Latest news with #DecadeofCentenaries
Extra.ie
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Bryan Dobson announced for new role after RTE retirement
Bryan Dobson's first job following his retirement from RTÉ has been announced. The former RTÉ news anchor announced his retirement from the newsroom last year, presenting his final newscast on RTÉ Radio One's News At One program on May 3, 2024. Now, just over a year on from his retirement, Bryan has announced his latest step in his career — chairing the new State Commemorations Advisory Committee. Bryan Dobson's first job following his retirement from RTÉ has been announced. Pic: RTE Bryan will be joining Professor Marie Coleman, former Ministers Éamon Ó Cuív and Heather Humphreys, Dr Audrey Whitty, Professor Paul Rose, and Orlaith McBride on the committee, which will guide 'future commemorative efforts.' Bryan's role as chair will be to make rulings on procedural issues and to monitor the group's progress. 'The Decade of Centenaries was a period of deep historical and national significance,' Minister for Culture Patrick O'Donovan said of the formation of the committee. 'As Minister, I am proud of how we, as a nation, commemorated that complex and formative chapter always with respect, sensitivity, and scholarly integrity.' Bryan retired from RTÉ last year, with him set to chair the new Commemorations Advisory Committee. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos 'Today, we build on that legacy by establishing a new Commemorations Advisory Committee to guide future commemorative efforts.' Bryan worked in RTÉ for 37 years before announcing his retirement last year, and spoke candidly about his career with the national broadcaster on the Late Late Show after his final broadcast — including revealing that he was actually blacklisted from the broadcaster due to his work in pirate radio. 'I was headhunted by a producer in RTÉ to go and be interviewed as a reporter,' Bryan explained. 'In I came, I was interviewed and so on, and I got a call from the editor who was managing all this, Leo Enright, and he called me to say 'we have good news and bad news — the good news is, you've got the job. The bad news is, we don't have any money.'' Bryan spoke about his career beginnings on the Late Late Show, where he added that he was initially 'blacklisted' from RTÉ due to his work in pirate radio. Pic: RTE 'Some things in RTÉ just never change' Bryan joked to a massive laugh, before saying that after fixing the budget they wanted to hire him again a few months later — but due to his pirate radio past, he was actually on a blacklist at RTÉ. After Mr Enright pulled a few strings and got him a job in the BBC on Radio Ulster, and after a few months of Bryan working in the BBC, he was contacted again by RTÉ with a vacancy. 'I said 'Leo, I thought I was blacklisted because I was a pirate,'' Bryan said, before being told ''don't worry about that. you've been laundered by the BBC.' 'I said I'd think about it, I thought about it, and I decided to stay put. I stayed in the BBC in Belfast for three fantastic years — I didn't study journalism, I wasn't in a journalism school or any college, but I really got my grounding in the BBC in those three or four years.'
The Irish Sun
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
Beloved former RTE star bags totally different role 12 months after shock station departure after 37 years
FORMER RTE star Bryan Dobson is set to chair the new State Commemorations Advisory Committee. The group has been set up to "guide future commemorative efforts", according to Culture Minister Patrick O'Donovan, following recent work on the Decade of Centenaries programme that concluded in 2023. 1 Bryan Dobson is set to chair the new State Commemorations Advisory Committee Credit: Fran Veale The committee will include Professor Marie Coleman, former ministers Heather Humphreys and Eamon O Cuiv, Orlaith McBride, Professor Paul Rouse and Dr Audrey Whitty. Ex- RTE reports that the committee is tasked with maintaining an inclusive, respectful, and consensus-based approach to all commemorative matters. Minister O'Donovan said today: "The Decade of Centenaries was a period of deep historical and national significance. Read more in News "As Minister, I am proud of how we, as a nation, commemorated that complex and formative chapter always with respect, sensitivity, and scholarly integrity. "Today, we build on that legacy by establishing a new Commemorations Advisory Committee to guide future commemorative efforts." Minister O'Donovan and some of the committee members met today at the new HQ of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to view a historical document recently acquired by the State, a signed agreement between Eamon de Valera, Austin Stack, Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins relating to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. They were also shown a memorial card of Michael Collins. Most read in Celebrity Mr Dobson, 65, He said at the time: "I will miss working with some wonderfully talented and hardworking colleagues. RTE's Bryan Dobson 'looking forward to retirement' as TV veteran issues emotional final message after retirement " "I am grateful too to the listeners and viewers who have given me their time and attention over the years. "I hope to Recently, the former RTE presenter told how he reckons his career in journalism started way back in Transition Year in Newpark Comprehensive school in Dublin, where he made his first radio programme. 'I WASN'T ACADEMIC' Speaking to the Roasted with Mark Moriarty podcast, he said: "I wasn't academic, didn't do a very good Inter Cert or Leaving Cert… I just knew journalism was for me. "And the broadcasting came about because I was never a very good speller, so maybe written journalism wasn't for me." He then ventured into pirate radio, joining Radio Nova, before heading to the BBC. Then, he joined the RTE newsroom in 1987, where he was appointed as anchor of the Six One News in 1996. STANDOUT MEMORIES One of the standout memories of his career was covering 9/11. He was due to do an interview in Government buildings that morning and instead ended up on a marathon session on the news from 3pm that afternoon. Mr Dobson also covered the Good Friday Agreement being announced, the historic visit of Queen Elizabeth II and many more moments. He moved to RTE Radio One's Morning Ireland in 2017 before presenting the News At One throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. DAD WISH Speaking to the Roasted with Mark Moriarty podcast, Mr Dobson also told how he believes that reporters are becoming increasingly subjected to hostility, often as a result of fake news and protests around asylum seekers, and how some reporters are now going for 'Hostile Environment' training. Asked about who his four dream dinner guests would be, he chose "If I could shoot the breeze and maybe go for a pint… I would like that chance."
RTÉ News
27-05-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Dobson to chair new State Commemorations Advisory Committee
Former RTÉ News broadcaster Bryan Dobson is to chair the new State Commemorations Advisory Committee. The announcement was made this afternoon by the Minister for Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport, Patrick O'Donovan. The committee is tasked with maintaining an inclusive, respectful, and consensus-based approach to all commemorative matters. It also includes Professor Marie Coleman, former ministers Heather Humphreys and Éamon Ó'Cuív, Orlaith McBride, Professor Paul Rouse and Dr Audrey Whitty. "The Decade of Centenaries was a period of deep historical and national significance. As Minister, I am proud of how we, as a nation, commemorated that complex and formative chapter always with respect, sensitivity, and scholarly integrity. "Today, we build on that legacy by establishing a new Commemorations Advisory Committee to guide future commemorative efforts," Minister O'Donovan said. The minister and some committee members met today in the new headquarters of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to view a recent acquisition by the State. The typed document is a signed agreement between Éamon de Valera, Austin Stack, Arthur Griffith, and Michael Collins that aimed to address the immediate political crisis arising from the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The agreement was drafted and signed at the extraordinary Ard Fheis of Sinn Féin, held on 21-22 February 1922, at the Mansion House in Dublin. Some 3,000 delegates from all over Ireland attended to interpret the constitution of Sinn Féin considering the treaty and to decide the party's policy for the upcoming elections. The document will be available on the National Archives website for researchers to access.
