Background
Byrne is the daughter of Tom and Breda Byrne. She grew up on the family farm and was educated locally at the Brigidine Convent.
journalist television presenter news presenter
Byrne is the daughter of Tom and Breda Byrne. She grew up on the family farm and was educated locally at the Brigidine Convent.
She later studied Politics, Sociology and Social Science at University College Dublin, however, she didn"t complete the course. She subsequently attended the Rathmines College of Further Education where she studied journalism.
In 2013 Byrne became an anchor on Prime Time RTÉ"s flagship current affairs programme. In January 2015 she began hosting her own current affairs show,"Claire Byrne Live", also on RTÉ. Byrne began her broadcasting career with East Coast Radio and worked with British Broadcasting Corporation Radio in the Channel Islands before becoming news editor with Channel 103 in Jersey.
She returned to Ireland shortly afterwards to take up her first television job as a reporter on the fledgling TV3.
Byrne left after just one year to work as London news anchor with Channel 5 and later with Independent Television News, but was lured back to TV3 to present the station"s breakfast show Ireland Department of Administration and Management. In 2004 she replaced Gráinne Seoige as the main female presenter of the TV3 News at 5.30. Byrne joined Newstalk in 2006 amid a high-profile legal case with her former employer TV3, which went to court to stop the news anchor broadcasting on the breakfast slot with the radio station.
She presented the show with Ger Gilroy, with Ivan Yates taking over as co-presenter in 2009. In 2010 Byrne presented her last breakfast show with Newstalk before moving to RTÉ where she co-presented, until March 2012, The Daily Show with Daithí Ó Sé.
In a major shake up of news broadcasts on RTÉ in early 2013, Byrne joined the current affairs programme Prime Time as an anchor joining Miriam O"Callaghan and Pat Kenny.
In November 2014 it was announced that she would have her own current affairs show "Claire Byrne Live" which would go live on Raidió Teilifís Éireann One in January 2015.