An accomplished, self-assured presenter with thorough interrogative skills, Lawlor could also be a supple and empathetic interviewer Áine Lawlor signs off from RTÉ's The Week in Politics. Video: Courtesy of RTÉ Mon Jul 13 2026 - 15:31 • 3 MIN READSigning off on her final edition of The Week in Politics on RTÉ 1 on Sunday, presenter Áine Lawlor talked about the “tough but fair” approach she adopted during her 15 years on the programme, underlining the second element of her philosophy by paying tribute to the politicians she has grilled in that time. Lawlor, who has now retired from RTÉ, then showed her tougher side by paying tribute to her colleagues, talking about the “very difficult” period they have endured in recent times and thanking them for their “real commitment and belief in public service broadcasting”. It was a heartfelt and apposite farewell, not least because Lawlor could have been describing her own sterling career. Over the course of more than 40 years of radio and television work at RTÉ, she became one of the most distinctive voices in Irish broadcasting. Her approach was marked in equal parts by professionalism and conviction, as well as an impish charm that could leaven the otherwise earnest atmosphere on news programmes such as Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1, where her long-running role as anchor firmly established her reputation as a formidable on-air presence.A native of Coolock in Dublin, Lawlor’s drive was evident from early on. A self-described swot at school, she went on to study at Trinity College Dublin; as she once noted, she was one of the few students from her working-class neighbourhood to attend the university. She joined RTÉ as a continuity announcer in the mid-1980s – her husband, the radio producer Ian Wilson, also worked at the network – before moving from various television presenting gigs to work as a trainee journalist.Her new role brought challenges, given the often macho journalistic culture of the era: in an interview from 2021, Lawlor recalled how young reporters were sometimes groped in the newsroom. But her determination and talent won through, and in 1995 she joined the Morning Ireland team. There, she quickly became a significant female voice on a programme previously dominated by male presenters such as David Hanly and Cathal Mac Coille.It was here – and later, as a host on News at One – that she honed the no-nonsense interviewing style that she herself once irreverently described as “bolshie b**ch”. Among her memorable moments was her 2011 interview with former senator David Norris, whose presidential campaign had been derailed by his comments on pederasty in classical Greek culture. “But you are not running for election in ancient Greece,” Lawlor acidly remarked, “You are running for election in modern Ireland.”It wasn’t the only abortive presidential run that Lawlor had a say in. Her steely grilling of former Dublin GAA manager Jim Gavin on The Week in Politics during last year’s presidential election was compulsive car-crash viewing, as the hapless candidate struggled to answer Lawlor’s questions about the non-repayment of excess rent to a former tenant.But there was more to Lawlor’s repertoire than thorough interrogative skills. She could be a supple and empathetic interviewer, as her periodic stints as replacement host for the late Marian Finucane attested. Elsewhere she was in her element when presenting one-off specials from events such as the Ploughing Championships or Bloom gardening festival. A keen gardener, Lawlor brought an almost giddy joy to such roles, which must have come as a surprise to those politicians who had suffered a mauling at her hands.Áine Lawlor and Cathal Mac Coille during a broadcast of Morning Ireland celebrating it's 25th birthday. Photograph: Eric Luke Morning Ireland: Mary Wilson and Aine Lawlor on their final day on RTÉ Radio 1's flagship news programme. Photograph: @lawlor_aine Áine Lawlor leaves a network more in need than ever of accomplished, quietly self-assured presenters like herself. Photograph: RTÉ Lawlor also showed her personal side when she took a break from work in 2011 while being treated for breast cancer, an ordeal she recounted with remarkable candour in her subsequent television documentary, Facing Cancer.Lawlor had been pulling back from her broadcasting duties of late, stepping away from her long-time home at Morning Ireland last year. (It’s testament to her personableness that her programme colleague Des Cahill bemoaned the fact that he would no longer have someone to gossip with.)[ Des Cahill sounds wistful as Mary Wilson and Áine Lawlor leave Morning IrelandOpens in new window ]Now, having retired completely from RTÉ, she leaves a network more in need than ever of accomplished, quietly self-assured presenters like herself. “Good journalism needs your support,” she said during her valedictory speech on Sunday. She was too modest to say so, but it also needs consummate professionals like Lawlor.IN THIS SECTION