Anne Cassin

Presenter of RTE's flagship programme Nationwide. Dublin girl but interested in all Ireland. Have stories tweet me.

[Robbie Coombes @RobbieCoo76]

@FranMallon1 Superb that & great to see Paidi standing beside her.

[RTÉ Nationwide @RTENationwide]

If you missed last night's #RTENationwide from Waterford as we see what this city has to offer and its plans for future development - Go to https://t.co/ISvOpWLMAL now! @WaterfordCounci @munsterexpress @WaterfordNS @wlrfm @beat102103 @RTEplayer @WaterfordHour @WaterfordPocket RT

[RTÉ Nationwide @RTENationwide]

We meet some Kerry people featured in award‑winning photographer Valerie O’Sullivan’s latest project, including Anna Dowling of the Black Valley, who remembers electricity reaching the community in 1977 on #RTENationwide Wednesday 20th May #RTEOne 7pm @Kerrys_Eye @ESBArchives RT

[RTÉ Nationwide @RTENationwide]

We meet dairy farmer John Fleming on the outskirts of Killarney to hear how his family-run dairy farm launched Muckross Creamery, now producing award-winning ice cream @MuckrossC on #RTENationwide Wednesday 20th May @RTEOne 7pm @farmersjournal @KerryHour @FarmerTime_ie @rte RT

[RTÉ Nationwide @RTENationwide]

Meet photographer Valerie O'Sullivan, whose real passion lies in wildlife photography & with Killarney National Park on her doorstep, she's never been short of subjects to capture on #RTENationwide Wednesday 20th May @RTEOne 7pm @NPWSIreland @Kerrys_Eye
@kerryman_ie @countykerry

[Paschal Sheehy @PaschalSheehy]

A treat in store…

[Anne Cassin @abcassin]

@MaiaDunphy Lovely dress Maïa and I love your attitude- wear the clothes we have!

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

I am a senior coordinating producer for the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. I have worked eleven of these. I was backstage at the Washington Hilton when the shots were fired.

The first thing I heard was not the gunfire. It was glass.

A champagne flute hit the floor of the International Ballroom at approximately 9:47 PM. Then a second. Then the sound that I have since been told was a 12-gauge shotgun, which from inside the ballroom sounded like a heavy door slamming in a parking garage. Then the Secret Service moved. They moved the President, the Vice President, the First Lady through the east corridor in under ninety seconds, which is protocol, which is practiced, which is the one part of the evening that worked exactly as it was designed.

Everything else was improvised.

I know this because I ordered the wine. 94 tables. Two bottles per table. 188 bottles of a Willamette Valley pinot noir that the Association selected in February after a tasting committee spent three meetings debating between Oregon and Burgundy. Oregon won. The budget was $14,200. I signed the invoice. I can tell you the vintage. I can tell you the distributor. I can tell you the per-bottle cost because I negotiated it down from $89 to $76.

What I cannot tell you is how 147 of those bottles left the building during an active shooter evacuation.

I can tell you what I saw. A correspondent from a network I will not name picked up two bottles on her way to the east exit. Full bottles. One in each hand. She was wearing heels and she did not spill. A man in a tuxedo tucked one inside his jacket the way you'd shoplift a paperback at an airport bookstore. A woman picked up a bottle, looked at the label, put it back, and took a different one.

She checked the vintage. During an evacuation. That's editorial judgment under pressure.

The theme of the dinner was "A Free Press for a Free People." The banners were still hanging when the evacuation began. I know because I hung them. Twenty-three banners, navy blue, gold serif lettering, $11,400 for the set. They were still hanging when 2,600 guests were directed to the exits by Secret Service agents, one of whom had just taken a shotgun round in his ballistic vest and walked to the ambulance on his own feet.

The agent's vest costs approximately $800. The wine that left the building was worth $11,172 at Association cost. At restaurant markup, roughly $29,000. The guests saved more in wine than the vest that saved the agent.

That's priority.

The video went viral by 10:15 PM. Not the video of the evacuation. Not the Secret Service response. The wine. Three guests in formalwear grabbing bottles off white tablecloths while being told to move toward the exits, while a man with a shotgun stood in the same motor entrance where John Hinckley shot Ronald Reagan 45 years ago.

A woman near the service entrance was crying. She said "I just wanna go home." She was not holding wine. She was holding her phone. She was the only person I saw that night who looked afraid rather than inconvenienced.

That's the distinction. The rest of the ballroom did not look afraid. They looked interrupted. An active shooter at the WHCD is a logistical problem. The dinner was disrupted. The timeline was off. The after-party at the French Ambassador's residence would need to be rescheduled. These are contingency matters. Contingency matters have solutions. Fear is for people who attend events without security details.

I have produced eleven of these dinners. I have managed seating charts that require diplomatic-grade negotiations. I have handled comedians, cabinet secretaries, network anchors, and the editor of a major newspaper who once threatened to leave because his table was behind a column.

I have never, in eleven years, seen a guest leave a $76 bottle on the table during an evacuation. I have also never seen a guest check the label first. Both observations are consistent. The bottle is worth taking. The evacuation is worth surviving. The instinct is to do both simultaneously.

188 bottles placed. 41 recovered. 147 unaccounted for. One agent shot. Zero guests injured. Zero bottles broken.

A free press for a free people. The press is free. The wine was $76 a bottle. They took it anyway.

[RTÉ Nationwide @RTENationwide]

We are in the West Cork village of Courtmacsherry to hear how the people of Courtmacsherry are celebrating the success of their community-owned and community-run shop, which marks ten years in operation this year on #RTENationwide Wednesday 15th April @RTEOne 7pm @echolivecork RT

[Anne Cassin @abcassin]

@RealLindaMartin @RTENationwide Loved filming with you n the volunteers and of course the fabulous dogs!🐶

[Linda Martin @RealLindaMartin]

@RTENationwide @abcassin great day filming at Dublin Dog Hub. Thank you all for your support #johnnylogan #eurovision #dublin city council #dogrescue

[Vintage Legends Cycle @bulfincycle]

@RTENationwide @RTEOne @IrishRail @turtlebunbury @rte @abcassin Spotted this at Portarlington Railway station last October!
We love the concept

[Anne Cassin @abcassin]

Same same my friend!

[Turtle Bunbury @turtlebunbury]

I very much enjoyed a day out with @abcassin and @RTENationwide following the installation of our
100th Past Tracks panel. Hats off to Derry Dillon (illustrator), Jack O'Driscoll (aistritheoir), Ally B & @irishrail for backing the project. Tonight, 4 March
@RTEOne at 7pm.

[Anne Cassin @abcassin]

@MaiaDunphy You are so right Maïa.?It was a pleasure to meet him and Terry in their gorgeous home..A changed Ireland from when they first met 40 years ago.

[Anne Cassin @abcassin]

@RTEOne Dobbo, my great pal, supporting me last night in DWTS! And not ruling himself out for a spin in the future either!🕺
#dwts #dancing #rteone

[RTÉ One @RTEOne]

From reading the news to reading the judges’ scores? James Patrice putting Brian Dobson on the spot for next year! 👀🪩 #DWTSIRL

[Anne Cassin @abcassin]

@RTEOne Loved it!! Caught the orange and kissed the boy! Delighted to be through to the next show!

[Anne Cassin @abcassin]

The story of one of Athy’s most famous son’s on NW later! Wonderful refurbishment honouring the great polar explorer, Ernest Shackleton! ⁦@RTENationwide⁩ ⁦@KildareCoCo⁩

[Anne Cassin @abcassin]

Thanks to the gorgeous styling and lovely interview on ⁦⁦@VIPmagaz⁩ talking about ⁦@DWTSIRL⁩ trying new things, especially dancing!
#dwts2026 #dancing #rteone

[RTÉ Nationwide @RTENationwide]

We visit Foxford Woollen Mills in County Mayo - traditionally renowned for its blankets - @foxfordhome has evolved into a modern lifestyle brand while proudly preserving its textile heritage on #RTENationwide Monday 8th December @RTEOne 7pm & RTE1+1 at 8pm @MayoHour @abcassin RT