Pat Kenny has slammed RTÉ for “ruining” Ryan Tubridy’s reputation.
The broadcaster was plunged into chaos earlier this summer when it was revealed that Ryan’s earnings were publicly understated by €345,000 over the last six years.
The issue was identified during a routine audit of RTÉ’s 2022 accounts, prompting two independent reviews of the matter by auditing organisation Grant Thornton.
The second report, which was published last month, revealed Ryan and his agent Noel Kelly had no involvement in the public understatement of his salary between the years 2017 and 2019.
It also confirmed that the presenter waived a €120,000 exit fee, which he was entitled to at the end of his contract.
The former Late Late Show host was “very close” to an agreement on his return to his RTÉ Radio 1 Show but after he released a statement on the findings of the second report, he lost the gig.
In a new interview with The Sunday Independent, Newstalk presenter Pat Kenny hit out at RTÉ for “tarnishing” Ryan.
He said: “If Ryan hadn’t left The Late Late Show, none of this would have happened. He would have been too valuable an asset to RTÉ. But because Ryan had left, in their eyes he had lost value. He was more disposable.”
“Then they got the numbers wrong — the €120,000. How they got that wrong is a mystery to me. With all the accountancy and audits?”
“And then they came out with excuses that didn’t make sense. And in the process they effectively ruined Ryan’s reputation. Some would say Noel Kelly’s too. I have no doubt Noel was damaged by what they did.”
When asked how he would describe the scandal, Pat replied: “An avoidable mess. And by exposing it in such a cack-handed way, RTÉ have hurt their own income — the licence fee income. Ryan Tubridy being the big casualty.”
Speaking about how Ryan handled the saga, Pat went on to say: “You can say now he made mistakes. A lot of people are saying he shouldn’t have issued the statement when the contract was within an inch of being signed.”
“Should he have said anything? Now we can say, ‘Of course he shouldn’t have’, but at the time, when you’re vindicated by Grant Thornton, you feel you have to almost repeat it for the public. To let them know that you are not guilty as charged.”
“It smacks of RTÉ were looking to find an excuse not to sign it,” the broadcaster, who parted ways with RTÉ in 2013 after 41 years, added.
Pat, who hosted The Late Late Show from September 1999 until May 2009, described Ryan as “a good pal” of his.
The 75-year-old revealed he did not offer Ryan any advice amid the scandal, but instead expressed his sympathies for him.
He said: “I felt that RTÉ owed him an apology. A lot of people are conflating their resentment about the scale of the remuneration with the actual issue —which is whether or not RTÉ behaved ethically and properly towards Ryan, and they did not.”
When asked how Ryan is doing now, Pat said: “Looking at the stuff that he is putting out on social media, he is certainly putting on a brave face. I’d say he has had sleepless nights. You know, where did it all go wrong?”
Speaking about Ryan’s next move, Pat said: “This is a very small pond and [he’s] a big enough fish in a small pond. But there are limits to what you can expect to earn and achieve.”
“He will probably look overseas. I think he’s been tarnished here, and the kind of radio work he wants to do, he has got to be liked.”
“If he’s fighting an uphill battle because of what RTÉ did and the whole saga of that negotiation, it might just be an uphill battle here. But then, time heals.”
