Businessman Daire Hickey is to step down from the board of broadcaster RTÉ after four years of service.
Mr Hickey has written to the Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan to notify him of his resignation. He has served as a member of the RTÉ Board since July 2021.
RTÉ chairman Terence O’Rourke said: “Daire has been a member of the RTÉ board through some of the most challenging years in the organisation’s history. He has taken the decision now to stand down to concentrate on other commitments. We thank him for his service.”
Mr Hickey was a co-founder of the Web Summit.
He was on the board of RTÉ through some of its most turbulent years. During a routine audit of the organisation’s accounts two years ago, an issue emerged over payments made to broadcaster Ryan Tubridy.
Within days, accountancy firm Grant Thornton was commissioned by RTÉ board’s audit and risk committee to carry out a full investigation.
The initial issue related to payments linked to a deal between Mr Tubridy and Renault Ireland. Under the deal, which was underwritten by RTÉ, Mr Tubridy would be paid €75,000 in exchange for a number of appearances.
When Renault pulled out of the deal after a year, RTÉ were left to cover the payments for the next two years, which totalled €150,000. The payments were made to Mr Tubridy, through his agent NK Management, by RTÉ through a “barter account” used to trade goods and services.
RTÉ informed then-minister for media Catherine Martin about a potential issue, but not that it related to payments to a presenter.
She was advised a “fact finding” exercise had been commissioned “in response to a payment queried by the auditors”, said a spokesman for the minister.
Earlier that month Mr Tubridy had announced he would be stepping down as host of the Late Late Show, after 14 years in the role.
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