Clearing brought Eddy closer to his passion for working in radio

Creative media student Eddy O’Brien has always had a passion for working in radio. He has been at the forefront of many of the top news stories, interviewing politicians and bringing together speakers from around the world. 

Eddy came to The Manchester College through clearing. He had planned to study at another university, but was attracted to our course when he discovered it was the only one specialising in radio production. His passion started at high school when he set up the school’s radio station.

On the first year of his course, Eddy sought opportunities to further his experience working as a volunteer presenter on the Thursday drive time show at Manchester FM and gaining a two week placement with Radio Lancashire. This led on to him working freelance on the breakfast show for Five Live. When it came to setting up a live debate and finding guests for his second year project, Eddy drew on his experiences of sourcing speakers and setting up interviews.

During his third year Eddy pitched for and set up a documentary for his final project, focusing on cyber bullying and a story which had seen a young girl’s photograph being shared on the internet. He Interviewed writer Shaun Duggan and charity representative Peter Bradley, alongside Josh Gunderson in Orlando.

Juggling studying with working gave Eddy a wealth of contacts and experience. He has conducted live interviews with top politicians including Iain Duncan Smith, Vince Cable, Simon Danczuk and Andy Burnham. He’s also covered top stories including the tenth anniversary of the Morecambe Bay tragedy. More recently, he attended the House of Commons to cover the Jo Cox story, working as the broadcast engineer to keep the story on air. He also set up links through to the Home Office and interviewed Theresa May in response to the recent political activities.

You don't know what the stories are going to be when you arrive to cover them. Every day is different.

Eddy’s taking a short break from working in radio to pursue another passion of his, working backstage with a theatre company on board a cruise liner. He’s heading to Hamburg and New York working on one of most prestigious Cunard ships, the Queen Mary!

When asked what his advice would be for anyone thinking about using clearing, he said:

• Check out the course and don’t be afraid to ask questions
• Go to open days, speak to tutors and look at the prospectus
• Find out everything about the course to make sure it's the right one for you before signing up
• As for going onto further study, it may seem challenging, but keep at it and don't give up!