'I went insane' - Joanna Donnelly lifts lid on graveyard argument before Met Éireann exit

Meteorologist Joanna Donnelly has spoken publicly for the first time following her much-publicised exit from Met Éireann earlier this year.

The weather expert, who fronted weather updates on RTÉ television for more a decade, explained the reasons behind her abrupt departure which she announced live on air last Easter - shocking many people across the country.

Donnelly decided to stay silent around her departure until this week.

Writing in the Sunday Independent and speaking in a number of media interviews, she has explained exactly what led to her decision to leave Met Éireann (and RTÉ).

Speaking on The Hard Shoulder with Kieran Cuddihy on Newstalk, Ms Donnelly stated that it was one particular incident when she knew something had to change after tensions built up for months over the working conditions she faced. 

Describing what happened, she said: "I got into a crazy argument in a graveyard, some guy was speeding at a graveyard, he beeped at me as I was trying to cross the road, I went insane, I lost my reason. I actually frightened myself."

It was an-eye opening experience for the presenter who expanded on the impact it had on her saying: "I called Harm (her husband) afterwards and I said I'm stressed out, this has to stop."

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Donnelly does admit she found the perfect role within Met Éireann job saying: "They say if you find something you love to do then you never work a day in your life, I loved it, it was a dream job for me." 

For a time, she was one of the highest profile personalities in Ireland - between her appearances on RTÉ TV, public appearances and writing books about the weather. 

When asked why she left Met Éireann by Cuddihy, The meteorologist confessed: "In the last few years, things started to change, it was nothing to do with the work that I did - I work as a civil servant so you have certain working conditions and the deterioration of those working conditions were starting to play on me." 

Reflecting on the decision (to leave) with hindsight, Donnelly admitted: "I didn't realise I was stressed, it gave me chronic fatigue, I didn't know what was happening to me, I was at the doctor blaming Covid and Menopause of course and it was only in the end that I realised it was stress."

During the interview, she spoke of the toll it (her working conditions) was taking on her and how it made carrying out the role untenable. "It was really knocking me and knocking my belief in myself, my body was ill, I was spending weeks on the sofa, I took some time off work sick actually with the stress to try and see if I could mend that and I couldn't, I had to go." 

The decision marked an end to over 30 years in meteorology and weather forecasting for the Dublin woman who, most likely, will have no shortage of opportunities in the future.

Joanna appeared on the most-recent series of Dancing with the Stars on RTE earlier in the year and was the third celebrity to be eliminated.