Ray D’Arcy leaves RTÉ Radio 1 after 11 years on air

Ray D’Arcy is leaving RTÉ Radio 1 after 11 years, the broadcaster has announced.

Mr D’Arcy presented the final edition of The Ray D’Arcy Show on Wednesday.

In a statement on Thursday, RTÉ said that during his tenure, D’Arcy and his team “produced thousands of hours of live radio, capturing real-life stories and a wide range of personal experiences,” had “championed Irish artists and music,” and hosted many memorable, funny, and entertaining moments.

Speaking on Thursday afternoon, Patricia Monaghan RTÉ’s director of audio, thanked Mr D’Arcy for his contribution to the station.

“While The Ray D’Arcy Show is not part of our future plans, we wish him well in his future endeavours,” she said.

RTÉ also confirmed that Shay Byrne will present Mr D’Arcy’s time slot for the rest of the week and said details of future plans for RTÉ Radio 1 “will be announced soon.”

61-year-old Kildare native D’Arcy has worked with RTÉ since the 90s, having first joined as a host of Joe Maxi, before become host of The Den.

Between 1998 and 2014, he presented The Ray D’Arcy show on Today FM, before returning to RTÉ in 2015.

According to the latest Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) figures, D’Arcy’s show had a daily listenership of around 182,000 people.

D’Arcy is the latest in a string of high-profile hosts to depart  RTÉ in recent months.

In August, RTÉ announced that Claire Byrne would leaving the station[/url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41696030.html] at the end of the and joining Newstalk early next year to host a new mid-morning programme. Byrne had hosted RTÉ’s flagship Today programme since 2020.