Mari Hurley, who announced she was leaving RTÉ yesterday, is taking up a new job as Chief Financial Officer at Irish Residential Properties REIT, the country’s largest private residential landlord.

She will replace Brian Fagan at Irish Res REIT, who has been at the firm for almost five years.

Ms Hurley began her role as RTÉ’s CFO in August 2024 after Richard Collins left the post following the Ryan Tubridy controversy.

The broadcaster said yesterday that Ms Hurley “decided to leave her role as RTÉ’s Chief Financial Officer to take up a new position outside RTÉ. Mari will remain with RTÉ until Spring”.

Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan has said that he was disappointed to see Ms Hurley resign from RTÉ.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with David McCullagh, the minister said that to date, she had done a “fantastic job against the backdrop of quite a difficult financial position within the company”.

Mr O’Donovan said that Ms Hurley had made a “big mark” on RTÉ’s finances.

“It was on the foot of her work that we learned, for instance, with regard to the issue of the art at RTÉ, the top up payments to widows and previous other issues, financial issues that I was able to bring to the Government,” he said.

“People leave leadership roles in public companies all the time for a variety of different reasons.

“I know Mari Hurley has made, in a very short period of time, a very big mark with regard to financial transparency.”

Ms Hurley has served as a non-executive Director on the Board of the National Asset Management Agency for ten years from 2014 to 2024 and before her current role in RTÉ, she worked as CFO for the AA (Ireland) for three years and for Premier Lotteries Ireland (operator of the Irish National Lottery) for three years.

She also served as CFO in Hostelworld Group, a role she held for 11 years.

Before that Ms Hurley served as CFO for the property advisory firm Sherry FitzGerald Group during its time as a listed company.

In a statement yesterday, Ms Hurley wished the board of RTÉ and the Director General “every success as they continue the significant transformation programme under way at RTÉ.

“RTÉ continues to perform a vital role for Irish audiences as a public service media organisation. The extensive work we have done during my time in RTÉ has been an important part of the delivery of greater governance across the organisation,” Ms Hurley said.

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In May 2025, RTÉ said it had written down a figure of €3.6m on a partly failed IT system, which was one of the projects funded from the proceeds of the sale of land at its Dublin site in 2017.

Emails released at the time showed that Ms Hurley had sent a report to the Department of Arts and Media regarding the write-down on 10 March.

Yesterday, Minister O’Donovan said he will be engaging with the Chair and Director General of RTÉ in the coming days.

RTÉ confirmed that it will shortly seek applications for a new Chief Financial Officer.

In a statement, Irish Residential Properties REIT said that Ms Hurley has extensive experience as a CFO and business leader in Ireland and the UK, in publicly listed companies as well as in large private and semi-State companies.

Eddie Byrne, CEO of I-RES, said he sincerely thanked Mr Fagan for his” immense” contribution to I-RES since joining the company in 2021.


Eddie Byrne, the CEO of I-RES REIT

“Following the successful internalisation of the management of the business, Brian established a best-in-class finance function and delivered a new IT platform that continues to support the company’s technology transformation,” he said.

“During his tenure, he also implemented new long-term funding structures, strengthening the capital base and leaving the business well positioned to deliver new rental accommodation and execute its strategic objectives,” he added.

Mr Byrne said that Ms Hurley has an extensive and highly successful track record as a CFO, spanning a wide range of sectors, with operations across multiple international markets.

“Her depth of experience will be a significant and complementary addition to I-RES as we continue to play a vital role in addressing the country’s ongoing residential accommodation needs, and I look forward to welcoming her to the team,” he added.