Morning Ireland

Morning Ireland is the breakfast news programme broadcast by RTÉ Radio 1 [1] each weekday morning between 7.00 and 9.00 (7.30 and 9.00 in high summer). Occasional weekend editions are also aired on the occasion of major breaking news stories such as general elections or referenda.

The programme, which is somewhat inspired by BBC Radio 4's long running Today, consists of a mixture of live interviews and pre-recorded location reports. Extended news bulletins are broadcast at 7.00 and 8.00, followed by "What It Says In The Papers", a review of the Irish morning newspapers. There are news headlines followed by sports news at 7.30 and 8.30 and business news is broadcast at 7.45.

"Morning Ireland" is the top rated radio programme in the Republic of Ireland, with a listenership estimated by the Joint National Listenership Survey [2] to be 476,000. It has been on the air for over 20 years, and is considered the most influential news programme on Irish radio.

The programme is presented by Áine Lawlor and Cathal Mac Coille, though these presenters are not permanent, and often interchange with others, including Richard Downes and John Murray. The main newsreader is Brian Jennings. David Hanley had been the programme's veteran long-term presenter; however, following his absence on leave from 2004, it was confirmed by RTÉ in August 2006 that he had officially retired from the programme.

This Ireland-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.