Ex-RTE weather presenter Joanna Donnelly reveals real reason behind shock exit

Irish Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Joanna Donnelly has lifted the lid on the shocking circumstances that led to her unexpected exit from RTE and Met Eireann earlier this year.
The beloved television personality delivered her final weather forecast back in April, bidding farewell to live broadcasting and concluding a three-decade career in meteorology.
She has now disclosed that despite her deep love for the role, the working environment was causing her immense strain.
"Civil servant and public servant ­employment contracts are covered by the civil service code of behaviour. The interpretation of this code of ­behaviour is where my problems began," the broadcaster penned in the Sunday Independent.
Joanna discovered the behavioural code to be incredibly limiting regarding her permitted activities, even during her personal time, reports RSVP Live.
"It started out that I had to ask for permission if I was to appear in the media in an area unrelated to my job," she explained. "My initial interpretation was that if there was no conflict of interest with my work as a weather forecaster, then it shouldn't matter.
"I was told I was wrong, and I had to ask permission to appear in the media outside of my routine work. I complied, but the interpretation of the code changed again.
"Before long, I had to ask specific permission to do basic elements of my own job. If you ever heard me on the radio talking about a storm, or a heatwave, or just about the forecast for the weekend, I could only be there if formal permission had been given. Joanna Donnelly (Image: Instagram) Joanna Donnelly (Image: Instagram)
"I needed permission to visit a school to talk about science, something we all used to just volunteer to do in our own time."
In the past few years, Joanna found herself grappling with fatigue and health issues, which she later identified as severe stress.
"I experienced a steady deterioration in working conditions, eroding simple things the team and I took for granted, like a fixed rotating roster that was predictable, fair and balanced," she recounted.
"In recent years, I noticed I was getting hit by a horrible, chronic fatigue. I am a usually fit and healthy person. I run, I swim, I cycle everywhere and I do a daily yoga practice. I don't smoke and I only drink to excess at book club. I blamed Covid. I blamed post-Covid. I blamed post-viral infections. I blamed menopause. In fact, I mostly blamed menopause."
She continued, "I dashed off to the doctor and got myself set up with my HRT treatment - I take so many supplements I have to count them in my daily calorie allocation."
Come April, she decided it was time to put her mental well-being first and handed in her notice.
"Leaving the role I loved so much was a terrible trauma," Joanna confessed. "But I also look back on all the weeks I was unwell, all the doctor visits, all the blood tests to try to unearth what was wrong with me, and I know I made the right decision. No one ever suspected it could have been that I was stressed. Why would I have been stressed by a job that I loved, that inspired me and, even better, allowed me to inspire others?
"Choosing to stop was devastating, but losing friendships and valuable relationships to stress would have been worse."
She continued: "I tried to fight. I made myself a difficult woman by trying to insist on better rosters. I stood my ground in defending my right to make good decisions for myself and for the office that were entirely in keeping with the civil service code of behaviour."
Joanna acknowledged that hitting the job market again in her 50s is "daunting", yet she's embracing a more leisurely pace of life.
"As a woman in my 50s, it's daunting now to be out in the job market," she remarked. "I'm asked constantly if I'm enjoying retirement. I'm asked what are my plans. So far I've repainted my whole house inside and out and have done a little mini-renovation of the bathrooms. I'm taking more time to do things I used to rush, like tending the roses and yoga poses."
In a statement to the Sunday Independent, Met Éireann clarified: "Met ­Éireann, the Irish National ­Meteorological ­Service, is a line division of the ­Department of Housing, Local ­Government and Heritage."
The organisation emphasised that "As an employer, the ­department has a duty to its employees not to ­disclose any information of a ­personal nature and accordingly, the ­department does not comment on any ­matters related to individual members of staff."
They further noted, "As a Division of a Civil Service ­Department, all employees of Met Éireann are civil servants."
Highlighting professional expectations, they added, "Civil servants are obliged to work within certain standards, including under the Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour. The department, and Met Éireann also have a policy on media and social media."
Finally, they stated, "Civil servants have recourse to the Civil Service Grievance Procedure for complaints such as those mentioned."
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