New RTÉ Director General stands down the executive board

On his first official day in the job, Kevin Bakhurst, the new Director General of RTÉ, has said he is standing down the board of the company’s executive management. Bakhurst announced the move in an email to staff, in which he also confirmed that an interim leadership team would be appointed to continue running the organization before a permanent board is set.

Bakhurstalso said that, under his leadership, RTÉ would be dedicated to "listening"  to staff and "being open and transparent, to strictly adhering to revised and rigorous governance processes and procedures, to being accountable and to delivering a public service to be proud of,"  the Irish Mirror reported. Moreover, he stated that all significant decisions will be agreed "by the whole of the interim leadership team."

The news comes after the former Director General of RTÉ, Dee Forbes, resigned after controversy over undisclosed payments to presenter Ryan Tubridy. The TV and radio host was paid €345.000 more than had been published in the Ireland's National Television and Radio Broadcaster's earnings reports, and apparently received the payments between 2017 and 2022.

The payments made to Tubridy were uncovered after the company's auditors alerted the board to some of the transactions. Then, Forbes was suspended from her role by the RTÉ board and had been due to step down in July.