Many viewers were surprised when the former Dancing with the Stars contestant announced on Monday night that she would no longer be presenting forecasts on RTÉ.
She revealed the news with a simple sign-off after her bulletin following RTÉ’s Nine O’Clock News: “And that is my last forecast. Goodnight and goodbye.”
One of the photos included in her Instagram story shows she and husband and fellow meteorologist Harm Luijkx, whom she met in 2000 and with whom she has three children, who were also on the trip.
Joanna Donnelly and husband Harm Luijkx
It shows the couple in the same spot in Amsterdam this week and when they got married in the city.
The day after her unexpected announcement, Ms Donnelly also shared a video walking through Dublin Airport with her husband, Harm, whom she met in 2000.
“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 travelled to the Netherlands, where her husband is from, for a family trip to Amsterdam.
She has been sharing photos and videos of the city, including Amsterdam’s distinctive canals, boats and bikes, to her Instagram, where she has over 17,000 followers.
Posting a photo of the city’s unisex toilet signs, she wrote the humorous caption: “God bless Amsterdam.”
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.
In a video message posted on Instagram this week, the presenter said she was “overwhelmed by the messages of support” as she told followers that her departure was “not a decision I 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,” she said.
She added: “There’ll be more news in the coming while, but not just yet.”
Ms Donnelly 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”.
Asked whether it wished to comment on her announcement earlier this week, 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.”
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