'No regrets' for chat show king Kenny as he hits the big six-o
FROM working with pre-schoolers to taking over from broadcasting legend Gay Byrne, Pat Kenny, who turns 60 tomorrow, says he has no regrets about the twists and turns of a career which spans four decades in RTE. Not even for his past hairdos.
"There are a few 'what ifs?' that I sometimes think about," he said last night.
"What if I had stayed in the United States as an engineer in 1972? I'm quite sure that I never would have become a broadcaster, but would I have surfaced in another arena?
"What if, instead of teaching in Bolton Street, I had taken a job with Shell or Imperial Chemicals in the UK? What would have happened if I had accepted some of the offers to work on UK TV that came pouring in after the Eurovision Song Contest? I'll never know.
"Whatever about the 'what ifs?', I've no regrets."
Raised beside the Phoenix Park, he didn't take the path trodden by his father and grandfather who were in charge of the elephants in Dublin Zoo. Instead, he obtained a chemical engineering degree and later, a Master of Science Engineering in America.
Returning to Ireland, he began teaching in DIT Bolton St and worked as an announcer on RTE Radio.
Well known in RTE for his Beatles-style hair-do and sharp suits, he quickly jumped to TV -- where he started as a presenter in a series for pre-school children called 'Babaro'.
He went on to work on 'Week-In Week-Out', 'Studio 2', 'Survey' and 'Public Accounts'. Simultaneously, he hosted a late-night radio show for teens and 20-somethings called 'Nightbus'. His career took a more serious turn in the '80s when he presented 'Day to Day' and later 'Today Tonight'.
He took over the reins of 'The Late Late Show' from Gay Byrne in 1999, saying it was "the most difficult decision of my career".
"Stepping into the shoes of a broadcasting giant like Gay Byrne was always going to be a huge challenge," he said.
"But in a way, everything I had done before, as a current affairs broadcaster, as a radio DJ, fed into the kaleidoscopic demands of hosting the 'Late Late Show'. Anyway, thanks to the imagination and unstinting efforts of my colleagues, it's been a huge success."
And he has vowed to keep presenting the show -- even though he's getting ever closer to the official retirement age.
"First of all, it's a great milestone to have reached.
"There are quite a few I've known who didn't make it, so I give thanks for that. I can't say that I'm overjoyed with the digit six in front of my age, but, in truth, I'm not really bothered about it."
- Edel Kennedy
