Dáithí Ó Sé has revealed that RTÉ will have to “rebuild that trust again” following last year’s payment scandal.
The broadcaster was plunged into chaos last summer when it was revealed that Ryan Tubridy’s earnings had been publicly understated by €345k over six years – sparking internal and external reviews of the company’s finances.
The scandal resulted in the resignation of a number of RTÉ’s key staff members – including former Director General Dee Forbes, and former Director of Strategy Rory Coveney.
Speaking to Goss.ie during his Spotlight On interview, the Kerry native shared his thoughts on the recent scandal that shocked the nation.
He said: “Yeah, we were all shocked and surprised really, to see what was happening. But again, they’re trading at a different level to us. Like we are on the ground, we are the ground troops here, we are the people making the TV programmes. We are the people facing the audience all the time.”
“So all I can say about that is, I hope it’ll be sorted soon. It will be sorted. I think there’s a good man at the top, and it’ll take time to get sorted. It’s playing out in public at the moment and everybody’s getting frustrated about that.”
He continued: “We are frustrated about that, but we just have to leave that to get sorted and get back to making TV programmes, making radio programmes, and being a public service broadcaster. That’s what it’s about.”
“Again, it goes back to we are nobody without our audience. We’re not worth a fiver, as I said before, without that audience as well. So they’re trading at a different level. That will have to be sorted out.”
“But the ground troops, we’re going to have to be there, we’re going to have to face the public and rebuild that trust again back to where it was. And I believe we can do it.”
When asked if he has faced any personal backlash over the situation, the 47-year-old said: “No thankfully, not yet. But people see us as the face of RTÉ, so this is one of the problems.”
“And even though the problem doesn’t lie with us, we are the people that you know. So that can be frustrating for people as well.”
He added: “But listen, we’re just going to have to plough on. We’re just going to have to plough on until it gets sorted. And it will get sorted. It’ll take time, and bit by bit we are getting there and we’re just going to have to go with it.”
