LAST UPDATE | 4 May 2023
RTÉ NEWS ANCHOR Caitriona Perry has announced she is leaving the national broadcaster to take up a new role with the BBC in the US.
Perry is a former RTÉ Washington Correspondent and has been an anchor of the Six One news since 2018.
She said today: “It is really hard to say goodbye. I have made great friends, worked with some incredibly talented people and had fantastic experiences and opportunities.
“I have reported from all over the world and had the chance to witness history in the making, particularly during my time as Washington Correspondent and as co-presenter of the Six One News.”
Some personal news…
— Caitriona Perry (@CaitrionaPerry) May 4, 2023
I’m leaving @RTENews.
I’m joining @BBCNews. pic.twitter.com/8IfM2izR8u
Perry will be taking up the role of BBC News Chief Presenter in Washington at the end of the summer.
RTÉ said that a new co-presenter of the Six One News will be announced very shortly.
Perry added: “It was a tough decision to walk away from RTÉ. It is an institution in Irish life, but I have been offered an incredible opportunity.
“I wish to say a special thank you to the RTÉ audience, the viewers, listeners and readers who have afforded me the extraordinary privilege of being a public service broadcast journalist.”
In a statement to the BBC, Perry said she is “delighted” to be joining at a time of “expansion in the US”.
She added: “There is no other news organisation globally which has the same ability and resources to bring the most important news to so many people with impartiality, urgency, accuracy and style.”
Perry was RTÉ’s Washington Correspondent from 2013 to 2017. Her work included extensive coverage of the 2016 election. She wrote two books about her time covering the US.
Managing Director of RTÉ News & Current Affairs Deirdre McCarthy said: “Caitríona has been a hugely valued member of the RTÉ News team for over 15 years, as a journalist, a colleague and a friend.
“While we will miss her presenting RTÉ’s flagship Six One News, we are so delighted for her to take up this huge international opportunity. We are very proud to see such a talented Irish journalist go on to succeed on a global news stage.
“From working across all desks and platforms in the RTÉ newsroom, to her hugely impactful time as Washington Correspondent, to her calm and diligent presenting of the news to audiences each evening during national highs and lows, Caitríona’s hard work and journalistic ethic always shone through.”
Elsewhere, executive news editor of the BBC News Channel Paul Royall said he is “thrilled to welcome Caitríona to BBC News”.
He added that she will bring “authority, expertise and warmth to the new channel”.
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