Veteran broadcaster Ronan Collins is stepping down from his daily music and requests show after decades on air.
RTÉ announced that his final weekday show on Radio 1 will air on December 23rd.
Collins also shared the news with his regular listeners live on Friday afternoon.
The 70-year-old DJ began presenting the Ronan Collins Show in 1985. In the most recent JNLR survey published in November, his show was still the most-listened-to music programme on Irish radio, drawing 232,000 listeners every weekday at 12pm.
RTÉ said Collins will continue to broadcast on Radio 1 on bank holidays at 12pm with The Collins Collection.
Collins said: “I’ve been working on afternoon radio on RTÉ Radio 1 for nearly 38 years, plus six years before that on Radio 2, and nobody will ever know how grateful I have been for all the opportunities over the past 40 years and going forward with RTÉ.
“I often ask myself ‘how much longer can I continue to do this?,' and the answer always is ‘just keep going.’ New challenges await now on RTÉ in 2023, and I will continue to be on RTÉ Radio 1 with The Collins Collection on Bank Holidays.”
Peter Woods, head of RTÉ Radio 1, said: “Ronan Collins is a legend on Irish radio. He has fronted the biggest music programme in the country and leaves it at the top of his game. He has had a career that is unlikely to be paralleled or exceeded at any time in the future – playing discs on national radio for 44 years.
“He will continue with Radio 1, with The Collins Collection, and we are so very grateful to him for the part he has played on this station and with the Ronan Collins Show in particular - long may he continue.”
RTÉ said it will make an announcement regarding the 12pm-1pm weekday slot in the coming days.
