WLR is marking International Women’s Day by having a complete line-up of women on-air today.
Women already make up half of the staff working in all facets of the station, from on-air and programming, to sales, accounts and management, but today the men are banished altogether.
Mary O’Neill and Zara King (who also works as South East Correspondent for TV3 News) will lead the changes, co-hosting The Big Breakfast Blaa from 7-10am, with Zara stepping in in place of Mary’s usual co-host Ollie Carroll.
Maria McCann, a familiar voice on Déise Today anyway, will take the reigns on the mid-morning show from 10am-midday produced by Jennifer Long, after which Aoibhin Fallon will step in for Geoff Harris on The Lunchbox.
There’s no change on The Drive Home with Teresanne O’Reilly, as she’s in that slot every Monday to Friday from 3-6pm. However, Rachael O’Shea, presenter of Friday nights’ The Social Network will take charge of The Shift from 7-10pm instead of Ray C. She’ll be followed by The Green Scene presenter, Zoe Staunton who’ll take us up to midnight on The Late Show.
The day’s programming will be complemented with an all-women news team, as reporters and broadcast journalists Liz Reddy and Sinead Aherne take care of WLR News from morning to night.
Speaking about WLR’s marking of IWD, Assistant Programme Director and presenter of The Drive Home, Teresanne O’Reilly says, “It’s great to take the opportunity to celebrate the people who continue to work hard to maintain gender equality. And while gender parity is not about displacing the men from our on-air line up to elevate women, it merely showcases the wealth of female talent we have in WLR.”
WLR News’ broadcast journalist Sinead Aherne adds, “International Women’s Day on WLR only serves to highlight the amount of women who work in all roles across the station on a daily basis”.
The line-up on WLR for International Women’s Day is;
The Big Breakfast Blaa with Mary O’Neill and Zara King
Déise Today with Maria McCann
The Lunchbox with Aoibhin Fallon
The Drive-Home with Teresanne O’Reilly
The Shift with Rachael O’Shea
The Late Show with Zoe Staunton
WLR News: Liz Reddy and Sinead Aherne.