After spending almost 25 years within RTÉ and its related companies the appointment of Mr Cathal Goan as director general has a certain inevitability about it.
Last night's announcement will certainly come as little surprise to the 1,850 staff at the station. Many of them have worked with Mr Goan in various capacities.
While people with track records outside RTÉ like Mr Conor Hayes, Ms Bride Rosney and Ms Geraldine O'Leary have joined the company's executive board in recent years, Mr Goan is very much what they call a "lifer".
He has vast experience of RTÉ, its industrial relations procedures, its politics and its place in the broadcasting landscape. While most acknowledge that Mr Goan's exposure to financial management is not that broad, his editorial experience is considerable. Mr Goan is a fluent Irish speaker with an interest in Gaelic culture. He is an expert on Irish music and chairman of the Traditional Music Archives. A relaxed and affable figure, Mr Goan is used to defending the station in the media and is believed to have relatively cordial relations with most leading politicians. Most agree that Mr Goan is not likely to rush for radical change, being more inclined to incremental measures.
Mr Goan has acknowledged the station can do certain things better and sharpening programming and schedules will be one of his priorities. As a major supporter of public-service broadcasting, Mr Goan is likely to favour more home-produced programming, drama, and news and current affairs.
Educated at UCD, Mr Goan initially worked with RTÉ Radio as a producer before moving to RTÉ TV in 1988. There he worked in current affairs before being appointed editor of Cúrsaí, the Irish current affairs and arts programme; in 1990 he was appointed editor, Irish language programming, before taking over as head of TG4.