RDS chief executive Geraldine Ruane has stepped down from her role, the board of the Dublin events venue has announced.
The board confirmed the departure on Friday night after previously declining to comment on a series of press inquiries made after she appeared to have left the position. Ms Ruane’s profile had earlier been removed from the senior management team page of the RDS’s website.
The board said Ms Ruane had stepped down “after her very successful tenure” as chief executive since 2021.
“The board of the RDS wishes to express their particular gratitude to Geraldine for her successful stewardship of a number of key capital and strategic business projects.”
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It said these included securing additional funding for the Anglesea Stand redevelopment project, overseeing the purchase of St Mary’s Church, Anglesea Road and continuing the development of the RDS after the pandemic under its strategy plan for 2021 to 2026. It also noted her work “to continue to enhance the RDS as a dynamic event venue, existing to underpin the RDS Foundation’s social impact programmes”.
The statement concluded that “both parties wish each other all the very best for the future”.
The RDS, or Royal Dublin Society, is a membership organisation dating back to 1731 that aims to “further the economic and cultural development of Ireland”.
Ms Ruane, a former chief operating officer at Trinity College Dublin, took up the role leading the organisation in February 2021.
In June, the RDS lodged a planning application to build the new Anglesea Stand at its arena. This will be capable of accommodating 6,775 people on three levels, as part of a €50 million project due to start in August 2024.
The Dublin Horse Show, a flagship event of the RDS, takes place next month.
