''Today Tonight'' was an Irish news and current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis, robust cross-examination of senior politicians and investigative reporting. The programme was 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 the first time on Monday 6 October 1980. Brian Farrell, Barry Cowan and

Olivia O'Leary Olivia O'Leary (born 1949) is an Irish people, Irish journalist, writer and current affairs presenter. Education Educated at St Leo's College, Carlow and at University College Dublin (UCD), she worked with the The Nationalist (Carlow), ''Natio ...

were the three original presenters. They were subsequently joined by others such as

Pat Cox Patrick Cox (born 28 November 1952) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician, journalist and television current affairs presenter who served as President of the European Parliament from 2002 to 2004 and Leader of the European Liberal Democrat ...

, John Bowman and

Pat Kenny Patrick Kenny (born 29 January 1948) is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show ''The Pat Kenny Show'' on Newstalk and the current affairs show ''Pat Kenny Tonight'' on Virgin Media One. Prior to this, Kenny had a 41-ye ...

. All of these presenters later went on to hold other positions in

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Ireland's public service broadcaster. Its first channel was Telefís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RTÉ Television has added chan ...

. ''Today Tonight'' was broadcast from Monday to Thursday on RTÉ One after the main evening news and restored the station's reputation for current affairs broadcasting following the demise of '' 7 Days'' in 1976. The last edition of the programme was broadcast on 27 August 1992 and was replaced by ''

Prime Time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

''. It won a number of

Jacob's Awards The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

. An in-depth report into the 14 February 1981

Stardust fire The Stardust fire was a fatal fire which took place at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, Ireland, in the early hours of 14 February (Valentine's Day) 1981. More than 800 people were attending a disco there, of whom 48 died and 214 were ...

broadcast by ''Today Tonight'' on 16 February 1981 led to a senior adviser of

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992 ...

accusing RTÉ of undermining the Stardust Tribunal. The series will be available on RTE Player Christmas 2021 to celebrate 60 Years Of Television.

References

1982 Irish television series debuts 1992 Irish television series endings 1980s Irish television series Irish television news shows RTÉ original programming {{Ireland-tv-prog-stub