Ryan Tubridy

[HighEndGrifters]

I said something was up when he resigned so quickly...

That's so true and it's why I am not proud to be Irish 😔

I usually listen to the morning news show and don't get round to switching the radio off until I get annoyed. A thing that always does it it Tubridy telling us about a present he got from someone - a book sent in, a coffee bought for him, this and that. Never a week goes by without something, often there are several in a week. Deeply unbecoming for someone as rich as him not to state clearly 'of course, it has been donated to charity / refused because I cannot accept personal gifts (and maintain professional objectivity in broadcasting)'. And now this. It seems to confirm my assesment of him as greedy, vain, and lacking in principles. Not as well read as he's like us to believe, either - the chasms in his general knowledge were a bit startling at times.

I've always appreciated the summer season when someone else took the slot - it would be so lovely never to have to listen to his sniggering laugh again.

RTE are probably frantically trying to work out is he still someone their advertisers will want to be associated with.

Did you really 🙄

https://twitter.com/i/status/1672000466400452609

😂 I love it

@EarringsandLipstick

Yes really.

Not hard to grasp in a country that is but a village. 🙄

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/rtes-claire-byrne-reveals-her-new-salary-live-on-air-while-saying-ryan-tubridy-scandal-is-heart-breaking/a1524357060.html

Well that is putting it up to the rest of them.

Joe Duffy, Miriam O'Callaghan, Brendan O'Connor have confirmed theirs is the same as published.

Each one who does that makes Tubridy look worse. On Thursday I was in my kitchen, listening to him talk about this plans to learn Irish, and thinking 'yup. he's going for the presidency'. Amazing how things change.

Wouldn't your 'high up' contact have told you more than something self-evident that 'there's more to come'. Of course there is.

Secondly I also know people in RTE. Not 'very high up' tho. No-one senior is talking. At all. Their jobs are on the line; they're facing two committee appearances & are not engaging with people.

The toxic & poorly governed institution that is RTE absolutely requires interrogation.

The multiple arms that are unaware of each other is massively shocking.

However, tearing apart Ryan Tubridy on the basis that he did something wrong is unfair. He has questions to answer, yes. It appears some elements of his contract were unwise.

He's also a brilliant empathetic broadcaster, that has also done huge amounts of good for particular causes, including literacy, libraries & education. I've had the opportunity to meet him a few times in a professional context. He impressed me with his genuine interest & engagement - not showy, not in it for himself or publicity.

It would be a real shame if this ended his career in Ireland / RTÉ. (He himself will be fine - there are many more opportunities open to him).

@EarringsandLipstick

They did, but MN is not the place to abuse trust.

For it is worth they are not “talking” but they are within circles of trust.

To be quite honest you sound like an apologist for Ryan Tubridy and his management and his shady dealings (and others)(more to come)and yet the people on the street were being prosecuted and persecuted for not holding or being able to afford a television licence.

Cop your self on, I will not engage any further with you.

In context .none of these RTE presenters should be paid this kind of money. All need to be investigated..RTE is not worth the licence fee. There are lots of employees on much lower salaries and zero contracts. Transparency is badly needed

@Nannyamc

Not before there has been yet another tribunal. 🙄

And what did Dee Forbes get paid I wonder?!

He's also a brilliant empathetic broadcaster

Other listener opinions are available.

For it is worth they are not “talking” but they are within circles of trust.

😂😂😂😂

That sounds like something RTE management would say.

'Circles of trust' 😅 as you post that a senior RTE executive (🤓) is briefing you with anodyne updates. Right.

you sound like an apologist for Ryan Tubridy and his management and his shady dealings

It's not being an 'apologist' to offer an opinion.

What are the 'shady dealings' RT is specifically involved in? For sure, he may ethically have questions to answer but the payments he received were legitimate & lawful, whatever it says about RTE's governance & accounting practices (an entirely separate & key issue).

being prosecuted and persecuted

You do need to inform yourself - who was 'persecuted' 😂 for not having a TV licence.

Cop your self on, I will not engage any further with you.

No bother at all. You're poorly informed on the facts but that's your choice. FYI, expressing different opinions to you, on a discussion forum, is perfectly standard.

RTE is not worth the licence fee

I don't disagree with your other points - RTE is a toxic worrying culture.

However, this is silly - it's €160 per year, translating as about 43c a day. It's hard to argue what's 'not worth' that.

That's not the question - the real question is how we want RTE to operate as a national broadcaster, fulfilling its public service remit. That's what is not happening appropriately at present.

RTE are correct that they can't fulfil this remit with the current funding model. That's why paying undisclosed payments to their already highly paid top earner is such an issue.

Of course!

I think he's marmite really isn't he? Some love him, others ... don't. Like many broadcasters & presenters.

I happen to admire him for his radio work (didn't like him particularly on the Late Late) as well as his off-air persona and work he did, which I had some small direct experience of.

Firstly - he hasn't resigned. RTE made an editorial decision that he couldn't be on the radio this week discussing basically himself and his financial affairs and still be impartial. Also would you give someone who is under the microscope a megaphone to shout their side of things while the other side doesn't have the same? No you wouldn't or should you.

I think RTE is in a heap of trouble. They've been shouting the poor mouth but also being able to provide €75k (there is a Euro symbol if you use your AltGr key and the number 4) for making three appearances but these were shelved due to Covid and yet he still got paid for them.
https://twitter.com/TonightVMTV/status/1673446390595457024?s=20

There are a lot of very angry employees in RTE right now. Many behind the scenes, many in regional offices/studios that were planned to be closed down (due to lack of funds), many who had great ideas for programming but were told there wasn't the money to bring them to fruition, but there clearly was money, just not going to them.

This issue brings the TV Licence fee under the microscope. As TV3 has only to rely on advertising revenue yet they are able to maintain a full schedule but RTE being the state broadcaster gets both advertising revenue and the license fee (all of it), they really have to step up here. When the license fee was introduced, Ireland only had RTE 1 and 2 and it was able to take coverage from BBC 1 and 2 and ITV 1 and eventually C4. So why is RTE spending part of the license fee on broadcasting the likes of Eastenders at the same time as BBC1? Why isn't RTE making programmes that can go into competition with the likes of Eastenders instead? What is the draw when you can watch the same programme without any adverts in the middle of the show?

They really need to get their house in order...and quickly!

Oh, one other thing - as Ryan Tubridy is only a contractor to RTE, they should cease his contract with immediate effect. If they want him back at a later date that could be discussed when new contract mechanisms are in place but at the moment he is kryptonite to the company.

That is a very good point. The members of the public that have been jailed for not paying their licence fee (when they probably had a bloody good reason for not doing it) yet he didn't notice €75k hitting his bank account??? Rubbish. I guarantee you if the money hadn't reached his bank account he'd be asking "Where's that €75k that I'm due?"

All of them , overpaid and overrated. If some of them had to compete for listeners or viewers, they would be sacked , never mind paid outrageous sums. Marion Finnunce ? Miriam O Callaghan? Anybody under 60 really listening? I find RTE so embarrassingly insular. On a national news programme, regularly including that some hurler who won some under 21 title in 1985 has died. Sad for his family but not the nation .

The whole organisation needs an overhaul. Maybe we should all withhold TV licence . RTE go under?
And the Toy Show ain't all that!

The fact that all of the top earners are coming out saying what their salary is (during a cost of living crisis too) smacks a little bit of "Let them eat cake" and very Marie Antoinette of them.

Do they think by coming clean on radio or TV that they are absolving themselves of being connected to this mess? I was reading that the top salary for a researcher is €55k after 12 years of being on a pay scale. That's their top researchers.

It stinks.

It stinks to high heaven.

This is not going to go away anytime soon.

I really do feel for the general staff though in RTE who go in every day and produce what they do and now they have this shitshow on their doorstep.

According to media reports her package is worth just over €300,000.