RTÉ Radio 1 continues its summer of stories, music, sport and conversation
New and returning series, live festival broadcasts, powerful documentaries and major sporting moments headline RTÉ Radio 1’s summer schedule
RTÉ Radio 1 is set to accompany listeners throughout the rest of the summer months with a vibrant schedule of live broadcasts, special series, compelling documentaries, sporting events and familiar voices. From coast-to-coast storytelling and cultural celebrations to broadcasting live from festivals and events across the country, the season’s programming reflects the people, places and passions that make summer in Ireland unique. By connecting people through real-life stories, insightful interviews, major sporting moments and the soundtrack of the Irish summer, RTÉ Radio 1 will capture the spirit of the season wherever it unfolds. Whether at home, on the bóithrín or by the sea, RTÉ Radio 1 will be there to inform, entertain and connect audiences throughout the summer.
Reignite
Reignite returns for Season 7 on 25 July with a mix of well-known voices and everyday people having impact in the world of leadership, business, innovation and beyond. Over six episodes, the series hopes to inspire listeners into action, empower them with new insights and tips, and create a sense of positivity and hope as we navigate constant change and ambiguity in our lives and careers. Presented by journalist, entrepreneur, and broadcaster Áine Kerr, Reignite holds the space for active learning, can do attitudes, practical implementable advice with award winning authors, inspirational leaders and people creating positive change and momentum in the world around them.
Second Captains Saturday
The award-winning Second Captains return to RTÉ Radio 1 on July 26 for an eight-week run. This year will mark a decade of Second Captains Saturday where Eoin McDevitt and Ciarán Murphy rank the sporting lives of their non-sporting guests. Last year’s winner was President Michael D Higgins who joined an illustrious and diverse list of former guests which include Conan O’Brien, Michael Sheen, Self Esteem, Radie Peat, Moglaí Bap, Sharon Horgan, Brendan Gleeson and Malcolm Gladwell. The first episode will feature Chris O’Dowd, Hollywood star and former Roscommon minor! Saturdays at 1pm.
Supercharged
The seventh series of Supercharged with Anna Geary, starting on Sunday 2 August and the following Sundays until 18 October. The first five programmes will be broadcast at 10-11a.m each Sunday with the series then moving back to its original slot of Sundays at 6pm for its final seven shows.
Supercharged is completely interactive and is part of a palette of tools which users can avail of in the battle to maintain mental and physical wellbeing. It offers a platform to share lived experiences, explore previously taboo topics and provide tangible and attainable advice for everyone whilst debunking health myths.
Dads Don’t Cry
Dads Don’t Cry is a new six-part series for RTÉ Radio 1, presented by Peter Shelley and begins Wednesday, 22 July at 10.00pm. The series is built around a simple idea: giving fathers who have lost a child the space to talk openly about their experience. It grew out of Peter Shelley’s podcast of the same name, which he created following the death of his daughter, Aodhla, from SIDS in January 2025, when she was just eight weeks old. As a bereaved father himself, Peter brings a unique understanding to these conversations. His guests have experienced the loss of a child through circumstances including SIDS, stillbirth, illness and long-term medical conditions. While every story is different, each programme explores grief, love, fatherhood and the challenge of finding a way forward. Across six one-hour programmes, listeners will hear deeply personal stories that are moving, courageous and ultimately, hopeful.
Ghost Limb
In her book of the same name, Claire Mitchell introduces herself as a young woman brought up as a Northern Protestant who never identified with the Unionist world, she grew up in. But due to what she calls her ghost limb, a part of herself she can’t access, she feels that the Irish language, Irish culture and history, somehow don’t belong to her, leading her to feel an absence in her identity. She is unsure what to do, until one day she is presented with a book about the 1798 rebellion in Antrim and Down. This documentary series offers us a real insight into the world of Claire Mitchell and the community of people she is from. Produced with support from Coimisiún na Meán and airs every Sunday for the next four weeks.
Musical Icons with Mark Feehily
From Whitney Houston to Alicia Keys, from Janis Joplin to Bruce Springsteen, Clive Davis has been the guiding hand behind some of the most defining voices of the last half-century.
This next Bank Holiday Monday, Mark Feehily will pay homage to Clive Davis, a legendary record executive with an ear for greatness and a believer in artists.
Bank Holiday Monday 3 August.
Sunday Sport
This weekend, a specially extended Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 will have full commentary on the All-Ireland Hurling final from 2pm with Pauric Lodge and Shane McGrath at the helm and a host of experts and special guests including John Mullane, Anthony Daly and Brian Carroll. The programme will stay on air until 7pm for post-match analysis as well as live coverage of the closing holes of The Open from Birkdale and the build-up to the FIFA World Cup Final.
RTÉ Radio 1 around the Country
RTÉ Radio 1 is bringing its programmes directly to communities across Ireland with a summer series of special broadcasts from locations around the country. From bustling towns and cities to rural communities, audiences will experience the stories, music, voices and conversations that make each place unique, as RTÉ Radio 1 goes on the road to connect with listeners where they live.
Arena are travelling to the Galway Arts Festival for two broadcasts featuring some of the wonderful content on offer there.
Kieran Cuddihy will be broadcasting Liveline from the Liberties festival on Friday 24 July.
The John Creedon Show makes its way to Co. Laois for John’s first broadcast from Forest Fest in Emo House, featuring some of the headline acts hitting the stages there at the end of July.
The Louise Duffy Show will broadcast from the house at the heart of Altogether Now, on Friday 31 July. Featuring live music and chat, the show will be the perfect listen for those on the road to Waterford and for those who prefer to festival at home in their kitchens.
Oliver Callan will preview the Fleadh as well as what Belfast has to offer with a live broadcast from Belfast City Hall on Wednesday 22 July.
Céilí House takes its place on the famous Gig Rig for a live show on Saturday 8 August at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann with a fantastic line up some of our best traditional musicians with Tristan Rosenstock, and The Rolling Wave continues to bring its travelling exhibition and pop-up recording studio to festivals across the country, including to the Central Library on Friday 7 August in Belfast. All welcome there to drop in and add to our rich traditional music archive.
The Brendan O’Connor Show will broadcast from Minefield at Electric Picnic on Sunday August 20, bringing radio to the Picnic, and the best of the Picnic to the radio audience.
Alongside this summer programming, RTÉ Radio 1’s regular schedule continues, bringing listeners trusted news, current affairs, sport and entertaining daily shows, all with a little extra summer spirit woven in.
ENDS
Sharon Sorohan, RTÉ Senior Communications Lead