Drive By presenter Colm Hayes is moving to weekend breakfast on 2fm so he can pursue other projects.
RTÉ announced the news today saying Weekend Breakfast with Colm Hayes will air from 7am -10am and will bring listeners the latest news from the worlds of comedy, showbiz, entertainment, music and sport, with the best weekend tunes all the way.
Eoghan McDermott, most recently on weekends at the station, will take over the slot. Eoghan is best-known as Kathryn Thomas’s co-host on RTÉ One’s The Voice of Ireland while also presenting Xfm Drivetime in the UK.
Colm said: “Now is the time for me to pursue other areas of my career and develop my media company, ‘Colm Hayes Media’, while also being able to fulfil my love of radio. The last 18 months on RTÉ 2fm’s DriveBy have been amazing. Radio always throws up new and exciting challenges and I’m about to take the next challenge. Moving to weekend breakfast sort of feels like moving home having done Breakfast for nearly 20 years. It also gives me a great opportunity to pursue other projects with my media company in conjunction with RTÉ.”
Colm Hayes started out in pirate radio, and went on to present a weekend show on 2fm. He presented the lunchtime show after Gerry Ryan’s slot, and created a number of characters for Gerry’s show. Later, Colm headed into the world of commercial radio and worked on Capital 104.4FM, Rock104 and then FM104. In the summer of 1995, Colm became programme director of FM104 and creator and presenter on The Strawberry Alarm Clock.
When the phone call came late in 2006 from 2fm Colm returned to RTÉ. The Colm and Jim Jim Breakfast Show began on 5 March 2006. Colm has presented The Colm Hayes Show on 2fm since 2010.
Commenting on his new role, Eoghan McDermott said: “To be given a national platform with Ireland’s most iconic station is a genuine honour. It’s also a privilege to be handed the baton by the legendary Colm Hayes, one of the most recognizable voice in the country. I look forward to wooing the audience with my original beat poetry. Failing that, a socially reflective, big tune pumping, mischief-making hotpot is order of the day.”
Head of 2fm, Dan Healy said: “Colm Hayes is one of Ireland’s most experienced radio presenters and he’s been at the forefront of developing so many innovative radio sounds, from a new way to approach breakfast radio to the now familiar dynamic of co-presenters. I look forward to Colm getting stuck into weekends on 2fm – I think we can look forward to a very different weekend wake-up. I look forward to continuing working closely with Colm and his team.”
On the addition of Eoghan to the weekday schedule, Dan added: “Eoghan McDermott is one of the country’s up and coming radio presenters; he has presented on 2fm across many parts of the schedule – our listeners reaction towards him was hugely positive and I feel that he will be a real asset to the 2fm team. Eoghan has proven himself both here and in the UK both on radio and TV. He is a dynamic and creative presenter and will build on the significant growth that Colm has already created within that slot.”
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