''Nationwide'' is a television programme shown in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

each Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening at 19:00. Produced by RTÉ Cork, and broadcast on

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

for around 30 minutes, it is presented by

Anne Cassin Anne Cassin (born 1969) is an Irish journalist and news presenter working for RTÉ. Cassin began her broadcasting career working for Dublin pirate radio station Radio Nova in 1982, where she co-presented a nightly news programme, ''Dublin Today ...

and

Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh (; born 12 November 1970) is an Irish TV presenter, she has presented ''Echo Island'', ''The Afternoon Show'' and ''Charity ICA Bootcamp''. She was a judge in '' The All Ireland Talent Show'' and participated in ''Celebri ...

, after long-serving presenter

Mary Kennedy Mary Kennedy (; born 4 October 1954) is an Irish television personality and former newscaster, and writer. She presented the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 from the Point Theatre in Dublin. She has also presented her own Saturday night chat show c ...

reached RTÉ's retirement age in 2019. ''Nationwide'' focuses on human interest stories and cultural events across the country.

Format

''Nationwide'' is presented in the form of, most often, two on-site recordings, with one advertising break between them. It has aimed to regionalise news and human interest content, as RTÉ has worked to do previously, albeit without the increased technology and transmission costs, which would likely require total re-engineering of the country's transmission and cable television networks. ''Nationwide'' itself was the sole programme regionalised in recent times, but this has now ceased.

History

''Nationwide'' began broadcasting in 1993. It was conceived by Michael Ryan, who presented for many years until he retired from RTÉ in 2011. On occasion he was replaced by news reporter/presenter Flor MacCarthy. In its early years, ''Nationwide'' broadcasts largely comprised regional stories from RTÉ's local news correspondents. The series was presented from a studio from 1993 until 2000 when the series began to tour towns and cities around the country. The original series studio came from the city of

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, as Micheal Ryan was RTÉ Regional correspondent in the 1990s. The series then moved to Cork and became an

RTÉ Cork (; ; 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, ...

production. During its original run it was broadcast every second Sunday, pre-record in a room rented by Micheal Ryan from a Photographer in Waterford City, later it would move to RTÉ's Cork Studios. By the end of the 1990s the series was being broadcast three nights a week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday – at 19:00 and the presentation of the show took place in local towns and cities across the country. Cartoonist

Terry Willers Terry Willers (1935 – 9 November 2011) was a cartoonist and comics artist in Ireland. He was born in Barnet in North London but spent most of his life in Ireland, living initially in Carrigower then for over 40 years in Rathdrum, both in County ...

had a regional paper slot every Friday up until the end of the 1990s. Ryan was joined in 2004 by

as a co-presenter. Ryan retired from ''Nationwide'' in 2011, with the announcement that

would replace him as co-presenter after the ending of her current role as presenter of a Dublin-based magazine series called ''Capital D''. As part of its 20th anniversary, RTÉ commissioned Brian Byrne to compose a new theme for ''Nationwide''. The music was recorded by the

RTÉ Concert Orchestra The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is a professional radio orchestra in Ireland and is part of RTÉ, the national broadcaster. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra has grown from a small studio-bas ...

. New opening credits were created by Nobo's Niall Ó hOisin and Niall Campion with footage filmed by RTÉ Cameraman Paul Deighan. Blathnáid Ní Chofaigh joined as a presenter in 2020, after Mary Kennedy's retirement from RTÉ.

Correspondents

Helen McInerney, Niall Martin, Mary Fanning, Mary Harte, Helen Mark, Valarie Waters, Marian Malone,

Zainab Boladale Zainab Boladale is a Nigerian-Irish television presenter, reporter, public speaker and content creator. She was the first person of African heritage to work in the RTÉ newsroom. Career Zainab Boladale's first job was at ''Irish Independent'' i ...

and

John Kilraine John Kilraine (born 1959/1960) is an Irish journalist for RTÉ News, where he has been a reporter for '' Nationwide'' since 2024. He previously was the RTÉ London correspondent from April 2022 to May 2024 and Dublin correspondent from November ...

References

{{RTÉ News and Current Affairs Irish television news shows RTÉ News and Current Affairs RTÉ original programming 1993 Irish television series debuts 2000s Irish television series 2010s Irish television series