UTV HOPES to have identified a candidate to become its new chairman by the time of its annual general meeting on May 17th, chief executive John McCann told The Irish Times yesterday.

This follows a boardroom spat in late February, which resulted in a majority of board members voting to remove John McGuckian as chairman, after 20 years in the role, following questions about his independence.

Mr McGuckian, who is a director of TVC, UTV’s biggest shareholder with an 18 per cent stake, immediately resigned as a director, as did TVC’s executive chairman Shane Reihill and fellow director Kevin Lagan.

“There was a concern among the majority of board members of preferential treatment being shown to one shareholder over others,” Mr McCann said yesterday by way of explanation for the board’s decision to remove Mr McGuckian as chairman.

“We had hoped to resolve that internally but it wasn’t to be. The majority of the board decided that he should stand down as chairman but he didn’t see it that way.

“We have to act in the best interests of all shareholders.”

When asked if he expects TVC to revive the matter, possibly at the time of the agm, Mr McCann said: “I don’t know is the honest answer to that. It’s a matter for TVC how they react. TVC will have to make their own call on it.”

Mr McCann is seeking to identify a chairman and “at least” two non-executive directors to strengthen the board.

“I would hope that could be done reasonably quickly,” he added.

The agm has been set as the “target date” to “have a name in place” for the chairman’s role.

Helen Kirkpatrick is currently filling the role on an interim basis.

In the wake of the boardroom row, there have been suggestions that having three executives on an eight-person board is excessive.

Mr McCann rejected this suggestion. “I don’t think so. It’s normal for the CEO and financial director to be members of a board and having one more than that . . . I wouldn’t have thought it unusual at all.”