voluntarily disclosed her salary<\/a> to listeners during her Radio One show during the RT\u00c9 payment scandal in the summer of 2013. At the time, she was one of the state broadcasters top paid presenters on a salary of \u20ac280,000.<\/p>\nPushed by Kielty on whether she would have had to take a pay cut if she had retained her position in RT\u00c9, she confirmed she would have.<\/p>\n
“Let’s not make any bones about it, that certainly was a factor. But I wasn’t going to starve if I stayed here. I was very happy here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“However, did I want to try and stretch my chops a bit? Did I want to try and push on and do something different? Yes, I always do. And so ultimately, that was the decision I made, and I’m excited to get started.”<\/p>\n
![\"Claire](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/4935593_21_articleinline_617849541_18108486676649938_5575681380578695326_n.jpg\" "\\"Claire")
Claire Byrne didn’t hold back in interview with Patrick Kielty on RT\u00c9’s The Late Late Show<\/p>\n
Byrne will take over from veteran broadcaster \u2014 and former colleague \u2014 Pat Kenny on February 3.<\/p>\n
\u201cPat is an absolute icon, a legend,\u201d she said. \u201cWe presented together on Prime Time. Not many people remember that \u2014 myself, Miriam [O\u2019Callaghan] and Pat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is intimidating taking over his slot, but it will be a whole new show and I\u2019m really excited to get going.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When asked whether she thought her former employers were \u201cworried\u201d ahead of her Newstalk gig, given a big shuffle of the Radio One schedule following her departure, Byrne laughed and said, “Because of me? Oh, I don\u2019t know… but I am up for the fight.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThe right answer is to say the pie is big enough for all of us,\u201d she said. \u201cBut you know what? I\u2019m going to Newstalk to grow the audience \u2014 so bring it on.\u201d<\/p>\n
“They put David there and Oliver [Callan], so I have got to beat the two of them. I love it.”<\/p>\n
Byrne also shared that she “nearly ran over” her new rival David McCullough during the week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to reverse into a car parking space. I was talking to somebody from the Late Late Show, hands-free!, and I did a swear word, and I said ‘I almost killed David McCullough\u2019. There\u2019s your story…”<\/p>\n
Charlene McKenna discussed returning to the stage in The Crucible at Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre in February.<\/p>\n
The Peaky Blinders actress will star opposite her husband Adam Rothenberg in Arthur Miller’s play, which explores mass hysteria and the Salem witch trials of 1962.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve gone very method,\u201d she quipped. \u201cThe guy playing John Proctor, my husband is my husband.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kielty enquired as to how it was \u201cworking\u201d for the pair.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s been some words, but actually, mostly, I really love it. We’re walking to work in the morning, that\u2019s pretty romantic. I feel very blessed. I really do. I feel very blessed to be working with him. I think he’s a brilliant actor, so that’s an honor in itself.”<\/p>\n
The actress said her American husband has also been settling into their new life at home in Monaghan.<\/p>\n
“He speaks the language now. He understands everything. He’s sort of got his head around the constant Irish thing of just popping in, people just land, how long are they staying? You never know. Is it a week? Three minutes? No one knows.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nShe also commented on the \u201ctalent\u201d of Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, who are in the news with Hamnet\u2019s Oscar buzz.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so great. I’ve said it before, but a rising tide lifts all boats. And I just think it’s great to see the talent that I think we’ve always had on such an international platform.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amybeth McNulty, the Donegal actress who plays Vickie in Stranger Things, also made a trip from the Upside Down to Donnybrook on Friday night.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old joined the cast in season four, where she entered as Robyn\u2019s (Maya Hawke) love interest. The bisexual actress said queer representation on screen is \u201ceverything\u201d to her.<\/p>\n
“I grew up as a queer kid in Donegal, and I came out online when I was 16\/17. We had people in my hometown going up to my parents going, \u2018I’m so sorry, so sorry to hear about your daughter,\u2019 right?<\/p>\n
\n\u201cSo it gives me more of an invigoration when I do roles like this, and when I’m able to do things like this on such a big platform.<\/p>\n
\n It’s wanting to do it justice and do it right for kids like me growing up.\n <\/p>\n
“I think it’s important. And I think especially when the queer storyline is a part of their chapter whilst they’re dealing with monsters, and you’re in the 80s and there’s all these other things going on, it doesn’t have to be about that. It’s just part of it, and I think that’s ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n