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OLIVER CALLAN, WHO is hosting the nine o’clock spot on RTÉ Radio One following the ousting of Ryan Tubridy, has said the controversy that led to his departure is a “lesson”.
Tubridy, who was previously the organisation’s highest earner, was due to return to his morning radio show in September for a salary of €170,000.
But RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said last week that the presenter would not be returning, following a breakdown in negotiations.
The slot formerly occupied by The Ryan Tubridy Show has been replaced with The Nine O’Clock Show, along with new theme music.
In his opening monologue this morning, Callan said it was not the start of a new era, but “it is firmly the end of one, which is unfortunate”.
“There is a sense of wrong that he won’t be heard here again,” Callan said.
“But look, the whole bloomin’ controversy is a bit of a lesson, I think, as well, on graciously and humbly accepting second chances when they’re being offered to you.”
Bakhurst said last week that trust had “broken down” during negotiations, and that a statement from Tubridy “made without consultation” was the clincher.
The comments, Bakhurst said, seemed to “question the basis for the necessary restatement of fees paid for services for 2020 and 2021″.
The statement followed the publication of a second Grant Thornton report into the pay scandal, which found that Tubridy and his agent had no role in adjustments made to Tubridy’s salary.
Callan said: “He’s not a hated figure. He’s not cancelled. He has opportunities aplenty, and we sincerely wish them well.
“He will be back because there is a home always for for Ryan’s experience and his mischief.”
Callan, who described himself at the top of the show as a “caretaker”, spoke highly of Tubridy, referencing some of his more memorable moments as host of The Late Late Show and his radio show.
He said: “We’re sorry and sad to see him go, just as we’re sorry and sad to see the harm that’s been done to RTÉ by all of all of the scandal.”
The scandal, which first emerged as a discrepancy between what RTÉ said Tubridy was being paid and what he was actually being paid, spiralled into a crisis for the national broadcaster, with major issues with advertising revenue and corporate governance being uncovered.
Disarray in the production of Toy Show: The Musical and a €5,000 bill for flip flops were among the revelations that engulfed RTÉ.
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Is Michael Healy-Ray really that stupid ,,,,, Looks like the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree !!!!!
yes they are , and the very ones, that has there bread buttered by him , i heard , that these guys run, co, Kerry ,if your not with, them your out, and stay out ?. local Mafioso, i here say .big fish in small ponds .
How on earth did that amadan Healy Rae get elected , are people in constituency really that thick????
maybe we could put the dog into the dail instead of micheal.
As a farmer said to me ‘why should I indicate ,sure everybody knows where I’m going .’ The rural attitude to visitors/tourists is that they should deposit their money at the county boundary and not annoy the natives with demands for service, unspoilt countryside etc. It takes a Healy-Rae to actually come out and say this ; tell us more Michael.
Michael Healy Rae your ignorance knows absolutely no bounds!!
Michael Healy Rae is supported by the plain people of Kerry – crap goes in, crap comes out.
It’s bloody obvious Micheal Healy Rae is a man that can smell money a mile away. He must be doing a reality tv show soon and needs the cash for the phone and text votes. This is the Td who cut the grass of developers houses in my estate only last summer after he was elected. He even had his ‘vote no1′ stickers still on his van with his picture so there was no denying it was him. My ghost estate is in north cork so he drove a bit from Kerry to help the developer who is living it up in the uk!
I live in the country, and I know my way around. I have to say, country driving, particularly people over a certain age and in a certain profession, is shocking bad. No indicating, lucky if there’s one working brake light on the car. If a trailer is being towed, good luck. Then you can actually see the driver looking everywhere but the road. I usually have a rant about this a few times a week, when I’m stuck behind some numpty who doesn’t indicate, no brake light on the trailer, thinks road signs are just decorations for the roadside. And that Healy-Rae lad is a bigger numpty for questioning the need for road signs.
It says much for his chosen career that he is able to function as a member of the Dail, most of the political class see their job as being ” gettin in then gettin as much as they can ” this applies to most countries so we shouldn’t feel superior, but we do have a very good class of gobshites.
In a lot of rural areas, the local yooves tend to take great delight in turning the signs. And a turned sign is defintely worse than no sign at all! Many’s the time I’ve headed off in the wrong direction thanks to a bit of late-night shenanigans.
No money in signs as they are put in by the NRA also the bank hopes to “return to sustainable profitability by 2014.” by robbing the less well off..
have your say