RT today confirmed at Pat Kenny has decided to leave RT

RT today confirmed that Pat Kenny has decided to leave RT 31 July: RT today confirmed that broadcaster Pat Kenny will not be renewing his contract with RT and will therefore be leaving the organisation with immediate effect.

Confirming the departure of Pat Kenny, RT paid tribute to the contribution Pat Kenny has made to public service broadcasting over many years. In a forty one year career with the station spanning both Entertainment and News and Current Affairs, Pat Kenny proved to be a versatile and popular broadcaster on radio and television.

Pat Kenny joined RT as a part-time radio announcer in 1972. With a natural grasp and passion for news and current affairs he moved quickly into broadcasting and later presented Today Tonight winning a Jacobs award in 1986 for his three radio programmes: Saturday View, The Kenny Report and The Outside Track. Following the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, which he co-hosted with Michelle Rocca, he presented a number of chat shows, including Kenny Live. He took over as host for The Late Late Show from Gay Byrne in 1999 which he continued to present for the following ten years. In 2009 he was announced as the presenter of current affairs debate programme The Frontline, moving in January 2013 as one of the presenting team of current affairs programme Prime Time. Pat Kenny has been a presenter on RT Radio 1 on his morning current affairs programme Today with Pat Kenny since the 1980s, and has won multiple awards across his career.

Speaking of Pat Kenny's departure, RT Director General Noel Curran said: Pat has made a huge contribution to RT over many years on both television and radio. Always meticulously prepared, he is a broadcaster of real talent, range and integrity. I have worked with Pat as a Producer of both his Current Affairs and his Entertainment series and I know the range of his talent. Pat Kennys contract with RT expired earlier this year and we have been aware for some time that he had an offer from commercial radio. Through lengthy negotiations every effort was made to retain Pat's services but unfortunately we could not come to an agreement. I would like to wish Pat the very best for the future and I would like to thank him, both personally and as Director General for his contribution to broadcasting on RT . We must all now look ahead to refreshing our Radio 1 Schedule, on the back of the very strong JNLR figures last week.'

LINK:	http://www.rte.ie/about/en/press-office/press-releases/2013/0731/46568...
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