''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 days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other cause. Most telethons feature heavy solicitatio ...

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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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 The People in Need Trust was a charity in Ireland. It was deregistered in 2016. Its main fundraiser, the RTÉ People in Need Telethon, was broadcast by RTÉ from 1989 until 2007 and supported by Eircom (formerly Telecom Éireann), raising more ...

. Subsequent telethons had been cancelled following the economic crash in 2009. From March to May, weekly appeals during '' The Late Late Show'' 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 Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chri ...

comedy show in Dublin's

3Arena 3Arena may refer to the following: * 3Arena (Dublin) 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 and was re-bran ...

, created by comedian

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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 (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, 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 that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...

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

Baz Ashmawy Bazil Ashmawy, commonly known as Baz Ashmawy, is an Irish radio and television personality, whose TV show ''50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy'' won the International Emmy Award for Best Non-Scripted Entertainment award. In 2024, Baz created, wrote and ...

Nicky Byrne Nicholas Bernard James Adam McGarry Byrne Jr. (born 9 October 1978) is an Irish pop singer, songwriter and radio and television presenter. He is best known for being a member of the pop group Westlife; Westlife has since released twelve albums, ...

and

Jennifer Zamparelli Jennifer Zamparelli (née Maguire; born 9 April 1980) is an Irish comedian and television presenter. She is known for her role on the TV show ''Republic of Telly'', where she was a primary writer, and as co-host of the 2FM morning show '' Break ...

, and

Eoghan McDermott Eoghan McDermott (born 15 April 1983) is an Irish television and radio presenter. He has presented ''The RTÉ 2fm Breakfast Show'' on radio and hosted ''The Voice of Ireland'' and Ireland's Junior Eurovision Song Contest selection shows on telev ...

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 ''Normal People'' is a 2018 novel by the Irish author Sally Rooney. ''Normal People'' is Rooney's second novel, published after '' Conversations with Friends'' (2017). It was first published by Faber & Faber on 30 August 2018. The book became a ...

'' with

Paul Mescal Paul Colm Michael Mescal ( ; born 2 February 1996) is an Irish actor. His accolades include two BAFTA Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. Born in Maynooth, he studied ...

and

Daisy Edgar-Jones Daisy Jessica Edgar-Jones (born 24 May 1998) is an English actress. She began her career with the television series ''Cold Feet'' (2016–2020) and '' War of the Worlds'' (2019–2021). She gained recognition for her starring role in the BBC / ...

reprising their roles of Connell and Marianne, and ''

Fleabag ''Fleabag'' is a British comedy-drama television series created and written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, based on her one-woman show first performed in 2013 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The series was produced by Two Brothers Pictures for digi ...

s (hot) Priest played by Andrew Scott.

Michael McElhatton Michael McElhatton (born 12 September 1963) is an Irish actor and writer. He is best known for playing the role of Roose Bolton in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' from the second to the sixth season (2012–2016). Other credits include '' I ...

reprised his Raymond "Rats" Doyle from the 2000 show ''

Paths to Freedom ''Paths to Freedom'' was a popular comedy on the Irish television network RTÉ Two. The shows stars two characters, Jeremy ( Brendan Coyle) and Rats ( Michael McElhatton), who have both recently been released from a Dublin prison. The show t ...

''.

Saoirse-Monica Jackson Saoirse-Monica Jackson (; born 24 November 1993) is a Northern Irish actress. She portrayed Erin Quinn on the Channel 4 Irish sitcom '' Derry Girls'' from 2018 to 2022 and Cheryl Crawford in the BBC Liverpool gangster series '' This City Is Ours ...

Louisa Harland Louisa Clare Harland (born ) is an Irish actress. She is known for her roles as Orla McCool in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Derry Girls'' (2018–2022) and the titular character of the Disney+ series ''Renegade Nell'' (2024). Early life Brought up i ...

Nicola Coughlan Nicola Mary Coughlan (; born 9 January 1987) is an Irish actress. She is known for her roles as Clare Devlin in Channel 4's sitcom '' Derry Girls'' (2018–2022) and Penelope Featherington in Netflix's ''Bridgerton'' (2020–present). She earned ...

Jamie-Lee O'Donnell Jamie-Lee O'Donnell (born 4 March 1987) is an actress from Derry, Northern Ireland. She played Michelle Mallon in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Derry Girls''. Early life O’Donnell was born on 4 March 1987 in Derry, Northern Ireland. She attended S ...

, and

Dylan Llewellyn Dylan John Llewellyn (born 10 September 1992) is an English actor, known for portraying Martin "Jono" Johnson in ''Hollyoaks'', James Maguire in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Derry Girls'', Jack in '' Big Boys'' and PC Kelby Hartford in '' Beyond Par ...

, played ''

Derry Girls ''Derry Girls'' is a British-produced period teen sitcom set in Derry, Northern Ireland, created and written by Lisa McGee, that premiered on 4 January 2018 on Channel 4 and ran for three series. The channel's most successful comedy since '' ...

''-versions of themselves in a sketch with

Saoirse Ronan Saoirse Una Ronan ( ; born 12 April 1994) is an American-born Irish actress. Primarily known for her work in period dramas, she has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, with nominations for four Academy Awards and sev ...

. Peter McDonald and

Pat Shortt Patrick Shortt (born 12 December 1967) is an Irish actor, comedian, writer, and entertainer. His role in the 2007 film '' Garage'' led to him receiving the IFTA for Best Actor. He is most notably remembered for his role as Tom in the television ...

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 Irelan ...

team performed

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