Gerry Ryan Megathread!

coopersgreen

deadhead13 wrote: »

RTE management accuses Gerry Ryan of "acting the maggot"

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0307/1224242447555.html

Whose going to blink first?......this could get very messy.

They should fire him. Doesn't matter who they have on at that time of the morning. The audience would be more or less the same.

Thumpette

Would they be allowed to fire him for just not taking a pay cut?

I used to really like listening to the show for the sheer car crash that it was, but I think he has completely destroyed himself with this stunt. How can he do that bullsh** I'm one of the people, we stand united stuff when he now so blatently holds himself as a rule onto himself.

I say if they can sack him, do! It'll be no loss to RTE and it will show the licence payer that RTE are no longer willing to hemmorage cash on these jumped up presenters. He is a big fish in a small pond- throw him into the big bad sea and see how he swims

yoshytoshy

If he doesn't take a paycut ,then he'll only have himself to blame and the public won't want to know about it.

SEPT 23 1989

very public climbdown from mr ryan:)

ibarelycare

Dear God...well he just announced he was taking the pay cut....did anyone hear it? It was a completely self-indulgent, "woe is me," 6 or 7 minute speech. I suppose that's what was to be expected though! He made himself out to be such a martyr, unfcukingbelievable!

thewing

He was reluctant to take it cos his ex is taking him to the cleaners...how he's still on the airwaves is beyond belief.

holly1

He had no choice,he is such a condescending person.

Jip

ibarelycare wrote: »

Dear God...well he just announced he was taking the pay cut....did anyone hear it? It was a completely self-indulgent, "woe is me," 6 or 7 minute speech. I suppose that's what was to be expected though! He made himself out to be such a martyr, unfcukingbelievable!

Absolutely, you'd swear he was doing the country a favour. I tuned in to catch the news and as I was getting out of the car I heard him start his waffle so I hung around to hear his self pitying speech, the poor dear. I quickly got fed up listening to his crap and turned him off but did he actually say what cut he was taking ?

holly1

NO!!

holly1

But he wont be on the bread line.

ManFromAtlantis

normally i like gerry but...........

i just heard the most of what he said this morning !!! i though someone had died or that he was resigning................ i could not believe that this 'state of the nation' type address was all about him and his decision to keep 90% of whatever 4 or 5 hundred thousand.
oh my god...............how can he compare himself to a guy losing a job on 30,000 to his miserable 10% cut.
the man must have no pr what a disaster, sorry pathetic speech he made.

actually at one stage , given the dour sad tone in his voice i really thought it was scrap saturday or nobnation.....but no he was serious........!!!:eek:

mosesgun

Heard it myself. Thought he was going to resign on principle, given the sombre tone of his voice. Should have known better. 6 minutes of air time to announce he's going to do what most of us mere mortals have no option but to do (If we're lucky). What a pr*ck!

maxwell smart

Just for a minute, when he started to speak about the emails and calls, I had a vision of Gerry telling us that , Yes, he is an egomaniac, he is completely out of touch with his listeners, that over the past 21 years he had grown greedy, fat, lazy and he was going to take a 20% paycut or something.......of course, this did not happen.
I wonder whats really going on here? Is he recieving serious amounts of flack via email and calls to the show about this? He must be.

yoshytoshy

If people don't want these high wages to be paid ,protest by not paying your licence fee.

tbh

the license fee is for TV only. And not paying it is illegal anyway, and we don't like to suggest that kind of thing here on boards.ie

yoshytoshy

Fair enough ,it's dissapointing that someone as intelligent as gerry ryan ,can't see his wages could go towards vaccines and other life saving things.
We're turning into a miserable people ,with no regard for what really matters.

super_furry

maxwell smart wrote: »

Just for a minute, when he started to speak about the emails and calls, I had a vision of Gerry telling us that , Yes, he is an egomaniac, he is completely out of touch with his listeners, that over the past 21 years he had grown greedy, fat, lazy and he was going to take a 20% paycut or something.......of course, this did not happen.
I wonder whats really going on here? Is he recieving serious amounts of flack via email and calls to the show about this? He must be.

What did he say?

humberklog

So your damned if you do and damned if you don't?
That's fair.

How else was he going to handle it? If I was in his position I'd hold out as strongly as possible and only after serious consideratiion of all the ramifications on my listnership, family and employees would I make my mind up. To do otherwise would be just foolish and it's a long series of foolish decisions that has us and a lot of other countries in the position we're in now.
I think Ryan's grossly overpaid (as are doctors, barristers and quango chairmen) but by hell I think he was right to stand his ground until the full vista was in his full view.

bilko1234

super_furry wrote: »

What did he say?

These are some of his ramblings this morning. It was delivered in the most sombre, funereal, tone, that a listener would certainly have gotten the impression that this was his resignation speech. He obviously scripted it that way, as he had us all waiting to hear him say"....and in light of these factors, this will be my last ever show....." but alas, he was just slapping on the drama (as is his won't).Maybe we should all get down on our hands and knees and thank Gerry for staying!!!

I’ve spent a long time coming to terms with this issue, soul-searching and thinking about this in order to have something meaningful to say
It has taken me a long time to come to a decision and I apologise to those of you listening who think it has taken too long
I did not want to rush into the decision. I wanted to arrive at a point when I could say something that was meaningful
My greatest fear is that I would say something glib and something that did not take into account the incredibly serious situation we find ourselves in not just in RTÉ, that would be a selfish, myopic place to look, but in the entire country ,”
I look at the challenges facing every single one of you this morning
I spoke at length with my children and those nearest to me about the decision, but have also listened to the voice of my listeners who have been texting and e-mailing me about taking a cut
This programme has been on air for 21 years and for those years I have relied on you, the audience, to provide me with the guidance and support and inspiration that have gotten me through every single day.[/FONT]
It has made it an honour for me to be sitting in this seat and all along you have never steered me wrong. You have made me smile, you have slapped me across the wrist where appropriate but you have always kept faith
With that in mind, over the last few days in particular, I asked myself what should I do, and I feel very strongly, and I can now say this sincerely, and it is a meaningful response to this issue is that you, the audience, expect me to take the pay cut. Your support has helped me come to this decision,” he said
I believe that many out there who face greater challenges than pay cuts or cutbacks, those who have already lost their job and I'm mindful that many of you in the audience have had to pay that price already. What that in mind, I have agreed to take a pay cut,” he said

FlutterinBantam

Is there a sick bag anywhere close to hand.

We had a guy from the Central Bank up before the Dail Committee today,and part of his explanation for this shít we are in is "We paid ourselves too much".

he nailed it in one.

I don't listen to Ryan, I think he is good, very good, at his job,but circa 600k good?

No way Jose.

spadder

bilko1234 wrote: »

These are some of his ramblings this morning. It was delivered in the most sombre, funereal, tone, that a listener would certainly have gotten the impression that this was his resignation speech. He obviously scripted it that way, as he had us all waiting to hear him say"....and in light of these factors, this will be my last ever show....." but alas, he was just slapping on the drama (as is his won't).Maybe we should all get down on our hands and knees and thank Gerry for staying!!!

I’ve spent a long time coming to terms with this issue, soul-searching and thinking about this in order to have something meaningful to say
It has taken me a long time to come to a decision and I apologise to those of you listening who think it has taken too long
I did not want to rush into the decision. I wanted to arrive at a point when I could say something that was meaningful
My greatest fear is that I would say something glib and something that did not take into account the incredibly serious situation we find ourselves in not just in RTÉ, that would be a selfish, myopic place to look, but in the entire country ,”
I look at the challenges facing every single one of you this morning
I spoke at length with my children and those nearest to me about the decision, but have also listened to the voice of my listeners who have been texting and e-mailing me about taking a cut
This programme has been on air for 21 years and for those years I have relied on you, the audience, to provide me with the guidance and support and inspiration that have gotten me through every single day.[/FONT]
It has made it an honour for me to be sitting in this seat and all along you have never steered me wrong. You have made me smile, you have slapped me across the wrist where appropriate but you have always kept faith
With that in mind, over the last few days in particular, I asked myself what should I do, and I feel very strongly, and I can now say this sincerely, and it is a meaningful response to this issue is that you, the audience, expect me to take the pay cut. Your support has helped me come to this decision,” he said
I believe that many out there who face greater challenges than pay cuts or cutbacks, those who have already lost their job and I'm mindful that many of you in the audience have had to pay that price already. What that in mind, I have agreed to take a pay cut,” he said

Obnoxious , I heard it in the barbers this morning, when he first came on with his sombre tone I thought he was going to talk about the PSNI officer being murdered, but then he goes on for 5 mins about him coming to terms with his inflated salary.


Then he moves on to the less important issue of the North - I hate him.:mad::mad::mad:

"but have also listened to the voice of my listeners who have been texting and e-mailing me about taking a cut"
Will he listen if we all tell him to resign?

bilko1234

Ok
Here's the full, unexpurgated speech.
I think the Gettysburg address has nothing on this:

"For the last couple of weeks you've no doubt been aware of the ongoing debate and indeed all the issues surrounding the presenters here in RTÉ and their salaries and indeed the calls for them to take cuts in their salaries. And I know as each presenter made his or her announcement it was a front page news issue.
"I have, I suppose, spent quite a long time trying to come to terms with this issue and indeed I have spent a lot of time soul searching and thinking about this in order that I would have something meaningful to say about this.
"Now, it has taken a long time for me to come to a decision and I apologise to those of you listening who think that it has taken too long. But you know me, I'm not really one to rush into something and I don't like being analysed too microscopically before I make my decision about something because I think this is very significant and I think it's very important and I believe it's also a decision that will be presented to many of you listening this morning over the next couple of weeks.
"As I say, I wanted to arrive at a point where what I said was meaningful. My greatest fear was that I would say something glib or something off the cuff and something that didn't take into account the incredibly serious situation that we find ourselves in, not just in RTÉ - that's, I think, a selfish attitude to take, is to just myopically look at this organisation for your inspiration. I look at the entire country; I look at the challenges facing every single one of you this morning and will continue to do so for some time to come.
"I spoke at length with my family, with my children and those nearest to me. And I listened to what they had to say and I listened to the arguments they presented in terms of whether a pay cut was an appropriate thing for me to accept or not.
"And I've come to the conclusion that I had to listen very carefully also to your voice. For 21 years - believe or not this programme has now been on air for 21 years, I think it's next weekend. For 21 years, I have relied on you, the audience, to the programme, to provide me with the guidance and support, the inspiration that have got me through every single day, that have made it an absolute pleasure to be here, that have made it an honour to be sitting in this seat, sometimes to effectively represent you; sometimes to entertain you; sometimes to make a complete hames of the thing.
"And all along, and all the way through those 21 years you have never steered me wrong. You have never given me a bum steer. You have supported me through difficult times, and the last year was very difficult. You have made me smile. You have slapped me across the wrists when it was appropriate, but you have always kept faith.
"And it was with that in mind that over the last few days in particular I asked myself: 'well, what should I do in relation to this pay cut issue?'. And I feel very strongly, and I believe I can now say this, and I believe I can say it sincerely, and I believe I can say that this is a meaningful response to this issue, that what you expect of me, what you the audience expect, is that I should take the pay cut. And I've been reading the emails and I've been reading the texts and I have received, I believe, a strong message from you that this is what should be done. And I believe it is the right thing to do. And your support has helped me come to this decision.
"I'm also very mindful that over the next couple of weeks my colleagues in the Trade Union Group in RTÉ, every employer and employee in every cornershop, bar and boardroom will be faced with the challenge of cutbacks, whether they're in salaries, in fees, in personal spending or in the way that you operate your business or indeed run your families or your homes or your lives. And I think you will be faced with extremely - and already some of you are faced with extremely - difficult challenges in that particular way. And I wish everybody the best of luck in making their own decisions when it comes to that.
"I also believe that there are many already out there who faced much greater challenges than pay cuts or cutbacks. Those who've already lost their jobs, it's the ultimate challenge, and I'm mindful also of those of you in the audience who have had to pay that price already.
"And so I say this morning that I'm going to take the pay cut. And I take that pay cut in all humility and I appreciate the support thus far from you, the audience, and I thank you for that support. And I'm happy to say today, I feel confident saying this: I don't believe it's a glib decision; I don't think anyone could accuse me of having rushed into it, certainly not that of all things. And I hope now that we can move forward and I wish everybody facing similar decisions the very best of luck."

© Gerard Ryan 2009

mcscrub

humberklog wrote: »

So your damned if you do and damned if you don't?
That's fair.

How else was he going to handle it? If I was in his position I'd hold out as strongly as possible and only after serious consideratiion of all the ramifications on my listnership, family and employees would I make my mind up. To do otherwise would be just foolish and it's a long series of foolish decisions that has us and a lot of other countries in the position we're in now.
I think Ryan's grossly overpaid (as are doctors, barristers and quango chairmen) but by hell I think he was right to stand his ground until the full vista was in his full view.

I agree with you here. I do however think he is grossly overpaid - but - that's RTÉ's fault. We all want to earn more money and at this stage (current economic cr....etc) everyone deserves the right to try and hold onto their pay.

Nobody wants a pay cut - we all have the right to try and defend this. He would be a bigger man if he thought that his cut may save somebody else's job but he's within his rights to look after himself. If I was in the same situation I think I would have accepted the cut sooner (if I knew it would save somebody else's job) and more amicably, but that's me, I can't begrudge him for looking out for himself.

BTW: I don't rate him as a presenter....I can't even remember the last time I listened to him!

DublinWriter

Are y'is all mugs, or what?

This little episode has probably garnered the GR show with at least 50,000 extra listeners. You can't buy PR like that.

...as Pat Kenny says at the end of the promo for Radio One, "We've got the nation talking". Indeed.

the groutch

he makes it sound like he is dying, another example of his true colours

bilko1234

http://fakeempire.blogspot.com/2009/03/gerry-swine.html

ibarelycare

G Ryan this morning talking about Kenny Egan going a bit off the walls due to all the public interest surrounding him. "Try it for 25 years Kenny." :rolleyes:

bilko1234

An artist hung some naked caricatures of Brian Cowan in an art gallery at the weekend. RTE done a piece on their TV news bulletin showing these images. The next day RTE ran an apology for running the bulletin.
In the newspaper review this morning, Gerry Ryan shared his thoughts on this issue.
Could we expect Ger to wholeheartedly defend the rights of the artist and claim one up for a little bit of subversion in these troubled times?? Ehmm....no. He said this whole idea made him extremely uncomfortable and we can not be showing the taioseach in this light, it sets a terrible precedent and this stuff should not be tolerated, where's our respect etc etc.
An hour and a half later, over on Radio 1, Pat Kenny was defending to the hilt the integrity of the artist and the right of RTE to show these images on TV. He even said that had the caricature been of HIM, he'd have hung it in his house and had a laugh at it!!
I thought Gerry was the edgy/anarchic motormouth, while Pat was the conservative "plank"????

ibarelycare

bilko1234 wrote: »

He said this whole idea made him extremely uncomfortable and we can not be showing the taioseach in this light, it sets a terrible precedent and this stuff should not be tolerated, where's our respect etc etc.

Was this before or after Nob Nation?

damselnat

bilko1234 wrote: »

An artist hung some naked caricatures of Brian Cowan in an art gallery at the weekend. RTE done a piece on their TV news bulletin showing these images. The next day RTE ran an apology for running the bulletin.
In the newspaper review this morning, Gerry Ryan shared his thoughts on this issue.
Could we expect Ger to wholeheartedly defend the rights of the artist and claim one up for a little bit of subversion in these troubled times?? Ehmm....no. He said this whole idea made him extremely uncomfortable and we can not be showing the taioseach in this light, it sets a terrible precedent and this stuff should not be tolerated, where's our respect etc etc.
An hour and a half later, over on Radio 1, Pat Kenny was defending to the hilt the integrity of the artist and the right of RTE to show these images on TV. He even said that had the caricature been of HIM, he'd have hung it in his house and had a laugh at it!!
I thought Gerry was the edgy/anarchic motormouth, while Pat was the conservative "plank"????

Slightky off topic, I'm actually with Kenny on this one...:eek: