The veteran broadcaster passed away peacefully at his home in North London on Saturday morning, surrounded by his family, following a battle with prostate cancer.
Murnaghan was best known for his work as a news anchor across some of the UK's biggest broadcasters, including Sky News, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. He enjoyed a journalism career spanning more than five decades.
His family announced his death in a statement shared on his X account, which read: "It is with great sadness that the family of Dermot Murnaghan announces that he passed away at home in North London earlier this morning (11th July) at the age of 68 following a period of illness with prostate cancer.
He died peacefully with his family at his side.
The family wish to thank the medical teams who cared for Dermot with such sensitivity and extraordinary compassion throughout his illness.
Also, for the many, many kind messages of goodwill that he received over the last year since his diagnosis of stage four prostate cancer and his subsequent campaigning to raise awareness for screening programmes for the disease.
In accordance with his wishes, the funeral will be a small family ceremony.
A memorial service for friends and colleagues will follow at St Bride's Church, Fleet Street (the Journalists' Church) later this year.
The family request that anyone wishing to remember him considers supporting Prostate Cancer UK, Prostate Cancer Research and North London Hospice so that others may benefit from the research and care he received."
Murnaghan revealed his stage four prostate cancer diagnosis last year and spent much of his final year campaigning to raise awareness of the disease and the importance of screening programmes.
