TG4 announces appointment of new director-general

TG4 has announced the appointment of Alan Esslemont as the service’s new director-general.

Mr Esslemont is currently head of content with the Scottish Gaelic television channel, BBC ALBA. He is to take up his new post in mid-October.

He succeeds Pól Ó Gallchóir, who has been at the head of TG4 since April 2000.

Mr Esslemont, a native of Braemar in Scotland, has had a long career in the TV content sector in his native country and in Ireland.

In 1989 he was one of the first employees at Telegael, the west of Ireland’s pioneering independent audio-visual production company.

He then joined the senior management team of Teilifís na Gaeilge, which in 1996 launched TnaG. He was the key content executive involved in the repositioning and rebranding of the channel as TG4 in 1999.

TG4 chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh said the station was “most fortunate” to have someone of Mr Esslemont’s “calibre and wide experience”.

She paid tribute to the outgoing Mr Ó Gallchóir, citing his “long and diligent service” to the channel.

Mr Esslemont said: “I am looking forward to this exciting challenge and to returning to TG4 to work with the highly talented staff and our partners in the Irish language content creation sector as TG4 enters its third decade of public service to its national and global audience.”