Charlie Bird to retire from RTÉ after 38 years' service

Veteran reporterVeteran RTÉ newsman Charlie Bird is to retire from the broadcaster after 38 years.

Bird (62), informed RTÉ management yesterday he intends to leave within three weeks. His stint as fill-in presenter on the Marian Finucane Show this weekend may be his last broadcast.

Mr Bird said he will be 63 in a few weeks’ time. “I’ve been in RTÉ a long time. I have finally made up my mind. It took me a while. I feel it is time for me to move on.”

He stressed he is only retiring from RTÉ, but would not – “under any circumstances” – be retiring completely. “I haven’t even thought what I’m going to do next,” he said.

When asked whether he would work for rival private broadcasters, he responded: “At the moment I have no idea. That’s for the future. I want new challenges and I think I have plenty in me.”

Bird is arguably the best-known of RTÉ’s reporters. He branched out into a series of travel shows which were ratings successes, as was his show about his time as RTÉ’s Washington correspondent. He claimed to have enjoyed “every minute” of his years in RTÉ.