On Wednesday, RTÉ board chairwoman Siún Ní Raghallaigh, interim deputy director general Adrian Lynch and other executives appeared before the Oireachtas media committee to provide what Cathaoirleach Niamh Smyth would describe on television that night as “half answers”.
“When I saw the likes of Sinéad [Hussey] and Orla [O’Donnell] speaking out, I felt that. We have endured it for so long. This was a step too far. It really is. People are saying it is a kick in the teeth, that their blood is boiling. And it has to lead to change and to a better RTÉ. We are asking questions of RTÉ that absolutely must be answered. But this goes back to Government and the whole issue around a future funding model for RTÉ.
When Tubridy began in RTÉ as a general runner in the mid-1990s, his focus was clear on the direction he wanted to go. “My feeling when I got into RTÉ was I wanted to swim with the big fish, if I could,” he said to Olaf Tyaransen in an interview with Hot Press in 2004. Tubridy was given the task of stepping into the Radio One 9am slot, which RTÉ had struggled to fill since Byrne finished in 1998, a show that had begun part of the national morning ritual in many homes since 1973. It was the most daunting hour of his ascending career and early reviews were brutal. Even Byrne, a confidante to Tubridy, admitted he had his doubts.
Ciaran Mullooly was appointed midlands correspondent around the time that Tubridy joined RTÉ. He served in that role until leaving RTÉ two years ago. Like many staffers he witnessed with unease the escalating payments to the top 10 earners. “We got f**k all support from RTÉ. And I met with some of these characters, and they looked at us and said they couldn’t afford it. We asked them for the land around the transmitter for a feasibility study and they said they were selling it. They went to auction over our heads and got less than €300,000 for it. And at the same time, they were giving Ryan Tubridy more than that.”
When you become that thing, the household name – Gay or Gerry or Miriam or Marian or Joe or Mike or Bibi or Derek – you do relinquish something of yourself. Tubridy largely abandoned social media a decade ago. If he has enjoyed much public affection, he has also been subject to vitriolic attacks while walking down the street, while standing in a shop. You can never drop the mask. Maybe that’s part of the reason why the contract fees are so lavish. Nice work if you can get it, everyone harrumphs.
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