Katie Hannon Profile: Long a stalwart of current affairs, now Kerry woman forges ahead with new show

Byrne (47) is a shrewd and accomplished broadcaster, and RTÉ’s inability to take her on is a sad sign that they don’t understand the needs of a working mom.

Since the summer, there has been speculation about what will replace Claire Byrne lives to January.

And this week, RTÉ announced that a new set of current affairs, Prepaid with Katie Hannonwill run on Monday night.

The show promises to “bring audiences beyond the everyday stories” and allow “the public to meet face-to-face with people whose decisions directly affect their lives” – which sounds like a good thing. Doesn’t look much different from the previous one.

Hannon (51) is a highly regarded broadcaster. She works on gold time for 15 years as an investigative journalist and political reporter on mother-and-baby home shows, and efforts to discredit Maurice McCabe, the Garda whistleblower.

But she is perhaps best known to the public for her work on radio – Late debateand to fill in for Joe Duffy on hotline since 2018.

One of a family of eight, Hannon grew up on her parents’ farm in Duagh, north of Co Kerry and attended Presentation Convent in Listowel.

She realized journalism was for her thanks to watching Lou Granta spinoff from Mary Tyler Moore Show.

It seems like she’s particularly drawn to the character of Billie Newman, the intrepid reporter working at the subway desk, played by Linda Kelsey.

Hannon applied and was accepted to study journalism at the Dublin Institute of Technology in Rathmines. She began her career as a copy editor for RTÉ’s Aertel service.

In her early 20s, she gave her first newspaper gig; Work on evening newspapersocial diary.

This category is for the pranks of Irish celebrities and models. In the days before social media, it kept readers up to date with the celebrities who had frequented Lillies Bordello the night before.

She seemed to enjoy this stage of her career, later recalled Irish Times a life “behind the scenes turns everything, a little bit of travel, celebrities become famous”.

However, she also notes the hard work as she “fills out two pages in emissaryfive days a week… I’m usually there at two o’clock in the morning typing my copy.”

After two years, she left the celebrity pulse and started working as a writer of color covering social, cultural and political events.

From there, she turned to political journalism in Dáil Éireann.

She worked as a political reporter and editor for six years writing for the newspaper Irish judge and Irish Mail on Sunday.

In 2004, she released a book, naked politician, aimed at debunking the political mechanisms within Leinster House.

The same year, RTÉ announced that it was looking for a group of political journalists to work on the news program.

Hannon was one of the successful candidates and started working on the station’s top news program gold time.

In 2013, Hannon became a political reporter on gold time and work on stories as diverse as the 2017 crash of the Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 helicopter and the banking crisis.

In recent years, Hannon has become a familiar voice on our airwaves.

Besides late debateand hotlineshe also hosts her own Saturday afternoon radio show.

Hannon prefers to keep elements of his personal life private. However, she did share memories where listeners found themselves connected on a human level.

She is married to RTÉ’s Head of Planning, Andrew Fitzpatrick, who joined the station in 2001 and they have a 12-year-old twin daughter.

In 2021, Hannon talked about the anxiety she felt when they were born prematurely and when “your baby is attached to all those tubes.”

During the lockdown, she presented Irish by call with fashion designer and broadcaster Brendan Courtney and produced a radio documentary, honorable woman.

RTÉ says the new show will expand on “TV, digital and social media” – which, in ordinary people’s terms, means we’ll be hearing a lot about it.

Hannon has previously said that danger is a key factor in broadcasting current affairs.

“You need to get the feeling that this is not everyone playing their part.”

Hopefully we’ll get some of that drama aired. Claire Byrne’s shoes are big shoes to fill but RTÉ certainly thinks Hannon is up to the task.

‘Prepay with Katie Hannon’ to start January 2023