RTE unveils New Year 2026 line-up with an exciting shake-up and Late Late show special

RTÉ has unveiled an exciting new line-up ahead of the New Year with a range of household favourites and brand new programmes sure to keep the whole family entertained.
 
On RTÉ One and RTÉ Player, the inimitable Tommy Tiernan is back with a brand-new series of The Tommy Tiernan Show, running for sixteen Saturday nights from 3 January.

Now in its tenth series, Tommy will once again come face-to-face with guests, totally unprepared and without prior knowledge of who is coming on the show. 
 
Family favourite Dancing with the Stars will kick off from Sunday 4 January for its ninth season, with brand-new Head Judge Oti Mabuse bringing even more glitter and glam.

This season features familiar faces including Niamh Kavanagh, Paudie Moloney and Rose of Tralee Katelyn Cummins among others, all taking to the dancefloor in the hopes of winning the coveted glitterball trophy. Presented by Jennifer Zamparelli and new addition Laura Fox, who is filling in for Doireann Garrihy while she is on leave, this year will bring some big surprises with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Following on from The Late Late New Year’s Eve Special on 31 December, Patrick Kielty returns with The Late Late Show on Friday 9 January 2026, with the very first Late Late Show Trad Special.

In the first-ever full show dedicated to Irish traditional music, viewers can expect a session to end all sessions. Join Patrick and a host of Ireland's finest musicians, international special guests, and one legendary performer who will be inducted into the Late Late Show Trad Hall of Fame. Live and full of surprises, spend your Friday nights with Patrick on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player from 9:35pm.  
 
This New Year sees Room to Improve’s Dermot Bannon take on homes of every scale and condition, helping families looking to downsize, upsize, or find the right size for their next chapter.

Starting on Sunday 4 January, Dermot’s signature architectural vision once again goes head-to-head with quantity surveyor Claire Irwin’s pragmatism.

In this new series, there are untouched time capsules and clever urban redesigns, including a 1990s three-bed semi-detached home in West Dublin, a “bungalow bliss” home in Co. Meath, a spacious four-bed family home in Raheny in need of major reimagining, and a compact terraced house with big ambition in Harmonstown. There’s sure to be bold designs, high expectations, last-minute changes, and plenty of emotion – especially from Dermot.

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A new series of On the Beat is arriving on screens this January. This docuseries gives unprecedented access to the work of An Garda Síochána across Ireland.

Filmed over six months, and airing on Monday 5 January, the series goes behind the front desks, inside the control centres, and on the beat with Gardaí in Limerick, Monaghan, and Waterford to give an insight into policing across urban and rural Ireland.

Any Given Day: Cork University Hospital airs on Wednesday 7 January at 9:35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player, a powerful new six-part documentary series that goes beyond the headlines and behind the scenes of one of Ireland’s biggest and busiest hospitals. This landmark observational series offers access inside Cork University Hospital (CUH), capturing the round the clock shifts of the thousands of professionals who work tirelessly to deliver care. Through staff stories and patient journeys, Any Given Day tells a story of a health service in action.
 
High Road, Low Road is back in January, taking over Europe and beyond. From the snowy mountains of Austria to the sunny shores of Cape Town, we will see Irish celebrities heading to the most unforgettable destinations. Across nine episodes, the cast of mismatched celebrity pairings jet off on two very different holidays. While one enjoys a first-class luxury experience, the other explores the same destination on a budget. Get ready for unforgettable adventures of discovery, culture, and fun.
 
As we move towards spring, prepare to feel the love as the First Dates restaurant reopens for another season on RTÉ2. With smouldering desires, secret passions, cheesy chat-up lines, risky banter, and jaw-dropping revelations, the new series of First Dates sees a new batch of hopeful singletons arrive for their dates with destiny. On hand as always with kind words of encouragement, shoulders to cry on, and insightful observations on love, life and dating etiquette are Maitre D’ Mateo, table angels Alice and Pete, and Neil, the world’s friendliest barman. Everyone has an equal opportunity to find romance: young, old, straight, LGBTQ, shrinking violets, and strutting peacocks alike. Expect drama and delight.
 
Spring 2026 will also see RTÉ Investigates look at mental health services in Ireland, with a two-part series coming this February.
 
Also coming soon is The Ryanair Story, a two-part series documenting the 40-year history of Ryanair’s ascent from offering one single route, to becoming a giant of world aviation.

Museum of Me is coming in spring, where host Dermot Whelan will invite well-known Irish public figures to become curators of their very own museum exhibition. These exhibitions feature personal treasured possessions, each one holding its own stories and memories. Featuring famous faces including Pat Shortt, Maia Dunphy, Bryan Dobson, Mary McEvoy, Emma Doran, and Steve Garrigan, Dermot travels to meet the celebrities in their homes or spaces meaningful to them.

New Year, New Irish Drama

This New Year, RTÉ continues its commitment to delivering great local drama. There was a total of nine drama productions for RTÉ filmed in 2025, creating 142 hours of high-quality, homegrown storytelling for Irish audiences, which viewers will continue to enjoy right through 2026.  
 
New RTÉ comedy-drama series These Sacred Vows makes its eagerly anticipated debut this spring. Starring Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Justine Mitchell, and Jason O’Mara, These Sacred Vows opens on the morning after an Irish wedding on a Spanish island, when the body of a priest is found floating face-down in the swimming pool of the young guests’ villa.

Sister S returns for a second series, picking up in Dublin eighteen months after Sare (Sarah Goldberg) abandoned her sister Suze (Susan Stanley), who has just discovered she can’t have the biological child she’s realised she wants.

When an invite to Sare’s wedding lands on Suze’s doorstep, Suze travels to Canada in the hope of reconnecting with her sister. Chaotic drama ensues, with family secrets and unexpected revelations.
 
Fair City promises action‑packed drama in 2026. When Paul’s wine theft finally catches up with him, his business – and his future – hangs in the balance. Mondo faces anxious days as the court decides whether he will be charged with Anto’s murder. And Gwen uncovers a shocking truth that could change her life forever as an unexpected family member moves into town. There are plenty of twists to come on Fair City this year.
 
Coming in spring is Series 3 of The Dry, as the Sheridans are back and about to face their biggest challenge yet. The third series unearths a huge family secret that throws everyone off kilter.

Will this shocking revelation upend already fragile relations for good, or could this be the missing piece that will finally fix the Sheridans’ broken puzzle? As the family desperately try to forge new lives amid the betrayals of the past, destructive patterns start to emerge and they are faced with some hard truths.