Ian Dempsey  Ian Dempsey (born 16 January 1961) is an Irish presenter of television and breakfast radio. He is the long-running presenter of the breakfast show on Today FM, self-titled "The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show", which runs from 7-9am each weekday. He has won several major awards for his programmes and was the Republic of Ireland's tenth most-listened-to broadcaster in 2007. On 9 June 2010, he co-hosted the opening ceremony of the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games Irish heats at Thomond Park with Des Cahill. Dempsey began his first experiments in radio in 1967 when at the age of six he made his first radio show in a friend's house. In 1978 he joined Dublin pirate station Capitol Radio, and later worked for Alternative Radio Dublin and Radio 257. On 29 February 1980, he joined the national broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), to present "The Weekend Breakfast Show" on RTÉ 2fm, and later, shows such as "Poparama", "The Hotline", "Night Train" and "The Great Giveaway Show". Dempsey later hosted the lunchtime show before moving to the breakfast slot in the mid-1980s. He picked up where Marty Whelan had left off, engaging the audience with his natural personality, a world apart from the 'jocks' that stalked the Radio Centre in Montrose at the time. Apart from a brief time off breakfast following 2fm's 1989 relaunch, he has remained on early mornings since. Maxi was placed on the breakfast show at that time, but, after a few weeks, it was apparent to all that her style was not suited to the format; Dempsey was promptly reinstated.  1986 saw Dempsey's first major exposure to television, with the children's show "Dempsey's Den", which also gave the alien twin puppets Zig and Zag their first break to the small screen. Noted for his choice of brightly coloured jumpers, Dempsey presented "The Den" until the summer of 1990 and later reflected on his time at the helm in a 2008 RTÉ documentary. He also worked on various TV shows including the pop music quiz show "Number 1" and three seasons of "The Beatbox", a two-hour music video show simulcast on Network 2 and RTÉ 2fm. He was also the first host of the Irish version of "Talkabout". Dempsey weathered the storm of the advent of independent radio in Ireland on RTÉ 2fm breakfast.