Mystery and intrigue surrounds the 54-year-old Dubliner’s unexpected departure just months after she competed on Dancing with the Stars.
She revealed the news with a simple sign-off from RTÉ’s Nine O’Clock News on Monday night: “And that is my last forecast. Goodnight and goodbye.”
Yesterday she filmed a video of herself in Dublin Airport, saying that while people have been asking about her sudden exit, she is avoiding the question for now.
She has said it was a “very, very hard decision to make” and that her choice to leave broadcasting had “nothing” to do with her “work product”.
Joanna Donnelly recently competed on Dancing with the Stars. Photo: Kyran O’Brien
“I’ve always given the very best I could possibly give to the weather forecast, so I hope anybody that’s wondering what happened, it wasn’t the forecast,” she told social media followers on Monday night.
Donnelly, who started her career with Met Éireann 30 years ago during a “glorious heatwave” and “beautiful summer” in 1995, said the years since have “flown by”.
“Thirty years just went by in the blink of an eye and now what? I don’t know. We’ll see what happens next. Chapter three,” she added.
It was a very, very hard decision to make
Asked whether it wished to comment on her announcement, a Met Éireann spokesperson said: “While Met Éireann does not comment on individual employees, we appreciate the dedication and commitment of all staff in the continued delivery of weather and climate services.”
On whether Met Éireann could clarify whether Donnelly left Met Éireann or has just finished broadcasting with RTÉ, a spokesperson said: “As a matter of process, Met Éireann does not comment on individual employees.”
Donnelly told The Irish Times that she remains a Met Éireann forecaster “for now” and would not elaborate on the reasons why she is no longer presenting the weather forecast, saying she would do so at a later date.
Joanna Donnelly started working at Met Éireann in 1995
She shared another update yesterday morning as she walked through Dublin Airport with her husband, Harm Luijkx, who she met in 2000 and with whom she has three children.
”We’re going away, I’m not around. There’s been a lot of people asking if I’ll talk this week – no, because we’re running away,” she said, laughing.
The broadcaster later took to social media to thank people for the messages of support she has received as she told followers that her decision was not one she came to lightly “by any means”.
“It was a very, very hard decision to make but I think it was the right one to make for me and for my family, and there’ll be more news in the coming while but not just yet, not for a while,” she added.
“I have to take some time now and look after myself, look after my own health and that of my family, and I thank you all so, so much for all of the – I can’t believe how many – messages of kindness and support.
“I’m really, really touched. I really appreciate it. As I said, it was a very hard decision to make but I think it was the right one. Thank you.”
The Irish obsession with the weather has made celebrities out of many forecasters, including Evelyn Cusack, who retired from Met Éireann after a 42-year career in 2023, and Jean Byrne, who “hung up her weather charts” when she departed the forecaster in 2021.
Donnelly was among the well-known faces to appear on the recent season of Dancing with the Stars, an experience she described as “an incredible opportunity”. She was the third celebrity to be eliminated from the competition earlier this year.
The meteorologist, who studied applied maths at Dublin City University before joining Met Éireann, has previously fronted RTÉ coverage of major weather events, such as Hurricane Ophelia in 2017.
She has an audience of over 42,000 followers across social media platforms Instagram and X.
What’s so wrong with being smart?
Donnelly recently posted on X that many people in society don’t like smart women.
“‘Don’t be so smart’. If I had a penny for every time I was told not to be so smart, I’d be handing in my notice and heading to the beach. What’s so wrong with being smart? Or is that just for difficult women?” she wrote.
She elaborated that the phrase was used to her in a “formal setting. So it’s in the official record” and she said she had it in writing.
When asked what she was referring to, she said: “Coming soon. Not being evasive. Just can’t say right now. But it will become clear very soon.”
Donnelly has published two books, The Great Irish Weather Book and From Malin Head to Mizen Head: A Journey Around the Sea Area Forecast.
The broadcaster has also publicly shared her experiences with insomnia, motherhood, IVF, miscarriage and fertility struggles.
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