NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST BRENDAN O’Connor will host a temporary weekend show on RTÉ to replace the slot left vacant by the death of broadcaster Marian Finucane earlier this month.

The broadcaster confirmed that O’Connor will present a new programme called ‘Weekend on One’ on Radio 1 from 11am to 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays until the end of January.

The show will run in the same format as The Marian Finucane Show, which ended following the 69-year-old presenter’s death on 2 January.

Morning Ireland presenter Rachel English presented the show last weekend in Finucane’s absence, without the signature music playing at the start of the show.

Among those who spoke on the programme were Marian’s former Women Today colleague Patrick Farrelly, Irish Times journalist Kathy Sheridan, and Marian’s friends James Morrissey and Luke Dodd.

O’Connor regularly presented Finucane’s show in her absence, particularly during the summer months. RTÉ did not say what will happen to the popular slot after January.