RTÉ is currently engulfed in controversy, as the story around the undeclared payments given to Ryan Tubridy continues to develop.
This news first broke on Wednesday, with the Irish Independent reporting on some accountancy discrepancies on the books of the national broadcaster. It was said that between 2017-2021, the former presenter of The Late Late Show received an extra €345,000 in payments that were not publicly disclosed.
Of course, this was also going on during a time when he was being praised for taking an apparent pay cut during the covid pandemic.
Tubridy would initially say that this error from RTÉ had nothing to do with him, although he would then release a second statement yesterday in which he 'apologised unreservedly' for not asking questions around the difference in the public and actual figures.
While the presenter has now apologised, you get the sense that this issue is not going away anytime soon.
Eamon Dunphy tears into RTÉ & Ryan Tubridy over pay issue
Eamon Dunphy is someone who has been open in his denigration of RTÉ in recent years. Ever since ending his association with them, he has consistently criticised the national broadcaster for the way they have conducted their business.
That has continued in the aftermath of this latest scandal.
Speaking on The Stand, Dunphy labelled the arrangement with Ryan Tubridy as a 'grubby stroke'. He went on to compare it to his own decision to take a pay cut at RTÉ back in 2010, something that was quite different to the praise Tubridy had received for claiming to do so over the last couple of years.
It was shortly after (Minster Martin found about the pay discrepancy) that Mr Tubridy announced he was leaving The Late Late Show. He was burnt out, had done his thing, and said he was going to do other things.
Then we had eight weeks, and personally I feel very foolish talking about his courage and patriotism in 'having our back' as he put it during covid.
The question is, it appears that a great charade was played for a couple of months where Ryan Tubridy earned an enormous amount of goodwill from the Irish public. That goodwill was generated on a basis that was really false, because we didn't know about any of this.
This was a grubby little deal. It was a grubby stroke...
I took a €30,000 per year pay cut in 2010. I didn't ask for any publicity for it, in fact I didn't want any publicity. I felt I was being paid too much by RTÉ and I did it privately. I did it with Noel Curran, who was head of TV then.
Eventually it was leaked to the Irish Times, I didn't care. I wanted to do it because I felt it was the right thing to do and I'm no saint as everyone knows.
What is disturbing and makes me feel foolish is when other people, an elite apparently, can behave as we believe this case illustrates.
Those who are responsible in RTÉ won't come out and answer to the public, who pay their wages, for what this grubby little stroke represents.
That is a sentiment that many people in this country will share at the moment.
We certainly have not heard the last of this one, with RTÉ set to face some heavy criticism in the days and weeks ahead.
SEE ALSO: These Ryan Turbridy Comments Have Aged So Poorly, As Second Statement Issued
