Roll up, roll up! Enjoy all the fun of the fair as Irish radio hurtles through a rollercoaster of a year! Marvel at the merry-go-round of stars jumping between stations! Gasp at the high-wire thrills of big-name presenters sensationally disappearing off the air! Wonder if the result is worth all the fuss! <\/p>\n
Whatever else, the radio world in 2025 wasn\u2019t boring, away from the mic at least. As the year progressed, the turnover of high-profile presenters switching sides or leaving the pitch grew so frantic it put the average soccer transfer window to shame. <\/p>\n
By the time the raids, retirements and non-renewals had finished, RT\u00c9 Radio 1 had undergone its most radical overhaul in a quarter of a century, while its commercial rival, Newstalk<\/a>, readied its own refreshed roster for a January launch. <\/p>\n With all this taking place against a backdrop of rapidly changing audio-consumption habits, it has been a seismic 12 months, with aftershocks that will be felt well beyond next year\u2019s 100th anniversary of radio in Ireland.<\/p>\n The most dramatic upheaval occurred at Radio 1, though the event that set it off had been long flagged. The announcement that Joe Duffy<\/a> would retire after 26\u00bd years as presenter of Liveline was hardly unexpected. For one thing, his well-remunerated contract at the cash-strapped network was due to expire. However, his departure in June removed the capstone that held the station\u2019s schedule together, even if the phone-in show had grown increasingly stale in recent years. <\/p>\n [\u00a0Joe Duffy\u2019s last Liveline: A rare acerbic shot at the Taoiseach, then the fabled phone-in show goes full end-of-pierOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Either way, it provided RT\u00c9<\/a>\u2019s director of audio, Patricia Monahan<\/a>, with an opportunity to reshape the station\u2019s weekday line-up, as well as to pare back the payroll. <\/p>\n There was to be no easy transition, however. Delays in naming Duffy\u2019s successor created an air of uncertainty, with several presenters taking turns to temporarily helm Liveline. Then the station \u2013 and indeed the broader media world \u2013 was shocked by the sudden death of Se\u00e1n Rocks<\/a>, the much-loved presenter of Arena, Radio 1\u2019s arts show. His passing, after a short illness, robbed the arts of a passionate advocate and Irish radio of a marvellous broadcaster. He is much missed.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Se\u00e1n Rocks: Ireland has lost one of its great cultural championsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n A more prosaic setback occurred in August with the news that Claire Byrne<\/a> was to leave her position as host of the Today show and jump ship to Newstalk. Steady rather than showy, Byrne was one of Radio 1\u2019s highest-profile personalities, but the negative impact of her exit (to take over Pat Kenny<\/a>\u2019s morning slot on Newstalk, 12 years after Kenny made exactly the same move) was minimised by the characteristic professionalism with which she worked out her notice at Radio 1. <\/p>\n The swift announcement of the seasoned RT\u00c9 newsman David McCullagh<\/a> as her replacement also smoothed the situation.<\/p>\n The real bombshell went off in October, when Ray D\u2019Arcy<\/a> abruptly parted ways with RT\u00c9. Such was the ill feeling surrounding the network\u2019s decision not to renew D\u2019Arcy\u2019s contract that the presenter didn\u2019t host another edition of his Radio 1 afternoon show. <\/p>\n [\u00a0RT\u00c9\u2019s new radio schedule a hurried defensive reflex to sour taste left by Ray D\u2019Arcy exitOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n His spectacular exit was swiftly followed by a splashy arrival, as RT\u00c9 revealed its poaching from Newstalk of Kieran Cuddihy<\/a> to take over Liveline, confirming him as one of Irish radio\u2019s brightest lights. <\/p>\n Cue the extensive revamp of Radio 1, which went into effect in November. Having presented Drivetime with aplomb for five years, Sarah McInerney<\/a> and Cormac \u00d3 hEadhra<\/a> were unceremoniously bumped to make room for their RT\u00c9 colleagues Katie Hannon<\/a> and Colm \u00d3 Mong\u00e1in<\/a>, both of whom had been tipped for the Liveline gig. As consolation prizes go, it was a plum one. <\/p>\n Another significant change was Oliver Callan<\/a>\u2019s elevation: his show received a later start and an extra hour of airtime, reflecting both his strong ratings and the regard in which he\u2019s held by Montrose management.<\/p>\n Taken with the addition of an early-evening sports show, Game On, it all heralded a new era for Radio 1, even if the changes are more tonal than substantive: current affairs, chatshows and music still dominate the offerings. <\/p>\n [\u00a0The longer Joanna Donnelly\u2019s interview with Cormac \u00d3 hEadhra goes on, the more we worryOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Whether that\u2019s enough to attract younger listeners will become clear in the longer term. For now, the omens are mixed: Callan\u2019s material can seem slightly stretched over two hours, but McCullagh\u2019s drily lugubrious presence has proved an early highlight.<\/p>\n With the tit-for-tat talent raids having abated, Newstalk ends the year in something of a holding pattern. Any satisfaction felt by management at the Bauer Media-owned station at stealing a march on RT\u00c9 with their recruitment of Byrne was diluted by the defection of Cuddihy, whose confident stewardship of The Hard Shoulder had made him one of the channel\u2019s strongest assets. <\/p>\n For now, Cuddihy\u2019s former berth is occupied by guest presenters \u2013 Shane Coleman and Ciara Kelly are set to take over in the new year \u2013 while Kenny prepares to finish in the weekday mid-morning slot he has hosted with such elan since 2013, to make way for Byrne. <\/p>\n At the very least, it will be interesting to hear how Byrne adapts to Newstalk\u2019s more casual style, as she prepares to battle McCullagh for morning-show supremacy. Kenny, happily, will remain on the airwaves: he is moving to a weekend slot, where he should prove a worthy rival to Brendan O\u2019Connor<\/a>, who consolidated his position as Radio 1\u2019s most popular presenter in 2025.<\/p>\n Amid such shenanigans, February\u2019s reshuffle at RT\u00c9 2FM seemed almost a footnote. The rejigged line-up restored a sense of stability to a station that lost its biggest names in 2024. One of them, Doireann Garrihy<\/a>, returned to the fold in the drivetime slot, though she\u2019s currently on maternity leave \u2013 but has so far failed to staunch falling listenership figures. <\/p>\n [\u00a0Doireann Garrihy restores some celeb lustre to troubled 2FM with larky verveOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n There were positives, however: 2FM has a strikingly diverse line-up of presenters, in terms of both gender and race, which throws the pale and male hue of many other stations into sharp relief. This isn\u2019t mere tokenism. Offering a wide variety of voices seems an important job for Irish radio as it competes with podcasts from across the globe.<\/p>\n Another indication of the shifting tectonic plates of audio consumption could be found at Today FM. The Last Word, Matt Cooper<\/a>\u2019s long-running news show, increased its ratings, but it was his defenestration of Ivan Yates<\/a>, the broadcaster and former government minister, from the duo\u2019s popular Path to Power podcast that really drew the headlines. <\/p>\n