John Burns: Bakhurst gears up again for lengthy RTÉ director general competition

“The whole thing seemed to drag on interminably. I don’t know why it had to take so long.” That’s Kevin Bakhurst describing the process of finding a director general for RTÉ. While he could have uttered those words last weekend, in fact the quote comes from October 2016, after Bakhurst failed in his first bid for the top job at Montrose, which went instead to Dee Forbes.

“Some of us did presentations,” Bakhurst told the Irish Daily Mail just before he returned to his native England and a job with the regulator Ofcom. “I prepared a written presentation, about 50 or 60 pages, about my vision for the future of RTÉ. Then I gave a verbal presentation to the interview panel.”

He is surely dusting off that presentation to use again. Because according to reports last weekend, his appointment as DG was held up after a number of RTÉ directors insisted that Bakhurst, the choice of the three-person subcommittee who interviewed candidates, make a presentation to the full board about his vision for the station.

Managing director of RTÉ News and Current Affairs from September 2012 until his departure four years later, Bakhurst was also deputy DG for two years. He said he gave the top job “my best shot” and concluded that the board “had a different skillset in mind”.

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He denied that being turned down as DG had prompted him to leave Ireland. A headhunter approached him about the Ofcom job, and the selection process was “mercifully quick” in comparison to RTÉ’s, he said. “I couldn’t have gone through the director general ordeal again,” he told the Mail.

Yet here he is now, going through it again. Will he get the job this time? Probably, even if some board members seem to want An Post’s David McRedmond instead. The McRedmondites are unlikely to persuade a majority of the board, however.

Asked in 2016 if the DG selection process had been scrupulously fair, Bakhurst replied: “I’m sure it was.” One wonders will he feel the same about this one?

Why has the appointment of RTÉ's next leader run into trouble?

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Working for the love of it at Tech Summit

The Dublin Tech Summit, to be held in the RDS on May 31st and June 1st, is expecting up to 8,000 attendees to hear hundreds of speakers from all over the world. The summit offers “great opportunities for networking and connecting with tech founders, investors and other media”, organisers claim.

With tickets costing €335 plus VAT, which brings the total to €412.05, you’d want to be getting many such opportunities. That’s a short-term discount, by the way – the usual price is €435.

The Summit is on the hunt for hosts and moderators, and last week contacted Deirdre O’Shaughnessy, news editor of the Irish Examiner, to ask if she’d be interested. “As panels are filling up fast, we would appreciate if you could please get back to us as soon as possible. We would love to see you there!” the organiser burbled. And what were the fee arrangements, O’Shaughnessy inquired. “Unfortunately, DTS don’t have the budget to pay moderators,” she was told.

There’s a questionnaire on the summit’s website for applicants to be host or moderator. The last question is: “Do you expect payment?” The options are “yes” and “no”. It seems fair to suggest that only those who say “no” will be considered?

End in sight for An Post’s lottery winning streak?

An Post could end its connection with the National Lottery this summer when the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan sells its majority stake. The State company has been involved in the lottery since it was launched in 1986, as operator until 2014 and then as a minority shareholder in Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) which is almost halfway through its 20-year licence.

The Canadian pension fund, which owns 76.8 per cent of PLI, wants out, and Allwyn, Europe’s biggest lottery group, is the likely buyer. The remaining 24.1 per cent shareholding is split between An Post and An Post Pension Funds, which are in a “drag and tag” arrangement. This means that when the Ontario pensioners sell, An Post can be forced to offload its stake too.

The new majority shareholder might want to keep An Post onboard, though. It would give the new consortium more heft and Irishness. But how much would they be prepared to pay?

Sources at the GPO predict An Post may sell anyway, since the lottery is not considered a strategic asset, and the cash could be put to better use. In 2020, An Post valued its 10.7 per cent shareholding at €33.9 million, although some industry sources doubt PLI is worth €300 million today.

It might even be half that, since Allwyn seems to be the only prospective purchaser. Having to take a writedown on its carrying value of €30 million would certainly be an unfortunate end to An Post’s lottery winning streak.

Celia Larkin’s risk-free offer

While Bertie Ahern is back in Fianna Fáil, and being tipped as a presidential candidate for 2025, his ex-partner Celia Larkin, or Cecelia as she is now known, is rejuvenating Limerick city centre. Three years ago, Larkin was appointed as Limerick’s revitalisation manager by the local council with a brief to increase footfall and promote business, particularly retail. Last July, she was given the additional role of senior executive officer.

While Ahern was on The Late Late Show answering questions about his presidential ambitions, Larkin appeared in the more low-key Limerick Post, encouraging local businesses to enter a competition to win free retail space in a new pop-up store in the city. The prize is worth more than €30,000, since it includes rent and marketing supports from An Post and Champion Green.

Larkin explained that the step up from creating a product to opening a retail space can be daunting. “The Limerick pop-up is a super risk-free opportunity for anyone looking to test the retail market,” she told the Post.

Lighthouse throws spotlight on Hammerson assets

An activist shareholder in Hammerson, Ireland’s biggest retail property investment firm, is demanding that it dispose of assets. Lighthouse, the investment vehicle of former director Desmond de Beer, has thrown down the gauntlet in advance of Hammerson’s annual general meeting on May 4th.

Lighthouse, which has a 22 per cent stake, complains that the focus has shifted away from “its core proposition as retail REIT”, and suggests a sale of investments in value retail.

What might it mean for Hammerson’s Irish portfolio if Lighthouse gets its way? The firm owns Dundrum Town Centre alongside the German insurer Allianz, plus the old Dundrum Shopping Centre, which is set to be developed as an 880-apartment scheme. That seems ripe for sale, and could fetch up to €300 million.

Hammerson’s share in the Pavilions shopping centre in Swords, and the Ilac in Dublin city centre, are probably safe from Lighthouse’s beams, but its 40 per cent stake in the Kildare Village outlet mall might be in the spotlight.

Surely the Irish asset that Hammerson’s shareholders would most like to be rid of, however, is Dublin Central, the 2.2-hectare site off O’Connell Street including the old Carlton cinema and buildings connected to the Easter Rising.

The company has been bogged down there for years, and is still awaiting decisions on five separate planning applications, while taking a High Court legal challenge against the city council’s decision to put protection status on six buildings it wants to demolish. The function of a lighthouse, of course, is to direct lost souls away from quagmires.