Former RTÉ chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh unsuccessfully sought a phone call with Minister for Arts and Media Catherine Martin during a hectic series of exchanges in the run-in to her resignation.
However, no phone call was arranged and Ms Ní Raghallaigh ultimately resigned, having told Ms Martin she would do so if she received a letter expressing disappointment over the former chair’s failure to give accurate information about the board’s involvement in approving an exit package for RTÉ's former chief financial officer.
When asked why there was no direct phone call that evening, Ms Martin has previously indicated her preference at the time was for a face to face meeting with officials.
A cache of documents sent to the Oireachtas media committee contains an account of phone calls between Ms Ní Raghallaigh and the department on February 22nd, starting with the clarification from the RTÉ chair at 10am that the remuneration committee had signed off on Richard Collins’ deal.
The crux of the crisis is that Ms Ní Raghallaigh has argued she previously made clear to the department that the board had a role in signing off on the package, but later misremembered and told Ms Martin that it had not. Ms Martin later stated publicly the board had no role, and latterly lost trust in the RTÉ chair following the 10am phone call, precipitating her dramatic resignation.
At 2pm, a senior official, Triona Quill, called Ms Ní Raghallaigh and told her of the Minister’s concern, with the chair responding that she had phoned the former secretary general last October to say a deal had been done. It states that Ms Ní Raghallaigh told the official that “she imagined that she would have also referred to the role of the remuneration committee in that conversation”.
Ms Ní Raghallaigh has disputed whether she said this, saying her use of the word “imagined” referred to what she thought the secretary general told the Minister in October. In her statement on Monday, the former chair said that her use of the word “is now being misrepresented” and on three occasions insisted she had told the Department about the role of the committee.
In the same call, Ms Ní Raghallaigh was told that Ms Martin was considering sending a letter outlining her disappointment. Half an hour later, according to the note, Ms Ní Raghallaigh rang the secretary general, Feargal Ó Coigligh, of the department and “expressed her unhappiness at the prospect of receiving a letter from the Minister” and said if one arrived, it “would demonstrate a lack of confidence in her as chair and that she felt she would be unable to remain on in the position”.
Later that day, the former secretary general Katherine Licken told Mr Ó Coigligh that she had no recollection of being told Mr Collins’ exit deal had been approved by the remuneration committee.
Shortly before 7pm, the secretary general rang Ms Ní Raghallaigh telling her that Ms Martin was planning to go on Prime Time and if asked, she “could not conceal” that she had been given the wrong information, and that she had decided to issue the letter and to seek a formal meeting.
Ms Ní Raghallaigh said she was unhappy about that development and would resign if she received the letter – and would be happy to speak to the Minister on the phone. In her statement on Monday, the former chair said that at this point she formed the view that a “plan was afoot” involving the letter and the Prime Time appearance. At 7.30pm, the assistant secretary made a final phone call to Ms Ní Raghallaigh telling her Ms Martin had decided to issue the letter.
The document pack also contains the brief letter sent by Ms Martin, which outlines how she was asked if there was any board involvement in Mr Collins’ exit package.
“You advised me that the Board had no role. You have today clarified that this was an error and that the Remuneration Committee approved the severance package in relation to Mr Collins on 10 October 2023.”
“I am deeply disappointed that I did not receive the correct information on this important matter,” she wrote, inviting to her to a meeting on the following morning at 10am to discuss the matter.
Early the following morning, Ms Ní Raghallaigh resigned her position.
Is Catherine Martin in political danger?
Ms Martin also outlined 12 occasions she has met Ms Ní Raghallaigh since the crisis at RTÉ emerged on June 22nd last year. This comes after committee members probed her level of engagement – and after Ms Ní Raghallaigh said in her statement that it is “not true” that there were scheduled or formal meetings on a monthly basis, and that she had only “had a handful” of meetings with Ms Martin directly.
Ms Martin also outlines how she met Ms Ní Raghallaigh on December 7th, 2022, on February 13th, 2023, and on May 10th, alongside the incoming director general Kevin Bakhurst.
“This brings to 15 the number of meetings I had with the former chair over the 15 months of her tenure.”
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