Director change

One of the best-known faces of RTE, newsreader Anne Doyle, is to stand for election, that is if there is an election, for the one-worker director place on the RTE Authority. The position is currently held by Q & A producer, Betty Purcell. When the last authority was being appointed five years ago, the then arts minister, Michael D. Higgins, decided on an election among the 2,000-strong workforce for the traditional place, but there is no compunction on the Government to have an election at all, and the current minister, Sile de Valera, has yet to address the issue. The new authority, which takes over on June 1st under chairman, Paddy Wright, has a difficult time ahead, what with the first-ever deficit being reported shortly for 1999; funding problems; licence-fee rises; and three new digital channels. The members of the authority receive the sum of £4,000 a year for their efforts.