RTÉ board member resigns at meeting with minister
RTÉ BOARD member Dr PJ Mathews stepped down yesterday during a meeting with Media Minister Catherine Martin.
Dr Mathews resigned after almost 10 years on the board, eight months before his term was due to end.
An associate professor in the School of English, Drama and Film at UCD, he cited work reasons in his decision to depart the board, according to a statement.
His connection with the RTÉ board was swiftly removed online yesterday.
The online meeting was the first time the board has met with the minister since the resignation of its chair, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, a week ago.
Ms Ní Raghallaigh resigned hours after Ms Martin failed to say she had confidence in her on RTÉ’s Prime Time.
It followed contradictory statements from the minister and the board about what she and her department had been told about controversial exit packages to RTÉ’s former chief financial officer, Richard Collins, and its former director of strategy, Rory Coveney.
The remaining board members held an emergency meeting later that day, and they were widely expected in Government circles to resign en masse, but they opted to remain in situ.
In a statement yesterday, Ms Martin said she had a ‘positive and forwardlooking meeting’ with the board and acknowledged their commitment over ‘a very difficult eight months’.
She said: ‘The board members updated me on the important work, at board level and throughout the organisation, on RTÉ’s new strategy and the reforms which have been put in place. I acknowledged the dedication and commitment which the former chair had shown in this regard. I also acknowledged the contribution of Dr PJ Mathews, who has notified me of his decision, for work-related reasons, to resign from the board.’
The board described the meeting as ‘open and constructive’.