RTÉ Board Members
| Member | First Appointed | Term-End Date |
| Terence O’Rourke | 05/03/2024 | 28/11/2027 |
| Kevin Bakhurst | 10/7/2023 | 09/7/2028 |
| Aideen Howard | 29/11/2022 | 28/11/2027 |
| Anne O’Leary* | 04/11/2014 | 3/11/2024 |
| Daire Hickey | 13/07/2021 | 12/07/2026 |
| David Harvey | 13/07/2021 | 12/07/2026 |
| Susan Ahern | 13/07/2021 | 12/07/2026 |
| Jonathan Ruane | 08/03/2022 | 12/07/2026 |
| Terri Moloney | 05/03/2024 | 04/03/2029 |
| Neasa Hardiman | 05/03/2024 | 18/03/2025 |
| Noreen O’Kelly | 20/03/2024 | 03/11/2024 |
| Shirley Bradshaw | 20/03/2024 | 03/11/2024 |
*Serving second term as RTÉ Board Member
**RTÉ Staff representative to be elected following the appointment of Robert Shortt as Company Secretary on 1st January 2024.
Six Board members are appointed on the nomination of the Minister; the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media proposes four members to the Minister; the Director General of RTÉ is an ex officio member; and one member of staff is appointed following election.
Terence O’Rourke, Chair
Chartered Accountant and former Managing Partner with KPMG Ireland until 2013, and of KPMG Global Executive Team. Former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. Current Chair of ESB, and Former chair of Enterprise Ireland, and the IMI and former Board member of the Children’s Health Foundation and the Irish Times. Currently Board member of The Hugh Lane Gallery, the Irish Film Institute and Hibernia Reit PLC.
Kevin Bakhurst, Director-General
(Ex-officio member following appointment as Director-General on 10 July 2023)
Kevin Bakhurst officially commenced the role of Director-General of RTÉ on Mondayh 10th July 2023.
Kevin Bakhurst was previously Managing Director of News & Current Affairs at RTÉ and Deputy Director General from September 2012 – October 2016. He was also a member of the RTÉ Executive throughout this period and served as acting Director General for a six-month period.
Prior to re-joining RTÉ, Kevin Bakhurst was Group Director, Broadcasting and Online at Ofcom where he was a member of Ofcom Board. Kevin’s responsibilities included setting Broadcast Strategy and Policy for UK broadcasting regulation, creating and implementing the framework for regulating the BBC, enforcing and developing editorial standards for UK broadcasters and leading work on the future of UK Public Service Broadcasting which has led directly to new government legislation. He has led Ofcom’s work on the UK’s new Online Safety Policy and built a team of around 350 to deliver it, including a new data and technology team, and in the process shaping the overall transformation of Ofcom to take on the new duties.
Between 2006 and 2012, Kevin Bakhurst held a range of senior editorial positions at the BBC, including Controller, BBC News Channel and Deputy Head, BBC Newsroom from 2005. He was also a member of the BBC’s London 2012 Olympics Steering Committee.
Aideen Howard (Board Member)
Aideen Howard is Director of The Ark Cultural Centre for Children in Temple Bar, Dublin. She has worked in theatre and the arts for over two decades as an artistic director, producer and commissioner of new work. Her leadership of The Ark combines advocacy and art-making for children in the belief that they have a right to art and culture as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Prior to The Ark, Aideen was Literary Director of the Abbey Theatre and is editor of Irish Shorts: New Plays from The Abbey Theatre. She was founding Artistic Director of the multi-disciplinary Mermaid Arts Centre and has worked as literary consultant to Arts Council projects. In 2014 she curated the poetry programme of The Mountains to Sea Festival.
Aideen has been a member of the Advisory Council for Children and the Creative Youth Expert Advisory Group. She is a former member of the National Campaign for the Arts. She holds a BA in English and German from Trinity College, Dublin and an MA in Drama from UCD. In 2019 she returned to education and completed a Certificate in Governance at The Institute of Public Administration. Aideen is currently a PhD candidate at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Anne O’Leary
Anne O’Leary is an experienced business executive with a proven track record in helping companies develop new routes to market and exploit technology to optimise potential. Anne has a very good understanding of corporate governance and compliance. As a member of the Institute of Directors, she has an updated understanding of the requirements of both private and State boards. She is a successful entrepreneur, building and selling a world-class technology business, with a strong concentration on strategic partnerships, sales management, marketing, product development and internal/lexternal relationship management. Anne has a broad range of experience across a number of different business sectors. She has a demonstrated ability in diagnostics, strategic planning, facilitation of teams and individuals, and sustainable revenue growth.
Susan Ahern
Susan is a practising barrister, accredited mediator and international arbitrator. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, an arbitrator of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and was appointed to the CAS Anti-Doping Division for the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020.
Susan has over 25 years’ experience in commercial and sports law practice, sports administration and corporate governance as both an executive and as a non-executive director on numerous boards including Sport Ireland, Cricket Ireland and 2023 Cycling World Championships. Until 2016, Susan was the Head of Legal & Legislative Affairs at World Rugby, where she was central to the delivery of four Rugby World Cups and established the World Rugby Integrity Unit.
Today, Susan represents clients before the courts and tribunals, conducts inquiries, sits as an arbitrator and mediator, and has a number of regulatory roles sitting as an independent decision maker in professional disciplinary, conduct and commercial matters. Susan is an advisor to international bodies in particular in the areas of corporate governance and dispute resolution.
Daire Hickey
Daire Hickey is a founder and Managing Partner at 150Bond. He provides strategic advice to c-level executives helping them to amplify their message and grow their network. The firm has 30 executives based between New York and Dublin, it works with high growth companies, venture capitalists and Fortune 500 companies
Daire co-founded Web Summit. He is also an investor in a number of startups and venture firms and was previously a journalist.
David Harvey
David Harvey is a former television and radio presenter and award winning television producer who has interests in a number of media related and internationally focused companies. He has held a number of key managerial, production and board positions and has been chosen to bring these skills as a non-executive chairman and director to a range of other broadcast and non-broadcast related institutions and companies.
He was formerly chairman of the National Library of Ireland, IADT Dun Laoghaire and the St Patrick’s Festival. He served for many years as chairman of the People in Need Trust (which engaged with RTÉ in the promotion of the RTÉ/People in Need Telethon). He is also a former director of An Bord Bia and is currently chairman of the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
He holds a BBS and MA from Trinity College, Dublin.
Jonathan Ruane
Jonathan Ruane is a Lecturer and Research Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is a faculty member within the Global Economics and Management group at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a research lead at MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE). He is a former Fulbright recipient and an Adjunct Professor at Trinity College Dublin. His research interests are at the intersection of digital economics, advanced computing, strategy, and international markets.
Jonathan teaches courses across MIT’s School of Management and MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). He co-led the development of a number of pioneering graduate courses at MIT in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing.
Jonathan is an experienced mountaineer including summits of Mount Everest and the Eiger. He competed in the US and internationally with MIT Rowing Club and was formerly an ultra-distance marathon runner.
Terri Moloney
Senior Director of HR, Strategy and Operations in Salesforce Ireland 2015-22 and previously Head of HR in Boston Scientific (2013-2015) and HR Director in Hilti. She has a degree in Personnel Management, an MSc in Training and Performance Management and a Diploma in Company Direction. She is a Non-Executive Board member of Enterprise Ireland and is on the Governing Body of UCC. She chaired the Dublin Regional Skills Forum 2021-23.
Dr Neasa Hardiman
An IFTA and BAFTA winning Executive Producer, Director and Writer (including for Happy Valley) who has worked with Netflix, Amazon, Disney and Hulu as well as public service broadcasters including the BBC, Channel 4, RTÉ and TG4. Holds a PhD in Film Studies and will shortly obtain a Diploma in Generative AI from UCD. Currently on the Board of Trinity College Dublin, the Irish Film Institute, the Dublin International Film Festival and Screen Skills Ireland.
Noreen O’Kelly
Noreen O’Kelly is a chartered accountant who was appointed to the Board of ESB for 10 years from 2013 to 2023, where she also served as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee (2014 to 2023) and acting chair for a number of months during 2021. She is currently independent director, and chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, of Re-Turn, Ireland’s national deposit and return scheme. She was previously appointed from 2016 to 2021 to the Board of Rehab, including serving as chair of the Audit and Risk Committee and a member of remuneration committee. Noreen’s executive experience includes a number of roles with Independent News & Media PLC and C&C Group Ltd, and she currently works as part-time consultant on Corporate Governance with UK-based firm Advanced Boardroom Excellence, which assesses effectiveness of boards primarily in the UK.
Shirley Bradshaw
Shirley Bradshaw has worked with RTÉ since 1994 in a number of roles including roles in RTÉ’s Independent Production Unit and studio operations; she now works as a lighting camera operator in RTÉ Current Affairs. Shirley has previously served as a SIPTU staff representative, a union rep to RTÉ’s internal Industrial Relations Tribunal, and Chair of the RTÉ Trade Union Group. Shirley graduated with a BA (Hons) in Art and Design from University of Ulster, and also holds an MA in Film and Television which she completed in DCU, while she also completed a year’s contract with European Commision in Brussels. Shirley recently returned to her studies as a mature student, graduating in Computer and Electronic Engineering from Trinity College. [Note: The Broadcasting Act provides that one member of the RTÉ Board shall be a staff member who is appointed following an election.]
For the RTÉ Audit and Risk Committee Terms of Reference, click here.
For the Remuneration & Management Development Subcommittee Terms of Reference, click here.
For Code of Business Conduct for RTÉ Board Members, click here.