Tommy Meskill takes Six One News role while Sarah McInerney joins Morning Ireland in latest RTÉ shake-up
RTÉ has also said that Sarah McInerney and Justin McCarthy will join the Morning Ireland team, while Paul Cunningham, Political Correspondent with RTÉ, will present News This Week.
Mr Meskill, who is in his early thirties, is said to have impressed RTE News and Current Affairs Director Deirdre McCarthy since taking up the job of RTE’s London Correspondent, to which he was promoted in July 2024.
He told RTÉ that it is a huge honour to take on the role, saying the nightly news show has “a crucial role in shaping the news agenda in Ireland”.
“Its strength depends on the work of almost the entire newsroom, which is why it’s such a cherished part of what we do,” Mr Meskill said.
“I’m really looking forward to getting started and being part of a programme that continues to bring accurate, engaging and trusted news to our audience.”
He has a bachelors degree in Communications and Media studies from Dublin City University (DCU). After leaving DCU in 2015, Mr Meskill began his career as a broadcast journalist in East Coast FM.
He moved on to Dublin’s FM104 where he was a broadcast journalist for a year until 2016 when he joined RTE.
He steadily moved up the ranks at the state broadcaster, where he started out as a reporter in Morning Ireland and at RTE’s Foreign Desk.
His big break came last year when he saw off stiff competition to become RTE’s man on the ground in London.
This weekend a source said: “Tommy is very popular and he a very hard worker so we’re not surprised he is being tipped for the job.”
Now all eyes will be on who is to replace Tommy in London. “I think a couple of senior broadcasters already have their eye on it.”
RTÉ said Ms McInerney will begin on Morning Ireland on Radio 1 in the coming weeks, while Mr McCarthy will continue as a permanent presenter on the programme.
Ms McInerney presents Prime Time on RTÉ One every Tuesday and formerly co-hosted Drivetime on RTÉ Radio 1.
“It’s a privilege to join such a strong team and to work on a programme with that kind of impact,” Ms McInerney said.
Meanwhile Mr McCarthy said: “I look forward to working with an excellent team to continue delivering the insightful, fair, and rigorous journalism that Morning Ireland listeners rightly expect.”
Mr Cunningham said: “I’m delighted to get the opportunity to present Ireland’s longest running radio news programme, which sets the agenda every Sunday.
“Over the past 20 years I’ve presented across the radio news schedule, co-hosting This Week with brilliant journalists such as the late Gerald Barry. I’m very much looking forward to new challenges ahead, working with the team.”
Director of RTÉ Newsand& Current Affairs, Deirdre McCarthy said: “Tommy, Sarah, Justin and Paul join our dedicated RTÉ News & Current Affairs presentation team, who strive every day to bring, honestly and clearly, with integrity and credibility, the stories that matter to you.
“They are all accomplished journalists, who will continue to ask the probing questions, hold those in power to account, and represent the public interest.”
