No board at RTE as Dempsey delays appointing authority

RTÉ has been operating without a board since last Wednesday due to the Government's failure to appoint a new RTÉ Authority.

The nine members of the RTÉ Authority, which acts as the station's main board, relinquished office at midnight last Tuesday, but they have not been replaced.

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Communications, Noel Dempsey, said the matter was currently being addressed by the department. The RTÉ Authority can only be appointed after the members have been approved by the Cabinet which meets today. It is not clear whether it will consider the matter this week or next week.

In the meantime, the station is effectively being run by senior management who are all members of an executive board. The station currently has no chairman either after Paddy Wright, former president of the Jefferson Smurfit group, finished his term of office.

His replacement will have a key role to play at the station in the period ahead. RTÉ is now making large surpluses but the station needs to decide what its investment priorities are.

It has already indicated a major capital investment programme will be needed to help the station take advantage of new digital technologies.

While some RTÉ staff are unhappy about the current uncertainty, the RTÉ Authority is not due to meet until later this month so Mr Dempsey still has some time before the issue becomes a serious problem.

The RTÉ Authority makes policy for the station and provides its main "corporate direction". The last authority met for the first time on 23 June, 2000. It has overseen a major recovery in the station's financial fortunes since then. It has also approved a major internal reorganisation of the company into six independent business divisions.

The last RTÉ Authority had a wide mix of members, including public relations professional Stephen O'Byrnes, former athlete Dame Mary Peters, trade unionist Des Geraghty, theatre producer Garry Hynes and a former RTÉ director general Joe Barry.

This body is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the station, but day-to-day matters are handled by the executive board.This board reports to the authority via the director general, Cathal Goan. The broadcasting landscape in the Republic is likely to change radically in the next year. The Government is due to set up a new Broadcasting Authority of Ireland to regulate RTÉ and all other broadcasters.

It is not clear whether this new body will simply be a new version of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI).