Cathal Póirtéir is an author, journalist and PPI-awardwinning broadcaster. He has worked with RTÉ Radio 1 for over thirty years, producing programmes on a variety of topics from current affairs and politics to drama, music and literature, with a particular focus on Irish language programming.

He has produced a number of CDs about Irish literature, including Blasket Island Reflections, a series on the Blasket Island writers; The Appeals of the Midnight Court, a documentary about the poet Brian Merriman; and Traditional Tales of Wonder, a selection of folktales and legends from Donegal storyteller Micí Sheáin Néill.

He is the author of The Great Irish Famine, and Famine Voices and their Irish-language counterparts Gnéithe den Ghorta and Glórtha ón Ghorta. He is the editor of two collections – the short story collection Scéalta san Aer and the poetry collection Éigse san Aer.