WHO WAS ON RTÉ EXECUTIVE WHEN MUSICAL GOT GO-AHEAD
DEE FORBES DIRECTOR GENERAL – RESIGNED JUNE 2023
Forbes left abruptly in the immediate aftermath of the revelations over undeclared payments to Ryan Tubridy. She said that as director general she was ‘the person ultimately accountable for what happens within the organisation’, and that she had resigned with immediate effect.
ADRIAN LYNCH NOW DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL OF RTÉ
Lynch joined RTÉ in 2014 and was previously channel controller for RTÉ One and RTÉ2. At the time of the musical, he served as director for audiences, channels and marketing. Upon Forbes’s resignation in June 2023 he was promoted to interim deputy director general. He appeared at an Oireachtas committee and said Forbes was the only member of the executive who had all the necessary information to know publicly declared earnings for Tubridy could have been wrong. He also said there had been a ‘massive breach of trust’ with RTÉ staff and the public. His role became permanent in December 2023, and he is now a member of the interim leadeship team, which replaced the executive.
RICHARD COLLINS CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER – RESIGNED OCTOBER 2023
Collins joined RTÉ in
January 2020. He memorably told an Oireachtas hearing last year that he did not know what his exact salary was ‘off the top of my head’.
He later clarified he was paid a base salary of around €200,000, with a car allowance of €25,000.
RORY COVENEY DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY – RESIGNED JULY 2023
Coveney was with RTÉ since 2007 in a variety of roles serving since 2011 as strategic adviser to the director general. The brother of Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney, he had a particular responsibility for Toy Show the Musical.
GERALDINE O’LEARY COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR – TOOK EARLY RETIREMENT IN JULY 2023
She stepped down after two appearances before Oireachtas committees, during which she defended the use of the ‘slush fund’.
The ‘slush fund’ was used to pay out hundreds of thousands of euro for alcohol, flipflops, golf outings, cinema screenings, hotel stays, client dinners in top restaurants and match and concert tickets over the last decade.
These included spending €111,000 to bring clients to the Rugby World Cup in 2019.
JIM JENNINGS DIRECTOR, CONTENT
Took extended sick leave in early July 2023, when new director general Kevin Bakhurst also confirmed that Jennings did not want to be part of a new board.
EIMEAR CUSACK DIRECTOR, HUMAN RESOURCES
Now a member of the interim leadership team which replaced the executive.
PAULA MULLOOLY DIRECTOR, LEGAL
She became a member of the interim leadership team, but exited RTÉ at the end of 2023.
RICHARD WAGHORN DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS, TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSFORMATION
Member of the executive board in 2022, now a member of the interim board.
DEIRDRE MCCARTHY MANAGING DIRECTOR, RTÉ NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS
Now a member of the interim leadership team which replaced the executive.
JON WILLIAMS STEPPED DOWN FROM THE EXECUTIVE IN JULY 2022 AS MANAGING DIRECTOR
He had joined RTÉ in 2017, with a mission to future-proof news and current affairs at the national broadcaster. He was previously ABC’s managing editor for international news in New York, having been World editor at the BBC.