Ursula Halligan
Ursula Halligan is an Irish journalist and former political editor of TV3, Ireland’s main independent television channel. She grew up in Templeogue, Dublin, and is Catholic. Her brother Aidan Halligan was a senior figure in English medicine.
Halligan started in journalism in 1990, working for the Sunday Tribune and Magill magazine. She later joined RTÉ News and Current Affairs before moving to TV3 when the station began. In 2000, she won TV Journalist of the Year at Ireland’s National Media Awards. She presented The Political Party, TV3’s main weekend current affairs show, until it was cancelled in March 2009 due to budget cuts.
On 26 December 2009, Halligan disclosed on a TV3 news bulletin that Finance Minister Brian Lenihan Jnr had pancreatic cancer. The revelation drew criticism from some politicians, including the Taoiseach, but also support from various publications and journalists.
In 2011 she produced a three-part series looking at Fianna Fáil’s rise and fall, following the party’s losses in the February 2011 election. In July 2012, Halligan was involved in a high-profile moment with Taoiseach Enda Kenny outside the National Library, when Kenny’s criticism of same-sex marriage led to a tense confrontation that was later nicknamed “flowergate.”
In May 2015, Halligan publicly came out as gay in The Irish Times, writing about her first love and her battles with depression. She supported a Yes vote in the Marriage Equality referendum, which affected her participation in TV3’s referendum coverage. Her article received widespread praise from fellow broadcasters. She has spoken about delaying her decision to come out due to her brother’s death shortly before the controversy surrounding the referendum.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:37 (CET).