Byrne clear favourite to replace Kenny at RTÉ

Claire Byrne was last night installed as odds-on favourite to replace Pat Kenny on his mid-morning radio slot after his surprise announcement that he was defecting to Newstalk Radio.

One bookmakers even admitted it may have to stop taking bets “sooner rather than later” because the 36-year-old former TV3 presenter was being so hotly tipped.

That was because messaging sites such as Twitter were alive, not only with people calling for her to be appointed to the job, but also with rumours that it had already been offered to her.

She already has a popular show on RTÉ Radio 1, Saturday with Claire Byrne, and recently became a regular presenter on RTÉ television’s Prime Time programme.

On both she has received acclaim for her presenting style. Campaigners for her to be offered the prime mid-morning radio slot also pointed out that, as she is aged under 40, she would be seen as likely to breathe fresh life into the format. She is due to have her first child in the autumn.

Other replacements being suggested were some of the existing RTÉ heavyweights such as Ryan Tubridy, Miriam O’Callaghan, and Marian Finucane, as well as outsiders such as Today FM’s Matt Cooper and TV3’s Vincent Browne. One of the late bolters in the odds was Morning Ireland stalwart Aine Lawlor.

While Mr Kenny’s announcement that he was leaving RTÉ after four decades on television and radio came as a shock to the public, it is believed RTÉ had been planning for a possible departure for weeks. Talks on renewing his contract — once worth almost a million euro — had been ongoing for some time and it was clear they were stalling.

RTÉ director general Noel Curran said on Today FM yesterday: “Pat has said there was a whole range of different factors in his decision. From our point of view, we have to put a value on things. We felt we put a generous value. We entered into a long series of discussions. We wanted to hold onto him. He has a counter offer which, for a variety of reasons, he has decided to accept.”

Mr Curran said RTÉ had known for a couple of weeks the departure was a possibility. “It would have been irresponsible of us not to start discussions around what we would do,” he said. “Those discussions did start among a very small group of people. We can now widen those discussions.”