''RTÉ Does Comic Relief'' was an Irish

telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons ...

event that took place on 26 June 2020, in the midst of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) hosted the four-hour telethon "RTÉ does Telethon" in aid of the Community Foundation for Ireland, a trust with a target of distributing funds to over 4,000 non-profit organisations at a national, regional, and local level throughout Ireland.

Background and origins

RTÉ last held a telethon in 2007, in aid of The People in Need Trust. Subsequent telethons had been cancelled following the economic crash in 2009. From March to May, weekly appeals during ''

The Late Late Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

'' raised hundreds of thousands of Euro for various charities. RTÉ also broadcast the global '' One World: Together at Home'' television event in April. The show developed from an annual St. Patrick's Day comedy show in Dublin's

3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 December 2008. It was built on the site of the former Point Theatre, a smaller musi ...

, created by comedian Deirdre O'Kane and TV producer Darren Smith, the 2020 edition having been cancelled.

Main event

€5 million was raised on the night, including donations matched by the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

, with a number of Irish and international companies donating large sums of money towards the fund. Unlike People in Need campaigns, due to the

lockdown A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...

restrictions, no community fundraising (such as bucket collections, sponsored activities, or merchandise sales) took place in the days leading up to the main event. These restrictions were also a big cause of the need for such a fundraiser, as many charities were unable to run their own annual events.

Presenters

The show was hosted by Deirdre O'Kane, Baz Ashmawy,

Nicky Byrne Nicholas Bernard James Adam Byrne Jr. (born 9 October 1978) is an Irish pop singer, songwriter and radio and television presenter, best known for being a member of the pop group Westlife; he is the band's oldest member. Westlife has since rele ...

and Jennifer Zamparelli, and Eoghan McDermott as a group, with a pause for '' RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock''.

Sketches and features

Because of the lockdown, sketches were all recorded in advance, recorded content for the show included a short episode of '' Normal People'' with

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and

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reprising their roles of Connell and Marianne, and ''

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s (hot) Priest played by Andrew Scott.

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reprised his Raymond "Rats" Doyle from the 2000 show '' Paths to Freedom''.

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, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, and Dylan Llewellyn, played ''

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''-versions of themselves in a sketch with

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. Peter McDonald and Pat Shortt contributed sketches and the

Home School Hub ''RTÉ's Home School Hub'', or simply ''Home School Hub'', and its companion show ''Home School Extra'', was an educational television programme which was created in response to the closure of all schools during the COVID-19 pandemic in the ...

team performed

shout-out Name-dropping (or name-checking or a shout-out) is the practice of naming or alluding to important people and institutions within a conversation,. story, song, online identity, or other communication. The term often connotes an attempt to impress ...

s to some of their viewers.

Donncha O'Callaghan Donncha O'Callaghan (born 24 March 1979) is an Irish retired rugby union player. He spent most of his career with his home province Munster, spending 17 seasons with the province and winning five major trophies, before finishing his career with ...

beat

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and Hilary Rose in a ''How Cork are You?'' quiz. Others included Aisling Bea,

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Samantha Mumba Samantha Tamania Anne Cecilia Mumba (born 18 January 1983) is an Irish singer-songwriter, dancer, actress, fashion model and TV presenter. In 2000, at the age of 17, she shot to fame with the release of her debut single " Gotta Tell You", which ...

Amy Huberman Amy Huberman (born 20 March 1979) is an Irish actress and writer, which is known for her role as Daisy in the RTÉ drama series '' The Clinic''. In 2018, she began writing and starring in the comedy series ''Finding Joy''. Early life Huberman g ...

, Chris O'Dowd,

Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Ireland, Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his significant success as an individual, he is one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts. His first ...

and host of other Irish and international celebrities, comedians, actors, and musicians.

Ray D'Arcy Raymond Michael D'Arcy (born 1 September 1964) is an Irish television and radio presenter currently on his second stint at state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He once presented a self-titled weekday morning radio programme on t ...

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, Zig and Zag had a '' Den'' reunion. This segment was followed by the announcement of a full reunion series beginning in November. A

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on ...

on the history of '' The Panel'' featured interviews from its presenter

Dara Ó Briain Dara Ó Briain ( , ; born 4 February 1972) is an Irish comedian and television presenter based in the United Kingdom. He is noted for performing stand-up comedy shows all over the world and for hosting topical panel shows such as ''Mock the We ...

, and panellists Ed Byrne, Neil Delamere, Mairead Farrell,

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and Colin Murphy as well as guests

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and David Mitchell. Westlife conducted a raffle to win a performance at a venue to be chosen by the winner.

References

External links