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Donncha O'Callaghan shared a photo alongside the announcement that he would leave RTÉ 2fm next month. Donncha O'Callaghan

Donncha O'Callaghan becomes latest presenter to announce departure from RTÉ 2FM

The former rugby player said he would present his last breakfast show on the station on 5 July.

DONNCHA O’CALLAGHAN has announced that he will leave the RTÉ 2FM Breakfast Show next month.

It follows the departures of a number of high-profile presenters from the station, including his co-presenter Doireann Garrihy, Jennifer Zamparelli and The 2 Johnnies.

O’Callaghan has presented the station’s breakfast show alongside Garrihy and Carl Mullan since 2021.

In a statement shared on Instagram, the former rugby player said: “I’m sure we’d all agree, it’s never easy to step away from something you really enjoy doing. Friday the 5th July will be my last ‘2FM Breakfast’ Show.

“I’m so incredibly grateful and proud of the last five years in 2FM, I’ve absolutely loved it,” he said. 

O’Callaghan thanked the station’s bosses, producers and presenters and said the “heartbeat of course is the fantastic listeners. I will always appreciate the love and support – you have been the absolute best!”.

He gave a special mention to his co-presenters, saying: “Carl and Doireann, ye know exactly what ye mean to me and only one word does it justice – TIME.

“We all have a reason for bouncing out of bed and taking on the day. I’ve been blessed yet again to do something I’ve loved for the last five years.

“Of course it requires sacrifice and commitment, in my case that load has been carried by Jenny. Thank you for always backing me. We go again.”

The 2 Johnnies announced that they were giving up their slot on 2FM at the end of May, while Doireann Garrihy presented her final show on the station on 31 May. 

Jennifer Zamparelli also recently left after more than a decade at the station, saying it was “time for me to move on”. 

Chief executive of 2fm Dan Healy has faced questions about whether the departures are linked to new rules at RTÉ aimed at identifying conflicts of interest, including work done by presenters by other brands or organisations and any payment received for external activities.

Healy told Today with Claire Byrne that the departures could not be attributed to a “single thing”.

“But you’re attributing it to single thing and what I’m saying is, it’s not that it’s nuanced, it is genuinely nuanced,” he said.

All presenters leaving have high profiles and significant media careers outside of 2FM. 

Today, RTÉ launched its New Direction Strategy, which Director General Kevin Bakhurst has described as a “transformational vision” for the national broadcaster.

As part of the plan to secure a €20 million bailout from the government, the national broadcaster will cut 400 jobs over the next five years.

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    Mute Gavin Smartr
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    Jan 13th 2025, 7:48 AM

    Atleast we can be 100% sure that nothing will change for atleast another 5 years. Now that stability!

    115
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    Mute Willie Marty
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    Jan 13th 2025, 8:00 AM

    Speaking on behalf of granparents hopefully something can be done soon.We cannot carry out this free service indefinetly.

    71
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    Mute Mary Linton
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    Jan 13th 2025, 8:06 AM

    @Willie Marty: certainly speaking for yourself anyway, nobody forcing you to spend a bit of time with grandchildren, personally I love my couple days with mine

    59
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    Mute Willie Marty
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    Jan 13th 2025, 8:47 AM

    @Enoch Kochwomble: Mary linton-both wrong as I have 7 grankids and love each of them very much.If ye read my post properly ye wouldnt be jumping to yere ridiculous conclusions.

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    Mute James Leahy
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    Jan 13th 2025, 8:47 AM

    @Mary Linton: ridicu

    5
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    Mute Mary Linton
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    Jan 13th 2025, 8:53 AM

    @Willie Marty: no ‘jumping to conclusions’…. You stated you’re providing some kind of “free service”….. If taking care of your grandchildren is a ‘service’ , an inconvenience or something burdensome simply DON’T do it. Personally, I find it pleasurable, rewarding, & really look forward to my two days a week with little ones

    23
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    Mute Willie Marty
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    Jan 13th 2025, 9:00 AM

    @Mary Linton: wrong again.I do it 5 days a week and i love it I was referring to the longevity of it.Hopefully my health will hold up for as long as possible.

    33
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    Mute Ger Whelan
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    Jan 13th 2025, 10:03 AM

    @Mary Linton: Sounds like you are jumping to conclusions. It’s great you have your grandkids 2 days a week but I would imagine having them 5 days a week can be very taxing. My in-laws love all their grandkids. But at 71 and 73 nobody could expect them to run around after a toddler for 5 days a week.

    37
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    Mute Karin Ahlers
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    Jan 13th 2025, 10:28 AM

    @Willie Marty: you are so right. We grandparents should pull together and stand up for more acknowledgement for our voluntary work.

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    Mute SerotoninWars
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    Jan 13th 2025, 10:32 AM

    @Willie Marty: I think most sensible people knew what you meant Willie. I’ve no doubt you love spending time with your grandkids but a return to almost full time parenting later on is a huge ask. Kids are demanding, tiring and a lot of responsibility no matter how much you love them and how many good times you have in between all the work!

    28
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    Mute Karin Ahlers
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    Jan 13th 2025, 10:39 AM

    @Mary Linton: good for you. But how many grandparents have to care for their grandchildren, because the government fails to do it, and because their parents can’t efford the costs of childcare? Grandchildren are a godsend and I love mine to bits, but it is not right, that our society rely on us for taking over – without ever being acknowledged. The same is for looking after the elderly too.

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    Mute Clare Power
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    Jan 13th 2025, 10:44 AM

    @Mary Linton: your very judgey there this morning mary…have a coffee….imagine you had to mind your beloved grandkids 5 days a week then you mite moan a bit..

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    Mute Karin Ahlers
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    Jan 13th 2025, 10:47 AM

    @Mary Linton: still, you don’t get the point. It’s not about having fun with your grandchildren, it’s about the affordability of childcare. People cannot afford it because the high costs of living – they are lucky to have grandparents to do it for free and acknowledgement. The society expect us to do it, as they expect from (mostly)women to look after their older parents for the same reasons.

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    Mute Adam J
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    Jan 13th 2025, 8:22 AM

    Even though any assistance for childcare would be too late for me by the time they bring it in, government need to seriously rethink how to assist workers with it, it should be limited to the first 3 children only (apply this to child benefit too), but the assistance should be much more worthwhile for both the parent and the creche workers, we shouldn’t be the worst in EU or even close with the budget surplus we have these days

    52
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    Mute Mary Linton
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    Jan 13th 2025, 8:32 AM

    @Adam J: “limited to the first 3 children only” …… Is it difficult being God? That “one child” policy didn’t work out well in China either

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    Mute FoxyBoiiYT
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    Jan 13th 2025, 9:21 AM

    @Mary Linton: Well actually that would be a 3 child policy……

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    Mute Adam J
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    Jan 13th 2025, 9:35 AM

    @Mary Linton: That’s why I said 3 children, not difficult to comprehend

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    Mute Peter Byrne
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    Jan 13th 2025, 11:17 AM

    @Adam J: I think every worker should pay an extra 1000 Euro a year in tax to pay for Childcare for other people children

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    Mute Gerry Kelly
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    Jan 13th 2025, 10:02 AM

    You can get very affordable childcare if you’ve never worked a day in your life
    In fact families living long-term off social welfare have more kids on average than those where the couple both have jobs
    Our department of “social protection” still has a mindset that we are in the 1980s with high unemployment, and anyone with a job is privileged
    They need to move forward about 40 years

    38
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    Mute Chop Chop
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    Jan 13th 2025, 10:43 AM

    @Gerry Kelly: Idiocracy in action. Intentional lowering of the IQ of the nation.

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    Mute Alex
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    Jan 13th 2025, 11:44 AM

    @Gerry Kelly: Yes it’s crazy. The laziest people don’t even take care of their own kids. While working parents are 500 to 1000€ each month for the same service.

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    Mute Karin Ahlers
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    Jan 13th 2025, 4:14 PM

    @Gerry Kelly: sure somebody has to come up with this. 1. you shouldn’t brush all with the same brush. 2. Ireland has a poverty problem that the government don’t want us to see, thus giving us breadcrumps and blaming the wrong people for their failures. Divide and rule – already the old Romans knew that.

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    Mute Karin Ahlers
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    Jan 13th 2025, 10:54 AM

    This system of private care for people (childcare, schools, nursery homes, hospitals, etc) is just not working. It should not be possible to make profit in these areas. In other European Countries, where this is the case, it works well. Caring for the vulnerable should be not for profit. But this requieres a complete different way of thinking.

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    Mute Caroline O Toole
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    Jan 13th 2025, 4:14 PM

    @Karin Ahlers: are you seriously saying that all childcare should be provided for free? Why should all of society pay for your kids? You have them you pay for them. Simple

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    Mute Karin Ahlers
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    Jan 13th 2025, 6:53 PM

    @Caroline O Toole: I didn’t say that. I.e. in Germany childcare is funded 1/3 by the government, 1/3 by the ‘Traeger’, 1/3 by the parents – ideally. In reality the government pays the most, parents pay the least. Creches are not allowed to make profit – if they do, they will loose that money in funding in the next year. And yes: I am for free childcare (or education for that matter). Children are our future and should get the best possible support from all of us.

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    Mute Joe Beirne
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    Jan 13th 2025, 8:20 AM

    They needed a survey to realise that

    23
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    Mute Athena
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    Jan 13th 2025, 1:27 PM

    @Joe Beirne: So think alternatives: big employers could have on-site creches like they do in other countries, or parents could have live-in nannies or au pairs. Schools could open up pre-school rooms for siblings of enrolled pupils …

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    Mute Chris
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    Jan 13th 2025, 11:26 AM

    Meanwhile 90% of childcare staff is in brackets of 13.50 minimum wage to 15 per hour, while the bosses from head offices shine in their fancy and new cars.

    23
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    Mute Alex
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    Jan 13th 2025, 11:46 AM

    @Chris: Yes. That’s entirely true and the services provided for the price you pay are truly awful.

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    Mute FoxyBoiiYT
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    Jan 13th 2025, 9:22 AM

    Dublin Dublin Dublin
    If you can’t afford to love in Dublin there’s a whole lot of the country outside the Pale. Small rural communities dying from a lack of population

    17
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    Mute Adam J
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    Jan 13th 2025, 9:39 AM

    @FoxyBoiiYT: I honestly thought the establishment of remote workers was going to be a great thing for rural communities, no need for everyone to live here in Dublin, my wife’s hometown in the country was booming just after covid, but it’s dying off again now for some reason

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    Mute Joe Beirne
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    Jan 13th 2025, 9:55 AM

    @Adam J: companies bringing people back to office

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    Mute Alex
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    Jan 13th 2025, 11:45 AM

    @Adam J: Because management likes control so much they don’t want remote working. Many companies still do it tho.

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    Mute D
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    Jan 13th 2025, 9:16 AM

    Tough to live in Dublin – poor quality of life compared to rest of country

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    Mute SerotoninWars
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    Jan 13th 2025, 10:41 AM

    @D: I get what you mean to an extent. There’s definitely a whole other side of life to be enjoyed living somewhere with more walks, nature, cleaner air and close communities. I guess the upside of Dublin is that city buzz and being so close to all the gigs and shows and exhibs that Dublin is spoiled for. If you like your live music for example it’s pretty great. It’s hard to be booking hotels every time you want to get to a gig for example. But I get that this probably gets filed under luxury for many, especially when things like buying a home and having kids come into the equation.

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    Mute Alex
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    Jan 13th 2025, 11:45 AM

    @D: Definitely not. Best private hospitals in the whole country, best schools, best jobs. Low population density overall.

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    Mute Padraig O'Brien
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    Jan 13th 2025, 1:50 PM

    So it is housing, child care etc. Couldn’t possibly be low wages?

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    Mute Shimo F
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    Jan 13th 2025, 6:28 PM

    The other obstacle being accommodation

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