Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983-1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make the public laugh, while raising money to help people around the world and in the United Kingdom. A new CEO, Samir Patel, was announced in January 2021.
The Late Late Show, with its title often shortened to The Late Late, is an Irish chat show. It is the world's second longest-running late-night talk show, after the American The Tonight Show, and is the longest-running live talk show. Perceived as the official flagship television programme of RTÉ, it is regarded as an Irish television institution, and is broadcast live across normally two hours in front of a studio audience on Friday nights at 9:30 pm between September and May. Certain segments are sometimes pre-recorded and aired within the live parts of the show.
Patrick Kenny is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk and the current affairs show Pat Kenny Tonight on Virgin Media One.
Gabriel Mary Byrne was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was as the first host of The Late Late Show over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. The Late Late Show is the world's longest-running live chat show. He was affectionately known as "Uncle Gay", "Gaybo" or "Uncle Gaybo". His time working in Britain with Granada Television saw him become the first person to introduce the Beatles on-screen, and Byrne was later the first to introduce Boyzone on screen in 1993. The Beatles asked Byrne to be their manager but he declined, later stating "that would have been an unfortunate and wrong direction."
A telethon is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other cause.
RTÉ 2fm, or 2FM as it is more commonly referred to, is an Irish radio station operated by RTÉ. The station specialises in current popular music and chart hits and is the second national radio station in Ireland.
Gerard Ryan was an Irish presenter of radio and television employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He presented The Gerry Ryan Show on radio station RTÉ 2fm each weekday morning from 1988 until hours before his sudden death. He was presented with a Jacob's Award for this show in 1990.
The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients were selected by Ireland's national newspaper television and radio critics. Jacob's Award winners were chosen annually until 1993, when the final awards presentation took place.
Gareth O'Callaghan is an Irish writer and radio and television presenter. He was most recently heard on 4fm, having presented shows on RTÉ 2fm for much of his career until 2005, and then a show on Galway Bay FM. In January 2022, he returned to radio following a 4-year break, presenting a new Saturday morning with Ireland’s Classic Hits Radio. He is currently serving as interim presenter of the station's weekday Night Time Talk show, following the sudden departure of presenter Niall Boylan to contest in the 2024 European Parliament election in Ireland.
The Late Late Toy Show is an annual, special edition of the Irish chat show The Late Late Show. Airing annually on RTÉ One near the end of November or early December to coincide with the holiday shopping season, the Toy Show showcases the popular toys of the year, as presented by the host and demonstrated by various children on-stage, along with appearances by celebrity guests.
Philip Boucher-Hayes is a journalist at RTÉ. He is a news reporter, television and radio presenter. As a news reporter, RTÉ has sent Boucher-Hayes to the Kosovo War in 1999, Palestine's second Intifada in 2000, Iran, the 9/11 attacks in New York City and the U.S.'s 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Evelyn O'Rourke is an Irish broadcaster and journalist employed by RTÉ. She is the current Arts and Media Correspondent for RTÉ News since February 2024.
The Gay Byrne Show was an Irish radio programme, which ran from 1973 until 1998. The programme was presented by Gay Byrne, and aired Monday to Friday for two hours each day. It was a favourite of Irish housewives. Before Byrne's retirement in 1998, he was helped by Gareth O'Callaghan and then Des Cahill. Future Labour Party face Alex White edited the show for four years.
RTÉ broadcaster Gerry Ryan died on 30 April 2010, aged 53. Ryan had been presenting The Gerry Ryan Show since 1988 and at the time of his death had the largest audience on RTÉ 2fm. Ryan also hosted several television series, including Secrets, Gerry Ryan Tonight, Ryantown, Gerry Ryan's Hitlist and Operation Transformation and Ryan Confidential, as well as one edition of The Late Late Show in 2008. Ryan co-presented the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 with Cynthia Ní Mhurchú. He died sixteen years later at his Upper Leeson Street apartment in Dublin, with his body found by his partner Melanie Verwoerd. The broadcaster had split from his wife Morah in 2008; the couple had five children together.
Claire Byrne is an Irish radio and television presenter.
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 1994.
Darren Kennedy is an Irish television presenter, style & design expert and entrepreneur from Dublin, Ireland now based between New York & Los Angeles. He has hosted television shows on BBC, ITV and RTÉ. He is the creator and co-founder of men's grooming brand Kennedy & Co.
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2019.
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2020.
RTÉ Does Comic Relief was an Irish telethon event that took place on 26 June 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) hosted the four-hour telethon "RTÉ does Telethon" in aid of the Community Foundation for Ireland, a trust with a target of distributing funds to over 4,000 non-profit organisations at a national, regional, and local level throughout Ireland.
