Every good drama needs a plot twist and the latest chapter in the story of the summer in Ireland certainly got one last night after it emerged that the deal to bring Ryan Tubridy back to the airwaves within weeks collapsed in a spectacular fashion.
So, what happened?
Well, according to RTÉ director general (DG) Kevin Bakhurst relations between the parties were shattered by a statement issued by the former Late Late Show presenter on Wednesday, the day a second report into the RTÉ mis-declared payments scandal was released.
“Despite having agreed some of the fundamentals, including fee, duration and hours, regretfully it is my view that trust between the parties has broken down,” Mr Bakhurst said in a note to RTÉ staff.
“Public statements made without consultation appear to question the basis for the necessary restatement of fees paid for services for 2020 and 2021.”
That brought an abrupt halt to carefully sequenced talks.
Mr Bakhurst told on RTÉ's Prime Time that the plan was originally to have Mr Tubridy return on September 4th on a salary of €170,000.
That’s all gone now.
Here are some of the key stories in today’s Irish Times. There are likely to be many more before the day is out.
- Deal to bring Tubridy back to RTÉ radio falls apart as Bakhurst decides now is not ‘right time’ for return
- Other RTÉ ‘talent’ in line for cuts after €170,000 Tubridy deal falls through, Bakhurst says
- Tubridy and Bakhurst: What caused the breakdown of trust in RTÉ talks?
- What will Ryan Tubridy’s exit mean for his fellow RTÉ presenters?
Main points so far
- Bakhurst ends contract negotiations after breakdown of trust and says Tubridy was shocked and disappointed by move
- DG admits that there is a danger presenter might take legal action in wake of ending of talks
- Tubridy had agreed to repay €150,000 as part of new deal but that is now in doubt
- Discussions have started about who will replace Tubridy and what format new show will take
- Fees paid to other top presenters likely to fall as contracts come to an end
- NUJ welcomes moves by Bakhurst to draw line between the past and the present.
- Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon, says DG move a “positive step” and demonstrates “strong leadership”.
The national broadcaster has released a fresh statement in response to reporting of a letter sent to it by Ryan Tubridy on Thursday.
Mr Tubridy had been asked by RTÉ to provide further clarification on his Wednesday evening statement on Grant Thornton’s report and two other matters.
In his response letter, Mr Tubridy, through a representative, said, among other things, he had “no intention” of causing RTÉ any difficulty with his statement.
His representative referred to sections of the auditor’s report and said: “For the elimination of any doubt, our client was not in any way inferring that RTÉ was incorrect in relation to its restatements made in June 2023 in connection with the period 2017-2021.”
However, RTÉ has said matters were ”not addressed to RTÉ's satisfaction”.
“Regardless of intent, Mr Tubridy’s statement, and the timing and manner of its publication, damaged trust between both parties and that, along with a range of other issues outlined by Kevin Bakhurst resulted in the conclusion of the negotiations.”
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said the Government will give consideration over the next few months to a potential overhaul of the TV licence.
Speaking in Cork, he provided assurances the Government is committed to public service broadcasting and is considering providing interim funding in the Budget.
The Minister said he expects interim funding of the broadcaster will be necessary “pending a Government decision on the long-term funding arrangement for public service broadcasting”.
Discussions regarding the upcoming Budget will take place between him, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe and Minister for Media Catherine Martin, under whose remit RTÉ falls.
“The Government has a decision to make about the long term sustainable funding model for public service broadcasting, he added.
If the broadcaster’s commercial revenue was to be curtailed and it was entirely funded by taxpayers through general taxation, a “very different RTÉ would be created”, the Minister said.
“This is one of the reasons why the Government did not accept that recommendation from the Commission on the future of media.
“We do believe it’s important that there are other sources of funding apart from the central exchequer.”
-Olivia Kelleher
Irish Times political reporter Jack Horgan-Jones reports that a representative of Mr Tubridy’s wrote to RTÉ on Thursday saying the presenter had “no intention of causing any difficulty for RTÉ in relation to his statement made yesterday”.
The letter came after the national broadcaster sought clarity from Mr Tubridy in relation to comments he made following the publication of the Grant Thornton report on Wednesday.
The report found Mr Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly had no role in misleading statements that claimed he was on a salary less than €500,000 in 2017-2019 when he was not.
Reacting to the report on Wednesday, Mr Tubridy said he was “committed to re-establishing the confidence and trust of my colleagues and listeners, and I hope that any fair assessment of the findings of today’s report will help in this regard”.
He went on to say his “actual income from RTÉ in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published as my earnings for those years”.
When RTÉ asked for a clarification on this statement, his representative said it referred to sections of the report “which confirm that Ryan’s actual payments from RTÉ for this period as denoted on RTE’s payroll system did in fact match the figures originally reported by RTÉ for this period”.
The letter continued: “Importantly, this does not mean that this is how RTÉ was required to account for Ryan’s earnings in these years. RTÉ’s correct accounting treatment for such earnings is entirely separate and distinct.
“For the elimination of any doubt, our client was not in any way inferring that RTÉ was incorrect in relation to its restatements made in June 2023 in connection with the period 2017-2021.
”Certainly, our client had no intention of causing any difficulty for RTE in relation to his statement made yesterday.”
Neither Ryan Tubridy nor RTÉ will welcome the comparison, but there are some parallels between this week’s dramatic events and Fox New’s firing of Tucker Carlson earlier this year, writes Hugh Linehan. Fox’s most popular presenter was removed not for his race-baiting demagoguery but because, as internal memos showed, he had come to believe he was bigger than his employer.
The chief executive of one of the country’s most successful independent television production companies, Larry Bass of Shinawill has described the lack of an increase in the TV licence as “death by a thousand cuts.”Mr Bass told RTÉ radio’s News at One that the licence fee was the biggest part of television finance in Ireland, but it was “constantly” being cut.
“We are seeing death by a thousand cuts because there has been no increase for over 15 years. And no business can operate in a world where you have ramped up inflation in the last couple of years and still expect to work on the same numbers as 15 years ago.
“At the height of the boom, the independent sector was earning around €82 million from RTÉ and providing lots of programming for the Irish public. Following the crash, the independent sector is down to the mandatory legislated €40 million that RTÉ must spend within the independent sector.
“So that was a collapse of over 50 percent of funding to the independent sector and it hasn’t come back since 2008. I think politicians are continually kicking the can down the road when they’re the ones who are actually going to suffer most when there isn’t anyone watching public service broadcasting and we don’t have any debates about the body politic. They are actually fiddling while Rome burns.
”The recent comments by RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst had indicated that there was a mood for change for doing things differently, he said.
“But we can’t wait for everything to be changed in an incremental fashion and at the same time have any excuse for refusing to pay. We’re a great nation for not paying things Well, we should and we should have an obligation to support arms of State. And if we expect services in the country, we shouldn’t be expecting to get them for free. Talk about water, talk of broadcasting. We’re very good at just running away when it comes to actually contributing as citizens of the State.”
Mr Bass said he was tired of discussions, reports and consultants and asked how much money in recent months had been spent on Grant Thornton and others to write a report. ”Meanwhile, nobody is making a decision. Make the decision,” he urged.
Mr Bass pointed out that Finland, with a population of five million, has a fund “of over half a billion a year that goes into public sector content across a whole range of services. And they are very effective.”Consideration also had to be given to people who lived in rural parts of the country and did not have multiple channels.
“If you’re an 82 year old sitting at home in West Mayo or in East Clare, and the only option you have is whatever national broadcast services you can get for your license fee, or if you’re a pensioner, which you don’t have to pay the license fee, you can have something there to keep you company, to give you information and to be part of who you are and reflect the nation that we all live in. And we’re just letting it flitter away, disappear and it’s only going to be missed when it’s gone.” Vivienne Clarke
On the same show Fine Gael’s Colm Brophy said he was “disappointed” by the development. “I know and we all know what has happened and what’s going on. I think we know or have versions of what went on or didn’t happen. But I think on balance, Ryan Tubridy is a great broadcaster and I think he was an asset to broadcasting in Ireland and still is. And I think he was someone who there’s a lot of people out there would maybe have some changed feelings about. But I still think a lot of people would have liked to have heard him back on the air. So I think just on that level, I think it is disappointing if he’s not going to be back.”
On the Friday Gathering segment on RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne Show Social Democrat TD Roisin Shortall said it was not fair that Ryan Tubridy had become the public face of the RTE pay scandal.
“I was surprised. I think everybody was surprised because it looked as if relations were good and the path was being created for Ryan Tubridy to come back. There’s no doubt he’s a very talented broadcaster and he has a big following. And I think it was somewhat unfair that he was the public face of a scandal that really stretched over six years. And there’s no doubt the second Grant Thornton report did exonerate him. But those earlier years, 2017 to 2019, I think there is certainly a point there in relation to not recognising what was done in the later years, 2021, in relation to the additional payments that Renault were involved.” Vivienne Clarke.
While much attention has been devoted to the collapse of the talks that would have seen Ryan Tubridy return to the airwaves, another controversy is brewing out in Montrose. The Late Late Show has just revealed its new logo. And - and I can barely bring myself to type this - there is no owl. The wise old bird that has been part of the logo since 1962 has disappeared. Pass the vapours.
Broadcaster and legal historian Dr Finola Doyle-O’Neill has described the decision by director general Kevin Bakhurst to halt negotiations with Ryan Tubridy as “very brave”.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show the academic said that it appeared that Mr Bakhurst had wanted an Act of Contrition from Ryan Tubridy. He had extended an olive branch, but then Mr Tubridy had instead tried to “curate his own narrative.”
Mr Bakhurst had not wanted the broadcaster to return to the airwaves as a victim. Mr Tubridy could have shown contrition and returned the money, but the question now was had he been “ill advised or unwise”, she said. “He was the architect of his own downfall. He pushed the olive branch aside.”The situation was very sad as “Ryan Tubridy’s DNA is in RTÉ”. Vivienne Clarke
“It should have been a good week for Ryan Tubridy...” Our own Hugh Linehan was on the wireless this morning talking about what happened and why. You can listen here.
Journalist and former minister Shane Ross was on Newstalk Breakfast this morning and made some interesting points.
He said Kevin Bakhurst “was faced with the fact that the deal was, from his point of view, torpedoed by Ryan coming out and saying, ‘Yeah, and I won on this one too.’ It was an extraordinary statement to make.”
He also pointed to the issue of leaks as another reason for the breakdown in trust between the two sides. “I was struck by one thing that Kevin Bakhurst did say last night; he started talking about the leaks. That was very important because what he was saying was… ‘I’m not accusing anyone of leaking but I didn’t do it.’
“There is an element here of Ryan having grasped defeat from the jaws of victory,” Mr Ross said. “He was going to be back, which was his great desire. I don’t think he was too worried about the money. He was going to be back in his slot and he was going to be back in September - that’s two weeks’ time.
“From the public’s point of view, that would look like an exoneration and it would have looked like a backdown by RTÉ. Basically, he was triumphalist. So, I think what he did was a matter of attitude more than anything else and it was difficult to cope with.”
This is the transcript of the chair of the RTÉ branch of the NUJ Emma O’Kelly’s interview with Rachel English this morning.
Emma O’Kelly: All along for us, this was never about one individual, but it was about a culture in the organisation that we worked in, and that was the culture where for some it meant lavish and excessive payments. But for others it meant struggling with low pay or insecure contracts or substandard working conditions or a lack of promotional opportunities. And that has always been our focus. And so having said that, we welcome a number of things that Kevin Backhurst said yesterday and this morning in emails to workers and also in the interviews he has done, that in order to restore public trust and that is absolutely paramount for us. A line now needs to be drawn between the past and the present. And there needs to be full acknowledgment and acceptance of what happened. We agree with that. We really, really want this now to be a fresh start for the organisation. And we want to move on. We want to look to the future. We are hopeful that we will be able to do that. We also welcome Kevin Backhurst’s plan to reduce those big salaries. We have long maintained that there should be no place for such excessive salaries in the organisation. We since 2019 have been calling for a cap. And so we’re happy to hear that also.
Rachel English: As you say there, the NUJ has long favored a cap on presenter pay. At what level would you set it?
O’Kelly: Well, when we discussed this in 2019. And we you know, we received criticism from some quarters for doing this, but I think we’ve been vindicated. At that time we looked to the civil service and we felt at that time that there was no reason we saw why any individual working in public service media should be paid more than the top civil service salary. Now, at the time that civil service salary was at around 280,000. So that’s the figure that we chose at that time.
English: On the broader issue, media all over the world is changing. TV viewing is far more fractured. In particular, isn’t it inevitable that RTI will have to change too.
O’Kelly: Rachel at the very top of our agenda now is the whole issue of public funding for RTÉ and the need to put that funding on a sustainable footing. From hearing from people over the past months, communities right across Ireland believe the public service media and they understand that it’s a tremendous asset and it’s a really important thing for democracy, but that it needs to be nurtured and not undermined. So, you know, we believe the Irish public want quality, Irish made programmes, arts programmes, sports, drama, news and current affairs. But we cannot continue to be forced to do that on the cheap. And we will really be looking to government now, now that we have commitments internally and will be following those commitments, commitments on issues such as tackling excessive pay. But we’re really saying to governments this is not a new thing. Government’s avoiding this issue. Successive governments have avoided facing up to the fact that the license fee that we have at the moment is completely unsustainable and we will be urging Government to grasp this nettle that now unfortunately has become absolutely urgent for the survival of quality public service media in this country.
English: But as far as the public is concerned, when people see how money was spent or misspent in RTÉ in the recent past, they’re going to be reluctant to pay any more. [00:03:19][9.3]
O’Kelly: Yes, absolutely. Rachel, I understand what you’re saying. But it’s interesting when people like a number of people have approached me over the past months and told me this, people I don’t know, said that they are not going to pay their license. But those same people have expressed support for staff in RTÉ. So, you know, I think there’s something more complex to be unpicked here in terms of why people are not paying their license fee.
English: If people see real change, they might have a change of heart on the license fee.
O’Kelly: But also I think people have long felt that this is an inequitable and unrealistic funding model. So I think to a certain extent people are using this opportunity to do what maybe they have come to place it for some some time. And that’s why I would say to government, this is not a new problem and they have to stop avoiding this issue. We need a model that is sustainable, that is that matches the 21st century when most people, you know, get most of their news from devices that are not televisions and they have to. And that any new model should be a model that is acceptable to the Irish public and that is sustainable.
A member of Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee Paul McAuliffe has said Ryan Tubridy still has “questions to answer”. Speaking on the Claire Byrne Show he said the presenter “did not correct the public figures that he and his team knew were not correct.None of his statements has served him well, especially the most recent one, which was an attempt to “spin an alternative perspective”. There needs to be an acknowledgement that he knew those figures were not correct.”
This transcript of the interview Kevin Bakhurst did on Morning Ireland is long but it covers many of the bases and will give you a clear idea of what happened and what might happen next.
Kevin Bakhurst: Will do what we have to do to take this organisation forward and to rebuild trust with audiences. And no individual can get in the way of us doing that. We have to do it. We have to reconnect with audiences and rebuild that trust.
Rachel English: As you say, there’s a lot of work to be done. But just staying with Ryan Tubridy for a moment, when you spoke to him yesterday, how did he respond?
Bakhurst: It took me a while to get hold of him because I think he was out walking. He was shocked and disappointed, as I’ve said.
English: So he didn’t see this coming at all?
Bakhurst: I don’t think he did. I think he was shocked and disappointed. And I was you know, I don’t really want to go into more the detail of that because it was quite a personal conversation and a difficult conversation on both parts. But and I understood that, but I was pretty clear that I’d taken the decision. And for the moment that is the decision. But I was also clear that over time the door is not firmly shut. And, you know, we need to see where things go.
English: Does he still have a contract with RTÉ?
Bakhurst: Well, I think, as has been said before, he had the contract which covered both the Late, Late and his radio work. Now, when he decided to leave The Late, Late Show, I mean, clearly there was some discussion about whether he’d left that contract or not. And I don’t think there’s agreement on that.
English: But RTÉ has continued to pay him?.
Bakhurst: We continue to pay him because I thought it was a fair thing to do over that period because we would normally pay someone over the summer. And it was our decision to take him off air for a while. But we didn’t pay him at the level that they were seeking for him to be paid.
English: Will RTÉ continue to pay him?
Bakhurst: Well we need to resolve that, that’s the next step now.
English: Is there a danger, then, that this could end up in legal action?
Bakhurst: There’s always that danger. You know, I did consult, we consulted our legal team and we took outside advice as well. And I hope it doesn’t you know, I don’t think it will be a good thing for anybody. But clearly, there’s always a risk. But we factor that in and consider that risk. I still feel convinced it was the right decision for RTÉ and for audiences.
English: Is it your understanding that he will still repay the €150,000 from the barter account?
Bakhurst: No, it’s not. We didn’t discuss that.
English: Do you expect him to repay it?
Bakhurst: I don’t expect him to repay it. You know, I made it clear to him throughout that I felt morally it was the right thing to repay it.
English: And he had agreed to that.
Bakhurst: He had agreed as part of returning to RTÉ that he would repay it.
English: Right. So that position might change.
Bakhurst: That may change.
English: To look at this from his perspective. Two separate reports, one into the Renault arrangement, the other into the earlier payments for 2017 to 2019 payments. Two separate reports have found no wrongdoing on his part. So why should he lose his job?
Bakhurst: I don’t think that’s a fair characterisation of the reports, but I do think everyone has got to accept those reports in full and not in part and not try and spin their own narratives. And those reports and the board statement, restatement of what Ryan received in pay for those two years in 20 and 21. You know, people have got to accept that because we’ve got to move on from this. Now we’ve got a version. It fairly reflects overall what he was paid in lieu of those years. And to start questioning that is counterproductive. And we can’t be going round in circles arguing about this. You know, we’ve got to have integrity to own our mistakes.
English: And you don’t think he was doing that? So, honestly. When will a decision will be made on who will replace him?
Bakhurst: Well, I’ve already started discussions with the head of Radio One and the acting head of content about that. I mean, clearly, you know, Oliver Callan and Brendan Courtney have been doing a really good job in that slot. So we have you know, people in the audience have already responded warmly to. But that’s the decision over time. So we have options in the short term. And it’s also an opportunity for us if there are other people that the head of Radio One would like to try. And that’s all.
English: Right. So you may the programme. It may not necessarily have the same format.
Bakhurst: Look, I think this is an opportunity to step back and say, which presenter do we want in that slot? And also is the schedule of Radio one, right? I think it probably is, but it gives you an opportunity to look at these things again.
English: Serious questions remain for RTÉ about how all of this happened. Have you been talking to your predecessor, Dee Forbes?
Bakhurst: No, I haven’t. No, not since, I haven’t spoken to her since this all sort of came out. I spoke to her when I first got the job a couple of times.
English: Are you still hopeful that she will at some stage give her version of events? Because obviously we have two Oireachtas committees would like to talk to her. Grant Thornton would have like to speak to her for the compilation of its two reports. How hopeful are you that at some stage she will talk?
Bakhurst: I don’t know whether I can be hopeful because I don’t know exactly how her health is, and I don’t know exactly what she wants to do. But I would urge her to talk because I think she’d have a huge amount to contribute to our understanding of how this happened. And that would help us address some of the issues. I should say I have spoken to Jim Jennings, who is also out because of health reasons, who has told me he fully intends to make himself available to the committees when his health is better.
English: Right. So he is willing to appear before an Oireachtas committee and to talk to anybody else.
Bakhurst: That’s what he said to me a few weeks ago. Yes. And I would expect that, yeah.
English: RTÉ is in a really difficult position. Money, which it would have expected from the license fee, isn’t coming in. How much direct funding is RTÉ likely to need from October’s budget?
Bakhurst: We’re in discussions at the moment with the department about that and we’re giving them as much information as they’re asking for and sometimes more than they’re asking for to try and make the case. You know, clearly and rightly, I think they are you know, those discussions are reflecting the current fall in the license fee. And we need to see what happens over the next few weeks.
English: Is it safe to say, then, that it’s likely to be considerably more than the €15 million allocated for this year?
Bakhurst: Well, I think that’s what we probably would be asking for, Yes, because there is an increased hole in the funding as a result of this. But it does that in the end is a matter for the department and for their advisers. New era.
English: The Minister for Public Expenditure Pascal Donohue said to Drivetime yesterday that the license fee will continue to be central to RTÉ’s funding, is that not the correct approach, do you think?
Bakhurst: Look, I think the one thing that’s really important about public funding is that we have security of public funding. Now, it could be a license fee. It depends how you collect it and it depends what you want to call it. I think there are a number of options that are being explored. And, you know, I think the minister and the department were doing some really good work over the summer and pushing that forward. You know, there were options, obviously, like a house or base fee, a device neutral fee, you know, who collects it. These are the questions that these are for government and for their partners. But the one thing that we need, and I feel if you value public service, broadcasting is a really core part of society. And what we provide in terms of news, current affairs and coverage of live events and national events and live sport and so on, and high quality Irish drama, we have to fund it properly.
English: And do you understand, though, why some people in recent weeks have been so reluctant to renew their license fee, given everything that they’ve seen, not just in relation to Ryan Tubridy, but given what else emerged from those committee hearings?
Bakhurst: I do. I do understand it and I feel that particularly given the cost of living crisis and, you know, €160 is not inconsiderable sum to many people. And I fully understand it. And I’m really grateful to people who have paid the license fee. And, you know, I hope to convince those people who haven’t paid it, but they still get real value from us here, that we’re doing everything we can to change the organisation, to rebuild that trust with them. And hopefully in due course, they’ll change their mind and they will pay to happen.
English: You have warned that other presenters that their payments will also be cut. When is that process likely to start?
Bakhurst: I’m not sure It’s a warning. I mean, it’s a
English: Some of the presenters might see it as a warning.
Bakhurst: it’s an intention more than a warning.
English: What does the process look like?
Bakhurst: Well, as contracts come up, people have contracts and those contracts come up for renewal. I mean, I think that is the expectation and that’s my intention that we need to look at that.
English: Would it also be your intention to look at some other controversial payments, say, like the car allowance, something that came up at those committee hearings?
Bakhurst: Look, I think these are difficult things. I mean, the car allowance, I mean, I think it was wrongly called the car allowance, if you don’t have to have a car. It’s an allowance effectively. There are many people in the organisation and get it at different levels. And, you know, many people will have made the decision to come in as part of the contract they were offered or the package they were offered. Would they come here? So there’s lots of things we need to look at. That’s not a priority at the moment because it would take an extremely long time, I think, to undo that. And, you know, people have the right when they signed the terms and conditions to expect that that’s not going to be undone at a whim.
English You have also promised the public a register of interests, when’s that likely to be in place.
Bakhurst: The team are working really hard on that. I’ve got a draft on my desk that they’ve prepared in the last few days and as a process we’ve said we will consult with the unions, also the management association here, and we also need to consult properly with the Data Commissioner about what data we can publish. And our intention is we want to publish as much as we can, but we need to go through that process. But I know there’s an urgency here and I’ve said that’s the team and I think that’s why it’s now on my desk and that’s my next thing I’m going to turn
English: Because the concern among some people would be that in the meantime, some inappropriate practices are continuing. Do you share that concern?
Bakhurst: I think we’ve made it clear that we don’t expect people to be involved in inappropriate practices. We try to tighten up the you know, there are tools in place already that just not necessarily well known enough in the organisation or adhered to. And I have to say in my own experience, and I know this from recent evidence. News and current affairs, are very good and very tight on this. There are other parts of the organisation that are not quite as rigorous. I think we’ve made it clear, you know, in the current environment, we would not expect people to be doing or involved in activities that would without permission and then not appropriate.
English: You said at the end of your statement last night, who knows what the future holds? Would you like to see Ryan Tubridy returning at some point?
Bakhurst: I like to think I’m a fair person and I think Ryan’s done a lot for audiences and RTÉ. And, you know, I have respect for him as a broadcaster, and I like him as an individual. And so this has been a very tough decision in all those ways. And I don’t think it would be fair or right to slam the door shut. I think it’s right at the moment that Ryan is not coming back, but the door is not closed forever.
English: But in the meantime, should Newstalk or Virgin Media or whoever come calling? Is he open to take up a position there?
Bakhurst: Well, I don’t know. That’s up to Ryan. I mean, he’s open. He’s free to do it. You know, he’s a talented broadcaster and I’m sure they will. And they should be looking for other opportunities if they arise here.
NOTE: In the earliest version of this transcript I said the interviewer was Aine Lawlor..... It was - in fact - Rachel English. That was entirely my mistake.
“It is a little strange this morning being here but we take a collective deep breath together and we do this show....” And so starts the show formerly known as the Ryan Tubridy Show presented this morning by Brendan Courtney. Actually it is still known as the Ryan Tubridy Show but not for much longer....
The National Union of Journalists representative in RTÉ Emma O’Kelly said this morning she welcomed comments made by Mr Bakhurst that a line needed to be drawn between the past and the present.
“We have always stressed all along that for us this was never about one individual but it was about a culture in the organisation that we worked in. And that was the culture where for some it meant lavish and excessive payments but for others it meant struggling with low pay or insecure contracts or substandard working conditions or a lack of promotional opportunities,” she said.
“That has always been our focus and so having said that we welcome a number of things that Kevin Bakhurst said yesterday and this morning in emails to workers and also in in the interviews he has done in order to restore public trust and that is absolutely paramount for us.”
She said a “line now needs to be drawn between the past and the present and there needs to be full acknowledgement and acceptance of what happened. We agree with that and we really really want this now to be a fresh start for the organisation and we want to move on, we want to look to the future.
‘We are hopeful that we will be able to do that. We also welcome Kevin Bakhurst’s plan to reduce those big salaries. We have long maintained that there should be no place for such excessive salaries in the organisation.”
Kevin Bakhurst said he has not spoken to his predecessor Dee Forbes, and said he is not sure “exactly what she wants to do” in relation to telling her side of the story. “I would urge her to talk because I think she’d have a huge amount to contribute to our understanding of how this happened,” he said on RTÉ Radio. He added that RTÉ’s director of content Jim Jennings has indicated to him that he “fully intends to make himself available to the committees when his health is better”.
Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon, who sits on both the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee and the Media Committee said the move by director-general Kevin Bakhurst to end negotiations with Ryan Tubridy was d a “positive step” and demonstrated “his strong leadership and commitment to address the broader organisational and cultural issues that have come to light”.
“I feel like it’s a positive step, and it’s important that RTÉ continue to take action to ensure that it practices are both transparent and accountable, and I feel that this situation also sends out a clear signal that no individual will stand in the way of RTÉ’s recovery effort,” Mr Dillon told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
He added: “In my opinion, I think Ryan Tubridy lacked the humility to acknowledge he did wrong during the process, when examining the under declared earnings, which, you know, was a fatal mistake. If he had shown remorse, regret, or accepted the Grant Thornton reports, it’s likely that we would be in a completely different situation, and that he would be back on the air at RTÉ. In relation to his public statements… he was certainly ill-advised in his actions, and he has ultimately paid a price, which is disappointing for himself. He’s a very talented broadcaster and (has) a very loyal fan support.”
Ryan Tubridy is not the only RTÉ story in town today. The running time of the Late Late Show this season will be “approximately 90 minutes”, according to a spokeswoman for that national broadcaster This means that when Patrick Kielty makes his debut as presenter on September 15th, he will be on-air for about half an hour less than his predecessor. Further lightening the new presenter’s load is the reduced season – 30 episodes compared to usual average of between 35 and 37. John Burns has more here.
Kevin Bakhurst has just been on Morning Ireland. He said his decision to end the contract talks had taken Ryan Tubridy by surprise and added that the presenter had not been aware there was “significant resistance” within RTÉ to him coming back. He also said that over the course of the talks in recent weeks there was an issue with the presenter not accepting full responsibility for his part in what had happened.
He said Tubridy is a “hugely talented broadcaster” and that opinions among RTÉ staff “were strongly divided” about whether he should return.
“I felt there was an issue throughout about the need to accept your role in what has been a hugely damaging scandal for everybody involved and particularly for RTÉ.”
The DG told Áine Lawlor that his executive team had agreed with his decision to shut down the talks. “They realised like I did, it was a tough decision but they also realise we’ve got a job to do.” But he accepted that it might not end there.
When asked about potential legal action in the future he said “there is always that danger” although he expressed the hope that it would not end up in the courts. “We factored that in and considered the risk,” he said.
He also noted that Ryan Tubridy had agreed to repay the €150,000 connected to the very controversial Renault deal but said that repayment might not happen given that it was linked to his return which is now off the table.
So, what do people think about last night’s developments? Last night I posted a poll on Twitter - or X as some people might have us call it now - asking that very question. While I must stress that the poll is not remotely scientific, almost 5,000 people have voted in it so far so it might give you a sense as to where public opinion lies. You might have to vote to see the results but if you’d rather not do that I can tell you that with well over 5,000 votes cast, 53.5 per cent said Bakhurst was right to end to negotiations, 32.4 per cent said he was wrong and 14.1 per cent said they did not know. But again - and I can’t stress this enough - it is a Twitter poll. And as we all know Twitter has its own unique peculiarities.
This is the interview with Kevin Bakhurst in full if you have a spare eight minutes or so.
What exactly happened to end the talks? Kevin Bakhurst appeared on Prime Time last night. Here is some of what he had to say.
“I was very disappointed when [the Ryan Tubridy statement] came out because... this is a very delicate process.”
When asked what was so wrong with what the presenter had said, the director general continued: “I think the really important thing for everybody is we now have the restated figures on people’s salaries the whole issue was caused by the salaries being incorrectly stated and there being confusion about it. We’ve had the two reports from Grant Thornton, we’ve had the salaries of Ryan properly stated now and it is completely counterproductive for people to start questioning those stated salaries, those stated salaries have got to be accepted.”
He said the national broadcaster had “made some very grim mistakes as we know and they’ve been well rehearsed and examined but we now have figures that are agreed on and we can’t have them being undermined or questioned in a statement of that kind.”
“It doesn’t help us to move on and reestablish trust in the organisation and people to accept what has happened and we need to actually make corrections make sure those things don’t happen again. But we have to agree on the basic facts.”
He went on to say that “we can’t start muddying the waters or we’ll never move on from this.”
“I think it has to be clear to people this organisation is bigger than any individuals. We have to stand for a certain set of values, which is about truth and honesty and transparency and you know part of that is actually about accepting what has happened not going back constantly questioning.”
He also pointed to “a series of leaks” from what he “thought were confidential discussions between me and Mr Tubridy in the papers as well and when you put that together it is very hard at this point and I underline at this point to move on from that.”
