Born in Ilford,[1] Hagerty attended Beal Grammar School, where he developed an interest in journalism, although his headteacher was dismissive of the idea.
[2] Despite this, he entered journalism with local newspapers before joining Reynolds News, soon to become the Sunday Citizen, in 1962.
[3][1] This last move was a surprise to Hagerty, who had believed that, already in his fifties, he would not be appointed to the editorship of a major national newspaper.
[1] In 1992, following the death of proprietor Robert Maxwell, Hagerty was among many journalists in the company sacked from their editorial posts[5] and took a variety of positions, including theatre and film critic for Today, and subsequently other publications before becoming theatre critic of The Sun.
It was awarded for his lifetime of outstanding work both as a journalist and in his role as an active and passionate ambassador for journalism.