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.Additionally he was Director of Television of TG4 from 2000-2007, where he oversaw large increases in audience share and reach, and was in charge of TG4’s multi-award winning Presentation department. In 2008 he joined MG ALBA in Scotland and together with Head of Service, Margaret Mary Murray, he led the launch of BBC ALBA.