Former 2FM star Keith Walsh says RTÉ drama is set to be “worse than” the UK post office scandal.
The former DJ came forward last week and revealed that he is “looking for compensation” from RTÉ.
The former Breakfast Republic presenter is set to sue the national broadcaster for hundreds of thousands of euros.
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Keith has claimed that he is owed this money in entitlements he missed out on after being wrongly classified as a contractor.
The former DJ told the Irish Daily Mail that he is also seeking compensation for the reputational damage he suffered following being dropped by the station.
Keith revealed he was forced to leave his role in 2020 after the Department of Social Protection found that he was incorrectly treated as a contractor, rather than an employee during his seven-year stint at RTÉ.
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The former DJ compared the ongoings at RTÉ as “worse than” the UK Post Office scandal which was depicted in the TV series Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office itself took many cases to court and wrongly prosecuted over 700 people.
These sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for stealing because of incorrect information shown on a computer system called Horizon.
Nearly 300 more cases were brought by other bodies, including the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Many of these sub-postmasters were sent to prison for false accounting and theft and several were forced into financial ruin.
In 2017, a group of 555 sub-postmasters took legal action against the Post Office and in 2019 they agreed to pay them £58m in compensation, however, most of the money reportedly went on legal fees.
Referring to his article with the Irish Independent, Keith said: “‘This is worse than Toy Show: The Musical’ and what I meant by that is that this is much worse than anything that you’ve seen happen.”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet…there is a case to be made that this is actually worse than that [Post Office Scandal], which is saying a lot.”
The father of two also admitted that he found it difficult financially but eventually found other media and PR work.
Speaking about the pay at RTÉ, he explained: “Where you’re there, it looks like you’re being paid well but half of that’s for tax. Then I had to pay my accountant. It wasn’t big money.”
“I still have a tax bill that I’m paying off. I’m still paying Vat off. But I’m resilient and had lots of different ideas and made it work. I wrote a play and travelled the country with it.”
“I don’t expect everyone to be paid the same. They didn’t trust us. There was some fear over the power a presenter has. I think there was a bit of jealousy because they’re not public-facing and they felt they had to control that power.”
Goss.ie has reached out to RTÉ for a comment on the matter.
