RTE’s much-loved North West correspondent Eileen Magnier is to hang up her microphone after reporting from the highways and byways of Donegal and its surrounding counties for the past 34 years.
After much soul searching and buying countless travel guides, the mum-of-three has decided now is as good a time as any to call it a day.
Born and raised in Kilkenny City, Eileen Magnier has always been a reporter and it was the only work she has known.
Starting off in People Newspapers in Wexford in the 1980s, she joined RTE as a junior reporter and was given a broad spectrum of training from radio to television and all the bits in between.
She recalls working with legendary broadcaster Pat Kenny as one of her more memorable and enjoyable stints with the national broadcaster.
But in 1989 she was to find herself back in the regions when she was appointed as the station’s North West corr replacing Tommy Gorman who was to be stationed in Northern Ireland.
Based in Sligo, Eileen said she loved the posting from the very moment she began working there.
Initially her patch was even larger than it is now and she was responsible for covering Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan and as far away as Monaghan.
“It was a huge area to cover especially when you had to travel from Sligo to Monaghan. I do remember Monaghan having a lot of potholes back then,” laughs Eileen.
The area of coverage was later condensed when RTE appointed a North East reporter but Eileen’s area still involved reporting on all matters in Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim.
However, borders held no barriers for RTE and Eileen often found herself reporting on the Troubles from Derry and covering for fellow regional reporter Jim Fahy in Mayo.
“You just went where you were sent and I would have covered a lot of bomb finds along the border.
“I do remember being six months pregnant with my son Dylan back in the early nineties and spending three days covering rioting there,” she adds.
Covering affairs in the North West not only brought great challenges but it also brought love.
Eileen was to meet her husband TJ Kilgallon at a wedding and they never looked back having raised a family of three children Hayley, Dylan and Evanne.
She swears that at the time she didn’t have a clue that TJ was a well-known footballer who just happened to be a bit of a Mayo legend.
“I honestly hadn’t a clue who he was. Afterall, I was from Kilkenny and I was a hurling girl. I’d heard of Heffo’s Army but that was as far as it went,” she laughs.
Throughout the years she has covered many highs and lows in the North West and specifically in Donegal.
It’s not just because she’s chatting to Donegal Daily but Eileen says she has a soft spot for the county.
“I love Donegal and I just love its people and how friendly they are. And I do think it is without doubt one of the most beautiful counties in Ireland.
“I have always loved reporting from there and I will certainly be back again many, many times.”
She says she has countless wonderful memories of covering ‘feel good’ stories from the county.
She recalls covering the visit of Britain’s then Prince Charles to Donegal in 2016 as a lovely event to cover.
“He stopped at a number of places but you had to pick one place to report from and I chose Glenveagh National Park simply because I love it.
“That was a lovely day and we got so caught up in it that we actually got locked in the park that night and had to be allowed out.”
Unfortunately, that has to be measured with tragedies as Eileen recalls both the Creeslough tragedy and the loss of eight lives in the Buncrana road tragedy in July 2010 as being amongst the darkest of her reporting days.
“They were both horrific and I was genuinely shaken by both of them.
“The Buncrana tragedy was so sad because the majority of those involved were just so young.
“Creeslough brought home the sense of how life can be so short and fragile. It was very difficult to cover that,” she adds.
Despite the recent turmoil at Montrose, it’s not a reason for Eileen’s departure but she admits that the controversy hurt her as much as anyone.
And she’s certainly not getting any of the much-talked-about ‘golden handshakes’ or exit packages of some.
She officially presses the stop button for RTE on May 2nd next.
Eileen plans to do a “tour of Donegal” and wants to call in to see as many people as she can who have helped her along her journey.
“I want to be able to come to Donegal in future years and not have to worry about deadlines or anything like that. I want to visit Sliabh Liag and other places and stay overnight and just be a visitor for a change,” she smiles.
On a professional basis she hopes it’s not the last time that she is in front of the camera and would like to do other private work in areas she has a passion for.
And she wants to travel more, be that to her native Kilkenny where she still has family or to the remotest island in the Caribbean admitting that she does like a bit of warm weather.
But for now she’ll have to settle for a couple of days in New York later this week to see relatives as part of a trip planned a number of months ago.
She doesn’t know what her final day at RTE will entail or where it will be.
“It could very well be in Donegal or on one of its beautiful islands which I really enjoyed working on. Wouldn’t that be nice?#8221;
With or without a camera trailing behind her, she’ll be back to Donegal and will always be welcome.