FORMER RTÉ BROADCASTER Claire Byrne said turning 50 last summer and an upcoming pay cut at RTÉ were factors contributing to her shock move to rival Newstalk.

Byrne signed off on her last show on RTÉ Radio 1 last October and will shortly move to weekday mornings on Newstalk after 15 years with the national broadcaster.

Speaking to Patrick Kielty on the Late Late show tonight, Byrne said that although she would have been “very well paid to stay” at RTÉ, she would have been getting a pay cut.

Byrne was one of the best-paid broadcasters at RTÉ, and received a salary of €280,000 in 2023.

“Let’s not make any bones about it. That certainly was a factor [in the move],” she said. “I wasn’t going to starve if I stayed here,” she added.

When asked if the Newstalk offer was one she “couldn’t refuse”, Byrne agreed that it was.

She said the move was also “age related”.

“Initially I thought I’m grand where I am, thank you very much. Then I thought, “Why am I not going to meet this challenge?” she said.

“Did I want to try and stretch my chops a bit? Did I want to try and push on and do something different? Yes, I always do.”

Broadcaster Claire Byrne opens up about why she left RTÉ.#LateLate pic.twitter.com/1kkMsCyRvO

— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) January 16, 2026

Byrne said she was proud of her work with the national broadcaster, adding that Leaders’ Debates were a particular highlight. She also fielded questions on more negative times, such as the RTÉ pay scandal.

Describing the time as “incredibly difficult for everybody”, Byrne said it’s still a topic of conversation at the studios.

“We didn’t know what was going to happen from day to day. Our colleagues, our managers, were in front of an Oireachtas Committees. It was not pleasant. It’s never pleasant to report on your own workplace, but that was particularly intense,” she said.

She said she made the personal decision to tell her audience what she was earning after hearing false rumours.

Byrne also discussed her 2022 decision to leave her Monday night show Claire Byrne Live in order to spend more time with her three children.

“My youngest was four, and I would be putting her to bed with my coat on, and she’d have her little grey bunny, and the tears would be falling,” she said.

“I was teaching them that you have to sacrifice your whole life for that career. So I just had to say, I can’t do this anymore,” she said.

‘Bring it on’

Byrne, who formerly hosted the Today With Claire Byrne Show this morning, passed the baton to former Prime Time and Six One News presenter David McCullagh in November.

When asked if she thinks RTÉ is worried about the competition her now show with Newstalk will cause, Byrne said she’s “up for the fight”.

“The right answer there is to say, ‘the pie is big enough for all of us’, but you know what? I’m going to Newstalk to grow the audience. So bring it on,” she told Kielty.

“I’ve got to beat the two of them,” she added, referring to McCullagh and Oliver Callan who are both on RTÉ Radio One.

Byrne will be taking over from long-time presenter Pat Kenny, who also left RTÉ to go to Newstalk back in the day.

Tonight she described Kenny as “an absolute icon”.

“He’s such a generous colleague, and it is intimidating taking over his slot, but it’ll be a whole new show, and I’m really excited to get going,” she said.