Ranelagh was Campaign Director for “Outset”, a charity for the single homeless person, where he pioneered the concept of charity auctions. From 1974 to 1979 he was at the Conservative Research Department working to Margaret Thatcher where he first had responsibility for Education policy, and then for Foreign policy. He started his career in television with the British Broadcasting Corporation, first for BBC News and Current Affairs on Midweek. As Associate Producer he was a key member of the BBC/RTE Ireland: A Television History 13-part documentary series (1981). Later a member of the team that started Channel 4, he conceived the Equinox program strand, developed the “commissioning system”, and served as Board Secretary. He wrote and executive-produced the BBC/Primetime/A&E 6-part TV series, CIA (1992), based on his book The Agency: The Rise and Decline of the CIA. He was the first television professional appointed to the Independent Television Commission (ITC), a government agency which licensed and regulated commercial television in Britain from 1991 to 2003.
He is also the author of Ireland: An Illustrated History (1981), A Short History of Ireland (1983), Thatcher’s People (1991) and The Irish Republican Brotherhood, 1914-24 (2024).
In Scandinavia after 1987, he has been Executive Chairman for NordicWorld; Director for Kanal 2 Estonia; Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Programmes for TV2 Denmark; Director of Acquisition at TV2 Norway, and deputy Chairman and then Chairman of Vizrt. In 2013 he was made a Knight First Class by King Harald V of Norway in the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, for outstanding service in the interest of Norway.
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