Irish Examiner view: RTÉ director general saga an unseemly mess

An Post chief executive David McRedmond condemned selection process as having been damaging 'to RTÉ, to An Post, and to those involved'

An Post chief executive David McRedmond was an early casualty in the RTÉ selection process. File picture Jason Clarke

The shambles that has been the process of appointing a successor to Dee Forbes as director general of RTÉ has damaged the credibility of the national broadcaster. 

Since it emerged that several board members of RTÉ refused to rubberstamp the appointment of former deputy director general Kevin Bakhurst to the position, the organisation has been enmeshed in controversy.

Some of the board members have expressed concern that one applicant (An Post chief executive David McRedmond) was an early casualty in the selection process. That Mr McRedmond later condemned that process as having been damaging “to RTÉ, to An Post, and to those involved” has worsened the situation.

And as RTÉ chairwoman Siún Ní Raghallaigh prepares to face a hearing of the Oireachtas media committee on Wednesday, it seems the controversy will not die quietly. She will be quizzed by members about the delay in appointing a director general, as well as the leaks from the board meeting.

The whole affair will have left an unseemly, and frankly unnecessary, mess at the top of the organisation.