MARTY CAR-TY | 

Marty Morrissey admits he is the RTE staff member who had Renault car for five years

The GAA presenter said he returned the car voluntarily on Friday 23 June.

Today at 16:46

RTE sport presenter Marty Morrissey has apologised for an “error of judgement” after admitting he was the staff member who had the loan of a Renault car for up to five years.

Mr Morrissey confirmed he had an “ad hoc” arrangement with the car company in a statement released this evening.

He claimed he was asked to present a number of events at Renault garages across the country in 2017.

However, he insisted he was granted permission by RTE to MC at the events at the time.

“I did not seek a fee of this engagement,” he said, adding that as he did not seek a fee, Renault offered him the use of the car instead.

“I accepted this offer,” he said,” adding that “the situation carried over informally for a number of years”.

“Since the recent controversy within RTÉ arose, I reflected on this matter. I concluded that it had been an error of judgement on my part to accept the use of the car. I returned it voluntarily to Renault on Friday 23rd June.”

It emerged at The Oireachtas Media Committee yesterday afternoon that an RTÉ staff member had returned a vehicle “on Tuesday” after using it for the past five years in an arrangement that had “not been approved”.

The rumour mill went into overdrive last night after acting Director General Adrian Lynch told the Oireachtas Media Committee under questioning about the staff member handing back the car on Tuesday.

Speculation was rife on social media as to the identity of the big-name star but also internally in RTÉ, with only one name now being linked with having the borrowed car.

Under questioning from Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley, Adrian Lynch was asked if there were any brand ambassadors with a loaned car who was also in receipt of a car allowance from RTÉ.

My Lynch said they were “going through a process now” of checking that information.

“I’m aware of one instance where somebody had a loan of a car…my understanding is that car has been returned and that individual is a staff member of RTÉ.”

Mr Lynch said he could not name the staff member for data protection reasons, and would not say what role or rank they have as “it’ll be too specific and lead to speculation”.

“I’m sure it’ll come out anyway,” he said.

Marty Morrissey is one of RTE’s best-known presenters and recently toured the country with his own live variety show, The Marty Party, playing top venues and featuring special guests.

In January, he said impressions of him done by Oliver Callan and Mario Rosenstock tunrned him into a showbiz character.

“It’s a mixed cocktail that I hope will appeal to everybody from the age of 18 to 80.

“It’s born out of Oliver Callan and Mario Rosenstock taking the p*ss out of me on their programmes.

“They were there with my pink shirt and my shiny white teeth and the hair all over the place and they started the catchphrase, ‘I’m Marty and I like to party’.

“Little did they know they were going to start something.

“Everywhere I went for the last number of years it wasn’t Marty Morrissey. Kids would say to me, ‘Marty, how’s the party!’ And then when I was on Dancing with the Stars we had a WhatsApp group called The Marty Party.”