RTÉ
Director-General Noel Curran to Complete Term in May 2016
The Director-General of RTÉ, Noel Curran, has announced his decision to stand-down from the role in May 2016. Mr Curran was appointed DG in 2011 and, over the course of five years in the role, has led RTÉ through a period of profound change.
Bringing the organisation back to financial stability, Mr Curran oversaw a programme of significant restructuring across RTÉ.
Notwithstanding a very changed financial context, in the last five years RTÉ has continued to enhance and refresh its programming and services, from RTÉ Radio 1 to RTÉ 2fm, across television, news, investigative journalism, and digital.
The same period saw the development of a new Five-Year Strategy and new services, such as Saorview, RTÉ News Now, GAAGo and RTÉ Player International, and other strategic initiatives in digital and the Irish-language.
A range of new policies and procedural guidelines in the areas of social media, journalism and content standards have been important contributions to the maintenance and improvement of RTÉ’s overall standards and standing.
Says Noel Curran: “After five years as Director-General and twelve years on the RTÉ Executive Board, I feel the time is right to move on and take on new professional challenges. Through the considerable efforts of staff, management and independent producers the organisation is on a more stable footing. Most importantly, through all their combined talents, RTÉ continues to produce strong programming, continues to innovate, and has made the transition to a modern digital media organisation. It has been my privilege to lead RTÉ through a time of considerable challenge, change, upheaval and innovation – both internally and in the wider market. While many more challenges remain, I think the organisation is well placed to meet them. There is still a lot of work to be done before my departure in May. In particular, I am very much looking forward to preparing for and leading RTÉ’s coverage of both the upcoming General Election and the 2016 Commemorations – two hugely important national events. Finally I want to thank everyone I’ve worked with during my time as Director-General, both inside and outside RTÉ.”
Moya Doherty, Chair of the RTÉ Board, says: “Working with Noel I came to understand the true meaning of his role. He has been an accomplished Director-General, skilled in developing strategy, while leading the staff from the front and confronting difficult periods with courage, commitment, and a concern for those he represented. He has an acute sense of RTÉ’s place in Irish society and the importance of ensuring that RTÉ remains both trusted by and relevant to the public. The Board collectively, and I as Chair, owe him a great debt, and his experience and insight will be truly missed. I know, however, that these skills will stand him well in the next phase of his career and we wish him well for his future ventures.”
The role of Director-General, RTÉ, will be filled by public competition in a process overseen by the RTÉ Board.
ENDS
20 October 2015
- Joseph Hoban, Head of Communications & Brand Development, hoban@rte.ie, 086 8128662
- Vivienne Flood, Corporate Communications Manager, flood@rte.ie, 087 7447455
Notes
Noel Curran, 49, attended both primary and secondary school in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan.
At university he specialised in Broadcasting Policy and Public Service Broadcasting in particular.
He joined RTÉ in 1992 as a business reporter, and was executive producer of the Eurovision Song Contest 1997. He completed two terms as Editor of Current Affairs in the News Division. He was Editor of the Mary Raftery documentaries Cardinal Secrets and Broken Trust, joining RTÉ’s Executive as Managing Director of Television in 2003. He was appointed DG by the RTÉ Board effective from 1 February 2011 in November 2010.
Specific important initiatives in the last five years include the reinvigorating of RTÉ Current Affairs and the creation of the RTÉ Investigations Unit; the refreshing of the RTÉ Radio 1 and 2fm schedules; the continued investment in high-quality Irish drama and other output; the establishment of the children’s multimedia service RTÉjr and the development of a range of new digital services including; Saorview, RTÉ News Now (both on television and on mobile devices), RTÉ Player International, and GAAGO.
RTÉ made a surplus in 2013 and 2014.