RTE star Joanna Donnelly dismisses theory on sudden departure from broadcaster
RTE weather icon Joanna Donnelly has dismissed her sudden departure from the station as anything to do with her "work product".
The Dubliner shocked fans when she announced at the end of her forecast on Easter Monday night that this would be "my last forecast".
The 54-year-old finished her segment on RTE's Nine O'Clock News: "And that is my last forecast. Goodnight and goodbye."
After Joanna got home, she noticed an increase in followers on her social media and decided to clarify to fans about the shock announcement.
She said: "I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye.
"I've been on the weather forecast nearly 10 years I think at this stage between training and being operational."
Joanna has said she "had a great time" presenting the weather and has "gotten so much out of it" - including her stint on Dancing with the Stars earlier this year which she "really enjoyed".
She added: "I've gotten two books as well, which I'm so proud of and I'm so happy to have been given that opportunity.
"I do want to say that my leaving has nothing to do with my work product. I've always given the very best I could possibly give to the weather forecast.
"So I hope anybody that's wondering what happened, it wasn't the forecast.
"I've been with Met Eireann almost 30 years. I started in Met Eireann in August 1995 in the middle of a glorious heatwave. It was a beautiful summer in 1995, you never know, this might portend a good summer for us yet."
Joanna explained how her career has "flown by" and said: "The years that I spent before I was a forecaster and then as an early forecaster, as a novice forecaster, with my small children, then my years struggling with infertility and then there was running the charity and then I went on TV.
"I've been on TV nearly 10 years and 30 years just went by in the blink of an eye.
"And now what? I don't know. We'll see. We'll see what happens next. Chapter three."
The mum-of-three joined Met Eireann in 1995, working as a meteorological officer before being promoted to meteorologist in 2000.
Joanna has been working as a forecaster and broadcasting on RTE Radio 1 since February 2002.
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