Karen Koster has opened up about her first few months working on Ireland AM, admitting that she considered throwing in the towel as things felt too much for her.
Filling in for Ciara Doherty who was on maternity leave at the time, Karen said that she found the demands and early mornings extremely hard.
Speaking with the RTE Guide, Karen said:
“When they first got me in to cover Ciara’s job as the anchor, that was hard; you really had to be on top of news, reading all your newspapers and I was getting up at 4.20am.
“And after a few weeks of it, I thought ‘I can’t do this anymore, I’m going to have to throw in the towel and walk away.”
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Going on to speak about the axing of much-loved entertainment show Xposé, Karen said that at the time she felt safe in the knowledge that she would be going back to the show when her maternity cover had ended. However, when she was told that Xposé would no longer be on air, Karen made the decision to make Ireland AM work for her, and she’s glad she did.
“I knew it was just a maternity cover and that once Ciara was back I could go back to Xpose, but then that was cancelled so I knew I’d have to make it work.”
Karen has been working from home for the duration of lockdown and says that now her colleague and friend Ciara is back, she is finding it much easier to keep up the job.
“But when Ciara came back, it was much easier for me.
“It was almost like I could stop trying to be like she was; she’s so good at her job and she’s naturally a news junkie, whereas I wasn’t.
“I was probably trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. The job was getting the best of me to be honest and I was horrible then at home with the kids.”