RTÉ will be providing extensive live television, radio and online coverage with special programmes and extended News bulletins of the historic visit to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth II.
RTÉ Television will be at locations across Dublin, Kildare, Tipperary and Cork to provide viewers with live coverage of the Queen’s engagements over the course of her four-day visit and in Dublin.
Presenters for the the visit are Bryan Dobson, Miriam O’Callaghan, Eileen Dunne, Mary Kennedy and John Bowman for Television and Myles Dungan for Radio.
Tomorrow, Tuesday 17 May, television coverage will include the arrival of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel; their visit to Áras an Uachtaráin to meet with the President and Dr McAleese; a wreath-laying ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance and a visit to Trinity College, Dublin.
On Wednesday morning, coverage will include the Queen’s visits to the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin; to Government Buildings, where she will be welcomed by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD; to the Irish War Memorial Garden at Islandbridge; to Croke Park and later, her attendance at the State Dinner in Dublin Castle.
The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, will also be in Ireland that day on his first official visit to this country.
On Thursday there will be coverage of the Queen’s visit to the National Stud and also of an evening reception hosted by the British Embassy.
On Friday, the Queen’s visit to St Patrick’s Rock in Cashel and to Cork will also be shown, followed by her departure from Cork Airport.
Listeners can follow the Queen’s visit across the Radio 1 schedule, with live updates, stories, features and analysis on ‘Morning Ireland’, ‘Today with Pat Kenny’, the ‘News at One’ and ‘Drivetime with Mary Wilson’.
There will be an extended 'Today with Pat Kenny' on Tuesday to cover the arrival of the Queen, while Myles Dungan will provide commentary on key events across Tuesday afternoon.
RTÉ Television will also air documentaries in conjunction with the Queen’s visit:
On RTÉ One on Monday 16 May at 11:40pm, there will be a repeat of the documentary ‘Forbidden Love’ which weaves together the long relationship between Ireland and the British Royal family through archive and reconstruction.
In ‘The Queen and Us’, (Tuesday 17 May, 10:15pm RTÉ One) RTÉ's Northern Editor, Tommie Gorman explores the importance of first State visit by a reigning British monarch and why it is happening now.
RTÉ.ie will cover the visits of both Queen Elizabeth II with a daily live tracker feed; live video and audio streams; on-demand RTÉ News special programmes and daily picture galleries.
RTÉ News Specials over the course of the the visits will be available on the online News channel, RTÉ News Now, and there will also be clips of the visits posted onto the RTÉ YouTube channel.
The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the special ceremony celebrating the visit of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, 19 May.
To mark this historic event, the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra has commissioned a new fanfare by Brian Byrne to open the programme. The event will also include students from Methodist College, Belfast and Presentation Secondary School, Ballyphehane, Cork, successive winners of the 2009 and 2010 All-Island School Choir Competition organised by RTÉ and Co-operation Ireland in association with the Reconciliation fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Titanic Quarter.
