RTÉ NEWS HAS announced that George Lee is to take up a new role as environment and science correspondent. 

Earlier this month, RTÉ announced that Lee would be replaced by Fran McNulty as the new agriculture and consumer affairs correspondent. 

Lee, who has been agriculture and environment correspondent since 2014, will take up the new role in the summer. 

Lee said he was “looking forward” to the opportunity. 

“We live in an age of amazing discoveries. The boundaries of human knowledge and capabilities are being stretched by new scientific breakthroughs every single day,” Lee said in a statement. 

“I am so conscious that it is science and scientific endeavor that has underscored and driven home the need for global climate mitigation and adaptation,” he added.

Earlier this year, RTÉ decided to review some of its correspondencies and the station recently advertised for an agriculture and consumer affairs correspondence, along with an environment and science correspondent. 

As of this summer, McNulty will cover agriculture and consumer affairs, while Lee will cover the environment and science. 

Lee began working as a journalist in RTÉ in 1992 and has previously been a correspondent on RTÉ’s Prime Time programme and has produced several RTÉ One documentaries.

In 2009, Lee was elected to the Dáil as a Fine Gael TD. However, he quit nine months later. 

Speaking earlier this month, Lee said: “The happy memories I have of my interactions with so many farmers will remain with me.”