RTÉ's head of radio Clare Duignan is to step down from her post after four years in charge.

Ms Duignan is one of RTÉ’s longest serving executives and has been with the national broadcaster for 36 years.

Jim Jennings, head of RTÉ Radio 1 will take up an interim role as managing director for RTÉ Radio.

Ms Duignan said the decision was “one of the hardest things I have ever done”. She was appointed in December 2008 and took up her post in 2009.

In her time in charge, the most significant event was the sudden death of Gerry Ryan in April 2010 which left a huge void in the 2fm schedule. She also had to grapple with the downturn in RTÉ's revenues as a result of the recession.

While audiences at RTÉ Radio 1 have remained stable, and it is by far the biggest station in the country, 2fm has proved to be a much more difficult proposition.

Replacing Ryan has been difficult and the latest JNLR figures shows his replacement Ryan Tubridy’s figures have fallen by 13,000 from April 2012 to March 2013 to 159,000.

Ms Duignan said the same JNLR figures showed that Tubridy’s show had stabilised and the audience was “there to be grown”.

The former head of 2fm John McMahon has moved to Radio One and has been replaced by former Newstalk and 98fm chief executive Dan Healy who has described 2fm as a "sleeping giant".

RTÉ director general Noel Curran said Ms Duignan had made the decision to leave "some time ago" and waited for the completion of the RTÉ strategic review and multi-annual plan in place before leaving. "She leaves RTÉ Radio not only with a stable audience base, but with a legacy of quality that places it among the best in the world," he said.

Ms Duignan acknowledged that the financial difficulties of recent years for RTÉ had been “considerable”. Ms Duignan will leave RTÉ at the end of June, after which she intends to pursue a portfolio career in a number of new areas. RTÉ Radio will hold a public competition for the post of managing director in the coming months.