‘Leaving the role I loved was a terrible trauma' – Former RTE star lifts lid on real reason she quit station

The Irish Sun

a day ago

The TV star told how she experienced a 'steady deterioration in working conditions'
JO'S DONE 'Leaving the role I loved was a terrible trauma' – Former RTE star lifts lid on real reason she quit station
EX-RTE star Joanna Donnelly has opened up about the "devastating" end to her role at Met Eireann.
Meteorologist Joanna Donnelly left her forecasting role in Met Eireann back in April claiming it was a "very, very tough decision".
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Joanna Donnelly quit her role in Met Eireann in April 2025
Credit: RTE
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Joanna has admitted she left the station due to 'chronic stress and fatigue'
At the time, Joanna confessed that she left the station as she felt it was the "right move" for herself and her family.
However, in a recent interview with the Irish Independent, the 54-year-old revealed she took a step back from her role due to "chronic stress and fatigue".
The Dublin native told how she had excellent colleagues at Met Eireann.
But noted how their were too many restrictions in workplace which even extended to her volunteer work in the community.
This included having to ask for permission every time she visited a school to talk to students about science.
She said: "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. My initial interpretation was that if there was no conflict of interest with my work as a weather forecaster, then it shouldn't matter."
Joanna explained how she experienced a "steady deterioration in working conditions" as the station eroded simple things in which her team took for granted.
This included a fixed rotating roster that was "predictable, fair and balanced".
After years of built-up stress, Donnelly noticed herself getting hit by a wave of "chronic fatigue".
She remarked: "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.
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"I blamed Covid. I blamed post-Covid. I blamed post-viral infections. I blamed menopause. In fact, I mostly blamed menopause."
Joanna told how she spent a "fortune" at the doctors who took blood tests to try and "unearth what was wrong".
She added: "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?"
Donnelly said that being employed by Met Eireann was her dream job and that she never imagined she would leave it.
'THIS IS NOT RIGHT'
The TV star continued: "Nobody else could imagine me leaving either, and I think that was part of the problem. I kept saying, 'You can't do this. This is not right.'
"But they thought 'What is she going to do?' It is very hard to leave. I was traumatised."
Joanna went on to say that while it was scary to think about re-entering the job market in her 50s, she knew she had made the correct decision in leaving.
And Met Eireann recently made a statement indicating that it was unable to comment on what Donnelly had said about her time there.
The department clarified in the Sunday Independent: "Met ­Eireann, the Irish National ­Meteorological ­Service, is a line division of the ­Department of Housing, Local ­Government and Heritage.
"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.
"As a Division of a Civil Service ­Department, all employees of Met Eireann are civil servants."