Eileen Dunne has admitted she’s “worried” for Ryan Tubridy amid the ongoing RTÉ payments scandal.
On Thursday, RTÉ’s Director General Kevin Bakhurst confirmed there are “no plans” for Ryan to return to his presenting role in a shock statement.
Speaking to RSVP magazine, former newsreader Eileen said: “I know my colleagues in the newsroom are incredibly angry and I can understand all of that.”
“There are an awful lot of good people in RTÉ,” Eileen continued.” I would say and Ryan Tubridy and Kevin Bakhurst are two of them.”
“That is why people are so angry because there’s cutbacks, cutbacks and cutbacks all the time.”
“But the other side of it is that where the stuff was going on was the commercial arm of RTÉ. It doesn’t excuse it, but it does explain it to a certain extent.”
“This kind of thing goes on in every company so there is that divide. I think if it lances that boil and maybe going forward, we decide that one part of RTE is public service and the other side can be commercial. I think there has to be some distinction.”
“I would say that it has always been about transparency in fairness,” Eileen continued.
“Ryan is a good guy. Okay, he made one or two mistakes. I know he’s a good guy at the back of it all.”
“I saw one photograph of him and he just looked haunted. I worry about him.”
“Nobody likes to be living all of this in the public eye. It’s hard enough to deal with problems like that when you’re a private citizen, but it’s ten times more difficult when you’re in the public eye.”
Just weeks after he hosted his final episode of The Late Late Show on May 26, RTÉ was plunged into chaos when it was revealed that Ryan’s earnings were publicly understated by €345,000 over the last six years.
RTÉ has taken full responsibility for the misstatement of Ryan’s fees, but his future at the station has remained up in the air over the past few months amid contract negotiations.
The presenter’s contract negotiations were halted earlier this year when the RTÉ payments scandal came to light.
Earlier this week, Grant Thornton’s second report on the ongoing RTÉ payments scandal revealed Ryan and his agent Noel Kelly had no involvement in the public understatement of the presenter’s salary between the years 2017 and 2019.
It also confirmed that the popular presenter waived a €120,000 exit fee, which he was entitled to at the end of his contract.
In a statement at the time, Ryan revealed his hopes to return to RTÉ, writing: “I welcome the findings of the Grant Thornton Report, published today.”
“I also welcome the report’s findings that I did not claim €120,000 in fees which was due to me in 2020 and that I did not agree with how RTE proposed to account for this decision.”
“It is also clear that my actual income from RTE in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published as my earnings for those years and RTÉ has not yet published its top ten earner details for 2022.”
“I repeat my offer to publish the details of any future RTÉ contract.”
“I am committed to re-establishing the confidence and trust of my colleagues and listeners, and I hope that any fair assessment of the findings of today’s report will help in this regard,” Ryan continued.
“Finally, I want to acknowledge the huge support that I have received in recent weeks from people across the country; many cards and letters, greetings on the street and words of support from people I bumped into meant an awful lot to me and I appreciate them all very much.”
RTÉ 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 an independent review of the matter by auditing organisation Grant Thornton.
The RTÉ Board issued an apology over the error, and later Ryan also apologised for not questioning RTÉ over his published earnings.
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.
RTÉ’s former Commercial Director Geraldine O’Leary later announced her early retirement.
