Henry Kelly: The Troubles journalist who became a household name on TV

Independent

26-02-2025

Henry Kelly's long career brought him from reporting on the frontline of the Troubles in Northern Ireland to fame as a presenter of light entertainment shows Game for a Laugh and Going for Gold.
The broadcaster, who has died at the age of 78, became known for his Irish charm as one of the most recognisable faces on TV during the 1980s.
Born in Athlone in 1946, Kelly moved to Dublin as a child and studied at Belvedere College and later University College Dublin.
He began his journalism career at the Irish Times while still a student, writing obituaries and theatre reviews while studying for an English degree.
He became the paper's northern editor in 1970 at the height of the Troubles, after being initially sent to Northern Ireland on a week's holiday cover in 1969 as a reporter.
Kelly spent four years covering the worst of the Troubles and authored the book 'How Stormont Fell'.
His experiences in Northern Ireland were recalled in a legacy inquest in 2022 when a coroner made an appeal for him to come forward as a potential witness to a loyalist bomb attack in Belfast in 1972. The court was later told he was unable to assist the process.
His daughter Siobhan told the Irish Times that the years he spent covering Northern Ireland were among the proudest of his career.
She said: 'He always held the Irish Times very firmly in his heart and was very proud of the work he did in Northern Ireland and the time he spent there.
'I think probably looking back that was his proudest time.'
Kelly joined the BBC in 1976, working as a reporter and presenter for Radio 4's The World Tonight.
However, his next move was to take him in an entirely different direction. Following the lead of Irish stars Terry Wogan and Eamonn Andrews, he switched to presenting light entertainment TV shows.
LWT's Saturday night vehicle Game for a Laugh, which revolved around a series of practical jokes, regularly pulled in huge television audiences of more than 17 million and launched the presenting careers of Kelly, Jeremy Beadle and Matthew Kelly.
Kelly later hosted TV-am before attaining cult status when presenting the daytime BBC quiz show Going for Gold for a decade.
The show pitted contestants from across Europe against each other to win a grand prize.
Later, Kelly, who had a lifelong love of classical music, was one of the original presenters on Classic FM, hosting its breakfast show for a number of years in the 1990s where his horse racing tips proved popular with listeners. In 1998 he wrote the book 'Classic FM – Musical Anecdotes'.
Kelly was also to present radio shows on LBC and BBC London.
In 2004 he declared himself bankrupt after suffering financial troubles over several years.
His daughter Siobhan told the Irish Times that her father retained his interest in current affairs until his death.
She said: 'Right till the very last minute, his mind was as sharp as anything, his fascination with current affairs never diminished.
'We were talking about rugby and Ukraine last Sunday – he was thrilled to have seen Ireland win the Triple Crown on Saturday.'
He watched it with his son Alex.
Henry Kelly is survived by his partner Karolyn Shindler, his son Alex, his daughter Siobhan and her mother Marjorie.