RTÉ has appointed its next director general. Who is he?
The new RTÉ director general, or DG, is Kevin Bakhurst. The 12th person to hold the role, he is a former BBC news editor and executive who was RTÉ's news and current affairs boss from 2012 until 2016.
Shortly after losing out in that year’s DG race to Dee Forbes, he returned to Britain to work for communications watchdog Ofcom. This makes the Londoner (57) a poacher turned gamekeeper turned poacher again – or, as one song-punning RTÉ staffer put it, it’s the “return of the Bak”.
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So Bakhurst’s back. Are people happy about this?
RTÉ's workforce will have breathed a sigh of relief at the choice of Bakhurst. He has an affable and largely unflappable manner, knows public service broadcasting inside out and is understood to get on well with the politicians who ultimately control RTÉ's purse strings.
His long career in news means he has the skills to be “editor-in-chief” while, during his last RTÉ spell, he also served as deputy director general for two years and acting director general for six months. This makes him more than familiar with the inner workings of Montrose.
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Who appointed him?
After a competitive process run by the RTÉ board and executive recruitment firm Spencer Stuart, Bakhurst became the preferred candidate of a three-person selection panel comprising new RTÉ chairwoman Siún Ní Raghallaigh and two other board directors.
He then became “the unanimous choice” of the board and his appointment went to the Government for its consent.
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That sounds very smooth and straightforward. Was it?
Not quite. Some board members initially queried aspects of the selection process at a Good Friday meeting said to be “pretty fraught” and “not pleasant”.
This meeting followed reports that An Post chief executive David McRedmond had been knocked out of contention for the DG job.
In coded references to McRedmond, at least one board member posited that RTÉ needed a more transformational figure to lead it. This view was then leaked to the Business Post.
What did McRedmond say about this?
After a second weekend of press coverage, he became the first person to go on the record about the “ongoing speculation”, describing it as “damaging to RTÉ, to An Post and to those involved”.
McRedmond said he had been asked to apply for the DG role, confirmed he had not been shortlisted and said he accepted the decision.
How did Ní Raghallaigh explain what happened?
“Healthy debate, rigorous debate” is part of the process, she told the Oireachtas media committee. But she also admitted the boardroom leaks had been “very unfortunate” and did not deny a suggestion they had caused “brand damage” to RTÉ.
“I think everybody would agree that it wasn’t ideal, but it happened. I can’t un-happen it.”
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What has Bakhurst said and what are his intentions?
He is “honoured and delighted” to take up the role, he said, adding that while RTÉ faces “huge challenges” amid global competition, he is confident it can “deliver the ambitious change needed to remain valued and relevant” to audiences.
As for his intentions, we don’t know what they are yet, but there will inevitably be many hands to shake and some big calls to make.
What else do we know about him?
In his previous stint at RTÉ, Bakhurst became known for his embrace of Irish culture, with the Cambridge French and German graduate taking Irish lessons and dropping in on Croke Park with his friend RTÉ sports presenter Marty Morrissey.
The RTÉ board shenanigans, meanwhile, are nothing compared to the messy state of another institution in which he has a keen interest: Chelsea FC.
