Hangs up mic after 39 years

RTÉ’S north-west correspondent and broadcaster Eileen Magnier has announced her retirement.

The Sligo based Kilkenny native announced that she is packing up the RTÉ microphone and camera, retiring early after 39 years of service at the national broadcaster.

“I’ve decided to retire early and start on the bucket list. It’s been an honour to work as NW Corr for 34 years,” she wrote in a post on X.

“Sincere thanks to all who shared their stories with me and my fantastic colleagues especially all those in the regions.”

Eileen started off in RTÉ as a junior reporter after moving from People Newspapers in Wexford in the early 1980s.

She has a degree in History and Politics from University College Dublin.

Ms Magnier was the first female correspondent at the broadcaster, having joined RTÉ in 1985, having been appointed as north-west correspondent just five years later.

She initially covered Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan from 1989 after previous north-west correspondent Tommy Gorman was moved to cover Northern Ireland.

After RTÉ appointed a north-east correspondent, her counties were Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim.

Ms Magnier reported on the Creeslough tragedy that took place at a service station in Donegal in October 2022, leading to the death of 10 people.

She described this in an interview with Donegal Daily as one of the darkest days and tragedies she had to report on in her career spanning four decades.

In a statement released to RTÉ, she said her role gave her a front row seat to every big story that has happened and that she has been delighted to work on “really positive things”.

She said that she reported on a huge amount of tragedy, which she hopes was in an “emphatic and respectful way”.

“The job of a regional correspondent is a unique and very important one and I am very proud to have been part of the RTÉ News team around the country,” she said.

“It can be a tough job, emotionally draining, physically exhausting but also hugely satisfying and as a team, I know we all do our best to represent the people of the areas we cover in the true spirit of public service broadcasting.”

Ms Magnier is married to former Mayo footballer TJ Kilgallon, who she met at a wedding, with the couple sharing three adult children, Hayley, Dylan and Evanne Kilgallon.

Eileen was a keen local supporter of the charity North West Simon.

Eileen will finish reporting with RTÉ on May 2.