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Morning Ireland is an Irish breakfast news programme broadcast by RTÉ Radio 1 and is noted as the country's most listened to radio programme. "Morning Ireland tops JNLRs once again". RTÉ Ten. 28 October 2011. "Morning Ireland tops JNLRs again". RTÉ Ten. 2 February 2012. It is broadcast each weekday morning between 7 am and 9 am and alternate items are normally presented by two presenters from the current rota, which includes Audrey Carville and Gavin Jennings. Occasional weekend editions are also aired on the occasion of major breaking news stories such as , or important news events.
The programme has been broadcast since 1984 and since that time has been presented by numerous eminent broadcasters including Aine Lawlor, Cathal Mac Coille, David Hanly, Mary Wilson, Bryan Dobson and Joe Little. On its 25th anniversary in 2009, the Irish Examiner called it "a phenomenal triumph".
The programme is thought to be important and influential to the field of politics in Ireland: Former President of Ireland Mary McAleese was a frequent contributor to the programme and, according to Noel Whelan of The Irish Times, "more often than not the first question asked of the Taoiseach raises something which was reported or said a few hours previously on Morning Ireland". Government ministers use the show to explain their views.
The first presenters of the programme were David Hanly and David Davin-Power. Davin-Power was also the first editor. Cathal Mac Coille succeeded David Hanly as the programme's signature voice, presenting it from 1986 to 1990 and again from 2001 to his retirement in 2017. Joe Little and Shane Kenny are other former editors and presenters. John Murray presented for the first time in 1994, returning in 2004. Aine Lawlor began presenting alongside Hanly in 1995.
When Fianna Fáil's former government minister Desmond O'Malley left the party, Morning Ireland broadcast his renowned "I stand by the Republic" speech for an extended period, angering then Taoiseach Charles Haughey.
In 1994, Joe Little was due to co-present an edition of the programme from the RTÉ studio in Castlebar, County Mayo, during the European Parliament election of that year, when it was realised belatedly that it could not be heard in Dublin. Disaster was prevented by mere minutes. When the IRA announced its cease-fire that same year, Joe Little was in the Belfast studio beginning an interview with the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Sir Patrick Mayhew, when the sound broke down live on air on a temporary basis. During one edition, the entire programme did malfunction, and, with interviews suspended and a commercial break impossible, Hanly intervened to prevent a complete disaster for several minutes by commenting to the show's previous guest: "There was one other question I wanted to ask you ...". Joe Little interviewed Lady Valerie Goulding to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of The Blitz of London by Germany.
In 1999, for Christmas Eve, the programme focused on those killed during The Troubles. Contributors to that programme included world leaders such as Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and Mary McAleese. In 2005, a Mary McAleese interview for the programme caused controversy when she compared the children of Northern Ireland to Nazism. Ian Paisley, Jr. replied, "So much for bridge-building Mary", and described her remarks as "irrational and insulting". The Orange Institution cancelled a meeting it had ordered with McAleese as a result.
During the 2000s recession, an outside broadcast took place in the Waterford Crystal plant as employees barricaded themselves inside in a bid to save their careers. In another episode Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan criticised John Murray for his "dangerous and irresponsible" line of questioning him about Irish banks.
Morning Ireland celebrated its 25th anniversary in November 2009. It was broadcast in front of a studio audience and featured guests including Mary McAleese, Brian Cowen, comedian Des Bishop and author Cathy Kelly. McAleese spoke of her intention to reduce her household budget during difficult recessionary times, including sending e-mails instead of posting cards for Christmas.
In 2010 the programme came to international attention after Taoiseach Brian Cowen gave a controversial nine-minute interview to Cathal Mac Coille from a Fianna Fáil think-in in Galway; the interview led to increased pressure for Cowen to resign in the days that followed due to allegations that he was drunk during the interview.
Garret FitzGerald made his final radio broadcast on the programme in 2011.
In 2010, two presenters, John Murray and Richard Downes, left the programme to expand to further areas of RTÉ, and were replaced by Aoife Kavanagh and Rachael English. The programme is also presented by Claire Byrne, Gavin Jennings and Fran McNulty.
September 24th, 2025 marked the final broadcast for Mary Wilson and Aine Lawlor. Wilson officially retired from RTÉ whereas Lawlor announced she was stepping back from the show, but will continue to present The Week in Politics.
The current presenters are Audrey Carville and Gavin Jennings. John Burke is the series editor of the programme.
Hilary McGouran, Series Editor, and Shane McElhatton, Editor, were named by Village as amongst the 100 most influential people in Ireland in 2009. The studio and web producer of the programme, Lisa Pereira, a native of Trinidad and Tobago and educated in Ireland, France and the United States, was also on the list.
A new website was launched in June 2009. It features additional material and a webcam that allows listeners to view the programme from the studio. The live stream from the webcam is also broadcast on RTÉ's rolling news channel.
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