Laois woman Claire Byrne set for RTÉ return for one night only

Laois woman and broadcaster Claire Byrne joins The Late Late Show line-up this week, where her move from RTÉ to Newstalk is sure to be a top of conversation with host Patrick Kielty.

Claire returns to the RTÉ studios on Friday for the first time since she stepped away from the national broadcaster to embark on a new chapter in her illustrious career with a return to Newstalk Radio.

The Mountrath native, who was hotly tipped to host the Late Late Show after Ryan Tubridy's departure and was inspired by Gay Byrne, is due to take over from Pat Kenny shortly as the host of the weekday morning show on Newstalk.

"She’ll chat about why now felt like the right time to make the move, what listeners can expect from the new show and the fresh challenge of going head‑to‑head with former colleagues and friends on the airwaves," said a statement from RTÉ.

Claire, who turned 50 in 2025, spoke about her career pivot in an interview with the Leinster Express published magazine Laois Life. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

“It is a new challenge, it is exciting, it’s a real buzz doing something new and the closer it comes, the more excited I am about it. That tells me that I made the right decision.

“In August, I turned 50, and that was a monumental moment. You really do look at things and ask: ‘What am I going to do for the next 15 years?’ That helped inform my choice,” she said.

She elaborated on what her decision came down to.

“I said to myself, ‘you can continue on doing what you are doing perfectly happily, or you can turn it up a notch, put the heat on yourself and see where it goes',” she said.

She told Laois Life that she had a “great 15 years at RTÉ”.

“I enjoyed every minute of it. I had some wonderful opportunities in RTÉ and got to present programmes that I never thought I would be doing. I am very grateful for all of that, and I leave RTÉ as a friend of the place and still have lots of friends there whom I will keep in contact with in the years to come,” she said.

She is rejoining Newstalk to take over from Pat Kenny, who is moving to the station's weekend schedule. Claire previously worked for Newstalk from 2003 to 2010 before joining RTÉ, where she presented Prime Time and Claire Byrne Live on TV. She took over the hosting of the Today show in 2020. Today with Claire Byrne had 354,000 listeners when she departed in November 2025.

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Claire will present on Newstalk daily from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 12 noon. This will see her go head-to-head in the competition for listeners with David McCullagh between 9 am and 11 am, and Oliver Callan, whose show now runs from 11 am to 1 pm.

The daughter of Tom and Breda Byrne grew up on the family farm and was educated locally at the Brigidine Convent in Mountrath. The now mum of three children and wife of Gerry, later studied Politics, Sociology and Social Science at University College Dublin and she subsequently attended the Rathmines College of Further Education, where she studied journalism