The former chair of the RTÉ Board Moya Doherty has said that Toy Show the Musical was a risk worth taking and like all risks, some fail and some don't.
She made the comments at a lecture examining the future of public broadcasting, the first in a series to honour the late broadcaster Gay Byrne.
In July, documentation given to the Oireachtas Committee on Media confirmed losses at Toy Show The Musical reached €2.2 million, with just over 11,000 tickets being sold for the shows.
During a lecture, Moya Doherty was asked about her legacy and what she considered her greatest regret.
She said: "I think my biggest regret was the sadness of the events that occurred six months after I left the organisation, they were revealed and I think that was actually quite heartbreaking."
She added that framing her legacy would be "up to somebody else".
She said public service broadcasting was in crisis due to challenges including AI and social media.
"I think it's very difficult for it to find its level and its voice," she told Pat Kenny.
Asked about appearing at tonight's event, which one TD described as ill-timed, after she could not appear before the last sitting of the Public Accounts Committee, she said she had been invited to speak a year ago, long before June when the RTÉ crisis emerged.
Ms Doherty said there had to be a new way of thinking about public service broadcasting and she said a degree of optimism was now needed.
"I think there has to be the courage of hope. And I believe that the way forward is forming public and private partnerships," she said.
She said new technology and advancements would help with this but that RTÉ could not do it alone.
Asked about the Grant Thornton review into Toy Show the Musical, Ms Doherty said: "I have cooperated in all the reviews so far I've been asked to, except for the Toy Show The Musical because I was actually able to attend at that time."
She said that Toy Show The Musical had been a risk worth taking "and like all risks, some fail and some don't".
She said talking about RTÉ's future was "now so important".
Ms Doherty added: "We have been mired in fighting about what happened in the past.
"It would be a terrible shame, that for the many mistakes that were made within RTÉ, to frame the real reason why public service media exists, and is so important and particularly in our current climate politically, public service media is essential for democracy."
Director General of RTÉ Kevin Bakhurst, who also attended the event, said the final touches are being put to the strategic review of RTÉ.
He said he wanted to liaise with staff and politicians before it is released.
Mr Bakhurst said he was working out exactly how the strategic framework review can be published but he said he wanted to speak to staff first and liaise with politicians.
Asked about the timing of tonight's lecture, he said it was really important that public service broadcasting be discussed and he did not think anyone should be under any doubt that this was a critical time for RTÉ.
Whatever forum it was discussed in, it was time to take this seriously.
He said the veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne would have been concerned about the crisis at RTÉ.
Gay Byrne’s daughter Suzy Byrne who attended tonight’s lecture with her family, agreed.
She said: "He would have enjoyed talking about it and things are changing. Although there’s been turmoil the last couple of months, things are changing for the better and they’ll come out of it the right side.
There is a lot of pain to go through but there are great people involved in RTÉ, she said.
Today’s lecture was held two days before the fourth anniversary of her father’s death.
Pat Kenny said that Gay Byrne had been a giant among broadcasters.
"He really had that sense of what it is to be a public service broadcaster, I mean, he related very directly to his audience, his conversations were for them with them," Mr Kenny said.
He said Gay Byrne would have been saddened by what's happening in RTÉ, which he described as "self-inflicted wounds", however, he said Gay Byrne would have been thinking of "solutions and ways to make it better".
Asked about his own high earnings when he was at RTÉ and whether these had contributed to problems with the public perception of the broadcaster, he said: "Well, I was very well paid. They were the good old days, advertising was buoyant, sponsorship was great, audiences were huge, so it was the heyday of broadcasting."
He said he did not like this "push downwards" all the time, because it affects everybody.
Mr Kenny said: "In the same way as when you lift the minimum wage, it pushes all the boats up, which are maybe slightly ahead of the minimum wage.
"When you start bringing the top wages, you're also compressing everyone below. So I think people should be careful what they wish for."
Asked if tonight’s lecture was ill-timed, he said that like MsDoherty he had been asked to speak a year ago and said he also had stuck to the commitment.
"Were you to cancel because some politician voiced some opinion that a debate about public service broadcasting was ill timed or inappropriate, when it was in the planning for a year. I think that's nonsense," he said.
Minister for Media Catherine Martin did not attend tonight’s lecture and although it is understood invitations were issued to members of the Oireachtas media committee, no TDs were seen in attendance.
The Department of Media said in a statement that the expert advisory committee review on governance and culture at RTÉ review was ongoing.
It said Ms Martin had consistently emphasised the importance of public service broadcasting to society and our democracy.
As regards the licence fee, the Department said it is the current model that supports public service broadcasting, including the independent production sector through the sound and vision scheme.
It said Ms Martin had consistently called for the public to pay the licence fee, as provided for by law.
