TG4 Authority
TG4 is managed by a board, appointments to which, as outlined in the Broadcasting Act of 2009, are made by the Government on the nomination of the minister of a specified department. The responsibility is currently part of the portfolio for the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, which is headed by Minister Catherine Martin, who in late 2022, appointed Anna Ní Ghallachair as Chairperson of the TG4 Board.
The following 12 individuals comprise the TG4 Board:
Anna Ní Ghallachair, Chairperson
She was appointed Chairperson of the TG4 Board in November 2022. She has a long history of work in Ireland and abroad with groups interested in the teaching and promotion of languages.
Prior to her work for TG4, she served as Chairperson to the Board of Údarás na Gaeltachta from 20 November 2012 to 19 November 2017, and again from 16 January 2018 to 15 January 2023. She previously served as Chair from
She was also a member of Coimisiún na Gaeltachta (2000-2002) and a member of the language education policy working group in the Department of Education and Skills (2008-9). She is a former chairperson of the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics (2004-2007), and Raidió na Gaeltachta (2010-2013).
Currently, she is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) and of the Royal Irish Academy’s Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication Committee.
Alan Esslemont, Director General
In 1995, Alan Esslemont was appointed to the senior management group of Teilifís na Gaeilge which launched TnaG in October 1996 and was appointed Director of Television for TG4 in 2000. In December 2007 Alan moved to Scotland to help set up BBC ALBA, the Scots Gaelic television channel, where he was Head of Content for nine years. In October 2016 Alan came back to work in Ireland to undertake the chief executive role as Director General at TG4. He was a founding board member and treasurer of the Irish Film and Television Academy (1997-2000) and in 2019 he was elected to the position of Chair of the Celtic Media Festival. Alan is a non-executive Director with CREW, Creative Enterprise West.
Bríd Ní Fhachtna has been a member of the TG4 board of directors since 2015. She is the founder of Irishanguageteacher.com, and has previously worked as an Irish language instructor in the University of Newfoundland, and an Irish language officer in the department of education.
Frank Reidy is an Irish language author, broadcaster and researcher, who has been on the TG4 board since 2001.
Darach Ó Tuairisg is a stage and screen actor, who has been the managing director of the Irish language theatre company Fíbín since its foundation in 2003. He is the chairperson of the Celtic Neighbours Committee, and a board member of the UNESCO: International Theatre Institute Centre.
Siobhán Ní Ghadhra is a film and TV producer,who has worked across many types of projects including animation, live-action, and drama. Owner of Danú Media, a TV and Film Production Company which recently acquired the EoTeilifís Group, which has produced Ros na Rún for TG4 for over 25 years. She is a Chair of the Creative Europe Desk in Galway. She also sits on the board of the Blue Teapot Theatre Company, Galway Film Centre and the External Strategy Board for NUIG.
Mairéad Ní Nuadháín is the former Head of External Relations in RTÉ. Prior to that she was the Deputy Head of Television Programmes at RTÉ. She has been a member of the TG4 board since November 2017.
Róisín Ní Ráighne is the managing director of Dynamo Brand and Communications Agency. She joined the TG4 board in December 2022.
Seán Ó Cuirreáin spent over twenty years working as a journalist and broadcaster in English and Irish. In past years he has been active in public relations, radio presenting and producing, print journalism, television research and presenting, and lecturing in communications. He has been Managing Editor, Programmes and Deputy Head of Raidió na Gaeltachta, and was appointed Language Commissioner in 2004 on the advice of the Government and the Houses of the Oireachtas. He was re-appointed to that position in 2010 but resigned from office in Febraury, 2014 because he was dissatisfied with the lack of progress being made in the promotion of language rights in the Irish-language community and in the Gaeltacht. He has been a member of the TG4 board since December 2022.
Aedín O’Leary currently serves on the boards of Haven Green Investment Management Ltd, ASK Investment Funds ICAV, the Irish Youth Foundation and Charities Institute Ireland. She is current and past member of related Audit & Risk, Investment, Strategy & Fundraising Committees. Aedín chairs the ESG Working Group at the Irish Fund Directors Association (IFDA), which holds a seat at the Climate Risk & Sustainable Finance Forum established by the Central Bank of Ireland in 2022. She is also co-founder of the Green Team Network, a collaborative sustainability forum created for the Funds Industry.
Sonia Nic Giolla Easbuig is a producer / director, specialising in factual documentaries and short form dramas, in both the Irish and English language. She has been producing and directing TV programmes for over 25 years for RTÉ, BBC and TG4, and joined the TG4 board in February 2023.
Seán Ó Domhnaill is a Digital Transformation Manager at TG4. He has been a member of the TG4 board since May 2020
