Sean Whelan replaces Offaly woman as RTÉ London Correspondent

RTÉ News has announced the appointment of Sean Whelan as its new London Correspondent, replacing Killeigh native Fiona Mitchell who has held the post for four years.

Sean has held the role of Economics Correspondent with RTÉ News for almost nine years, extensively reporting the economic crash, the Troika bailout and the economic recovery.

Announcing his appointment, Managing Director, RTÉ News and Current Affairs, Jon Williams said: "There could be no more important moment for RTÉ to appoint its new London Correspondent - and I'm delighted that our audiences will benefit from Sean's insights. Given his experience in Brussels and Dublin, there's no one better suited to guide our audiences through the next chapter of Ireland and Britain's history."

Whelan will be responsible for reporting across RTÉ News' television, radio and digital platforms on political, social and economic affairs in London and the wider Great Britain.

Sean will be commencing his new role in the summer. Sean succeeds Fiona Mitchell who will be taking up a new assignment later this year when her four year posting in London comes to an end. She will continue to work wit RTÉ News.

Paying tribute to Fiona, Jon Williams said: "Fiona has been a vital presence on air and online as Britain has tried to navigate the Brexit process. She's been tireless in tracking every twist and turn at Westminster, as well as covering terror attacks in London and Manchester and dozens of other stories - we could not have been better served."

A graduate of UCD (History and Politics), Sean Whelan also has postgraduate diplomas in Journalism from NIHE (now DCU) and Accounting and Finance from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

He started his career in journalism in the mid-eighties as a freelance feature writer with Magill Magazine and the Irish Independent, before moving to London, where he worked as a reporter on the weekly business newspaper, Marketing. He moved back to Ireland at the start of the nineties, working as a business journalist at The Sunday Tribune. 

He joined RTÉ News in 1991 and has worked as a radio reporter on Morning Ireland and a reporter/presenter on This Week and World Report. He joined the foreign desk in TV news in 1994, and reported on the war in Bosnia. Later as Deputy Foreign Editor, he reported from the War in Kosovo, the return of Hong Kong to China, the election of new Labour in the UK and the attempted impeachment of Bill Clinton in Washington.
 
He spent a decade as Europe Editor, based in Brussels, filing stories from every state of the European Union. He was also heavily involved in RTÉ's coverage of the Lisbon Treaty referendums.

Reacting to his appointment Sean said: “I am really grateful to be given this opportunity to get into the heart of a massive running story – the unfolding of Brexit and the changing relationships between Ireland, the UK and the EU that it is bringing about. What’s going on right now in our next door neighbour’s is a really important piece in the story of our own country, and for a journalist it’s a great privilege to be able to work on it – right there, where its happening. I look forward to receiving the baton from Fiona and continuing to serve RTÉ’s viewers, listeners and readers from London and beyond during this extraordinary period."