By Erica Carter
Copyright rsvplive
Mary Wilson and Aine Lawlor will sign off from their final Morning Ireland show this morning, Wednesday 24th of September.
The pair are set to finish up on the RTE Radio 1 programme after years at the helm, and will mark Mary’s official retirement from RTE.
Aine will remain at the broadcaster as she continues to present The Week in Politics and will feature across RTÉ’s coverage of the forthcoming presidential election.
Deirdre McCarthy, RTÉ’s Director of News & Current Affairs, has said: “Mary and Áine are not just household names, they are household voices, deeply familiar not only from their recent years on Ireland’s most-listened-to radio show, but hugely popular across their long and distinguished careers as reporters and presenters. At heart they have been and always will be journalists, and it is to their incisive, knowledgeable and challenging journalism that we owe them both a great debt, and thanks.”
Earlier this month, Mary revealed she would be retiring from the broadcaster after 36 years
“I know I am fortunate to be able to retire and I am looking forward to becoming a radio listener as opposed to presenter, to taking my foot off the gas a bit and indulging my many hobbies.,” she said. “More hillwalking, bagging another Monro (a Scottish term for climbing mountains of 1000 metres (over 3000 ft), more cooking, more trips to Kerry and above all more time with family and friends.
“It has been a privilege to present news programmes on RTÉ, to connect with listeners and to work with demanding, intelligent and dedicated colleagues who helped and challenged me every day to do better, to aim higher and to always put the listener first.”
On her exit from the programme, Aine said: “It’s been a privilege to be part of Morning Ireland for so many years, to be a part of the programme so many listeners turn to at the start of the day. I’ll miss the programme (though not the hours!). I’ll miss my great Morning Ireland colleagues, and most of all I’ll miss Mary, she’s a top-notch broadcaster and a fantastic woman. I’m looking forward to covering the presidential election on TWIP.”
RTÉ will announce the new Morning Ireland presenters in the coming weeks.
Mary is one of a list of big names to have left the popular station in recent years. Recently it was confirmed that Claire Byrne was leaving RTÉ for a move to Newstalk.
Joe Duffy stepped away from Liveline back in May with a replacement yet to be confirmed. But a name is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Ryan Tubridy left the national broadcaster in 2023 and Ronan Collins departed the year before. Oliver Callan and Louise Duffy now lead those slots.
