Outlook

You may have heard Tim Brannigan interviewed on other networks, but his interview with Matthew Bannister on Outlook (World Service) had a particular frisson to it. Brannigan grew up in Belfast, thinking himself adopted. In 1985, on the day of Live Aid, his mother revealed that he was, in fact, her natural son. "Mum had a few drinks on her," he recalled. She had lied when he was born that her child – conceived in an affair with a Ghanaian doctor – had died, moving Brannigan into a children's home and gradually building a relationship with him that grew into adoption. The secret held for 19 years, and its ramifications are still unfolding – even yesterday on-air. Brannigan tracked his father down after his mother died, and discovered half-siblings in Ghana. The reunion was bumpy and short-lived, with the family "retreating" from contact, he explained. It was then that the interview suddenly took on a powerful, direct dimension, thanks to the World Service's global reach. "The fact that my voice will be in Ghana might be an issue," Brannigan noted. He had texted his father before doing the interview, asking for him to show him some "kindness" but had not heard back. Bannister added that the programme had also contacted the father for comment: "He told us he had nothing to say."