This is not the only change coming to RTÉ’s flagship current affairs show.
RTÉ has announced a new Prime Time presenting team, as current host Miriam O’Callaghan is to be joined by presenters Sarah McInerney and Fran McNulty.
Tuesday nights will see McInerney join O’Callaghan in the studio for the long-running current affairs programme, with McNulty and O’Callaghan taking the helm every Thursday on RTÉ One.
As the new presenting team take to screens beginning the week of 6 April, RTÉ says the look of the programme and its studio will also be updated.
In a statement, RTE said the changes “will enhance Prime Time’s storytelling capabilities as it reports on Ireland and the wider world”.
McInerney currently co-hosts Drivetime on RTÉ Radio 1 on weekday evenings.
Before moving to RTÉ, she was the host of Newstalk Drive, and was a political correspondent with The Sunday Times for eight years.
McNulty, meanwhile, most recently held the role of agriculture and consumer affairs correspondent for RTÉ News.
His appointment as a presenter sees him return to Prime Time where he worked as a reporter for five years.
Speaking about her new role, McInerney said: “RTÉ Prime Time was one of the shows that first sparked my interest in politics. It is a programme that has, for decades, been producing top class current affairs coverage.
“I’m delighted to be joining the brilliant team who put it all together every week, and to get the opportunity to work alongside Miriam O’Callaghan and Fran McNulty – two broadcasters I’ve long admired. I can’t wait to get started.”
McNulty added: “Now more than ever people need trusted journalism, we need people to ask the important questions and get underneath the many issues facing Ireland at present.
“On Prime Time we will continue to work hard to dispel fiction from fact. I can’t wait to get started and work alongside Miriam and Sarah, both of whom I’ve had the great pleasure of knowing for many years and have worked alongside in the past.”
Ireland’s most watched current affairs programme, Prime Time has seen audiences increase in 2021 with an average of 341,000 watching each Tuesday and Thursday night on RTÉ One.
Featured image via RTÉ/Naoise Culhane
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