Musical chairs at RTE radio as hosts get set for holidays
It's musical chairs over at RTE radio as speculation mounts over who'll replace John Murray and some well-known faces fill in for the holidays.
Murray left his 9am slot on RTE Radio 1 after five years last month and some of the station's biggest names are in the running to replace him.
"Miriam O'Callaghan, Ray D'Arcy, Ryan Tubridy and Brendan O'Connor are the front runners to take over the slot at the moment," a source told the Herald.
"Nothing has been decided yet - it will be next week before anything is announced.
Temporary
"Brendan has been doing really well on the show over the past few weeks; it doesn't make sense to move Ray so soon but it's anyone's slot at the moment."
However, Brendan recently insisted he was only taking over the slot on a "temporary" basis.
"There's been a lot of mixed reporting on this - I'm not replacing John Murray. Nobody can replace John Murray," he said on his first day.
"I'm here for four weeks and all I'm doing really is keeping the seat warm for whoever the anointed one is, Tubs or whoever - I don't know who it is."
If Late Late Show host Tubs moves back to his old stomping ground, both Nicky Byrne and Louise McSharry are rumoured to be in the running to take over.
Ryan left the same slot on Radio 1 to take over from Gerry Ryan in 2010.
"Nicky has done really well and they're very happy with him but Louise McSharry is also a firm favourite so it would make sense to push her to front of the schedule," the source added.
Meanwhile, with the presenters taking their holidays, a host of new voices will be gracing the airwaves until September.
Stephen Byrne is currently filling in for Ryan Tubridy for the next two weeks and in August the usual summer arrangement applies where Breakfast Republic will broadcast until 10am and The Nicky Byrne Show, co-presented by Jenny Greene, will take over.
Holidays
Over on Radio 1, Dave Fanning will be taking over from Brendan O'Connor for the month of August.
Ray D'Arcy will be taking his holidays at the end of next month and Operation Transformation presenter Kathryn Thomas will be at the helm for two weeks.
Derek Mooney, who previously vacated the slot currently inhabited by Ray D'Arcy, is also moving.
He will return with a light entertainment show on Saturdays on RTE Radio 1 at 6pm from August.
Miriam O'Callaghan will be on holidays until September so Mooney Goes Wild will leave its slot at 10pm on Sunday nights to replace her mid-morning show.