Eileen Dunne (born 28 April 1958) is a retired Irish journalist, newsreader and presenter with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Ireland's national radio and television station, where she presented the main television news programmes '' Six One News'', '' Nine O'Clock News'' and '' One O'Clock News'' including all other news bulletins on both radio and television from 1980 to 2022. She was the co-anchor alongside Sharon Ní Bheoláin of RTÉ's flagship '' Nine O'Clock News'' and presented afternoon bulletins for

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 ...

Life

Early life

Dunne was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. Her father was the RTÉ journalist, presenter and commentator, Mick Dunne, a native of

Clonaslee Clonaslee () is a village in north County Laois, Ireland, situated in the foothills of the Slieve Bloom Mountains on the R422 Mountmellick to Birr road. Clonaslee is approximately 100 km west of Dublin, and is close to the towns of Portlaoi ...

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a med ...

. She attended secondary school at Manor House School,

Raheny Raheny () is a northern suburb of Dublin, Ireland, halfway from the city centre to Howth. It is centred on a historic settlement, first documented in 570 CE ( Mervyn Archdall). The district shares Dublin's two largest municipal parks, Saint ...

. She studied Arts at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

Career

Dunne joined RTÉ in 1980 as a part-time radio announcer. She continued her teaching duties, while working part-time as a radio continuity announcer on RTÉ Radio 1. She began presenting television news bulletins in 1984. In addition to her news work, Dunne also presented the religious affairs programme ''The God Slot'' for

on Friday nights, having previously presented ''Eileen Dunne's Classic Melodies'' for RTÉ lyric fm until 2010. She was International President of the

Association of European Journalists The Association of European Journalists (founded 1961, San Remo) is an organisation promoting the interests of journalists involved in European affairs. It is an NGO in operational relations with UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scien ...

(2010–2014). Dunne was the spokesperson giving the results of the Irish jury (and televote in 1998) in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

between

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. Dunne regularly featured on RTÉ coverage of major state occasions. In 2016, she was co-anchor with Bryan Dobson for the official state commemoration of the centenary of the

1916 Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

. She provided the RTÉ television commentary on the state funerals of

Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987, and ...

(2011) and

Albert Reynolds Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1992 to 1994, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994, Minister for Finance from 1988 to 1991, Minister for Indust ...

(2014) and the state commemoration of the Battle of the Somme (2016). Dunne also presented the coverage of Pope Francis's visit to Knock Shrine in 2018. She presented news programmes from the UK on the State Visit of President Higgins there in 2014, from

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin. Until 1922 it was the s ...

and

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and h ...

during

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen ...

's state visit to Ireland in 2011 and from Ballybunion during the then U.S. President Bill Clinton's visit to Ireland in 1998. She also presented from Rome on the inauguration of Pope Benedict in 2005 and his resignation in 2013 and from Blacksod Bay, Mayo on the day of the R116 Air Crash in 2017. Other major live news specials she presented include the 2000 Concorde crash on 25 July of that year, the result of the

2005 papal conclave The 2005 papal conclave was convened to elect a new pope following the death of Pope John Paul II on 2 April 2005. After his death, the cardinals of the Catholic Church who were in Rome met and set a date for the beginning of the conclave to ele ...

on 19 April of that year, the IRA announcement that it was ending its armed campaign in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

on 28 July 2005, the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

pulling out of government on 23 January 2011, and the arrival of the then U.S. President Trump in Ireland on 5 June 2019. Dunne's final bulletin aired on 18 November 2022, after 42 years working for RTÉ.

Personal life

She is married to the actor

Macdara Ó Fátharta Macdara Ó Fátharta is an Irish actor, most famous for his role as the villainous publican Tadhg Ó Direáin on the long-running Irish language TG4 drama, ''Ros na Rún''. Biography A native of Inis Meáin, Ó Fátharta was born and raised in ...

since 1993; he plays the part of the villain Tadhg in the Irish language TG4 drama, ''

Ros na Rún () is an Irish soap opera produced for the Irish-language television channel TG4. The series is set in a fictional village called Ros Na Rún, located near to An Spidéal, and focuses on the domestic and professional lives of its residents. ...

''. They have one son, Cormac.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunne, Eileen 1958 births People educated at Manor House School, Raheny Alumni of University College Dublin RTÉ Radio 1 presenters RTÉ newsreaders and journalists Irish women radio presenters Irish women journalists RTÉ lyric fm presenters Living people