More Diverse, More Inclusive

RTÉ is committed to inspiring leadership in diversity and inclusion

Gender	Headcount Dec 2022
Female	886 (48%)
Male	982 (52%)
Total	1,868 (100%)

Diversity and Inclusion Internship

A successful, ongoing, and well-structured internship is crucial for RTÉ to find talent from all communities in Ireland. In 2020 we launched our paid internship programme with diversity and inclusion at its very core. While a small number of interns started in 2020, we had to pause the programme because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We re-started the project in 2022 and placed 10 interns across our television, radio, RTÉ newsroom and online teams. As well as providing the interns with invaluable work experience, they also received training from the leading figures of Ireland’s media industry and were allocated mentors throughout their time in RTÉ.

The interns worked together on a multimedia project in which trailblazers from the Black and Irish community gave their thoughts on the importance of celebrating Black History Month in Ireland.

You can view this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tadIpDyeVo8

Supporting Community Creativity

RTÉ worked with ReWrite and the Creative Futures Academy on a six-week summer programme for talent development. Our aim was to remove barriers to artistic and creative fulfilment for migrant/refugee artists in Ireland. This multi-faceted course provided arts and creativity training along with mentorship for ten 18–25-year-olds with family experience of Direct Provision. Students received skills training and workshops at RTÉ, Glencree Peace and Reconciliation Centre, MoLI and the National Concert Hall.

RTÉ also supported ReWrite’s Muslim Women Project which brought together ten Muslim women originally from Tanzania, Palestine, Kenya, Nigeria, Algeria, Somali, who now call Dublin home. This initiative gave women an important opportunity to be makers of art and explore their creativity for the first time.

Engagement project

The Engagement project was one of the key inclusion-related projects scheduled in the first half of 2022. We wanted to hear from members of communities which are under-represented in the Irish media about what they think about media in Ireland, what issues are important for them and to learn more about their media consumption habits.

We set up groups and heard from people from the Black and Irish community, the Eastern European community and the LGBTQ+ community. These well-attended and lively sessions were informative and engaging leaving everyone with key takeaways, but also with a lot of food for thought.

50:50

RTÉ is an external partner to 50:50 The Equality Project. This initiative uses a methodology that is rooted in data, creativity, practicality and passion to fundamentally shift representation within the media. It is a self-monitoring system, and it has been adopted by teams in RTÉ radio, television and online to look at the gender diversity in our content.

Teams monitor the number of women and men in their content, track their progress and report their data to RTÉ’s Diversity in Content Group, which reviews all the 50:50 data monthly. Following the methodology established by the 50:50 project, participating teams only count the contributors they control.

Stand-up Awareness Week

2022 marked the fourth year that RTÉ 2FM has teamed up with BeLonG To to support Stand Up Awareness Week. In November RTÉ 2FM broadcast interviews and stories from services users of BeLonG To Youth Services, a national organisation supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI+) young people in Ireland.

The campaign marks an important week where second-level schools, youth services, and Youthreach Centres throughout Ireland make a greater combined effort to take a stand against homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

Black History Month on RTÉ lyric fm

In October 2022, RTÉ lyric fm celebrated Black History Month across the station. As an ode to the remarkable legacy of Black composers, conductors and performers – we told their stories, highlighting their unique musical gifts. Every day in October, listeners heard prominent musical figures honouring the lives of Black musicians who have been under-represented in the world of classical music.