{cite web|title=Portugal to get change of government|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/player/2011/0606/2971834-portugal-to-get-change-of-government/|publisher=RTÉ News|date=6 June 2011|access-date=29 January 2014}} Ireland at the helm of the OSCE / Visit to Georgia - Abkhazia,{{cite web|title=Eamon Gilmore at the helm of the OSCE|url=http://www.rte.ie/blogs/european/2012/06/15/eamon-gilmore-at-the-helm-of-the-osce/|publisher=RTÉ News|date=15 June 2012|access-date=29 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623044842/https://www.rte.ie/blogs/european/2012/06/15/eamon-gilmore-at-the-helm-of-the-osce/|archive-date=23 June 2012}} horse meat contamination problems in Poland{{cite web|title=RTÉ Prime Time report: a Polish perspective on the horse meat scandal|url=http://www.liamnolanmedia.com/2013/02/15/rte-prime-time-report-a-polish-perspective-on-horse-meat-scandal/|access-date=29 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201233720/http://www.liamnolanmedia.com/2013/02/15/rte-prime-time-report-a-polish-perspective-on-horse-meat-scandal/|archive-date=2014-02-01|url-status=dead}} and a train crash at Santiago de Compostela.{{cite tweet|title=Mayor of #Santiago de Compostela prepare for minutes silence from victims of train crash|author=Paul Cunningham|user=RTENewsPaulC|number=360701063269064705|date=26 July 2013|access-date=29 January 2014}}

However, he also reports on matters beyond the EU. He covered the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and resulting Fukushima I nuclear accidents in Japan for RTÉ.{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0318/japanquake.html|title=Growing numbers leaving Tokyo|date=18 March 2011|access-date=18 March 2011|publisher=RTÉ}} He had just arrived in Brussels when the disaster occurred and, not having packed enough clothes, he raided the apartment of colleague Tony Connelly, before setting off, first to Paris, then on to Tokyo.{{cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0311/1203167-tsunami-japan-fukushima/|title=Fukushima disaster - 10 years on from Japan's 'wave from hell'|date=11 March 2021 |last1=Cunningham |first1=Paul |website=RTÉ.ie }}

In 2014 he broadcast a series of reports from Iran, as the provisional nuclear deal with the West came into operation.{{cite web|title=Digital Revolution challenges Islamic Revolution in Iran|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/special-reports/2014/0119/498869-the-digital-revolution-challenges-the-islamic-revolution-in-iran/|publisher=RTÉ News|date=20 January 2014|access-date=29 January 2014}}

He is currently Political Correspondent for RTÉ News and Current Affairs.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2019/0518/1050288-opinion-polls/|title=Greens gain as two polls released ahead of elections|language=en|last=Cunningham|first=Paul|publisher=RTÉ News|date=18 May 2019|access-date=19 May 2019|quote=By Paul Cunningham, Political Correspondent}}

In January 2010 Cunningham became known for his choice of hat which, according to the journalist himself via Twitter, is from "Pakistan's tribal areas". He wore the hat during a live television news report for RTÉ outside Government Buildings during the January 2010 weather emergency in Europe.{{cite news|author=Fiona McCann|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2010/0112/1224262111623.html|title=Wardrobes for radio|date=12 January 2009|access-date=13 January 2010|newspaper=The Irish Times|quote=Take Paul Cunningham’s hat (pictured). Last week he appeared on an RTÉ news report wearing what has been described as a “woolly pancake”, an “Aran Smurf’s hat” and “stylish, in a French pastry kind of way” during an online discussion. A Facebook page appeared, dedicated to the accessory in question. [...] Cunningham responded to the hat mania on Twitter with the news that his coveted head cover came from “Pakistan’s tribal areas”.}} The hat has been described variously as a "woolly pancake", an "Aran Smurf’s hat" and "stylish, in a French pastry kind of way". A Facebook group dedicated to the hat had more than one thousand fans within hours of the hat's television debut. Observers noted that Cunningham's hat did indeed resemble a pakul, a traditional men's hat worn in the Chitral and Gilgit regions of Pakistan.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} Some of these fans met up outside Government Buildings wearing their own hats in a similar manner. RTÉ.ie even referenced the hat in their own weather updates.{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0108/live_weather_transport_updates.html|title=LIVE - Weather & transport updates|date=8 January 2010|access-date=15 January 2010|publisher=RTÉ|quote=11.22am If you must venture out today, be sure to wrap up warm just as RTÉ's Paul Cunningham and Mary Calpin did last night.}} The hat was auctioned for GOAL on radio programme Mooney on 21 January 2010 to raise funds for the 2010 Haiti earthquake appeal: the hat was purchased after some "frenzied bidding" for €570 by a member of "We love Paul Cunningham's winter hat" Facebook society.{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/arts/2010/0122/mooneyd.html|title=Paul Cunningham's hat auctioned for Goal|date=22 January 2010|access-date=22 January 2010|publisher=RTÉ}}{{cite news|author=Sinéad Gleeson|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2010/0129/1224263345924.html|title=Ways of giving|date=29 January 2010|access-date=29 January 2010|newspaper=The Irish Times|quote=RTÉ faces have contributed personal items to an eBay auction and there was frenzied bidding for the now legendary “big freeze” hat worn by RTÉ environment correspondent Paul Cunningham (above) – going on to raise €570, and Ryan Tubridy’s Late Late Toy Show jumper earned a whopping €1,050.}} Cunningham had responded after Derek Mooney said he would auction his own jumper on air.{{cite news|author=Claire Murphy |url=http://www.herald.ie/national-news/silly-hat-is-raising-cash-for-haiti-2027118.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120801120410/http://www.herald.ie/national-news/silly-hat-is-raising-cash-for-haiti-2027118.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 August 2012 |title=Silly hat is raising cash for Haiti |date=22 January 2010 |access-date=22 January 2010 |newspaper=Evening Herald }}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{Twitter}}
• [https://archive.today/20071208135817/http://www.rte.ie/news/features/climatechange/index.html Paul Cunningham webchat] on climate change
• [http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1211/climateblog.html Paul Cunningham] at the Copenhagen Climate Summit

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Category:RTÉ newsreaders and journalists

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