Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh has called for gender balance in RTÉ.
The long-time RTÉ presenter has said that she’d like the broadcaster to put more women on screen by the end of this year.
“We’re a bit top-heavy with our male hosts, so hopefully there’s a nice gender balance in our autumn schedule,” Bláthnaid told the Herald. “We have Ray D’Arcy, Ryan Tubridy, Brendan O’Connor and Tommy Tiernan now, that’s four.”
“They used to say women love looking at male hosts on the television. I don’t necessarily love it. I rate how good a presenter they are, but that’s not true. I don’t believe that’s true.”
Speaking about fellow female presenter Miriam O’Callaghan, who won’t be hosting her usual summer show Saturday Night With Miriam this year, Bláthnaid hinted that few stars already have their eye on that slot.
“I’m not the only woman who would have her eye on that,” she said. “Miriam taking the summer off, that’s fair enough. How many has she done? What she does on Prime Time is a massive machine.”
Although Bláthnaid has shown interest, she’s not sure a chat show is for her.
“There are many other platforms that are effective besides chat shows, because sometimes you’re just skimming a subject,” she added.
