RTE's Jenny Buckley snapped up as weather girl for new UTV Ireland channel

The presenter has almost a decade of broadcast experience under her belt with both stations.

The Dubliner began her career as an actor on stage before dipping her toes into the world of presenting with 3e, back when it was known as Channel 6.

Since then, she has co-hosted RTE's No Frontiers and appeared on TV3's Celebrity Apprentice.

Jenny revealed that she was eager to get on board with UTV Ireland since it was announced that the station was setting up shop here.

"I am very excited to be joining UTV Ireland and becoming part of a brand new legacy in Irish television broadcasting," she said. "Having met the whole team, I am counting down the days until we launch," she added.

Head of Channel at UTV Ireland Mary Curtis said that bosses at the broadcaster were "delighted" to add Jenny to their team.

"We have been doing a number of screen tests for weather in recent weeks and Jenny's strong presence and warm personality shine through on camera," she commented.

UTV Ireland is gearing up to position itself as the country's leading commercial station.

A number of well-known faces have already been snapped up by the broadcaster, including Newstalk's Pat Kenny and Chris O'Donoghue.

Pat Kenny is set to make his return to television on January 1 with an hour-long special. On top of attracting plenty of established talent, the Docklands-based broadcaster has also recruited some up-and-coming faces.

This week, two continuity presenters were announced after an eight-month nationwide search.

UTV's long-standing continuity presenter Julien Simmons set out to find his Irish counterpart and selected Aideen Hand, from Monaghan, and Mark Keegan, from Tallaght.