1. Moya Doherty, Chair

Term of office: 4 November 2014–6 November 2022 (Reappointed for a second term on 6 November 2017)

Moya Doherty’s career encompasses the creative industries, theatre, radio and television production and presentation, both in Ireland and internationally. She fronted a number of arts, features and documentary programmes for RTÉ. As executive producer, Moya produced a number of charity telethons, the Eurovision Song Contest and the televised opening ceremony of the Special Olympics in Ireland in 2003. Moya developed the original concept for Riverdance and was the Commissioning Producer for the Eurovision Song Contest of 1994.

She is a director of Tyrone Productions, one of Ireland’s leading independent television production companies, whose output includes drama, documentary and entertainment programming. She was a founding director of the radio station Today FM.

Moya has sat on a number of arts-related boards, including seven years as chair of the Dublin International Theatre Festival, The Abbey Theatre, The Ark Children’s Theatre in Dublin, and Business to Arts and Walnut Hill Arts School in Massachusetts.

Moya has received numerous awards and accolades, including the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. She has also received honorary doctorates from the University of Ulster and the National University of Ireland in recognition of her ongoing commitment to the world of the arts in Ireland.

2. Dee Forbes, Director-General

Ex officio member following appointment as Director-General on 11 July 2016.

Dee Forbes was appointed Director-General of RTÉ with effect from 11 July 2016. Prior to taking up her role at RTÉ, Dee was based in London for more than 27 years, working for broadcasters and advertising agency Young and Rubicam.

Most recently she was President and Managing Director of Discovery Networks Northern Europe. Dee joined Discovery in 2010 as Head of the UK/Ireland operation and progressively grew her responsibilities to eventually lead the Northern Europe region, which included 18 markets and territories and 27 channels, both free-to-air and subscription, which broadcast to more than 276 million households across Northern Europe each month.

Before joining Discovery, Dee led Turner Broadcasting’s business in the UK and Ireland, which consisted of seven entertainment channels, including Cartoon Network, Boomerang and TCM. She spent several years working at Turner in a variety of commercial roles, including General Manager for the Nordic/Central and Eastern Europe and EMEA regions, and Head of Advertising Sales for Europe.

Dee is a former non-executive director of the board of The Irish Times and currently sits on the board of Munster Rugby. A native of Drimoleague in west Cork, Dee is a graduate of UCD where she studied history and politics.

3. Deborah Kelleher

Term of office: 4 November 2014–6 November 2022 (Reappointed for a second term on 6 November 2017)

Appointed Director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in October 2010, Deborah Kelleher has played an integral role in setting up and developing outreach, distance and academic courses in the RIAM over the last number of years.

She played a key part in the introduction of a specialised undergraduate degree in composition, the first music technology programme at the RIAM, and numerous professional development courses for teachers throughout the country. In 2013, RIAM became an Associated College of Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Deborah oversaw this significant transition.

She studied music at TCD and was awarded Master’s degrees in musicology (UCD) and business administration (Dublin City University). She was recognised as one of Ireland’s finest pianists of her generation and worked for many years as Head of Musicianship at the RIAM.

In recent years, she has specialised in working with singers and counts Ailish Tynan, Mairéad Buicke, Tara Erraught and the late Bernadette Greevy among her recital partners. She is a board member of the Dublin International Piano Competition, the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland and Lyric Opera. She has also served on the Arts Council’s Peer Review Panel.

Deborah is a Vice-President of the 12-person council of the Association of European Conservatoires (AEC), the umbrella body for more than 280 conservatoires in Europe.

4. Ian Kehoe

Term of office: 9 October 2018–8 October 2023

Ian Kehoe is an award winning journalist, author and broadcaster. In 2014, at the age of 34, he was appointed Editor of The Sunday Business Post newspaper, a position he held for four years. During that time, he was appointed to the board of the newspaper and an associated printing business.

Following this, Ian co-founded Currency Media Limited, which publishes the online business service The Currency. A former presenter and reporter with RTÉ’s Prime Time, he has made a number of major television documentaries, including Who’s Buying Ireland and The Great Irish Sell-Off.

Ian has twice been named as Ireland’s Business and Economics Journalist of the Year and has also won a Miriam Hederman O’Brien Award for his contribution to Irish fiscal policy. He is the co-author of Citizen Quinn, a bestselling book about the rise and fall of industrialist Seán Quinn.

A native of Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, he holds a BA in Journalism and an MA in International Relations from DCU.

5. Connor Murphy

Term of office: 19 March 2020–18 March 2025

Connor Murphy is a technology entrepreneur with a background in venture capital, management consulting and computer science. He is currently a member of the Techstars Venture Partner team and was previously MD of the Techstars SAP.iO programme in Berlin. He supports Techstars programmes in Melbourne, Seoul, Bangalore, Singapore, Oslo, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Munich and Berlin. He was previously CEO and Founder of Datahug, which exited to Nasdaq-listed Callidus Cloud (Nasdaq:CALD) and is now part of SAP.

Prior to Datahug, Connor worked with PA Consulting Group in London, New York and Washington, DC. He holds a first-class honours degree in computer science from University College Cork.

6. Dr P.J. Mathews

Term of office: 4 November 2014–3 November 2024 (Reappointed for a second term on 10 December 2019)

Dr P.J. Mathews is an associate professor in the School of English, Drama and Film at UCD and specialises in Irish literature and culture. He is the author of Revival (published by Field Day/Cork UP in 2003), a study of the Irish cultural revival period; editor of the Cambridge Companion to J.M. Synge (2009); and co-editor of A Handbook of the Irish Revival (published by the Abbey Theatre in 2015).

P.J. is the founder and director of academic podcasting for UCD scholarcast (www.ucd.ie/scholarcast).

He was director of the Parnell Summer School from 2002 to 2005 and was appointed Naughton Fellow and Visiting Associate Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame for 2007–8. He is an external member of the Irish studies group at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 and co-convenor of the Irish Studies Doctoral Research Network.

7. Anne O’Leary

Term of office: 4 November 2014–3 November 2024 (Reappointed for a second term on 10 December 2019)

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–external relationship management.

Anne has a broad range of experience across a number of business sectors. She has a demonstrated ability in diagnostics, strategic planning, facilitation of teams and individuals, and sustainable revenue growth.

8. Robert Shortt

Term of office: 29 May 2018–3 November 2024 (Reappointed for a second term on 10 December 2019)

Robert Shortt joined RTÉ as a journalist on the News at One in 1998 and has since worked across many of the programmes in the News & Current Affairs division. He has served as Business Correspondent and was part of the team that set up The Business on Radio 1. He spent four years as Washington Correspondent before moving to Prime Time in 2009. He has twice won a Smurfit Business Journalist Award for his reporting.

Before joining RTÉ, he worked for the Japanese financial newspaper The Nikkei and for the BBC. He was elected as the first chair of the NUJ’s RTÉ Sub Branch and served as Vice Chair of the RTÉ Trade Union Group (TUG) for three years. He holds a BA in English & Economics from UCD and an MSc Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Robert is currently RTÉ’s Economics Correspondent.