RTÉ News & Current Affairs

As the Ukraine crisis escalated in early February 2022, our Europe Editor Tony Connelly and his Brussels-based cameraman Bram Verbeke flew to Ukraine to report from the capital, Kyiv. RTÉ News was on the ground as Russian troops crossed into Ukraine, reporting on the humanitarian crisis. In the days following, online and on radio and television, we documented the fear of those unable to flee and the courage of those determined to fight and shared the heartbreak of families torn apart by war. In the weeks and months after, in Ukraine and on the ground in neighbouring countries in Europe, along with the efforts at home, journalists across RTÉ News & Current Affairs continued to tell the story: ní hamháin i mBéarla ach i nGaeilge freisin, rud a léirionn an ról tábhachtach a bhíonn ag foireann Baile na hAbhann gach lá, ag bailiú nuachta i mBéarla agus i nGaeilge.

RTÉ News continued to lead the coverage of major national events throughout the year, including the tragic loss of life in the community of Creeslough, Co. Donegal, the Northern Ireland Assembly elections, and in-depth analysis of the multibillion-euro cost-of-living crisis Budget.

RTÉ News & Current Affairs targeted and grew its younger audiences by focusing on its newly launched TikTok account, which has reached 150,000 followers in just over one year.

As RTÉ’s flagship current affairs series, Prime Time featured the most important issues in Irish society and revealed powerful personal stories. The year began with a week-long focus on unaffordable housing – the problem of a generation – with in-depth analysis, debate, data and video content as well as two dedicated live television programmes. Special Prime Time reports also revealed the issue of codeine addiction, as Irish pharmacies were shown not following guidelines on codeine sales; the state of our nation’s capital thoroughfare, O’Connell Street; the home-care crisis; and the impact of online abuse on players and officials in the GAA.

Throughout the year we continued our commitment to coverage of climate issues with dedicated Prime Time Climate Specials, which examined ‘green’ claims by companies, asked if marketing promises stand up, examined the connection between Ireland’s loss of nature and climate change, looked at the environmental damage that’s already been done and explored potential solutions. Amsterdam’s circular economy was spotlighted ahead of Ireland’s own proposed strategy as we considered the twin crises of Ireland’s biodiversity loss and climate change.

Our Climate Heroes series shone a light on the people who are stepping up to protect the environment and tackle climate change. While these people come from all walks of life, they share a common purpose: to improve the world around us. The major digital series spanned the whole of 2022, with all 50 reports shot and edited on mobile, reaching audiences on digital and social media platforms.

RTÉ News is expanding its international coverage online as well as on air. This year saw RTÉ News announce the appointments of new roles, with journalists Yvonne Murray as Global Security Reporter based in New York; Liam Nolan as Eastern Europe Reporter based in Warsaw, Poland; and Kagweni Micheni as Africa Reporter based in Nairobi, Kenya. They are reporting on a wide range of issues including the work of the United Nations Security Council, Ireland’s role within the UN system and peacekeeping, the impact of climate change on the African continent and global geopolitical issues. This expansion of foreign news coverage is supported by funding from the Global Ireland Media Challenge Fund.

In 2022, RTÉ News was one of the first dozen media outlets leading the way globally as Journalism Trust Initiative certified media organisations, alongside the French national public service television broadcaster France TV, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The Journalism Trust Initiative aims to promote trustworthy journalism and news sources, helping in the battle against disinformation. It is supported by the European Broadcasting Union and has been formally adopted by the National Standards Authority of Ireland.

The year saw Deirdre McCarthy appointed as Managing Director, RTÉ News & Current Affairs, following a public competition. Deirdre is the first women appointed to this key position.

RTÉ Investigates In 2022 groundbreaking reports from RTÉ Investigates led to several national conversations resulting in both political and social change in Ireland. In February RTÉ Investigates – Domestic Abuse, a Year in Crisis examined the impact the Covid-19 lockdown had on domestic abuse survivors in Ireland. The documentary was filmed over 12 months in several refuges and support services across the country, where emergency calls from domestic abuse survivors increased fourfold during that period. Having given RTÉ Investigates unprecedented access, staff described their daily struggle to keep survivors safe, because a shortage in refuge places meant they were forced to remain living with their abusers. From coercive control and repeated patterns of domestic violence to femicide and the traumatic journey through the justice system, the documentary revealed the human stories behind the statistics. In the aftermath of the programme, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee promised additional funding to increase the number of refuge places. Those places are currently being rolled out. A year on from its initial exposé, RTÉ Investigates again turned the spotlight on Ireland’s historic illegal adoptions, revealing how, despite Government promises of support, 12 months on many adoptees were still searching for answers and struggling to discover their true identities. In March the Government published a report on the historic practice of illegal adoptions in Ireland compiled by Professor Conor O’Mahony, the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection. RTÉ Investigates spent six months examining how local authorities go about managing and overseeing their business. The programme revealed systemic failures, which enabled false accounting and employee fraud. RTÉ Investigates: Council Chamber Secrets looked at how reforms promised after the tribunals of inquiry never materialised. In May RTÉ Investigates revealed that a second doctor was accused of sexually assaulting patients at Naas General Hospital. Previously, in November 2021, the programme had revealed that three separate investigations were underway at the hospital concerning a series of complaints of suspected sexual assault of unconscious patients by a doctor in 2016. RTÉ Investigates revealed that just a year previous, in 2015, another doctor working at the hospital had his medical registration cancelled following complaints by two young male patients. In October RTÉ Investigates revealed new evidence related to the death of Fr Niall Molloy in 1985. Documents obtained by the programme described for the first time, in Richard Flynn’s own words, the extent of his assault on Fr Molloy and a possible motive for that attack. In a follow-up to its 2015 investigation into the bribery of hospital managers by a hospital equipment supply company, RTÉ Investigates reported on how within weeks of the revelations, the HSE awarded new contracts to the company. Last December, RTÉ Investigates revealed how a major IDA business park was under investigation for recurring pollution of the local water system in Limerick as the demands of agriculture, the environment and industry collided.