RTE legend Anne Doyle says she had “no desire” to go back to her job as a news anchor during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Anne worked with the national broadcaster as a newsreader for over 30 years before retiring in 2011.
While Anne admired the work of journalists who reported on the pandemic during lockdown, she had no urge to get involved herself.
“I had no desire to go back to news, there were plenty of people doing a great job there,” she said.
“I have to say, I had great admiration for news services [during lockdown], they did a fantastic job. But you know, you do something, especially if you do it for a long time like I did, and then it’s over.
“I never had an urge to go back, I never wanted to go back. I had done it for a long time, it was time to move on and for somebody else to do it.
“I got the opportunity to get out a little bit early and I was ready to go.”
Even though lockdown didn’t make Anne want to start working again, she did recognise that people working in TV were lucky that they didn’t have to spend all of that time at home.
She continued to Tommy Bowe and Alan Hughes on Ireland AM: “People who had jobs they went into every day, albeit difficulties, I think they were the lucky ones. They did have a lot more normality in their lives.”
Anne previously opened up about her decision to retire early and said she has no regrets as she was happy to regain her “freedom” after three decades of broadcasting.
“I never did nostalgia at all, I was delighted with myself,” she said.
“I was very happy in my working life, in my job generally speaking and I consider myself very fortunate and I had great colleagues and all of that but I was also very happy to regain my freedom at the end of it all.”
She continued: “It was lovely to have it. It’s great to have the time to yourself.”
