Ireland AM
Ireland AM is an Irish morning television show on Virgin Media One. It airs live every weekday morning from 07:00 to 10:00, and weekends from 9:00 to 12:00. The program features news, current affairs, weather updates, showbiz, fashion, beauty, food, health, home and garden. Its current presenters are Alan Hughes, Karen Koster and Ciara Doherty..
The show is currently sponsored by Fairy while the programme was previously sponsored by P&G, Unilever and Kellogg's.
As of 2019, Ireland AM is the only Irish breakfast programme currently airing.
As part of a new daytime schedule line up, from Monday 7 October 2019 the programme was extended to 11.00am on weekdays, with the weekend editions now rebranded as Ireland AM too. In March 2020 it reverted to airing till 10.00am on weekdays.
History
1999–2004
Ireland AM was launched on 20 September 1999 on the 1st anniversary of TV3's launch, the first show of its kind in Ireland. It was originally on air from 7:00am to 9:00am, hosted by Mark Cagney and Amanda Byram. The show went on air almost a year after TV3 launched, and was seen as an attempt by the station to improve ratings. A number of years after the start of the show TV3 executives decided on an extra hour for the show, the show now finishes at 10:30 am.2004–2013
In March 2004, Claire left the show in order to replace Gráinne Seoige as the main news anchor on TV3. Byrne was replaced by Maura Derrane, a news presenter on the channel. In October 2005, Mark Cagney was nominated and later won the TV Personality of the Year Award at the Irish Film and Television Awards. After two years as co-host, Maura Derrane left the show in September 2006. She was replaced by television newcomer Sinead Desmond.As of 2008, Desmond and original presenter Cagney are the main hosts of the show along with Alan Hughes, Aidan Cooney and Anna Daly, who also frequently present segments and interview guests. Elaine Crowley presents news bulletins every half-hour, while Laura Woods is also a frequent contributor. Today FM's Adelle McDonnell has contributed to a section of the show featuring soaps.
Ireland AM won the 'Favourite TV Show in Ireland' at the TV Now Awards in 2009. The show won the award for Broadcaster/Journalist of the Year at the 2011 GALAs.
2013–present
In 2013 a revamp of TV3 daytime schedule saw Ireland AM add 40 minutes. It now airs from 7am to 10:30amFrom 07:00 - 08:00 Anton Savage presents a news and current affairs edition of the show, which is then followed by Ireland AM proper from 08:00 to 10:45. The revamp was due to falling daytime viewing figures from the channel.Ireland AM currently makes up 12.5% of TV3 output, or 41% of their legally required Irish programming content. The Best of Ireland AM airs at different times on Saturday and Sunday mornings on sister channel 3e, featuring highlights from the weekday shows. Ireland AM received an overhaul in September 2014. The show moved into the Sony HD Studios in Dublin's Ballymount.
In July 2015, Ciara Doherty joined the show replacing Anna Daly who left the show to take up her new role on Saturday AM and Sunday AM which began from 29 August 2015.
On 31 July 2015 Ireland AM revamped its titles and on-air graphics.
On 19 November 2017, Sinead Desmond quit her role on Ireland AM over an alleged gender pay gap row with the station. Nearly six months after Desmond's departure, it was announced that Ciara Doherty would take over Desmond's role as co-host.
On 30 August 2018, to coincide with the rebranding of TV3 to "Virgin Media One", a relaunch of the show took place. A new studio and a new on screen look was revealed.
In December 2018, it was announced that Aidan Cooney had left the show after being absent for several weeks.
In July 2019, Virgin Media Television announced that Mark Cagney, who had been presenting the show since it began on TV3 in 1999 would be leaving the show. Virgin Media Television are yet to reveal his permanent replacement.
On 31 July 2019 Cagney presented his last Ireland AM alongside Karen Koster and Alan Hughes. The show dedicated the last half hour of the show to him and aired a highlights reel. All the production crew, including Ciara Doherty who was on Maternity Leave at the time came in to wish Cagney good luck on his future endeavours.
On Monday 4 October 2019, Ireland AM now runs from 7.00am - 11.00am each weekday as part of a brand new weekday schedule launched by Virgin Media One.
''Weekend AM''
On Saturday 29 August 2015, Ireland AM launched spin-off shows Saturday AM and Sunday AM. Both shows are hosted by Anna Daly providing a mix of current affairs, showbiz, entertainment, in-studio guests, cookery, debate and fashion. Anna hosts the show each Saturday with Simon Delaney and on Sunday, formerly with Ivan Yates and latterly with Ian Noctor. Saturday AM focuses more on light entertainment whereas Sunday AM concentrates more on current affairs, debate and an analysis of Sunday newspapers. TV3 News provides news updates.From 1 September 2018, to coincide with the rebranding of TV3 to "Virgin Media One", the Saturday and Sunday editions of the programme will be renamed as "Weekend AM".
As of October 2019, Weekend AM has been renamed Ireland AM.
Presenters
Ireland AMs current main presenters are Alan Hughes, Karen Koster and Ciara Doherty - and Anna Daly, Simon Delaney and Laura Woods -.| Presenter | Role | Duration |
| Ciara Doherty | Co-host | 2015–present |
| Karen Koster | Co-host | 2019–present |
| Alan Hughes | Co-host and weather | 1999–present |
| Anna Daly | Co-host | 2009–2015, 2019–present |
| Simon Delaney | Co-host | 2019–present |
| Laura Woods | Co-host | 2019–present |
| Aidan Power | Co-host and sport | 2019–present |
Regulars
Regular contributors include journalists from the Irish Examiner, The Irish Times and TheJournal.ie.| Presenter | Role |
| Deric Ó h'Artagáin | Weather |
| Ger Treacy | Sport |
| Lisa Fitzpatrick | Fashion |
| Sonja Mohlich | Fashion |
| Laura Bermingham | Beauty |
| Celia Holman Lee | Fashion |
| Andrea Roche | Fashion |
| Anne-Marie Gannon | Fashion |
| Barbara Stack | Fashion |
| Rob Kenny | Fashion |
| Ciara O'Doherty | Fashion |
| Catherine Leyden | Cookery |
| Edward Hayden | Cookery |
| Dr. Sinead Beirne | Health |
| Pete Wedderburn | Pet advice |
| Colin Baker | Gadgets |
| Brianna Parkins | Reporter |
| Sarina Bellissimo | Movie reviews |
| Gordon Hayden | Movie reviews |
| Lisa Cannon | Movie reviews |
| Glenda Gilson | Showbiz |
| Julianne Mooney | Travel |
Former presenters
Logos
Newsreaders
Newsreaders
- Siobhan Bastible
- Geraldine Lynagh
- Michael Ryan
- Anne O'Donnell
- Niamh Kinsella