Please check if this solves your issue:
diff --git a/src/fe-text/irssi.c b/src/fe-text/irssi.c
index ad79e0c4..48414845 100644
--- a/src/fe-text/irssi.c
+++ b/src/fe-text/irssi.c
@@ -313,6 +313,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
g_log_set_always_fatal(loglev);
textui_finish_init();
main_loop = g_main_new(TRUE);
+ dirty_check(); /* draw the screen prior to the first wait poll */
/* Does the same as g_main_run(main_loop), except we
can call our dirty-checker after each iteration */
