From RTÉ Pulse to acting on the West End: who are the hosts of the new 2FM summer line up?

Breakfast show host Doireann Garrihy announced early this month that she would be leaving the station to pursue her podcasting career, after five years on 2FM while drivetime presenters the 2 Johnnies also announced they would be leaving the station after two years.

The new line up was announced by RTÉ on Friday, which will see Aifric O’Connell join breakfast show presenters Carl Mullan and Donncha O’Callaghan while Lottie Ryan and David O’Reilly will take over from departing hosts the 2 Johnnies, and present 2FM Drive.

Last week it was revealed that Laura Fox would take over from Jennifer Zamparelli who has also departed 2FM.

“We are very happy that for the summer we are strengthening our schedule with 2FM homegrown talent with Aifric, Lottie and David.

“2FM has always been programmed with a mix of presenters who have learnt their craft here with personalities from outside who have built a profile with younger audiences,” Head of RTÉ 2FM Dan Healy said.

Aifric O’Connell has been at the station for many years and while people mightn’t have realised, she was the voice of 2FM and lent her vocals to their tagline ‘hear it, see it, live it’, that came on before the station’s hourly news bulletins.

She hosted ‘The Drop with Aifric O’Connell’ on RTÉ Pulse in 2015 and was also a regular contributor on 2FM’s Chris and Ciara show.

Her first job at RTÉ was as a call taker for RTÉ Radio One’s Liveline, a job she said she loved.

In 2017, O’Connell sat in for 2FM icon, the late Larry Gogan on The Golden Hour. That same year she secured her own hosting gig as the presenter of Weekend Breakfast.

Her cohost for the weekend breakfast slot was Carl Mullan who went on to host 2FM Breakfast with Doireann Garrihy and Donncha O’Callaghan in 2021.

O’Connell also made regular appearances on other 2FM programmes including her Sunday Service slot on Laura Fox’s weekend programme.

In 2023, RTÉ announced O’Connell would take the helm of the 3pm to 6pm music slot on Saturdays and Sundays.

Laura Fox has also moved into the weekday line up, after it was announced that she would take over the mid-morning radio show, left vacant by the departure of 2FM mainstay Jennifer Zamparelli.

Like O’Connell, Laura Fox has been a regular on 2FM for many years. She is a former Miss Sunday World and has hosted her own show on 2FM on the weekends.

Her career started in her home county of Galway where she had a stint presenting on Galway Bay FM. She has also hosted on RTÉ Pulse before moving over to 2FM.

The radio presenter made it to the final of the most recent season of RTÉ’s hit programme Dancing with the Stars.

In 2023 Fox became the new presenter of the station’s show, Ireland’s Fittest Family. “It’s a dream job for me”, Fox said about taking over from the previous host Mairead Ronan.

Lottie Ryan will now take over the drivetime slot on 2FM with David O’Reilly. She has been a regular fixture on 2FM and presents the entertainment news on the station.

The eldest daughter of the late Gerry Ryan, she became the show-business reporter for RTE’s afternoon programme, The Daily Show in 2010.

Before broadcasting, Ryan was set to embark on a dancing career but a hip injury during a J1 saw her pivot to communications.

She continued to teach dancing and in 2020, Ryan was crowned the winner of Dancing with the Stars.

Last year, Ryan came under scrutiny after she filmed a promotional advert for a car company on the public service broadcaster’s campus without permission.

Ryan regularly covered for Jennifer Zamparelli on 2FM as well as Breakfast Republic and expressed her excitement at taking on the presenting role on the midweek radio show for the summer.

“Fasten your seatbelts/buckle up/get ready to ride….how many other puns can I come up with?! It’s ‘Drive with Lottie and David’,” Ryan said on Instagram on Friday.

Ryan will be joined on the show by actor David O’Reilly who joined 2FM last year.

Since joining the station, O’Reilly has been a contributor on many of 2FM’s shows, including Drive It with the 2 Johnnies and worked as a cover presenter on The Request Show.

O’Reilly’s career began in theatre and has appeared in West End productions of The Book of Mormon and Grease. He also played the role of Bean in the ITV series Benidorm.

In March this year, O’Reilly launched a new podcast ‘Any News?’ with cohost Brendan Courtney.