Sharavogue’s Claudia takes the BBC by storm!

Having just been promoted as Head of Planning with BBC flagship news programme, Newsnight, 31-year-old Birr native, Claudia Headon, has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top in a journalism career that has taken her half way round the globe and seen her rub shoulders with everyone from Prince Harry to Theresa May along the way!

Daughter of Patrick and Barbara-Ann Headon from Sharavogue, Claudia has built up an enviable CV, but she admits that journalism was never on her radar until she went to France for a year on an internship to work with a radio station after completing a Degree in European Studies in Trinity College.

“I actually went to France to improve my French, and while I was working with EURadioNantes I was definitely bitten by the news bug, as well as developing a whole new appreciation for wine and cheese,” she laughs.

After a brief stint doing traffic reports on AA Roadwatch for Lyric FM, Claudia decided to pursue a post graduate journalism degree in Wales and then moved to Belfast where she got a job as Assistant Producer on a series of highly personal short films on Channel 4, which she describes as “essentially being the God Slot on Channel 4.”

She says it was a very “hands on job” which entailed finding five contributors every week to answer some very profound questions relating to religious and ethical issues. “We used what was a relatively new concept in 2011, which was having the contributors speak directly into the camera, and it worked really well.”

Never one to rest on her laurels, after 18 months with Channel 4, the dynamic Birr journalist saw an ad for the BBC World Service and says she went for an interview “purely on spec” and joined a

freelance panel initially.

As a lifelong lover of radio, Claudia loved working for the BBC World Service early morning programme, ‘Newsday’, even though the work was very demanding and each shift was 12 hours long. Her work took her all across the globe, including to Lampedusa in southern Italy to cover the unfolding refugee crisis and to many parts of Africa to cover the Ebola outbreak and other news items.

“It was a very exciting time for me, but every day I had to come up with different ideas and then make my pitch and try to sell the idea at our editorial meetings, so I constantly had to look at the bigger picture as we were broadcasting to a global audience, and it was fantastic training and really rewarding work” she says.

Claudia says she would always advise young journalists to “make sure to speak up” and make a pitch at editorial meetings. “Even though you think you idea might not be very good, and might not be worthy of consideration, you are better to speak out and make your pitch, as nobody is going to notice you if you sit there and say nothing,” she says.

The lure of home and an exciting new opportunity to be part of the launch of UTV Ireland brought Claudia Headon back to Dublin once again in 2015 to work as a News Producer and Editor and, while she enjoyed being part of the UTV set up, she hankered for London and missed being part of a huge organisation like the BBC, where there were many more opportunities.

“When I was with UTV I got to travel around Ireland a lot, and of course I also got to go home to Birr more often, and that was great, but I left shortly before the Virgin Media takeover and headed back to London in November 2016, and I have been here ever since” she says.

Afrer taking her chances on the freelance circuit for a short period, Claudia Headon once again went back into the BBC and joined Radio 4's early morning flagship news programme, Today, where she ended up working as Digital Producer. It was here she rubbed shoulders with the “who's who” of national and international names, including doing a Christmas special with Prince Harry and interviewing former and current Prime Ministers, Tony Blair and Theresa May respectively.

A move up the ranks to BBC television quickly followed for Claudia Headon, who received her early education in Crinkle National School and in the Ursuline Convent in Thurles. She was appointed as Digital Editor of BBC 2's nightly anchor news programme, Newsnight, last year and has just recently received another promotion, this time as Head of Planning.

With such a hectic work life, and being a self-confessed “news junkie” how does she find time to unwind? “When you live in London, where the rents are very high, you have to get out and about and really live the city, and that's what I do at every opportunity” she says, adding that there is “always a play or a Show or a lecture to go to, and you can also eat out really cheaply here too if you know where to go.” She also loves to travel and makes time for “a city break here and there” whenever she can find the time.

Claudia tries to get back to visit her parents, Patrick and Barbara-Ann, in Sharavogue “every two to three months” and catch up with her siblings, sisters Rebecca, Charlotte and Olivia and brother, Tommy. She also has a lot of friends in Dublin from her time in Trinity, so a short break in Dublin is also a welcome distraction from her high-powered job in London.

Claudia Headon admits to living life “at breakneck speed” but says she is enjoying every minute of it and has no intention of slowing down anytime soon!