PIERS Morgan is to be honoured with the award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting and Journalism at The Irish Post Awards 2019 this week.
The Good Morning Britain host will be among the awardees on the night with live coverage commencing at 9.30pm on TG4 this Thursday, November 14.
Morgan was born on March 30, 1965 in Newick, Sussex, to parents Gabrielle Georgina Sybille and Vincent Eamonn O’Meara, a dentist originally from Galway.
Morgan's mother later married Welsh publican Glynne Pughe-Morgan, with Piers taking his stepfather’s surname in the process.
After leaving school, he found work with Lloyd’s of London but took the bold decision to leave behind potentially a lucrative career to pursue his true passion.
Piers studied journalism at Harlow College, eventually landing a job as a reporter for the South London News and Streatham and Tooting News in the mid-1980s.
A career in Fleet Street soon beckoned, with Morgan joining The Sun in 1988, where his stepfather’s double-barrelled name was shortened from Pughe-Morgan to Morgan.
Personally recruited by then editor Kelvin MacKenzie, Morgan first made his name on the paper’s legendary Bizarre showbiz column, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous on a regular basis.
He subsequently made history in 1994 when Rupert Murdoch appointed him the editor of News of the World.
Morgan was just 29 at the time, making him the youngest editor of a British national newspaper in more than half a century.
From there, Morgan went on to more success in the world of print and online news as editor of the Daily Mirror and editor-at-large for the Mail Online in the US, publishing several books during this period.
While Morgan enjoyed success on US television as a judge on America’s Got Talent and host of Piers Morgan Live, these days he is a firm fixture on British TV.
Piers Morgan’s Life Stories has run for over a decade on ITV, with the seasoned journalist bringing his amiable personality and incisive questioning style to the fore in a series of hour-long interviews with celebrities from the world of film, music, sport and the wider world.
Rarely one to shy away from a difficult subject matter, Morgan has also attracted acclaim for his true crime documentary work, on series like Confessions of a Serial Killer with Piers Morgan.
He is currently serving as co-anchor on Good Morning Britain alongside Susanna Reid, where he has played a pivotal role in turning the programme into the most talked about breakfast show in the UK today.
An avid Arsenal fan, and married father of four, Morgan has always taken great pride in his Irish roots. This week, Ireland celebrates his incredible impact in the world of print, online news and television entertainment.
The Irish Post Awards 2019 is sponsored by DRS and Invennt.
Tune into The Irish Post Awards 2019 this Thursday, November 14 at 9.30pm LIVE on TG4!
