RTE veteran leaves broadcaster and pays tribute Charlie Bird
RTE veteran Barry Cummins has left the broadcaster after 23 years as a leading crime journalist.
Cummins also paid a heartfelt tribute to the late Charlie Bird in his farewell message on LinkedIn.
On Monday, Cummins revealed that he has left RTE after the ‘best two decades of crime reporting’ that he has experienced.
RTE veteran Barry Cummins has left the broadcaster after 23 years. Pic: LinkedIn/ Barry Cummins
The decision came following ‘months of consideration’ as he wants to ‘finally make a career plan’.
At RTE, Cummins spent nine years in the general newsroom before joining the Current Affairs department, where he worked as security correspondent on Prime Time.
The 51-year-old specialised in security and major crime stories, leading multiple high-profile interviews, including ones with loved ones of victims.
The decision came following ‘months of consideration’. Pic: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie
One of his notable reports included a 2024 interview of the late Colm Fox, a Garda detective superintendent who died by suicide in February 2018. Fox was investigating the Hutch gang attack on the Regency Airport Hotel in Dublin at the time.
Now, Cummins has revealed that he wants to pursue freelance journalism after leaving the national broadcaster.
He also shared that Charlie Bird was the first reporter he met when he joined RTE in 2003.
Cummins paid a heartfelt tribute to Charlie Bird. Pic: Fran Veale
Cummins wrote: ‘When I walked through the doors of RTE for the first time, in early 2003, I had no experience of television reporting.
‘All I had was a nose for a story, and my proven abilities as a former Crime Correspondent with TodayFM Ireland. Charlie Bird (RIP) was the first journalist I met.
‘He shook my hand and joked that my first twenty years in RTE would be the hardest! In reality, they turned out to be the best two decades of crime reporting I ever had the pleasure of pursuing.
Cummins now wants to pursue freelance journalism. Pic: X/ Barry Cummins
‘When I met Charlie Bird that first day in RTE, I wasn’t thinking 23 days ahead, never mind 23 years. I never had a professional work plan. I was always simply chasing the next story, and the next, and next.
‘That’s what a newshound does.’
Cummins, who has written several true crime books over the years, revealed that he is working on another publication for publisher Gill, as well as some other planned projects.
He continued: ‘Today is a very significant day in my professional career. After 23 wonderful years (nine in the newsroom, and fourteen in current affairs) I have left RTE. This defining decision has been made following months of consideration.
‘From the first story I broke in the RTÉ newsroom in ’03, to the many documentaries I compiled for Prime Time, it has been my privilege to work with the best teams.
‘In recent months, I decided the best way to continue my crime reporting was to become freelance, and pursue opportunities in television, radio, online and print…
‘Thank you to every single person I have interviewed during my 23 years with RTE. Thank you also to the many contacts who entrusted me with information and helped me expose issues which needed to be highlighted.
‘I wouldn’t change a thing. However, it’s now time to finally make a career plan – here’s to “part two”.’
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