Prince of Irish radio is denied his kingdom
SEAN O’ROURKE surprised the whole nation when he announced on-air that he was to retire.
He made the surprise announcement at the end of his Today with Sean O’Rourke radio programme in late April, and said his broadcast career has been ‘a blast’.
‘And now for some personal news. For nearly seven years now, it’s been my great privilege to sit in the best current affairs chair in Irish broadcasting. But nothing is forever,’ he told the nation.
On May 8, on his final day in air, he hinted that there was much more to come: ‘I’m only kind of retiring ... there’s more left in the tank,’ he said, leaving the door open for the political programme he had always wanted to make.
Yesterday, in the maelstrom of resignations that followed Golfgate, we discovered that the prince of Irish radio was without a kingdom. ‘By mutual consent’ he and RTE were parting ways. The statement marked the end of O’Rourke’s 47-year career.
He was known for his insightful interviews, while eschewing the harshness of Vincent Browne and other political journalists.
He had already become a household name while presenting News at One on RTÉ radio for 18 years, followed by The Week in Politics on RTÉ One for 10 years, before taking over the mid-morning Today programme seven years ago.
At the time of Pat Kenny’s departure to Newstalk, O’Rourke was at the Galway races. He realised a few days later that RTÉ were already considering him for one of the State broadcaster’s most desired jobs.
He is married to broadcaster and psychologist, Caroline Murphy, until recently Charlie Flanagan’s media adviser. They have six children and live in Killiney in south Dublin.
O’Rourke was born in Portlaoise in 1955. He worked at the Connacht Tribune from September, 1973 and got a BA in English, History and Legal Science in 1977 from National University Galway. He later joined the Irish Press and began his radio career in the 1980s.
He won the PPI News Journalist of the Year Award several times, and expanded listenership on the Today programme to a high of 354,000 listeners a day.