RTÉ sports department issues motion of no confidence in leadership over Ger Gilroy job

Detailed summary

The RTÉ sports department has issued a unanimous motion of no confidence in senior leadership at the State broadcaster over its handling of the appointment of Ger Gilroy. Staff…

The RTÉ sports department has issued a unanimous motion of no confidence in senior leadership at the State broadcaster over its handling of the appointment of Ger Gilroy.

Staff members held a chapel meeting of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Wednesday to discuss the appointment.

Members of the RTÉ sports department are said to be livid over an apparent lack of transparency regarding the circumstances leading to Gilroy becoming the presenter of the new Howler Sport podcast.

Gilroy helmed Off the Ball on Newstalk for 24 years, becoming its managing director in 2018.

At an Oireachtas media committee last week, RTÉ officials denied Gilroy had been headhunted. However, confusion remains over the sequence of events that led to his appointment.

In a recent interview with The Irish Times, Gilroy said he received a call from former Newstalk colleague Hugh Ormond, now RTÉ’s head of podcasts, who pitched a daily sports podcast to him.

These remarks were at odds with comments made by Patricia Monahan, RTÉ’s head of audio, who last month told the Irish Independent that Gilroy applied via an expressions-of-interest process.

Monahan last week told the media committee she “never said that Ger applied through an expression-of-interest process”. Rather, he took part in “an expressions-of-interest process” after which he was deemed “the most appropriate candidate”.

In a statement issued after the NUJ chapel meeting on Wednesday, members said: “Recent revelations regarding the appointment of a new podcast presenter have brought embarrassment, dishonour and ridicule, yet again, to RTÉ.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Irish Times. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.