Mr Kearney will replace Tommie Gorman in the role who retires in the spring.
He is an award-winning journalist whose 32 years’ experience has included senior editorial positions in regional and national newspapers. Read More
Originally from Belfast, but now living in Lurgan with wife Louise and family, he worked at the Tele, was NI correspondent for The Sunday Times and later for the BBC worked on Spotlight and was its home affairs editor. He left Ormeau Avenue to make the short trip to RTE s Belfast office in January 2019.
Currently RTE s northern correspondent Mr Kearney has reported across all the broadcasters news programmes, providing television, radio and online coverage.
Gorman has been one of the most prominent faces of RTÃ News in recent decades, earning acclaim and admiration for his journalism on the island of Ireland and beyond.
It was also Gorman, of course, who interviewed Roy Keane following his departure from the Republic of Ireland training camp on the eve of the 2002 World Cup, easily one of the most famous and iconic interviews on Irish television since the turn of the millennium.
Paying tribute to Gorman, Managing Director of RTÃ News and Current Affairs Jon Williams said: For 41 years, from Brussels to Belfast, via Sligo and Saipan, Tommie Gorman has been the beating heart of RTÃ News.