''Today Tonight'' was an Irish news and current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis, robust cross-examination of senior politicians and investigative reporting. The programme was broadcast on
RTÉ One
RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió TeilifÃs Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''TelefÃs à ...
for the first time on Monday 6 October 1980.
Brian Farrell,
Barry Cowan and
Olivia O'Leary
Olivia O'Leary (born 1949) is an Irish journalist, writer and current affairs presenter.
Education
Educated at St Leo's College, Carlow and at University College Dublin (UCD), she worked with the ''Nationalist'' and ''Leinster Times'' in Carlo ...
were the three original presenters. They were subsequently joined by others such as
Pat Cox
Patrick Cox (born 28 November 1952) is a former Irish Fine Gael politician, journalist and television current affairs presenter who served as President of the European Parliament from 2002 to 2004 and Leader of the European Liberal Democrat an ...
,
John Bowman and
Pat Kenny
Patrick Kenny (born 29 January 1948) is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show ''The Pat Kenny Show'' on Newstalk and the current affairs show ''Pat Kenny Tonight'' on Virgin Media One.
Prior to this, Kenny had a 41-yea ...
. All of these presenters later went on to hold other positions in
RTÉ Television
RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió TeilifÃs Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was TeilifÃs Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...
. ''Today Tonight'' was broadcast from Monday to Thursday on RTÉ One after the
main evening news and restored the station's reputation for current affairs broadcasting following the demise of ''
7 Days Seven Days or 7 Days may refer to:
* Week, an amount of time
Film
* ''7 Days'' (2010 film) (''Les 7 jours du talion''), Canadian thriller film
* ''7 Days'' (2021 film), American romantic comedy film
* ''Seven Days'' (1925 film), American silent ...
'' in 1976. The last edition of the programme was broadcast on 27 August 1992 and was replaced by ''
Prime Time
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
''.
It won a number of
Jacob's Awards
The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...
.
An in-depth report into the 14 February 1981
Stardust fire
The Stardust fire was a fatal fire which took place at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, Ireland, in the early hours of 14 February (Valentine's Day) 1981. Some 800 people had attended a disco there, of whom 48 died and 214 were injure ...
broadcast by ''Today Tonight'' on 16 February 1981 led to a senior adviser of
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 ...
Charles Haughey
Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...
accusing RTÉ of undermining the Stardust Tribunal.
The series will be available on
RTE Player Christmas 2021 to celebrate 60 Years Of Television.
References
1982 Irish television series debuts
1992 Irish television series endings
1980s Irish television series
1990s Irish television series
Irish television news shows
RTÉ original programming
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