The chief executive of Newstalk radio station has stepped down. Elaine Geraghty, who has been chief executive since 2005, stepped down to pursue a PhD at Dublin Institute of Technlogy.
Geraghty, who has worked with the Communicorp Group, which own Newstalk, for 20 years, said: “Newstalk has made such progress, and I have worked with a tremendous team here at the station. It’s been a great experience but now I am looking forward to a new challenge.”
Geraghty was responsible for leading the station through the successful national licence application process, transforming Newstalk into a national talk radio operator.
Newstalk chairman Denis O’Brien thanked her “for the immense job she has done at Newstalk in bringing the station to where it is today,” adding “on a personal level I want to sincerely thank her and wish her well for the future”.
In a separate development, Geraghty has been invited by Denis O’Brien to join the Boards of Dublin’s 98 and Spin South West.
The new chief executive Frank Cronin - who has represented Setanta Holdings on the board of Newstalk since 2002 – is a chartered accountant and a former managing director of the Sunday Tribune.
Last week, Newstalk was notified by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland of serious breaches of contract after it introduced programming changes without prior approval.