Cork presenter Brendan O’Connor among likely successors to Ryan Tubridy as Late Late Show host

While Miriam O’Callaghan, Clare Byrne and Sarah McInerney have been installed among the early favourites to present RTÉ’s Late Late Show following the surprise announcement that Ryan Tubridy will be stepping back from the hot seat in May, Cork-man Brendan O’Connor is also being named as a possible successor to take the helm of the nation’s longest running TV chat show.

Best known as the presenter of a weekend chat show on RTÉ Radio 1 and a columnist with the Sunday Independent, the Corkman also presented a successful Saturday night chat show on RTÉ 1 between 2010 and 2015. 

It had trumped the Late Late Show on a number of occasions with its audience figures. 

When Brendan O’Connor announced he was stepping back from the show, he made a pointed reference to the show’s success with relation to its longer established Friday night rival. 

"Basically after we beat the Late Late, we decided that we’d kind of proven our point.”

Other male presenters in the running for the prime time slot on Friday night TV are Dara Ó Briain and Tommy Tiernan, whose Saturday night show has recently been slipping in the ratings, while Kerry’s Dáithí Ó Sé, a veteran of the Afternoon Show, is also named as a possible contender.