Eileen Dunne (born 28 April 1958) is an Irish retired journalist, newsreader and presenter with

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

, 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 Sharon Ní Bheoláin (, approximately ; born Boland on 15 February 1971) is an Irish journalist, newsreader and presenter with RTÉ, Ireland's national radio and television broadcaster, where she has presented the '' Nine O'Clock News'' since 2 ...

of RTÉ's flagship '' Nine O'Clock News'' and presented afternoon bulletins for

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 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 the station in 2010 w ...

Life

Early life

Dunne was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. 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 Portl ...

County Laois County Laois ( ; ) 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 medieval kingdom. Hist ...

. She attended secondary school at Manor House School,

Raheny Raheny () is a northern suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, halfway from the city centre to Howth. It is centred on a historic settlement, first documented in 570 AD (Mervyn Archdall (Irish antiquary), Mervyn Archdall). The district ...

. She studied Arts at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

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 RTÉ Lyric FM (stylised as RTÉ lyric fm) is an Irish classical music, jazz and arts radio station, owned and operated by RTÉ. The station, which is based in Limerick, was launched in 1999 and is available on 96-99 FM throughout Ireland (in ...

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 and enjoys consultative status in the Coun ...

(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 (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

between

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. Dunne regularly featured on RTÉ coverage of major state occasions. In 2016, she was co-anchor with

Bryan Dobson Bryan David Dobson (born 10 February 1960) is an Irish journalist, now retired, a newscaster and presenter who worked for RTÉ. He presented the '' RTÉ News at One'' on RTÉ Radio One, '' RTÉ News: Six One,'' '' RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock'', mo ...

for the official state commemoration of the centenary of the

1916 Rising The Easter Rising (), 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 aim of establishing an i ...

. 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 an ...

(2011) and

Albert Reynolds Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994. He held various cabinet positions between 1979 and 1991, including Ministe ...

(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 () is a major Government of Ireland, Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in central Dublin. It is a former motte-and-bailey castle and was chosen for its position at ...

and

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) 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 headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

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 B ...

'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 A papal conclave was held on 18 and 19 April 2005 to elect a new pope to succeed John Paul II, who had died on 2 April 2005. Of the 117 eligible cardinal electors, all but two attended. On the fourth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Josep ...

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

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

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 environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

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. In December 2023, Dunne was announced as one of the eleven celebrities taking part in the seventh season of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

.''

Personal life

She is married to the actor Macdara Ó Fátharta since 1993; he plays the part of the villain Tadhg in the Irish language

TG4 TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...

drama, '' Ros na Rún''. 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 Broadcasters from County Dublin