‘Devastated, ashamed, betrayed and angered’ – RTÉ staff demand answers on who signed off on Ryan Tubridy’s pay

Yesterday at 20:43

NUJ members at RTÉ have demanded answers about who signed off on the “secret payments” to Ryan Tubridy and who knew about them.

“We want those responsible to be held to account,” they said in a strongly worded update following an emergency meeting today yesterday to discuss the revelations regarding the payments to Tubridy.

The meeting was chaired by Emma O’Kelly, chair of the Dublin Broadcasting Branch of the NUJ. A statement that followed said:

“NUJ members in RTÉ remain committed to the core principles of public service broadcasting and to the highest standards of ethical journalism.

“The revelations of undisclosed payments to Ryan Tubridy and the secretive arrangement with a third party threaten to undermine the trust which is the cornerstone of our relationship with the Irish people.”

The statement explained that members “are angry and dismayed” at the failure of the executive board to address the grave concerns of staff and the decision by management to refuse all media interviews.

“RTÉ should be a model of best practice in regard to employment, corporate governance, industrial relations and public procurement. The concept of secret third-party contracts and special arrangements is incompatible with the concept of public service broadcasting.”

1:42

RTE director general Dee Forbes suspended amid furore over Ryan Tubridy salary

The NUJ members said they are calling for:

• The RTÉ Executive Board to make themselves available to RTÉ programmes and other media to address the very many questions that need answering.
• We want to know who signed off on these secret payments and who knew about them.
• We want those responsible to be held to account.
• We welcome the new announcement of an independent enquiry. We want its scope to be broadened to include wider issues relating to remuneration, including pensions and perks.
• We also want an end to what members see as a culture of secrecy surrounding pay, pensions and perks at the organisation.
• We want an independent examination of RTÉ’s use of third-party agents acting on behalf of a select group and the appropriateness of such relationships in a public broadcasting organisation.

RTÉ and €345,000 of hidden payments to Ryan Tubridy

 

Ms O’Kelly said that today’s NUJ meeting was the largest held in recent memory at the broadcaster.

Members spoke of how devastated, ashamed, betrayed and angered they are.

“Our members have worked extremely hard to earn and maintain the trust of the Irish public. That trust is something we value and respect hugely,” the statement said.

“They are devastated to see the hard-earned goodwill of the public undermined as a result of this scandal. We will continue to do our jobs to the best of our ability, and that includes holding RTÉ to the same standards that the public expects of any publicly funded body. We demand that our viewers and listeners are treated with respect, and we want that respect extended also to staff at RTÉ,” the statement concluded.

EXPLAINER: What’s the problem with Ryan Tubridy’s RTE paycheque?

Fury

There was widespread anger among the RTÉ staff who held the emergency union meeting to discuss the fallout from the controversy surrounding Tubridy’s pay.

A number of well-known broadcasters and behind the scenes staff expressed fury over the secret pay deal for the former Late Late Show host.

One source at the meeting said a staff member was reduced to tears as she recounted haggling with suppliers on costs for services as she was trying to save the station money.

Another contributor with links to The Late Late Show highlighted that the salaries of a lot of the staff who produced Tubridy’s Friday night programme were a fraction of the earnings he took home. It was also pointed out that the same staff could not afford houses, while he was getting secret top-ups.

The meeting heard from Nationwide presenter Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh, Prime Time’s Fran McNulty and economic correspondent Robert Shortt.

Sources at the meeting said Ms Ní Chofaigh criticised the RTÉ executive for not publicly addressing the ongoing controversy.

Mr McNulty said he has never felt ashamed to work in RTÉ but he did when the details of Tubridy’s salary emerged.

However, there was praise at the meeting for how the RTÉ newsroom has been covering the affair and seeking to hold those involved to account.

“The manner in which RTÉ has covered it has spoken about the integrity of the journalists who work here and shows there are more people with integrity than there are without in this organisation,” a source said.

NUJ statement

Separately, Seamus Dooley, NUJ Irish Secretary said in a statement: “The events of the last 48 hours are deeply disturbing and strike at the heart of RTÉ as Ireland’s premier public service broadcaster.

“Yesterday, the board confirmed undisclosed payments to Ryan Tubridy in an email to all staff. These revelations caused upset, anger and resentment right across the organisation, from union activists and members to members of the Management Association (MA) to the highest levels of the organisation among trusted individuals excluded from a secret process apparently involving key personnel at the highest level of the organisation.

“This is GUBU stuff – grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre, and unprecedented in scale. RTÉ staff feel betrayed and are rightly angry. Yesterday’s comprehensive statement from the board was an honest attempt at placing information on the public record. I struggle to understand why the suspension of the director general on Wednesday was not announced at the same time.”

Mr Dooley added in the statement: “I am mindful of the need for due process and the rights of individuals in this process and I look forward to the Grant Thornton investigation.”

He said: “I am also mindful of the sense of betrayal felt by workers whom I and colleagues represented in good faith negotiations, while a parallel process of negotiations with a third party was undertaken by RTÉ. That process and the arrangements entered into led to a deception of staff, the public and the government.