THE CEO OF a production company has resigned from the RTÉ board just two months into his term.
Larry Bass said he issued his resignation to the Arts and Culture Minister Catherine Martin after he attended his first RTÉ board meeting last Thursday.
Bass is the CEO of ShinAwiL, the production company behind a number of television shows including Dancing with the Stars.
A statement from Bass said that it “emerged” following last week’s meeting that there was a “degree of discomfort by a number of members on the Board with having an independent producer who is also a supplier to RTÉ”.
“In the interests of my business and that of RTÉ I decided to resign. I have tendered my resignation to the Minister,” Bass said.
He was appointed to a position on the RTÉ board in mid-July this year and his term was due to last until 2026.
RTÉ board members are appointed through several different ways – some through the Arts and Culture Minister and some through the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications.
In an interview published in yesterday’s Sunday Times, Bass said he was taken aback by the attitude towards him at the board meeting.
The newspaper quotes Bass as saying he fears he was being treated like a “bad smell”.
Bass criticised the government last summer after Dancing with the Stars was cancelled for the year due to Covid-19 restrictions.
He had appealed to the government to “take seriously the value of our fantastic creative industries that are now suffering not from a virus, but from lack of correct support or any certainty about the future”.
In a statement issued to the Irish Times this evening, RTÉ board chair Moya Doherty said she had been notified of Bass’ decision and thanked him for his commitment and contribution to Irish creative industries.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say