EVELYN O’ROURKE HAS been appointed as RTÉ’S new arts and media correspondent, replacing Sinéad Crowley.   

Her appointment comes at a busy time of year for the arts at home and abroad, with Dublin’s International Film Festival is coming to a close and the Oscars just around the corner. 

The Dubliner said she was “delighted” with the appointment “at a time when Irish acting and writing talent is storming across the world stage, highlighting the boundless talent of our national creative industries”. 

Over the course of an award-winning career, O’Rourke has worked on a wide range of programmes in both English and Irish for both RTÉ and TG4. She has also been reporting on Radio 1’s ‘Today’ daily morning programme. 

As well as co-presenting the Irish Books Awards for many years on RTÉ, O’Rourke has presented and reported for RTÉ Radio 1’s arts programme Arena, covering Irish arts and cultural life.   

O’Rourke said she will miss her colleagues at Radio One but that she is “really looking forward to exploring the wide range of arts and cultural stories in Ireland”.

RTÉ’s director of news and current affairs Deirdre McCarthy said:

“We are very pleased that Evelyn is joining the News & Current Affairs team as Arts & Media correspondent. This correspondency covers two hugely important sectors in Irish life.

“The Arts plays a vital role in the cultural, social and economic life in this country while the media landscape is rapidly evolving and misinformation and disinformation are posing a real challenge for us all.”