TWO RTÉ JOURNALISTS are joining Prime Time’s presenting team from April as part of a “refresh” of the programme.
Sarah McInerney and Fran McNulty are lined up to appear alongside Miriam O’Callaghan on the show from 6 April.
The programme airs on RTÉ One on Tuesdays and Thursdays and has seen O’Callaghan as a main presenter for over fifteen years.
Under the new lineup, O’Callaghan will continue to present on both nights each week, with McInerney presenting alongside her on Tuesdays and McNulty on Thursdays.
Prime Time is also set to introduce a “refresh” of its programme and studio as the new presenters take up their roles.
Editor of Prime Time Richard Downes said that the presenters will “illuminate dark corners and ask the questions that matter to you” as the show “changes and evolves”.
A spokesperson for RTÉ confirmed to The Journal that Louise Byrne and Mark Coughlan are remaining with Prime Time in their current roles as a reporter and Assistant Digital Editor respectively.
Sarah McInerney is the current co-host of Drivetime on RTÉ Radio One, a slot she moved into last year after a stint presenting the Today radio programme.
She previously hosted Newstalk Drive and was a political correspondent with the Sunday Times.
McInerney said that she is “delighted” to be joining the Prime Time team and that it was “one of the shows that first sparked my interest in politics”.
“It is a programme that has, for decades, been producing top class current affairs coverage,” she said.
Fran McNulty, RTÉ’s correspondent for agriculture and consumer affairs, previously worked with Prime Time for five years as a reporter. He was formerly a presenter on Morning Ireland, News at One and This Week.
He said that it was “humbling” to be asked to present the programme.
“Now more than ever people need trusted journalism, we need people to ask the important questions and get underneath the many issues facing Ireland at present,” McNulty said.
“On Prime Time we will continue to work hard to dispel fiction from fact,” he said.
O’Callaghan said she was “very excited to be joined by two exceptional presenters”.
“I know and really like them both and we are all going to work so well together and get on great,” she said.
Prime Time, which was first broadcast in 1992, is viewed by an average of 341,000 people.
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