Bill Neely

Bill Neely is International Editor for ITV News, a position which he took up in April 2002.

When not on assignment abroad he regularly anchors weekend news bulletins on ITV1 and the ITV News Channel.

Previously, Bill was Europe Correspondent for ITV News; a post he took up in January 1997. In this role, Bill covered major events such as the death of Princess Diana, the crash of Air France Concorde at Charles de Gaulle airport, the Turkish earthquake and the World Cup in France.

His reporting on the situation in Kosovo - both before and during the conflict - won him the Gold Nymph Award at the 2000 Television Festival of Monte Carlo, Europe's premiere television award.

He also won a Bronze Medal at the 1999 International Television Programming Awards in New York.

Bill's coverage of the massacres at Racak at the beginning of 1999 was a major factor in drawing international attention to the Serb-generated ethnic cleansing in the area. He was based in the province for several weeks in the run-up to the NATO bombing campaign and, at the start of the war, returned to the Albanian border from where he reported on the never-ending stream of refugees arriving from Kosovo, many with harrowing accounts of killing and rape.

Bill has also covered major sporting events in Europe. His reporting of the violence between football fans at Euro 2000 won him his second Royal Television Society Sports News award. He had previously won the award for his coverage from Marseilles of the violence between English and Tunisian fans at the 1998 Football World Cup as well as for his special reports on security at the tournament.

Bill also played a major role in the reporting of the 2001 General Election campaign. He spent the three weeks of the campaign accompanying Tony Blair on his trips around the country. On Election night itself, he made the triumphant journey with the Labour leader from his constituency back to Number Ten following Labour's second landslide victory in a row.

Before being appointed Europe Correspondent, Bill spent six years (1991-97) as ITN's Washington Correspondent. During his time in America he covered two Presidential elections, the OJ Simpson trial and verdict, the Oklahoma bombing, the Waco siege, the Arab/Israeli peace signing in Washington, the Los Angeles earthquake and the Haiti crisis among many other events.

Bill Neely, 43, began his career at BBC Radio in Northern Ireland. He started in June 1981 at the height of the Republican hunger strike, staying for three years before moving over to BBC TV, still in Northern Ireland.

In 1987 Bill joined the team of the BBC morning television programme "Breakfast Time". In 1989 he left to become a presenter/reporter at the newly formed Sky News. After six months he left to join ITN.

During his time at ITN he has covered many world events amongst which have been the historic fall of the Berlin Wall, the Civil War in the southern Soviet Union (Armenia/Azerbaijan), the refugee crisis in Jordan and the plight of the hostages in Baghdad prior to the Gulf War.

Bill Neely was educated at Queens University in Belfast and graduated in English and Modern History. He lives with his wife and family in London.