RTE star Sean O’Rourke looks set for a return to telly after retiring from his Radio One show.
The broadcaster may be missed on our airwaves this morning – but he hinted: “I wouldn’t mind doing a bit of telly. I haven’t done it for seven years.
“I did The Week In Politics for 10 years and so it wouldn’t exactly be strange territory for me. I wouldn’t be averse to it.”
O’Rourke, whose Today show had 321,000 listeners, had to put post-retirement travel plans with wife Caroline on hold due to lockdown.
He said: “We bought a second-hand motor home and the outline plan before Covid landed was we’d be heading across the Bay of Biscay next week, and heading into Bilbao, before travelling around Ireland later in the summer.
“That’s all on hold, but I am in the very fortunate position of living in Ireland’s riviera and within 5km I have Killiney Hill and all those places around Dalkey so I intend to do a lot of walking.”
The former National University of Ireland Galway English graduate is an Adjunct professor of Journalism and will now get more involved in academia.
He said: “I want to make a contribution there with the School of Journalism Masters Course, so I would like to do some workshops, primarily, to give them benefit of my experience, such as it is.
“I’ve had suggestions about newspaper columns and writing books and podcasting – all balls hopped in my direction these past two weeks. I will give them serious thought later, but right now I’m going to chill out, catch up on some sleep and relax.”
Sean, 64, doesn’t know who will replace him in what he calls “the best current affairs chair in Irish broadcasting”.
He said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a woman, and there are plenty of very capable options.”
