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!
Whatever else, the radio world in 2025 wasn’t 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.
By the time the raids, retirements and non-renewals had finished, RTÉ Radio 1 had undergone its most radical overhaul in a quarter of a century, while its commercial rival, Newstalk, readied its own refreshed roster for a January launch.
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’s 100th anniversary of radio in Ireland.
The most dramatic upheaval occurred at Radio 1, though the event that set it off had been long flagged. The announcement that Joe Duffy would retire after 26½ 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’s schedule together, even if the phone-in show had grown increasingly stale in recent years.
Either way, it provided RTÉ’s director of audio, Patricia Monahan, with an opportunity to reshape the station’s weekday line-up, as well as to pare back the payroll.
There was to be no easy transition, however. Delays in naming Duffy’s successor created an air of uncertainty, with several presenters taking turns to temporarily helm Liveline. Then the station – and indeed the broader media world – was shocked by the sudden death of Seán Rocks, the much-loved presenter of Arena, Radio 1’s 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.
[ Seán Rocks: Ireland has lost one of its great cultural championsOpens in new window ]
A more prosaic setback occurred in August with the news that Claire Byrne 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’s highest-profile personalities, but the negative impact of her exit (to take over Pat Kenny’s 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.
The swift announcement of the seasoned RTÉ newsman David McCullagh as her replacement also smoothed the situation.
The real bombshell went off in October, when Ray D’Arcy abruptly parted ways with RTÉ. Such was the ill feeling surrounding the network’s decision not to renew D’Arcy’s contract that the presenter didn’t host another edition of his Radio 1 afternoon show.
His spectacular exit was swiftly followed by a splashy arrival, as RTÉ revealed its poaching from Newstalk of Kieran Cuddihy to take over Liveline, confirming him as one of Irish radio’s brightest lights.
Cue the extensive revamp of Radio 1, which went into effect in November. Having presented Drivetime with aplomb for five years, Sarah McInerney and Cormac Ó hEadhra were unceremoniously bumped to make room for their RTÉ colleagues Katie Hannon and Colm Ó Mongáin, both of whom had been tipped for the Liveline gig. As consolation prizes go, it was a plum one.
Another significant change was Oliver Callan’s elevation: his show received a later start and an extra hour of airtime, reflecting both his strong ratings and the regard in which he’s held by Montrose management.
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.
Whether that’s enough to attract younger listeners will become clear in the longer term. For now, the omens are mixed: Callan’s material can seem slightly stretched over two hours, but McCullagh’s drily lugubrious presence has proved an early highlight.
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 RTÉ 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’s strongest assets.
For now, Cuddihy’s former berth is occupied by guest presenters – Shane Coleman and Ciara Kelly are set to take over in the new year – while Kenny prepares to finish in the weekday mid-morning slot he has hosted with such elan since 2013, to make way for Byrne.
At the very least, it will be interesting to hear how Byrne adapts to Newstalk’s 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’Connor, who consolidated his position as Radio 1’s most popular presenter in 2025.
Amid such shenanigans, February’s reshuffle at RTÉ 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, returned to the fold in the drivetime slot, though she’s currently on maternity leave – but has so far failed to staunch falling listenership figures.
[ Doireann Garrihy restores some celeb lustre to troubled 2FM with larky verveOpens in new window ]
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’t mere tokenism. Offering a wide variety of voices seems an important job for Irish radio as it competes with podcasts from across the globe.
Another indication of the shifting tectonic plates of audio consumption could be found at Today FM. The Last Word, Matt Cooper’s long-running news show, increased its ratings, but it was his defenestration of Ivan Yates, the broadcaster and former government minister, from the duo’s popular Path to Power podcast that really drew the headlines.
That said, the evergreen Ian Dempsey had the most popular programme on Irish commercial radio, with the Today FM breakfast show he started presenting back in 1998. Even now the “if it ain’t broke” rule still sometimes applies.
But as Irish radio prepares to celebrate its centenary year, it faces a more uncertain future than at any time since RTÉ’s forerunner 2RN began broadcasting on New Year’s Day in 1926.
While listenership here remains steady, certainly compared with the precipitous drop-off in terrestrial television audiences, the venerable medium has to reckon with the seemingly inexorable growth of online audio.
Vital as it is to keep things vibrant with new programming and fresh presenters, broadcasters also need to figure out strategies to engage younger digital natives, if radio is not to end up as quaintly anachronistic as the circus.
When it comes to what’s on the airwaves, listeners should sit back and enjoy the ride.