RTE pays tribute to long-serving Raidió na Gaeltachta staff

THREE Raidió na Gaeltachta staff from Corca Dhuibhne have been honoured by RTE for their work at the Baile na nGall studio over the past 25 years.

Broadcasters Pádraig Ó Sé and Jackie Mac Gearailt, whose voices are well known to Raidió na Gaeltachta listeners, along with Jackie’s wife, Eibhlín, who works behind the scenes in RnaG’s Baile na nGall studio, were among over 30 RTÉ staff honoured at a celebration in Dublin’s Radisson Hotel for giving 25 years service to the station and the nation.

Jackie from Baile na nGall has been broadcasting the news for over 10 years and his voice is well known to all who switch on the radio at 9am to hear ‘nuacht an deiscirt’. Before taking on the news job Jackie worked in a variety of programmes as well as in sports with Raidió na Gaeltachta.

Unlike Jackie, Eibhlín, isn’t to be heard on air at all and instead she is the calm presence behind the scenes. Having changed roles with the station many times over the past 25 years, she is currently the administrator of the weekday magazine show An Saol ó Dheas.

Aside from being a renowned box player, Pádraig Ó Sé, from Dún Chaoin, is a well-known voice of Gaelic games commentary on Raidió na Gaeltachta. He also presents the ‘Togha agus Rogha ’programme every Saturday as well as notices and music on Camchuairt on Mondays, and on top of all that he is a member of RnG’s An Saol ó Dheas team. Pádraig is a great man to abandon the studio and go off in search of news and is often to be seen in hail, rain or shine, microphone in hand, and ready to keep the nation up to date with events in Corca Dhuibhne.

Congratulations to all three and long may they prosper.

Husband and wife team Jackie and Eibhlín Mac Gearailt at the celebrations to mark 25 years working with RTÉ RnaG and (right) Pádraig Ó Sé, with his wife Michelle, as he celebrated 25 years with RTÉ RnaG.