The summer is here and RTÉ Radio 1 has unveiled a lively seasonal lineup, packed with fresh voices, returning favourites and musical moments to soundtrack your summer. From compelling historical deep dives to sports and fitness, incredible Irish music and unforgettable conversations, there’s guaranteed to be something for everyone.  

Arena kicks off the summer season with a special broadcast from the Galway International Arts Festival, tonight at the Town Hall Theatre. The programme will feature live music from Oisín Leech, chats with actors Ian Lloyd Anderson and Sara Morris of Decadent Theatre and their director Andrew Flynn. Galway International Arts Festival Artistic Director Paul Fahy joins the show, as well as Moonfish Theatre’s Eoin de Bhrún and actor Rosie McCarty Adair discussing their new play based on their own stories. The programme will also highlight Tactile Tunes, a unique art and music installation created with people with intellectual disabilities, featuring artist Natasha Lydon and project lead Jane Cassidy.  On Friday, Arena continues its Galway broadcast from RTÉ Galway with live music from former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, conversations with Druid Theatre’s Marie Mullen and Marty Rea, along with director Garry Hynes, and will wrap up with reviews of the festival from Mary McGill and Judy Murphy.

Amongst the line-up this summer, A Giant at my Shoulder, originally launched as part of RTÉ Radio's millennium series in 2000, returns for a second series, 25 years on. It invites prominent Irish figures to reflect on a person who has shaped their lives, and why, with ten well-known Irish personalities sharing memorable stories around the individual who inspired, challenged and guided them. When Edna O'Brien was asked to choose a person of significance to her for the RTÉ Radio Millennium series called A Giant at My Shoulder, she chose James Joyce.

Now twenty-five years later as a new generation choose the giant at their shoulder it seems natural that the first programme should feature Edna O’Brien as the giant, the choice of award-winning writer Eimear McBride.

Other guests in the series will include Sinéad Gleeson, Kerri Ní Dochartaigh, John Connell, Martina Devlin, Mike McCormack, Mary O’Malley, Mel Mercier, Siobhán McSweeney and Colm Mac Con Iomaire. Tune in to hear who the giants at their shoulders are.

Supercharged is back for a sixth series with Anna Geary at the helm, leading lively and engaging listener-led discussions which reflect the real health and wellbeing concerns of Irish people today. Ireland knows Anna Geary as the sports woman, author, mentor and trainer who loves to be active. However, the Supercharged Anna also loves to sit and talk, to listen, and to learn about–and share–the best ways to improve our physical and mental health. With input from trusted health experts and professionals, the show tackles everything from physical fitness and mental wellbeing to previously taboo topics.

RTÉ Radio 1 marks the August Bank Holiday weekend with standout Irish music. The Louise Duffy Show will be broadcasting live from All Together Now  bringing a taste of the festival to RTÉ Radio 1. Gig on One will feature the brilliant Soda Blonde, bringing fresh sound to summer days.

Sticking with ceoil, RTÉ Radio 1 will bring the magic of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Wexford to audiences nationwide with special broadcasts from The Louise Duffy Show, The John Creedon Show, and Céilí House. Louise Duffy will capture the vibrant atmosphere live from the festival, while John Creedon brings his signature storytelling and music selections to the heart of the celebrations. Kieran Hanrahan will be presenting Céilí House from the Gig Rig with special guests from Wexford, Clare and a few very special prize winners.

Second Captains Saturday returns for its ninth season on RTÉ Radio 1 with a brand-new slate of high-profile guests. Join hosts Eoin McDevitt and Ciaran Murphy as interviewees from around the world reflect on the sporting experiences of their past and have their sporting lives ranked on air. As always, Second Captains will welcome some fascinating names seldom heard on the Irish airwaves, as they compete for the title of Greatest Non-Sportsperson Sportsperson of 2025. Last season’s champion was the "crafty" club tennis player Ardal O’Hanlon, who saw off stiff competition from the “aggressive” former Gaelic footballer Brendan Gleeson, and one-time pub concertina catcher Radie Peat. All sporting highlight levels are respected.  Former guests include Malcolm Gladwell, Conan O’Brien, Michael Sheen, Sharon Horgan, Gabby Logan, Anne Enright and Irvine Welsh. Expect some similar names and fascinating profile interviews from the class of 2025.

The summer series also features the return of Irish Imperial Lives, with Kate O'Malley and Abie Philbin Bowman. The six part series journeys into the complex and sometimes uncomfortable intersections of Irish identity and empire. Series two uncovers the incredible story of the Irishman who conquered more land in India than Napoleon conquered in Europe. With shocking modern resonance, they learn about the Irishman who led the Russian Empire’s capture of modern-day Crimea. And they explore the fact and fiction surrounding so-called ‘Pirate Queen’ Grace O’Malley.

Kari, a brand-new documentary for RTÉ Radio 1, tells the story of the life of Kari Roswell who moved to Ireland from Sweden in 1997, but had scant detail about her origins, who she was and where she came from. At the age of 64, Kari learned she was part of the Lebensborn project, one of the most secretive operations in the Nazi era which planned to take children from their mothers at birth to create a “perfect” Aryan race. This documentary tells the story of Kari’s remarkable life from her birth in Norway, being taken from her mother at just ten days old to an institution in Germany, on to an orphanage in Sweden and finally to her “forever home” in Dublin.

Áine Kerr returns with a brand-new series of Reignite and will helps listeners find the inspiration, motivation, information and tips they need to take an idea and run with it themselves! Áine speaks to renowned leaders from the worlds of sports to business and technology who want to share their lived experience from dressing rooms and boardrooms. Tune in for five new themes over five weeks.

In a new series of Out & Proud, Trevor Keegan is joined by guests from the LGBTQIA+ community to discuss how identity shapes experience in positive, challenging and sometimes surprising ways. We'll hear personal stories about coming out to teenage children, the burden of not being a boy 'properly' and how leaning into creativity can unlock acceptance.

Alongside this summer programming, RTÉ Radio 1’s regular schedule continues, bringing listeners trusted news, current affairs, and entertaining daily shows, all with a little extra summer spirit woven in.

For more information: 

Sharon Sorohan, RTÉ Senior Communications Lead