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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
John Kierans

'RTE is a dead duck after the Ryan Tubridy pay scandal - the public will never trust it again'

Would the last person leaving RTE please turn out the lights.

The national broadcaster is now a dead duck and will never ever regain the trust of the public that it enjoyed for years.

The Ryan Tubridy pay scandal has seen to that.

The station told us their biggest star had taken a pay cut, they published his alleged salary year after year. Then lo and behold it turns out to be all lies.

Read More: Patrick Kielty dodges questions about his Late Late Show salary amid RTE scandal

He was receiving secret cash payments to the tune of €345,000 via a mysterious account to make up the difference and ensure he wasn't at a financial loss.

It was also deliberately done in a way that no one was supposed to find out.

But while Tubs enjoyed the wealthy trappings of fame, the rank and file staff who kept RTE ticking over day to day, suffered the consequences of austerity and recession.

They all had to take pay cuts and many more were forced out the door through layoffs and redundancies as the head count was reduced.

RTE Director General Dee Forbes and presenter Ryan Tubridy in 2022 (Colin Keegan, Collins Agency, Dublin)

Over the years on the Late Late Show Ryan Tubridy loved displaying his moral compass, voicing his opinion on various issues and often whinging about his lack of privacy.

But yet his moral compass vanished when he allowed his earnings to be published by the station when he and his agent both knew the figures were wrong, inaccurate and misleading.

It made him look good, the idea that he was taking a pay cut at a time when the whole nation was suffering.

I wonder what the late Vicky Phelan and Christy Dignam would think of him now. The so-called man of the people codding the people.

The hero of RTE, the brave, incredible Charlie Bird who is fighting for his life with MND, must be scratching his head in disbelief at the events of the last week and how the station he loved so much has been brought to his knees.

I am sure he feels deeply ashamed and let down by everyone involved.

Throughout my life the one place in Ireland we could depend on to tell us the truth was RTE.

Ryan Tubridy at RTE Radio 1 (Gareth Chaney Collins)

Ryan Tubridy, the Director General, Dee Forbes, who resigned yesterday and the whole RTE Executive team have severely damaged the brand.

Their collective failure to take responsibility and to admit to any wrong-doing has been appalling.

They have insulted the intelligence of the Irish people with their constant drip-drip release of information on the matter over the past several days, instead of being honest, straight and forthright.

Like the last few minutes on the Titanic, everyone involved is trying to save their reputations and their own skins. The whole lot of them should resign.

The Government and our TDs are rightly trying to find out exactly what went on and who approved of these payments but I suspect it will take months before we get to the truth because all involved will hide behind their lawyers.

After this betrayal - and that is what it is - I would not blame anyone for refusing to pay the €160 TV Licence fee.

In fact I am furious with myself for paying it only two weeks ago.

The RTE Television Studios in Donnybrook, Dublin (Liam McBurney/PA Wire)

In financial terms as a media giant, RTE had it all in this country. It got both the licence fee and the commercial advertising revenue. In most other countries you either get one or the other.

The practice of giving RTE the two revenue streams was deeply unfair on its broadcasting rivals and senior management at the station thought they were untouchable and could literally do what they wanted.

Going forward we need a root and branch clearout at RTE from top to bottom. We don't need three national TV channels full of repeats, and four radio stations, going forward.

The whole operation needs to be streamlined with new people and new thinking at the top and the whole network modernised and brought into the real world. We don't need studios in Cork, Belfast, Limerick, Galway and Athlone when we live in such a small country.

RTE must be able to pay its own way from here on in. But more importantly it must tell the truth otherwise it is not worth a penny of our cash.

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