RTÉ
A ‘fresh start to 2025’ from RTÉ
RTÉ is looking forward to a great 2025 for audiences..
The Irish broadcaster is offering up new and returning entertainment shows, gripping documentaries, live music, and live sports coverage across video, audio and online.
Director of Video at RTÉ, Steve Carson:
“Our new year schedule is all about great quality Irish programming, for everyone. The weekends are filled with fantastic entertainment, and we’ve lots of live sport, new Irish music and important documentaries, each one reflecting a unique aspect of life in Ireland. Every programme is crafted by dedicated production teams, and we’re thrilled to work with and support the Irish creative sector as we focus on entertaining and informing all our audiences”
Weekend entertainment starts as always on Friday nights with Patrick Kielty and The Late Late Show starting this week with the celebration of Tradfest. Expect a blend of traditional tunes and songs by a hand-picked group of Ireland’s finest musicians including Sean Keane, Aoife Scott and Mike Hanrahan.
There’s an all-new Irish line-up on Saturday nights, which becomes the new destination for Ireland’s Fittest Family followed by a new series of The Young Offenders. The Tommy Tiernan Show then returns with a new run of his show, where guests from all walks of life open up about their personal life and career experiences.
RTÉ’s version of Strictly Come Dancing – Dancing with the Stars – returns on Sunday nights for its 8th year of production. 2025 sees dancer Karen Byrne set aside her glitterball and replace it with a judging paddle as she takes her seat as the 4th judge. There’s a host of new Irish celebrities putting on their dancing shoes and sequins and competing to lift that famous glitterball.
Dermot Bannon is also back on Sunday nights for more of Room to Improve. Four families from across Ireland have chosen Dermot as the architect for their new feature build with everyone challenged to keep within budget as he tries to turn each house into a dream home.
Architect Hugh Wallace then takes up the design baton with Great House Revival, as he follows homeowners across Ireland as they attempt to restore and transform their derelict heritage properties into comfortable homes fit for modern day living. Following its first run, Cheap European Homes returns with an extended format of hour-long episodes. This time Ireland’s favourite bargain house hunter Maggie Molloy, travels to France, Spain, Portugal and Italy in search of dream properties that won’t break the bank. The search for Ireland’s Home of the Year takes place once again.
Monday nights will feature documentaries, with subjects including former solicitor Michael Lynn, who went on the run when faced with multi-million-euro fraud allegations, leading to a decade-long Garda mission for him to face justice on Irish soil. There is also a two-part production that charts the rise of Gerard Hutch, known as The Monk, from small-time inner-city criminal to major gangland figure.
High Road, Low Road returns with a cast of unusual and sometimes mismatched celebrity couples heading off to a set of holiday destinations for adventures of discovery, culture and fun. However, as fans of the show will know, while both are headed to the same location, they have very different experiences.
The final series of Yellowstone comes to RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player as Kevin Costner has traded in his cowboy boots to become governor of Montana, and his children will remain at his side as they battle new villains to uphold their legacy over the Yellowstone ranch.
Thursday nights on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player will feature a combination of comedy with a little touch of love. The second series of No Worries if Not! will see more unique comedy sketches with some of the biggest stars of Irish online comedy coming together to write and deliver one-liners like no other. Next, RTÉ is off to the First Dates restaurant to catch up with teenage romantics, flirty thirties and seductive seniors; this year the series features people of all ages from student freshers to fresh-faced septuagenarians.
The new year will also feature a live sports schedule as Champions League returns earlier than usual with the new season commencing on Wednesday nights in early January. URC, Investec Champions Cup and Six Nations will capture the attention of all rugby fans with prominent fixtures while the Allianz GAA league with all the new GAA rules will also be up and running. Racing will be live from Leopardstown and the League of Ireland will be in full action on Friday nights, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
For music lovers returning to RTÉ2 is Other Voices, the winter music festival that has welcomed some of the world’s most eclectic music-makers and captured on film scores of unique, one-off live performances.
