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Steve Langan
# rte news
RTÉ announces Sean Whelan as its new Washington Correspondent
Whelan is taking over from Brian O’Donovan.
RTÉ HAS ANNOUNCED that it has appointed Sean Whelan as its new Washington Correspondent.
Whelan, who has held the role of London Correspondent for the last three years, will take over from Brian O’Donovan, who is now the broadcaster’s Work and Technology Correspondent.
He will start the new role in February.
In a statement this morning, RTÉ said Whelan will be responsible for reporting across the broadcaster’s television, radio and digital platforms on all aspects of life in the United States.
Reacting to his appointment, Whelan said: “I’m really looking forward to this posting: US politics and society is always fascinating but is particularly so right now.”
“Ireland is literally hardwired into the US economy, so we need to keep an eye on that, and of course, the US role in world affairs is a vital one. The international security environment right now is challenging to say the least – no better place to observe it from than Washington DC, so I suspect I’m going to be busy!”
Having first joined RTÉ News in 1991, Whelan joined the foreign desk in TV news in 1994 and reported on the war in Bosnia.
Later, as Deputy Foreign Editor, he reported from the war in Kosovo, the attempted impeachment of Bill Clinton in Washington, the return of Hong Kong to China and the election of new Labour in the UK.
In recent years, as London Correspondent, he reported extensively on Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and UK politics.
Prior to this, he was Economics Correspondent with the broadcaster for nearly nine years.
