Ray Foley will reportedly replace Mairead Ronan on Today FM.
According to The Irish Sun, the DJ is leaving Cork station Red FM to rejoin the Today FM team, almost ten years after he left the station.
A source told the publication: “Mairead is a hard person to replace but they seem to have found the man. Ray is a big personality and not afraid to speak out on air.”
“He’s happy to break the station rules and let the audience know he is doing it,” the insider added.
Mairead announced her shock departure from Today FM in November last year, as she revealed she wanted to spend more time with her young family.
Speaking on her lunchtime show, the broadcaster said: “I have made an exciting but also a bittersweet decision I want to share. I’ve decided to step away from my lovely radio show.”
“Radio and Today FM have made up such a large portion of my life, the people here are like family and presenting this show has been my highlight so it was really important to me that I get to share my news with you this way,” she continued.
“Like everyone in the country the last year has given me time to reflect on where I am in my life, what I’ve achieved and what I like to do and how I want to spend my time.”
“Like everyone I was thrown into unexpected circumstances where my work and home life had to be looked at differently. During all that chaos you’ll have heard me say it a lot, I found juggling work and home and all that went with stressful at times.”
“But also in the middle of the madness my big takeaway and what showed up for me is that I really loved the simpler moments with the kids.”
Mairead explained: “As life started to return to ‘normal’ I felt a huge pull that I wasn’t where I was supposed to be and that I wanted to be at home more. It seems like the blink of an eye since Dara who is 14 was the age Eliza and Bonnie are now.”
“I can’t believe it’s gone so quickly, so what I want to do is spend my time now relishing the everyday moments with them while they are small and spend time being the mum of a gorgeous teenager, something that’s new to me and I’m still trying to get used to!”
“As you can imagine I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this, talking it through with my husband, Louis.”
“I’ve been worried, nervous, scared and a whole heap of other emotions but once I made the decision, I knew it was the right time and the right move for me and I feel very fortunate to be able to make it.”
Paying tribute to her friends and bosses at Today FM, the mother-of-three added: “Of course, this brings a whole lot of sadness too, I’ve grown up in Today FM and spent literally half of my life here…”
“I’d just like to thank the management who were SO supportive when I dumped this decision on them a few months ago. My friends in here who were shocked but also offered me so much warm support.”
“I’m really excited about this next chapter and all that it will bring for me and my family, including the opportunity to be a listener on the school run! So thank you for listening, you made my dreams come true.”
Mairead began presenting her own lunchtime show on Today FM in September 2019.
