'An absolute one-off' - former BBC broadcaster Conor Bradford dies

Former BBC News NI radio and TV presenter Conor Bradford has died aged 73.

The veteran broadcaster presented Inside Ulster, Good Morning Ulster and Evening Extra during a four-decade career on the airwaves, before retiring in 2022.

Adam Smyth, director of BBC Northern Ireland, said Bradford was an "absolute one-off".

"His on-air and off-air personas were exactly the same; flamboyant, witty, warm and curious - he was a pleasure to produce," he said.

"His passing will be met with great sadness by everyone fortunate enough to have worked with him."

Michael Cairns, who previously worked at BBC News NI, announced the death on X.

"It's with sadness I share news from Conor Bradford's family that Conor passed away yesterday," Cairns wrote.

"An interviewer with a unique style, a master of both TV and radio presentation and superb social company, he held the lunchtime radio slot together during some of the worst times."

Tributes have been paid by politicians, with Justice Minister Naomi Long saying her thoughts were with his family.

"Really sad to hear this. Conor was such a superb interviewer and journalist," she wrote on social media.

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)'s Matthew O'Toole said Bradford was "a really decent man and talented interviewer".

Irish broadcaster Michael Kelly said Bradford was "an utter professional" and "absolute gentleman".

"You'd want to have your homework done before he'd interview you, he had a razor-sharp bluffer monitor," he added.

Former colleagues have also paid tribute.

Mark Devenport, former BBC News NI political editor, said he had "great memories" working with Bradford.

"Always a smile on his face and an idiosyncratic style of presentation. Condolences to all his family and friends."

Former BBC News NI broadcaster Donna Traynor said Bradford was "a man with a great presence" who made people laugh with "all of his stories and antics".

Speaking to BBC News NI, former presenter Seamus McKee said Bradford was "like no other interviewer, broadcaster, presenter that I have ever worked alongside".

"Nothing fazed him, he was in awe of nobody," McKee said.

"He knew the secret which was to take the job seriously but not to take yourself seriously. He was one of the best - as a broadcaster and as a colleague."

Born in London, the son of journalist and unionist politician Roy Bradford, Conor attended Winchester College in Hampshire before studying history in Oxford.

After graduating, his pre-broadcasting life saw him work a number of jobs including with the British Institute in Florence, as an art dealer and on an oil rig.

Talking to the News Letter in 2022, at the time of his retirement, he said he came to join the BBC by chance after journalist and author Martin Dillon suggested he consider working at the broadcasting organisation.

"I took him at his word and badgered him the next week and they gave me a reel-to-reel tape recorder and told me to go and interview people.

"He said if they are any good we'll use them, and if they aren't we won't, and you'll just get paid on a pro-rata basis.

"It was very ad-hoc in those days. There were no media courses. You didn't train to become a journalist."

After joining the BBC, at first as a freelance in the 1980s, he went on to present a number of programmes including Good Morning Ulster, Evening Extra and Today at the Assembly.

In 1991, he won a Sony Gold Radio Award for his work on Sunday Newsbreak on BBC Radio Ulster.