Mark Cagney has opened up about his sudden departure from Ireland AM in 2019. The presenter, who had been working on the show for two decades, revealed what happened behind the scenes in a new interview.
Speaking with The Irish Sun he said that it came as a surprise to him as well as the viewers; “I have no idea what happened. We didn’t have a conversation.”
“The news came in a formal email — ‘Thank you very much, we have had 20 great years, we won’t be renewing your contract’. End of.”
However, despite this, he revealed that there is no bad blood between him and Virgin Media. He said; “But I want to stress that I have no problem with Virgin Media. There is no bitterness. No recrimination.”
“Twenty years is a long time. I’m not sure anyone could expect a run like that. Who else had a run like that every day on Irish TV for 20 years, except Charles Mitchell reading the news? It was a phenomenal run.”
The 65-year-old continued; “Looking back if I was managing things, I would have started to look at the 15-year point, and decided let’s have a transition here and manage it, because the show has to evolve and move with its audience.”
“You had this oul fella there with these two younger women, who were mothers themselves. Twenty years was more than enough. I couldn’t do any more with it.”
