Broadcasters who got Covid-19 all attended the same charity bash
CELEBRITY broadcasters who tested positive for Covid-19 all attended a lunch for an international charity in Dublin hosted by their agent and a former government minister.
Both Ryan Tubridy and Claire Byrne were guests of their agent Noel Kelly who also represents Dr Ciara Kelly, the first broadcaster to test positive for Covid-19.
Photographs taken at the charity event in Dublin’s Intercontinental Hotel on March 6 show some of the stars in each other’s company – at a time when there were no public health restrictions in place.
After Byrne and Kelly tested positive and Tubridy went into selfisolation, colleagues have speculated that the broadcasters may have been infected at the charity lunch.
RTÉ Six One News presenter Caitríona Perry, another client of super-agent Noel Kelly and a guest at the March 6 lunch, returned to work this week.
The broadcaster’s former US correspondent had been self-isolating following fears that she had been in close contact with someone infected with Covid-19.
The high-profile lunch was hosted by Kelly and former minister and Road Safety Authority chair Liz O’Donnell.
Known as Liz and Noel’s Annual Chernobyl Lunch, the star-studded event raises valuable funds for Chernobyl Children International, the charity run by Ali Hewson and Adi Roche for more than 20 years.
As well as Ali Hewson and Adi Roche, architect Dermot Bannon, presenter Mary Kennedy and rugby hero Rob Kearney attended the lunch.
Morah Ryan, the widow of the late Gerry Ryan, and his daughter Lottie (another Kelly client), presenter Dave Fanning (also a client) and his wife Ursula were also part of the huge celebrity turnout.
Regarding the onset of her symptoms, Dr Kelly, presenter of Newstalk’s lunchtime radio show, told The Irish Times this week that: ‘I got sick on a Saturday and felt increasingly sick over that week... Chest pain, shortness of breath, chest tightness – and it got worse from there. It’s an unusual thing for me to be sick, and I’ve never had some of these symptoms before. It was a fluey sort of thing, and my chest was burning. It hurt to breathe.’
Meanwhile, Tánaiste Simon Coveney was interviewed by Byrne on her TV show on March 9 – three days after she attended the charity lunch.
On March 16, Byrne presented her television programme from a shed in her garden and said she had the symptoms of a cold. She was ‘selfisolating’, she said, ‘in accordance with the HSE guidelines’.
Meanwhile, on March 18, after she was tested and got the results, Dr
Kelly revealed she had been diagnosed with Covid-19 and that she did not know where she had picked up the virus. She believed that she had contracted it ‘in the community’.
On March 20, Tubridy’s nose was swabbed on The Late Late Show by a health worker (in protective clothing) to demonstrate how a Covid-19 test was done.
The next day RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes wrote to employees to say that a colleague had tested positive for coronavirus. She did not identify the colleague but said the individual ‘is safe and well at home and is following the HSE guidelines of self-isolation’.
She also said that ‘public health services will be in touch with those individuals who have come in direct contact with our colleague who has tested positive’.
On March 23, the following Monday, Tubridy did not turn up to present his morning radio programme. It was announced that day that Byrne had tested positive for Covid-19.
Later that evening she again co-presented her live television programme from her shed.
That same day, Tánaiste Simon Coveney revealed he had tested negative for Covid-19.
The next day Mr Coveney confirmed that the reason for his test was his appearance on an RTÉ programme that featured an RTÉ employee who had a confirmed case of Covid-19.
On March 27, RTÉ announced that following ‘five days of a persistent cough’ Tubridy would not be presenting The Late Late Show; he was replaced by Miriam O’Callaghan.
Three days later, Tubridy revealed that he had tested positive for Covid19. Meanwhile, the next day Caitríona Perry returned to work after selfisolating; colleagues speculated that she may have been designated as a close contact of Claire Byrne.
A spokeswoman for RTÉ said: ‘RTÉ is committed to protecting staff privacy and, consistent with HSE guidelines, does not provide details of Covid-19 tests or comment on individuals.’
‘I’ve never had some of these symptoms before’