RTE star Sarah McInerney is a well known Irish broadcaster who’s renowned for her interview skills and political analysis.
The journalist is notoriously private when it comes to her home life with her husband and kids.
Here’s everything you need to know about Sarah’s life and career.
WHERE IS SARAH FROM?
Sarah is the middle child of primary school teachers Dan from Co Clare, and Martha Stagg from Co Mayo.
She told The Irish Times: “If you look up middle-child syndrome in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of me.”
Sarah grew up from the coastal village, Barna, located in Galway and was born on April 2, 1981, making her 43-years-old.
The presenter attended Salerno Girls Secondary School in Salthill, Galway and finished her degree in journalism Dublin City University in 2003.
And although Sarah’s uncle Emmet was a Labour TD and minister, and late uncle Frank a PIRA hunger striker – Sarah has said her childhood home was not an overly political household.
Speaking to Galway Advertiser, she said: “I wasn’t really interested in politics at all until I began working in journalism, then I got really interested in it.
“When that realisation hits that actually everything is political, it becomes very difficult to ignore.”
IS SARAH MARRIED?
The radio star is married to her husband Thomas, who’s an actuary and they have two sons Caelan and Ben.
The family-of-four live in a stunning home in Sutton, Co Dublin.
Sarah doesn’t share too much about her home life and keeps her kids’ faces off social media.
She has said that wedding day and the birth of her two children are among the happiest days of her life to date.
Sarah previously told The Irish Times: “Can’t choose one. My wedding day; when my children were born; when tests ruled out a serious illness for one of my children.
“But increasingly, I aim for contentment over happiness.”
Sarah also gave her fans a glimpse of her stunning wedding as she posted a picture of herself and her mum on her special day over on Instagram last year on Mother’s Day.
The mum-of-two and her mum were hugging in the wedding snap as he bridesmaids starred at them lovingly.
Sarah dedicated the post to her mum saying: “Happy Mother’s Day to this amazing woman, always there to hold me up and cheer me on.”
SARAH’S CAREER
After Sarah graduated from college, she worked in print journalism for 15 years as a reporter for the Sunday Tribune, which she previously said was the “best job ever”, and a political reporter for the Sunday Times.
From there, Sarah got invited to broadcast panel discussions in stations such as TV3 and BBC.
She moved to Newstalk as co-host of their main weekday show Drive Time before heading to RTE Radio One where she presented her major daily current affairs show, Today with Sarah McInerney from May to August 2020.
Sarah currently sits comfortably hosting RTE Radio One’s ‘Drivetime’ alongside her co-host Cormac O hEadhra.
She also has been presenting ‘Prime Time’ on RTE One with Miriam O’Callaghan and Fran McNulty since 2021.
The 43-year-old has established herself as one of Ireland’s leading broadcasters as she grills TD’s and diametric interview style that relates with viewers.
SARAH’S FAN COMPLAINT
In 2022, Sarah revealed that a Prime Time viewer contacted her and complained about her “complete inappropriate” outfits.
The viewer messaged her to tell her she looked like she was “going to a disco” while on air.
Speaking to Irish Country Magazine, she said: “I got this hilarious message the other day saying, ‘You know I really like your delivery etc, but if you wouldn’t mind me saying, the clothes you wear on television are completely inappropriate’.
“‘You look like you’re going to a disco most of the time, you would be better off looking at your fellow presenters and seeing how they dress. No insult intended, Mary’.”
Sarah was left in stitches and explained how she was just wearing a white pantsuit that night and added: “I would love to see how the young people would have greeted me at the disco!”
SARAH’S SCAM
Last year, Sarah revealed to her listeners that she had fallen for a scam and what she did to solve her problem.
Sarah explained how she got one of a scam message from a fraudster who targeted toll tag users and ended up filling out some information.
Speaking to her RTE Radio 1 listeners she said: “Last night I clicked on a link and the thing is it made me realise I think there is a weakness in the system.
“Because the problem was I click on the link and entered way too many details because I was busy eating my dinner and watching a program and also scrolling on my phone at the same time – the opposite of mindfulness basically is what I was doing.
“And I clicked on this link for eFlow saying that I hadn’t filled out the terms and conditions to allow my eFlow account to continue.
“And I sort of absentmindedly put in information and then realised I put in my registration number for my bank and personal access code.
“And when I clicked send on the personal access code I realised what I was doing and I tried to close the window but it was too late.”
Thankfully, Sarah found a number and a bank representative managed to help her out.
