RTE director-general holds meeting with Ryan Tubridy
RTE has been engulfed in turmoil since it admitted it had underdeclared former Late Late Show host Tubridy’s earnings.
RTE’s new director-general Kevin Bakhurst has held a face-to-face meeting with star presenter Ryan Tubridy.
In a statement, the Irish national broadcaster said the two men “had a good, open, and constructive conversation”.
RTE has been engulfed in turmoil since it admitted it had underdeclared former Late Late Show host Tubridy’s earnings by 345,000 euro (£296,000) from 2017 to 2022.
The figure included three 75,000-euro (£64,000) annual payments received by Tubridy for proposed public appearances for Renault, as part of a tripartite agreement involving the sponsor, RTE and the presenter.
Tubridy has been off air from his weekday radio show since the scandal broke and his future at the broadcaster remains in serious doubt.
The furore has since widened amid further disclosures about RTE’s internal financial, accounting and governance practices and its expenditure on corporate hospitality for advertising clients.
Media Minister Catherine Martin has announced a number of probes into the governance of Ireland’s national broadcaster.
An RTE statement said: “RTE director-general, Kevin Bakhurst met with Ryan Tubridy in person this week for a one-to-one meeting.
“They had a good, open, and constructive conversation and will meet again in a few weeks.
“RTE has no further comment.”
In his first major act as RTE boss last week, Mr Bakhurst stood down the broadcaster’s executive board and replaced it with a temporary interim leadership team.
Mr Bakhurst had said at the weekend he wanted a decision on Tubridy’s future before the end of July.
He had also indicated that he would speak to Tubridy, but not to his agent Noel Kelly.
RTE bosses, as well as Tubridy and his agent, have appeared before the two Oireachtas committees to answer questions over the controversy.
During his evidence, Tubridy said he had been “publicly cancelled” and it was “touch and go” whether he would be allowed to return to his weekly radio programme.
He said he wants to return to RTE Radio as soon as possible “because it’s all I’ve got”.
“If I do go back to RTE, which I hope to, it’ll be a whole new world order,” Tubridy said.
