No RTÉ inquiry possible into allegations of past ‘abusive’ culture

The RTÉ director general has told a former presenter it would not be possible to conduct any “meaningful” investigation into allegations of an “abusive” culture in the broadcaster during the mid-1990s.

A former junior presenter had made allegations about a “bullying” and “abusive” producer, as well as how he was treated when he initially made a complaint about the behaviour at the time.

Correspondence shows the former contractor reported allegations about the past culture in RTÉ to former director general Dee Forbes and the previous head of the board Moya Doherty in 2018.

In an October 4th, 2023 email, Kevin Bakhurst, who took over as head of RTÉ last July, apologised to the former TV presenter for what he had been through. “I am very sad to hear how you feel about your experiences in RTÉ. It is a matter of profound regret that you have felt this way and that you feel that the matter remains unresolved,” he wrote.

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“I would like to say how sorry I am that this is your experience of RTÉ and that you were not responded to in a timely manner,” he said.

Mr Bakhurst said that one individual the man had complained about was now deceased, while another no longer worked for RTÉ. As a result he said it would be “impossible to progress any meaningful investigation” into the historical allegations.

The complainant had worked in RTÉ as a presenter involved in young people’s programming in the mid-1990s.

In a March 6th, 2018 letter to Ms Forbes he said he had been “destroyed” after making a complaint about the “abusive bullying” of a producer, who continued to work in the broadcaster for decades.

The man alleged he had been fired in 1995 by the “creep” producer after lodging a complaint against him. His letter, seen by The Irish Times, claimed at the time RTÉ had moved to “protect” the producer.

The letter alleged in a separate incident a young female presenter disclosed she had been “repeatedly pressured” to have sex with her co-presenter by another producer.

In a May 14th, 2018 letter to Ms Doherty, the former presenter claimed when he refused to drop his initial complaints at the time the response by RTÉ was to “bury” him.

Eimear Cusack, RTÉ's head of human resources, responded on July 12th, 2018, stating the it had taken some time to look into the matter as the allegations were “quite historic”. Ms Cusack said RTÉ could find “no records” of any complaints or investigations in respect of his allegations.

The senior manager said she took the allegations “very seriously”, but told the man she could not take any further action, “given the passage of time and the lack of evidence to support your claims”.

The organisation had “robust policies” to deal with complaints of bullying and harassment in the present day, she said.

The former presenter, who does not wish to be named publicly, later went on to work for several broadcasters in Britain, before moving back to Ireland in the last decade.

Last year the man brought his concerns about the past culture in RTÉ to Mr Bakhurst and the new board chair, Siún Ní Raghallaigh.

The former presenter met Ms Cusack last September, when he detailed his allegations about the past culture and criticism of how RTÉ had handled his concerns when he raised them in recent years.

In an October 4th letter, Mr Bakhurst apologised to the former presenter for how he was treated when he worked for the broadcaster.

In a November 29th letter, Ms Ní Raghallaigh advised that she had “carefully considered” whether an investigation should be undertaken into the historical allegations. The chair said in weighing this up the “passage of time” was a significant consideration, given the events occurred nearly 30 years ago.

“I am also advised that a detailed search of RTÉ files was undertaken in 2018 following your original complaint and no records of any complaints or investigations dating from 1995 were located,” she wrote.

Ms Ní Raghallaigh said he agreed with the director general that a meaningful investigation would not be feasible. However, she said the allegations would inform ongoing reforms they were seeking to bring about at the broadcaster.

A spokesman for RTÉ said the organisation had no comment to make on the matter.

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