Dermot Whelan, the comedic genius anchor of Republic of Telly, announced earlier this week that he will be departing from the well-known series. And so Ireland entered a national state of morning.

The Limerick native stated: "I've done 63 episodes and there are only a certain amount of ways to say Fair City is terrible. I had a ball and the Republic Of Telly was amazing. We laughed a lot," he said.

"Jennifer, Bernard and I shall continue to be great pals. Bernard and I will be hitting the road in the autumn for some live stand-up, which could be another TV show in itself. I'm looking forward to getting back to stand-up and focusing on my radio work at 98FM."

But fear not, the show must go on and so RTÉ have informed the legions of Republic of Telly fans that the series will continue without Dermot, according to the Herald.

"Jennifer Maguire and Bernard O'Shea will be back with another series of Republic Of Telly," an RTE spokesperson told the paper.

There have been no indications yet if anyone will take over the anchor position for the show or if perhaps Jennifer or Bernard will step in.

Any excuse to watch this one again...