Siún Ní Raghallaigh: Government has 'wilfully neglected' public service media

Siún Ní Raghalliagh, the Dunfanaghy born former Chairperson of the RTÉ board, has accused the Irish government of the 'wilful neglect' of public service media.

In what represented her first public appearance since her controversial resignation as the chair of the RTÉ board in February, Ms Ní Raghalliagh addressed the MacGill Summer School in Glenties on Saturday morning.

She was highly critical of the government's handling of RTÉ's finances.

“RTÉ has, in real terms, suffered a continuous decrease in funding,” Ní Raghalliagh said. “I would call this, at best, political inertia or more likely wilful neglect.

“It is a form of state control of our public service media. Not an active control, but more an inertia from indecision and a failure to grasp the nettle.”

RTÉ was embroiled in scandal since June 2023 after revelations about undisclosed payments made to former Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy while exit payments to former senior executives also caused contoversy at the embattled broadcaster.

“The intensity of the past year for RTÉ has again put a focus on the public service media – but not in a good way,” Ms Ní Raghalliagh said.

“The issues of governance took over and questions were rightly asked. What have we learned? In short, the lesson learned is that culture trumps governance . . . There is a deeper discussion that needs to happen, a more dispassionate one.”

Later, in reference to a question from the audience, Ms Ní Raghallaigh, who was one of the founding members of Teilifís na Gaeilge, which has since become TG4, said she feels there is a culture change in RTÉ.

She said: “You may not see it extremely evident at the minute but, believe me, there is a culture change happening in there.”

Ms Ní Raghalliagh said Ireland needs “a media that has the Irish public's interests in mind rather than the interest of the Irish state”.

“Big tech has taken over media, we can't stop it and we don't necessarily want to stop it,” she said.

“What we can do is that we can ensure we don't lose our own identity. We need to ensure that Irish media is not entirely swamped by global service and by the technology gatekeepers who operate in this State. Without stability, our media system is extremely vulnerable.”

It is expected that an announcement will be made this week that the TV Licence will be retained with multi-annual funding from the exchequer to top up RTÉ's finances. Senior government figures have been battling on the funding issue over a lengthy period.

Ms Ní Raghalliagh said: “We have a household licence fee with an outdated trigger point centred around the ownership of a television set despite the fact that our public service content is accessible across all platforms.

“I contend that the funding issue is in control of the political system. TG4 is directly funded by the exchequer on a year-to-year basis, meaning that long-term planning is impossible and there is no certainty about the level of funding; no stability, which is exactly what is to be avoided, according to the government.”

Ms Ní Raghalliagh told the attendance in the Highlands Hotel that she believed it was in everyone's interest to ensure diversity of content by growing and strengthening the independent production sector.

“This takes commitment and planning and that comes from stability of funding for the public service media,” she said.