Leaks over RTÉ director general interview process 'disappointing'

Vivienne Clarke

Senator Malcolm Byrne, who will chair this week’s meeting of the Oireachtas Media Committee, has expressed disappointment at the leaking of details about the interview process for a new Director General for RTÉ.

His comment, to RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, follows weekend reports that the CEO of An Post David McRedmond was no longer a candidate in any process for the role of RTÉ director general and had “no further interest in a role”.

“I think it's disappointing that the details of an interview process have ended up being made public, no more than if any of us were going through an interview process, the last thing that we want to see happen is the details of that interview ending up in the public domain.

“I think that's very unfair to any of the candidates involved, and I think the RTÉ Authority have questions to answer in terms of how they allowed those details to end up in the public domain. That said, what is critical now is that there is confidence restored in the process and that whoever the best candidate is for that role that he or she is appointed."

Senator Byrne said that the Oireachtas Media Committee would welcome the new chair of the Authority Siún Ní Raghallaigh.

“I think we want to know the future direction of RTÉ, that we can have confidence in the Authority in the process that it's going through to appoint the new director general, that it gets the best possible person for the job."