RTÉ has announced that Rick O’Shea has been appointed as the new presenter of Arena, the broadcaster’s flagship weeknight arts and culture programme on RTÉ Radio 1.
O’Shea has been presenting the programme on an interim basis since the death of long‑time Arena presenter Seán Rocks in July of last year.
His appointment follows a selection process launched through RTÉ’s Expression of Interest call‑out, which attracted more than 200 submissions.
According to RTÉ, a wide range of talent was considered during the shortlisting phase, and some of these candidates may be invited to stand in for O’Shea when he is on leave.
O’Shea has been a prominent supporter of Irish arts and culture throughout his career. He runs The Rick O’Shea Book Club, which has more than 40,000 members, and has conducted interviews with writers, artists and performers at major festivals including Cúirt, the International Literature Festival Dublin, the Dalkey Book Festival and the Dublin Book Festival.
He has been a radio presenter with RTÉ since 2001, presenting The Rick O'Shea Show on 2FM for sixteen years. He also hosted a weekday afternoon jazz programme, The Gold Lounge, on RTÉ Gold.
Upon the announcement, Rick O'Shea said: "Normally in this situation someone says how much they're looking forward to a new challenge. Having been stand-in presenter of Arena since our wonderful and much missed colleague Seán Rocks died in July of last year, I can already tell you that presenting the programme is the most wonderful job on radio and that the Arena production team are the best in the business. Having spent most of my career talking to writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians in many settings, it will be an absolute honour getting to continue to shine a spotlight on work from them, as well as composers, artists, animators, conductors, playwrights, and curators every night on RTÉ's flagship arts programme."
Arena has been a mainstay of RTÉ Radio 1's weekday schedule since 2009. The programme covers a broad range of arts, culture and entertainment topics, including music, dance, literature, film, theatre and visual arts, alongside coverage of cultural events nationwide.
