Mary Wilson (born 17 May 1967) is an Irish broadcaster and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. She currently presents the

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

radio programme ''

Morning Ireland ''Morning Ireland'' is the breakfast news programme broadcast by RTÉ Radio 1 in Ireland and is noted as that country's most listened to radio programme. It is broadcast each weekday morning between 07.00 and 09.00 and alternate items are normall ...

'' on

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for th ...

. Until September 2020 she presented Drivetime. In 2006, she was described as "one of Ireland’s leading journalists".

Career

Wilson joined RTÉ in 1990. Originally from

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

, she began her career at RTÉ's local radio service in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

before moving to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. Whilst there she worked across a wide range of areas in the RTÉ Newsroom. Before presenting ''Drivetime'', she was the legal affairs correspondent for

RTÉ News and Current Affairs (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

between 1996 and 2002. She won the "ESB National Media Awards Journalist of the Year" in 2000. In 2002, she was promoted to the post of legal affairs editor. She spent 10 years in the job overall before moving on in 2006. She has covered many high-profile court cases. When Wilson grew weary with the nationwide escapades of then

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

, prior to the Irish general election in 2002, she described herself as "being left a little short of information". In 2006, when

Rachael English Rachael English (born 1969) is an Irish broadcaster and writer. Known for presenting '' Five Seven Live'' for six years, English has also presented other radio shows, such as '' RTÉ News at One'', '' Today with Pat Kenny'', '' The Marian Finuca ...

finished up ''

Five Seven Live Five Seven Live was an Irish radio rolling news programme, produced by RTÉ News and was aired each weekday evening on RTÉ Radio 1 between 17:00–19:00, between 1997 and 2006, the final edition being broadcast on 1 September 2006. Programme for ...

'', Wilson was promoted to presenter of ''

Drivetime DriveTime Automotive Group Inc. is an American used car retailer and finance company. It is based in Tempe, Arizona, and sells and finances cars to customers around the nation. The company was formerly known as Ugly Duckling and was renamed Driv ...

''. The programme airs Monday to Friday from 16:30 until 19:00. She had 229,000 listeners.

Joseph O'Connor Joseph Victor O'Connor (born 20 September 1963) is an Irish novelist. His 2002 historical novel '' Star of the Sea'' was an international number one bestseller. Before success as an author, he was a journalist with the ''Sunday Tribune'' newspap ...

's radio diary was commissioned by Wilson on this show each Wednesday. In September 2020 she moved to presenting Morning Ireland, with Sarah McInerney and Cormac Ó Headhra taking over on Drivetime. Wilson has also appeared on the cover of ''

Village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

''.

Personal life

Wilson was married to

RTÉ Sport RTÉ Sport is a department of Irish public broadcaster RTÉ. The department provides sporting coverage through a number of platforms including RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Player Sport and RTÉ Mobile. RTÉ holds the television ...

editor

Tony O'Donoghue Tony O'Donoghue is an Irish sports commentator and Group Soccer Correspondent for RTÉ, Ireland's national radio and television broadcaster. He reports on Republic of Ireland, League of Ireland, UEFA Champions League and English Premier League g ...

until 2005. She has a daughter, Aoife, born in 1997. She married West Dublin GP Hugh Daly in March 2021.

References

External links

''Drivetime'' homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Mary Living people People from County Tipperary RTÉ newsreaders and journalists RTÉ Radio 1 presenters Irish women radio presenters Irish women journalists 1967 births