Fintan Drury, who stepped down this week as chair of the RTÉ Authority, had exclusive responsibility for dealing with the Government in relation to the Ryder Cup.
Mr Drury's company, Platinum One, performs a range of functions for Ryder Cup Ltd and the European Tour, which together operate the Ryder Cup when it is staged in Europe.
A team of six staff is involved in this work and Mr Drury has exclusive responsibility in the Republic for liaising with the political community in Dublin. It is understood this was one of the reasons for his decision to step down this week.
With the Government currently deciding whether to designate the Ryder Cup as a "free to air" event, Mr Drury could have found himself representing RTÉ on the issue to Government, while also representing Ryder Cup Ltd and the European Tour.
Mr Drury told Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey, this week that his role with the Ryder Cup could present a conflict of interest.
When reports appeared earlier this year that Mr Dempsey might designate the event as a "free to air" broadcast, it is understood Mr Drury wrote to RTÉ director general Cathal Goan advising him of potential conflicts of interest.
At that stage Mr Drury believed if the issue arose at RTÉ Authority level, he could absent himself from the discussions.
However it is understood in more recent days Mr Drury concluded that, as the issue became increasingly political, it was proving impossible for him to continue in his RTÉ role. He advised the Minister of his views on Wednesday. An interim replacement is expected to be named shortly.
In a statement this week, Mr Dempsey said he spoke to Mr Drury in the new year and it looked as if no conflict would arise. "However, Mr Drury now believes this is no longer the case because there is now political debate about challenging the contractual position of Ryder Cup Ltd and Sky," the minister said.