Evanne Ni Chuilinn has emerged as the early favourite to fill the Sunday Game hotseat vacated by Des Cahill.
It emerged yesterday that Cahill will no longer be presenting the flagship Sunday evening highlights show after 15 seasons as he reverts to the live radio broadcast on Sunday Sport alongside his Saturday Sport gig - and several names are being bandied about for one of the most prestigious roles in Irish sports broadcasting.
Kilkenny native Ni Chuilinn has been installed as the 10/11 favourite by Paddy Power. She has worked on Gaelic games extensively for the national broadcaster in the past but has found a niche by fronting the coverage of less mainstream sports, such as rowing, in more recent years.
Next on the list of contenders are Jacqui Hurley (9/2) and Darragh Moloney (6/1). Hurley revealed previously that she was close to leaving RTE after being overlooked in favour of Joanne Cantwell for the Sunday Game Live show following Michael Lyster’s retirement in 2018.
Earlier this year she said: “When I was a kid, I really wanted The Sunday Game. That was probably what I grew up dreaming of, and then when it came to it, I didn't get it. It really broke my heart at the time.
"There were lots of tears. There was a lot of like, you know, 'This is not going to happen for you', and I was this close to leaving RTE."
She has since taken over much of the station’s rugby coverage and, similar to Ni Chuilinn, RTE head of sport Declan McBennett may be reluctant to uproot her now.
Moloney proved himself to be a smooth presenter of RTE’s soccer output in the aftermath of Bill O’Herlihy’s retirement in 2014 but now appears to be favoured for live match commentaries in both soccer and Gaelic games, and so moving him into Cahill’s chair may create a bigger void than RTE can afford.
It’s a similar state of affairs with Marty Morrissey (12/1), another of the leading match commentators who doubles up as RTE’s Gaelic Games Correspondent.
Damian Lawlor (8/1), who has fronted the live broadcast of club games on Saturday evenings for RTE over the last couple of years and has extensive experience having worked as part of Sky Sports’ Championship offering and eir’s Allianz League coverage, should be a live contender.
Having cut his teeth in print media as well as writing as many as eight books, the Tipperary man has a journalistic versatility and nous that sets him apart from other likely contenders in many respects.
Should RTE choose to look further afield, Dara O Cinneide (TG4), Tommy Martin and Joe Molloy (both Virgin Media) will likely be on McBennett’s shortlist.
Paddy Power, a spokesperson for Paddy Power, said “As one of the most iconic presenting gigs in the country there’s bound to be one hell of a shemozzle to replace Cahill in the hot seat. With us having to wait until RTÉ make their decision we can expect plenty of twists and turns before the new presenter is ratified.”
Next Sunday Game Presenter
10/11 Evanne Ní Chuilinn
9/2 Jaqui Hurley
6/1 Darragh Maloney
7/1 Darren Frehill
8/1 Damian Lawlor
12/1 Marty Morrissey
14/1 John Kenny
100/1 Ah Ref
150/1 Buff Egan
150/1 Joe Brolly
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