Sir, – David Nally, editorial adviser, RTÉ Content, in his letter (“Former RTÉ manager replies to coverage,” Letters, July 8th) vindicates the compelling arguments made by Justine McCarthy in her column about the top management culture at RTÉ (“Revelations about them-and-us culture at top of RTÉ not new”, Opinion & Analysis, July 7th).
As former head of TV Current Affairs, Mr Nally is well placed to respond to the shocking findings of the so-called “temperature check” commissioned by RTÉ and carried out by Resolve, an external consultancy firm.
That review revealed an atmosphere within Current Affairs in which workers felt unable to speak up. Women in particular did not complain because they felt there was no point.
Indeed, Mr Nally could do a public service by revealing what is in the heavily redacted sections of the report, released only after NUJ members in Current Affairs secured a significant ruling from the Information Commissioner.
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As Irish secretary of the NUJ, I represented the member who was not afraid to speak out and successfully took a formal complaint against David Nally.
Mr Nally did not appeal the findings against him yet, in his letter, there are damaging implications through use of loaded phrases such as “as a manager you have control over your own actions but ultimately you can’t control how these actions are perceived by staff”, “When there’s a dispute, they [staff] often hear one side of the story” and “misperceptions and myth abound in the telling”.
The innuendo contained in the phrase “one side of the story” is especially concerning.
Mr Nally previously gave an interview to the Sunday Times and the identity of the complainant was subsequently published in Phoenix magazine. You would not have to be too adept at jigsaw identification to establish the person who refused to be cowed.
Mr Nally was rewarded by a management appointment to a new role created for him and filled without advertisement. He was allowed to hold his ¤150,000 salary and now sits on an RTÉ editorial standards board.
The NUJ objected to the filling of such a significant post in this manner.
There were many staff who would have welcomed the opportunity to apply.
Mr Nally is described as having “responsibility for ensuring the editorial soundness and compliance of all RTÉ content outside the News and Current Affairs Division”.
The person who took the complaint has at all times complied with the confidentiality of the process.
In my long experience as an industrial relations official, it is unprecedented for a senior executive to publicly comment on the outcome of a confidential investigation, never mind doing so in a manner which seeks to diminish the significance of the complaint and the outcome of an independent process.
Current Affairs is one of the jewels in RTÉ's crown. Prime Time and RTÉ Investigates represent the essence of public service broadcasting.
A study of the Resolve report and the events surrounding it, including Mr Nally’s letter on Saturday, would be a useful exercise for the new director general as he grapples with the culture so accurately captured by Justine McCarthy. – Yours, etc,
SÉAMUS DOOLEY,
Irish secretary,
National Union of
Journalists,
Spencer House,
Dublin 1.
A Chara, – I must take issue with Justine McCarthy’s criticisms of the Oireachtas Media Committee in her July 7th column, claiming that we had not looked at issues relating to spending and governance at RTÉ, and the future of public sector broadcasting.
For the past three years, our committee has had a range of hearings on the future of the media and on public sector broadcasting funding.
We examined the issues in detail as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny for the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022.
We have met with RTÉ and other broadcasters (as well as other media representatives, including The Irish Times) on a regular basis to examine the future of media in Ireland, including funding models.
Indeed, next Wednesday, we have a long-standing commitment to hold hearings on sports broadcasting and the funding models involved.
Our committee is very aware of the conflicts that exist between a publicly funded model of broadcasting and commercial demands of the sector.
We have gone about our work in a diligent and collegial fashion, and all our reports as well as details of our proceedings are published on the Oireachtas website.
There have been other journalists who have reported on some of our work but much of it does not get media attention.
I believe that we are rightly angry because we were misled by RTÉ on certain matters during presentations by them when we met with them.
I believe our committee has performed well in eliciting further information during current hearings about what has happened at the broadcaster.
I accept that some parliamentary colleagues have attempted to jump on the bandwagon on the issues that have been raised but the regular attendees at our committee meetings have been exploring the core questions for quite some time.
I would encourage Justine McCarthy to look at all the work that we have done to date, to attend a meeting when we are not receiving media attention, and to consider the evidence of our work to date. – Is mise le meas,
MALCOLM BYRNE,
Fianna Fáil Senator,
Member of the Joint
Oireachtas Committee on
Tourism, Sport, Arts,
Culture and Media,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2.