Six One line-up ‘based on skill not gender’

RTÉ did not set out to choose two women to front its flagship Six One News show, a senior manager has said.

Hilary McGouran, managing editor for RTÉ News (Television), yesterday played down any suggestion that its decision to choose two female news anchors was an effort to deflect recent criticism over the pay gap of up to €80,000 that previous presenter Bryan Dobson enjoyed over his colleague, Sharon Ní Bheoláin.

She said it was clear their replacements, Keelin Shanley and Caitríona Perry, were selected for their skills alone. Ms McGouran said: ‘I don’t think we set out to have an allfemale news team. I think when Bryan was moving to Morning Ireland and Sharon had made it clear that she wanted to go in a new direction – and she’s been looking for that for a while and she’s very excited – we looked for good journalists, smart people.’

She was aware that whoever the station chose would have big shoes to fill, saying: ‘This is our biggest flagship news programme and obviously Bryan and Sharon have presented it with great skill for a long time. So you want to make sure whoever goes in there to take on that mantle continues that.’

Ms McGouran said: ‘We are hugely lucky in RTÉ that we have a wealth of talent.

She said: ‘It just happens that [the new presenters] are women. I know some people would like to spin it that we deliberately went out to do this but actually we picked the best people for the job and I can’t tell you the excitement in the newsroom.’