RTÉ News: Six One
Encyclopedia
RTÉ News: Six One is the evening news programme broadcast each night on Irish television channel RTÉ One
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...

. The programme runs on weekdays from 18:01 until 19:00 and at weekends, when it is styled as Six One News and Sport, from 18:01 until 18:30.

Six One is the only dual-anchored news progamme on RTÉ Television. It is currently presented on weekdays by Bryan Dobson
Bryan Dobson
Bryan Dobson is a newscaster with RTÉ in Ireland. He has presented RTÉ News: Six One for almost 15 years. He previously presented RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock.-Early life:...

 and Sharon Ní Bheoláin
Sharon Ní Bheoláin
Sharon Mayrig Ní Bheoláin is an Irish television newsreader with Raidió Teilifís Éireann . Today, she is best known as co-anchor of RTÉ One's Six One News.-Career:Before joining RTÉ, she worked for the Dublin radio station, 'Raidió na Life'....

, and at weekends by a series of different presenters including Aengus Mac Grianna, Una O'Hagan, Siún Nic Gearailt
Siún Nic Gearailt
Siún Nic Gearailt is a newsreader with Raidió Teilifís Éireann in Ireland.She has presented many of RTÉ's news programmes, including Six One News, News on Two and Nuacht RTÉ. She also reads the nuacht on RTÉ Radio....

 and Eileen Whelan
Eileen Whelan
Eileen Whelan is a former English women's cricketer who played seven Test matches for England Women between 1937 and 1949.-References:...

.

Early news programmes

Telefís Éireann made its first news broadcast immediately after the Angelus
The Angelus
The Angelus is an Irish audial and televisual institution. It consists of the ringing of a bell for Angelus for one minute and a short film about one minute long. It is broadcast 7 days a week on RTÉ One immediately prior to the Six One News. On radio they are broadcast at 12:00 and 18:00 every...

 at 6:01 PM on 1 January 1962, the first day of full programming for the new television station. The programme, simply entitled News, lasted for ten minutes. It featured brief accounts of the main news events of the day and accompanying images, as well as sports news and a weather forecast. Charles Mitchel
Charles Mitchel
Charles Gerald Mitchel was an Irish actor and broadcaster best known as a newsreader for the RTÉ News from 1961 until 1984. He was the first person to read the news on Telefís Éireann.-Early life:...

 read the first bulletin and remained the station's chief newsreader until his retirement in 1984. He was joined in the newsroom by Maurice O'Doherty
Maurice O'Doherty
Maurice O'Doherty was an Irish broadcaster best known as a newsreader for the RTÉ News from 1966 until 1983. As a contemporary of Charles Mitchel the two men made the Nine O'Clock News the most watched news programme on Irish television....

 in 1966.

By the end of the first year of broadcasting the News was moved to 5:50 PM but the format remained the same. This early evening news programme was followed by Broadsheet
Broadsheet (Irish TV series)
Broadsheet was a Telefís Éireann television current affairs programme presented by John O'Donoghue, Brian Cleeve, and Brian Farrell and broadcast in Ireland live on weekday evenings from 1962 to 1963.-Background:...

, a weekday programme that discussed topical matters and current affairs in more detail.

In September 1964 the early evening News and Broadsheet shows were merged to form a new single programme called Newsbeat
Newsbeat (Irish TV series)
Newsbeat was a Telefís Éireann television current and regional affairs programme presented by Frank Hall and broadcast in Ireland live on weekday evenings from 1964 until 1971.-Background:...

. This programme was broadcast daily at 6:05 PM for forty minutes. It provided the main news stories of the day while also providing a more in depth analysis and discussion of topical issues as well as interviews. Newsbeat was quickly reduced to thirty minutes but remained in an early evening slot shortly after 6:00 PM. By 1967 it was split into two separate back-to-back news programmes, News and Newsbeat, with the former providing ten minutes of news headlines.

Newsbeat was broadcast for the final time in 1971 while News returned to its original 6:01 PM slot, however, it was now reduced to just five minutes of headlines. This new shortened edition lasted until October 1972 when the early evening News and Sport moved to 6:15 PM and was extended to fifteen minutes. Over the next few years the early evening news changed time slots on a number of occasions to suit other programming.

In 1975 News was extended to twenty minutes, but quickly returned to fifteen minutes, to allow for a special segment for news for the deaf, however, it still maintained a fluctuating time slot for the rest of the decade.

In the early 1980s the early evening news was rebranded as Newstime. It returned to the 6:01 PM time slot and was extended to a 25-40 minute programme. News for the deaf remained while a new feature called "Countryside" was also included. The programme retained this format whereby the national and international news stories would be followed by more regional news items.

In 1987 Newstime became a programme in its own right whereas News moved to 5:45 PM and lasted for fifteen minutes.

Six One News

On 3 October 1988 the biggest change to the early evening news programme took place with the launch of Six One. This was a one-hour news programme which contained international and national news stories, as well as regional news features all under one brand. Seán Duignan, who left his job as political correspondent, and Eileen Dunne
Eileen Dunne
Eileen Dunne is an Irish newscaster and radio presenter. She currently presents RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock on RTÉ One and is afternoon newsreader on RTÉ Radio....

 were the first co-presenters.

Two years later RTÉ's entire television news service was relaunched, however, Six One remained at the heart of the schedule. Eileen Dunne moved to other positions in the news service and was replaced by Anne Doyle
Anne Doyle
Anne Doyle is a newsreader for the Irish broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann . She currently presents RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock. She is "the most popular television newsreader for a generation" and is regarded as an icon....

 as co-presenter with Duignan.

Six One established its own place in political history when the expected winner of the 1990 presidential election
Irish presidential election, 1990
-Aftermath:While the role of the presidency in day to day politics is a very limited one the Robinson presidency is regarded by many observers as a watershed in Irish society symbolising the shift away from the conservative ultracatholic male-dominated Ireland which existed up until the end of the...

 campaign, Tánaiste
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...

 Brian Lenihan delivered what was universally accepted to be a disastrous live response to a crisis in his campaign. Seeking to deny that he had ever been part of unsuccessful efforts to force President Hillery
Patrick Hillery
Patrick John "Paddy" Hillery was an Irish politician and the sixth President of Ireland from 1976 until 1990. First elected at the 1951 general election as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Clare, he remained in Dáil Éireann until 1973...

 to refuse a parliamentary dissolution in a way that would help Lenihan's party get back into power (claims he himself had made in an on-the-record taped interview recorded some months earlier), Lenihan tried to stare into the camera and told viewers that "on mature recollection" his earlier version was wrong and that he had made no phone calls to the presidential residence to put pressure on the President. The appearance on Six One effectively ended Lenihan's presidential campaign.

The programme also destroyed the political career of then Foreign Minister Gerry Collins. On 7 November 1991, in response to a leadership struggle in his party, an overly emotional, tearful Collins pleaded with the man challenging for the leadership, Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds , served as Taoiseach of Ireland, serving one term in office from 1992 until 1994. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize...

, not to "wreck our party right down the centre" and "burst up government". Collins's own chances of leadership were perceived to have been destroyed by his overly-emotional performance on the live bulletin.

In 1992 Duignan left his position as presenter to become government press secretary under Alert Reynolds. Éamonn Lawlor was appointed as his successor. Shortly after Lawlor's arrival the news titles were revamped, however, the format of the programme remained the same.

A year-and-a-half after BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...

 introduced virtual reality graphics to its television news output, RTÉ News adopted a similar concept for the relaunch of its television service. The new look aired from September 1994. The launch of the new RTÉ corporate logo, and a new emphasis on corporate branding, necessitated an update to the RTÉ News title sequence in September 1995.

In 1996 Lawlor left Six One to become co-presenter of the current affairs programme Prime Time
Prime Time
Prime Time is an Irish news analysis, current affairs and politics programme. It is broadcast on RTÉ One on Tuesday and Thursday nights between 21:30 and 22:10. It is currently presented by Miriam O'Callaghan, who has presented the programme since its commencement in 1996...

. His replacement was Bryan Dobson
Bryan Dobson
Bryan Dobson is a newscaster with RTÉ in Ireland. He has presented RTÉ News: Six One for almost 15 years. He previously presented RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock.-Early life:...

, who had been presenting the One O'Clock News
RTÉ News: One O'Clock
RTÉ News: One O'Clock is an Irish television news bulletin by RTÉ News and Current Affairs. The programme is broadcast Monday-Friday at 13:00 on the Irish RTÉ One TV channel...

 for several years. As of 2010 he remains the leading male presenter. A year later Anne Doyle
Anne Doyle
Anne Doyle is a newsreader for the Irish broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann . She currently presents RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock. She is "the most popular television newsreader for a generation" and is regarded as an icon....

 left to become presenter of the Nine O'Clock News
RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock
RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock is the flagship evening news programme for Irish television channel RTÉ One. It is presented by Anne Doyle, and deputised by Eileen Dunne. It is the final comprehensive news programme of the day on RTÉ One...

. She was replaced by Una O'Hagan.

RTÉ News bulletins on both RTÉ One
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...

 and N2 got a new look on 1 September 2003. Work on the new look began in May 2003 and involved a complete re-design of the entire news bulletin, including the opening animation, logo, set, music and graphic content. An increased emphasis on RTÉ branding was also evident as the programme was now known as RTÉ News: Six One. Shortly after this latest revamp Úna O'Hagan left as co-presenter to concentrate on radio broadcasting and late night news bulletins. A number of newsreaders partnered Bryan Dobson before Sharon Ní Bheoláin
Sharon Ní Bheoláin
Sharon Mayrig Ní Bheoláin is an Irish television newsreader with Raidió Teilifís Éireann . Today, she is best known as co-anchor of RTÉ One's Six One News.-Career:Before joining RTÉ, she worked for the Dublin radio station, 'Raidió na Life'....

 became the permanent co-presenter in 2005.

In August 2006 RTÉ News introduced a new look to its television news output. Once again new opening animation, logo, set, music and graphic content were introduced. All television news programming at the station also switched to widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....

 on the same day.

In February 2009 RTÉ spent €1.3m on a fresh look for its news bulletins. €500,000 of that budget was spent on doubling the size of the studio from eight square metres by demolishing the adjoining control room. A new moving camera on a track which runs around the entire studio was also installed. The 3D feature of the background screens offered increased depth, particularly in studio situations and means each programme can have a different look.

Format

RTÉ News: Six One is the only RTÉ News programme to feature two presenters and a voiceover
VoiceOver
VoiceOver is a screen reader built into Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X, iOS and iPod operating systems. By using VoiceOver, the user can access their Macintosh or iOS device based on spoken descriptions and, in the case of the Mac, the keyboard. The feature is designed to increase accessibility for blind...

. The opening titles feature a brief description of the main headlines. The opening segment usually features Bryan Dobson introducing the main story of the day from the news wall. The other main stories of the day follow this.

After the first commercial break there is typically an interview with a person connected with the main news story. This interview often takes place in studio. This is followed by shorter, more off-beat, or regional reports. The final part of the programme includes a sports summary (with a separate presenter) and a business news round-up.

At weekends the programme is styled as RTÉ News: Six One News and Sport and lasts for half-an-hour. The programme features a single presenter and greater emphasis is given to sports news.

During the summer months, RTÉ News: Six One is usually contracted to a half-hour news bulletin for the month of August.

Why Six-One?

Since 1950, RTÉ has broadcast a one minute period of silence except for the ringing of a church bell linked to the Angelus
Angelus
The Angelus is a Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation. The name Angelus is derived from the opening words: Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ The Angelus (Latin for "angel") is a Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation. The name Angelus is derived from the opening words: Angelus...

, a Catholic prayer, at 12:00pm and 6:00pm. Though periodic calls have been made for its removal, a number of religious faiths outside Catholicism notably the Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...

, have called for its continuation, regarding the minute as offering a chance for reflection amid a busy television schedule. (The broadcast no longer carries Catholic imagery, and instead focuses on images of people contemplating.) Because of this, the radio and television news bulletins start at 6:01pm, hence the name.

Some broadcasters at RTÉ privately welcome the delayed start time in the belief that it gives viewers a chance to catch the headlines on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

, UTV
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...

 or Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...

 before switching over to catch the start of Six One.

Some critics have mounted a campaign to abolish the Angelus on RTÉ, mostly in the Letters' pages of the Irish Times, though this is despite the fact that the Angelus at 6:00pm is one of RTÉ's most popular television programmes and is Ireland's most watched religious programme, with an average of 318,000 viewers every day. It is unclear whether RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...

 would move its bulletin back one minute to 6:00pm as that would mean that the newscast would be in direct competition to get viewers at exactly the same time as other stations.

Current

Presenter Role Years
Bryan Dobson
Bryan Dobson
Bryan Dobson is a newscaster with RTÉ in Ireland. He has presented RTÉ News: Six One for almost 15 years. He previously presented RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock.-Early life:...

 
Main weekday co-presenter 1996–present
Sharon Ní Bheoláin
Sharon Ní Bheoláin
Sharon Mayrig Ní Bheoláin is an Irish television newsreader with Raidió Teilifís Éireann . Today, she is best known as co-anchor of RTÉ One's Six One News.-Career:Before joining RTÉ, she worked for the Dublin radio station, 'Raidió na Life'....

 
2005–present
Úna O'Hagan  Relief presenter
Eileen Whelan 
Aengus Mac Grianna 
Anthony Murnane  Weekend presenter
Siún Nic Gearailt
Siún Nic Gearailt
Siún Nic Gearailt is a newsreader with Raidió Teilifís Éireann in Ireland.She has presented many of RTÉ's news programmes, including Six One News, News on Two and Nuacht RTÉ. She also reads the nuacht on RTÉ Radio....

 

Former presenters

Presenter Years Other roles
Seán Duignan  1988–1992 The Week in Politics
The Week in Politics
The Week in Politics is an Irish news and current affairs programme broadcast on RTÉ One It is presented by Sean O'Rourke, occasionally by David McCullagh or Bryan Dobson....

 presenter
Eileen Dunne
Eileen Dunne
Eileen Dunne is an Irish newscaster and radio presenter. She currently presents RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock on RTÉ One and is afternoon newsreader on RTÉ Radio....

 
1988–1990
Anne Doyle
Anne Doyle
Anne Doyle is a newsreader for the Irish broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann . She currently presents RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock. She is "the most popular television newsreader for a generation" and is regarded as an icon....

 
1990–1997 RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock
RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock
RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock is the flagship evening news programme for Irish television channel RTÉ One. It is presented by Anne Doyle, and deputised by Eileen Dunne. It is the final comprehensive news programme of the day on RTÉ One...

 presenter
Éamonn Lawlor  1992–1996 Prime Time
Prime Time
Prime Time is an Irish news analysis, current affairs and politics programme. It is broadcast on RTÉ One on Tuesday and Thursday nights between 21:30 and 22:10. It is currently presented by Miriam O'Callaghan, who has presented the programme since its commencement in 1996...

presenter

External links

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