Katie Hannon

She's the new face of RTÉ current affairs but Katie Hannon said it never 'crossed my mind' that she'd be presenting a television show before taking up her ...

And she was in the hot seat when 2020's 'Golfgate' controversy broke, which she called 'just extraordinary'. 'I really think it's important actually, because I think people need to feel that there's a place where you can come face to face with the people who are making decisions that will impact you and your family. His daughter came on, everyone who had known him in Irish showbiz came on to pay tribute to him, and it was an extraordinary programme.' And they couldn't get their head around what happened,' she recalls. It's an incredible buzz when you're on air and you've got a subject people can really engage with and your screen is lighting up and you've got people dying to get on.' Kerry, says working during the daytime now, except on Mondays (apart from the live show, she'll front a podcast and write articles as part of the Upfront 'strand') will be 'much more manageable' as her girls prepare to enter secondary school. I mute them,' she says with a laugh. And ask them to explain their policies and persuade you they're doing the right thing and deserve your support. She asked if I would be interested, and I said something like, "You'd have to consider an opportunity like that." 'I've avoided the worst and I deliberately don't ever engage with trolls online. Then my husband would come home, and I'd head off into work for the night.' 'My husband [Andrew Fitzpatrick, who works in scheduling in RTÉ] was there when I wasn't.