Marian Finucane RIP Mod warning #46

Oops69

Callan sounds a bit of a pain when interviewed .
Marion did a great amount to giving women a voice on radio from the 70's to 90's with the assistance of others and within the general context of a change in society , she was a professional quality broadcaster for many years .
The quality of her broadcasting did deteriorate greatly over the last 5/6 years in particular unfortunately.

bunderoon

Ballso wrote: »

The 1980s started forty years ago. Coming back to the present, Finucane was the master of the establishment softball interview for her mates, working 4 hours a week for an absolute fortune. She was everything that is wrong with the state broadcaster today.

This is the thing. In the last 10-20 years, where was the value in her show in relation to her huge salary? What was the contribution to the listeners for those few hours each weekend?


Acknowledging and honouring the person for past work is the right thing to do. But for many years, she has earned millions and we as the listeners (and tax payers) got very very little from it. A very expensive, narrow minded, slanted view about the previous week's current affairs.

Mena Mitty

Dan Jaman wrote: »

I heard the panel robustly defend her salary / fees/ renumeration for her 'working' hours.
Made me laugh.

....and some lady on the panel said there were a few mediocre men on similar money...ouch !

Never a truer word etc.

Sir Oxman

I understand the annoyance at very large salaries for the top presenters in RTE, believe me!
But MF didn't 'just work 4 hours a week', you know it and I know it.
You don't saunter into a radio studio for a 2 hour live show - for instance, it's well known she'd be in the radio centre at 7am on the day and also preparing during the week. And no, I don't know what time she left at

Now, whether that was worth her salary or not is another question (you have to include what her show brought in advertising)

generalgerry

generalgerry wrote: »

I don't get this inference that all men had it so great and that all the women were downtrodden. For the majority of men in the 60s/70s/80s things were very very difficult, unless you were one of the few in the upper classes.

Marian had her good and her bad, like all presenters. She was probably the most objective presenter RTE had, in that you would not know how she leaned politically, as opposed to Duffy or D'Arcy who are from the modern model of being completely left leaning (or at least giving the appearance of being liberal as this is best for their career). She was a good interviewer, and a good broadcaster. But for somebody who was interested in social justice, she rarely gave a voice to any working class voices on her panel shows, and this should not be forgotten.

There was the little matter of the Mespil estate, where FF literally gave their pals pieces of it (at a modest price) to their pals. Marion took a successful legal action about criticism directed at her regarding the matter.

ebbsy

Overall though I thought she usually gave both sides of an arguement a fair crack.

One of the better ones out there.

bunderoon

Sir Oxman wrote: »

I understand the annoyance at very large salaries for the top presenters in RTE, believe me!
But MF didn't 'just work 4 hours a week', you know it and I know it.
You don't saunter into a radio studio for a 2 hour live show - for instance, it's well known she'd be in the radio centre at 7am on the day and also preparing during the week. And no, I don't know what time she left at

Now, whether that was worth her salary or not is another question (you have to include what her show brought in advertising)

She wasnt a one woman show. She has assistants and program producers to organise the show and develop her presenting brief.
It was ad hoc presenting that the listeners experienced - so I would wonder what she did for the hours that she was in the building when not on-air.

MikeSoys

ho sorry but i heard she passed away in her sleep? does anyone know what happened?

Technocentral

A fantastic broadcaster, sorely missed, weekends not the same anymore.

Snow Garden

Technocentral wrote: »

A fantastic broadcaster, sorely missed, weekends not the same anymore.

Yeah weekends will never be the same. I will really miss her show. One of a kind.

paleoperson

Apparently she recently visited India, maybe she picked up something there that wouldn't affect locals or a much younger person. It's very strange - good health and just fall asleep and never wake up at 69. Hopefully there is an autopsy that will reveal more.

sideboard

Deleted User wrote: »

There was the little matter of the Mespil estate, where FF literally gave their pals pieces of it (at a modest price) to their pals. Marion took a successful legal action about criticism directed at her regarding the matter.

I'm not sure what you are trying to say? Are you saying Marian did something underhand regarding Mespil flats? Also, I didn't know we lived in a State that allowed 'successful legal action about criticism'. When did criticism become a crime?
Are you guilty of 'nod and wink' speak here?

Sleeper12

AndrewJRenko wrote:

A lot of people never listen to radio at all.

Just to add to your point, a lot of young people don't watch TV either. My son & daughter both in their 20s wouldn't watch RTE, Tv3, BBC etc from one end to the year to the other.

elperello

https://rip.ie/death-notice/marian-finucane-clarke--kildare/409391

Link to funeral arrangements.

sideboard

elperello wrote: »

https://rip.ie/death-notice/marian-finucane-clarke--kildare/409391

Link to funeral arrangements.

Many thanks for post.

Darc19

Sad that many people harp on about what she earned from rte.

Yes, nice few bob, but her show did pull in almost €2m a year in advertising revenue.

Whether someone else will command such an audience that will replicate that level of advertising revenue is debatable

bunderoon

bunderoon wrote: »

She wasnt a one woman show. She has assistants and program producers to organise the show and develop her presenting brief.
It was ad hoc presenting that the listeners experienced - so I would wonder what she did for the hours that she was in the building when not on-air.

No one on that type of radio show does it alone,they all have producers etc..May she rest in peace.....

AndrewJRenko

generalgerry wrote: »

Marian had her good and her bad, like all presenters. She was probably the most objective presenter RTE had, in that you would not know how she leaned politically, as opposed to Duffy or D'Arcy who are from the modern model of being completely left leaning (or at least giving the appearance of being liberal as this is best for their career).

I agree about her keeping her own opinions to herself, but I wouldn't call either Duffy or D'Arcy left leaning. Duffy is a solid FFer, who put in a solid defence for Bertie through all the tribunals. He's a fair way off liberal when anything relating to crime and punishment comes up. He's a fair way off left-leaning when anything relating to public sector salaries comes up.


D'Arcy is certainly socially liberal but that's as far as it goes. Remember his promise to emigrate if Enda Kenny got elected?

BarryD2 wrote: »

The show this morning is a 'love in' which is fair enough. But she her inconsistencies as well - for example back in the Celtic Tiger years she ran regular features on property and investments etc., catering for the middle classes with the extra cash sloshing around and getting into buy to lets and fancy holiday homes abroad etc. She openly promoted this splashing of the cash. Yet when things went belly up, Marian had a bit of a different tune with regard to the banks and how the country was run etc., and this tune jarred a bit with her previous enthusiasm

This is a very fair criticism - catering for the cosy classes. Her panels were really D4 dinner party stuff. You would rarely hear a left voice, and it if you did, it was very much establishment left like Fergus Finlay or whatever. They consistently played out the 'sure we know everything and the doctors/planners/economists/health managers haven't got a clue' with no value given to expert opinion or expert research.

Darc19 wrote: »

Sad that many people harp on about what she earned from rte.

Yes, nice few bob, but her show did pull in almost €2m a year in advertising revenue.

Whether someone else will command such an audience that will replicate that level of advertising revenue is debatable

The costs of the show went way beyond her salary. There was a whole team behind her, and a fairly expensive broadcasting infrastructure supporting all of them required to get the show on air. Comparing her salary to the advertising income tells you nothing.

MrMusician18

Darc19 wrote: »

Sad that many people harp on about what she earned from rte.

Yes, nice few bob, but her show did pull in almost €2m a year in advertising revenue.

Whether someone else will command such an audience that will replicate that level of advertising revenue is debatable

What she pulled in doesn't have any relevance to what she was paid.. The only thing that matters was the wage another broadcaster was willing to pay to poach her.

No more than any other "star" in the RTE catalogue, I doubt very much she would've been able to get that anywhere else in recent years, given the pressure all broadcast media is under.

And that's before you get to the argument about the role of RTE. It's it RTEs place to be fighting to hold onto stars, or should it be a broadcasting incubator developing talent, where if they want to move on for the big wage they should be let. As a publicly funded broadcaster, my preference would be very much the latter.

Hamsterchops

paleoperson wrote: »

Apparently she recently visited India, maybe she picked up something there that wouldn't affect locals or a much younger person. It's very strange - good health and just fall asleep and never wake up at 69. Hopefully there is an autopsy that will reveal more.

Well if you read #163 + other contributions you will discover that she sounded anything but "in good health" in recent months & years .....

Thankfully her family had her with them on the India trip, memories they will cherish. Sad loss.

Jonny one

bunderoon wrote: »

This is the thing. In the last 10-20 years, where was the value in her show in relation to her huge salary? What was the contribution to the listeners for those few hours each weekend?


Acknowledging and honouring the person for past work is the right thing to do. But for many years, she has earned millions and we as the listeners (and tax payers) got very very little from it. A very expensive, narrow minded, slanted view about the previous week's current affairs.

I think even a diehard Marian fan would have to admit that she was phoning it in most weekends the past decade.

Edgware

sideboard wrote: »

I'm not sure what you are trying to say? Are you saying Marian did something underhand regarding Mespil flats? Also, I didn't know we lived in a State that allowed 'successful legal action about criticism'. When did criticism become a crime?
Are you guilty of 'nod and wink' speak here?

Irish Life sold off an apartment complex by private sale. The great and good were contacted and offered apartments at the right price. The ordinary Joe Soap got no chance to buy

splinter65

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

I was in a group of mostly 20/30-somethings who were asked who listened to RTE Radio 1. Just myself and one other 50-something raised our hands.



A lot of people never listen to radio at all.

My 22 year old daughter has never sought out a radio station in her life, unless you count petulantly changing the dial on the car radio from Newstalk/Radio 1/TippFM to Beat103 or SpinSthWest.
It’s so weird.

sideboard

sideboard wrote: »

I'm not sure what you are trying to say? Are you saying Marian did something underhand regarding Mespil flats? Also, I didn't know we lived in a State that allowed 'successful legal action about criticism'. When did criticism become a crime?
Are you guilty of 'nod and wink' speak here?

Are you of a generation that remembers the whole Mespil debacle? I suspect you are not. The Mespil Estate in prime location Dublin 4 is one of the oldest estates of blocks of apartments in the country, and was in ownership of semi-state body Irish Life Assurance Company.

It was an all-tenanted estate, and had long term residents there for many many years, very many of them junior civil servants. The State decided to sell this asset; however the scandal was that it was not offered for sale to the general public, but to selected individuals, and was sold for less than would have been fetched on the open market. My aunt was living there and not given the option to buy. They were all sold to selected people who were friends of politicians in power - it was huge news at the time. The residents were turfed out and had to find accommodation.

Marian Finucane was one of the beneficiaries of a purchase. Details of her libel action:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/marian-finucane-begins-libel-action-against-independent-1.32229

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/finucane-libel-action-settled-1.32374

Sleeper12

MrMusician18 wrote: »

What she pulled in doesn't have any relevance to what she was paid.. The only thing that matters was the wage another broadcaster was willing to pay to poach her.

No more than any other "star" in the RTE catalogue, I doubt very much she would've been able to get that anywhere else in recent years, given the pressure all broadcast media is under.

And that's before you get to the argument about the role of RTE. It's it RTEs place to be fighting to hold onto stars, or should it be a broadcasting incubator developing talent, where if they want to move on for the big wage they should be let. As a publicly funded broadcaster, my preference would be very much the latter.

It's worth remembering that Pat Kenny didn't move to Newstalk for a paycut. No one here on boards has a clue what anyone has or hasn't been offered.


It's also worth remembering that 2FM still hasn't recovered from the death of Gerry Ryan almost 10 years ago. They would gladly have him back at twice the price. They have lost millions in advertising since he died

serfboard

serfboard wrote: »

Someone from RTE was on the Sean O'Rourke programme this morning and said that she had been away in India and was due to come back to work this weekend. They called her yesterday to go through the running order with her, and there was no answer from her mobile phone. They called her back, and her husband answered the phone to say that she had died in her sleep.

There is an autopsy underway. Possibly smoking related (eg stroke, heart attack) maybe not. In view of recent long haul flight DVT that became pulmonary embolism would be in the frame of possibilities, although the risk would be a lot less with business class travel which she would almost certainly have opted for.

Gods Gift

Sleeper12 wrote: »

It's worth remembering that Pat Kenny didn't move to Newstalk for a paycut. No one here on boards has a clue what anyone has or hasn't been offered.


It's also worth remembering that 2FM still hasn't recovered from the death of Gerry Ryan almost 10 years ago. They would gladly have him back at twice the price. They have lost millions in advertising since he died

His dealer is out of pocket to since he died.

Sleeper12

Gods Gift wrote:

His dealer is out of pocket to since he died.

That's really contributing to the thread. I bet your mammy is soooo proud

Ahwell

Sleeper12 wrote: »

It's worth remembering that Pat Kenny didn't move to Newstalk for a paycut. No one here on boards has a clue what anyone has or hasn't been offered.


It's also worth remembering that 2FM still hasn't recovered from the death of Gerry Ryan almost 10 years ago. They would gladly have him back at twice the price. They have lost millions in advertising since he died

Eamon Dunphy had a Sunday morning show on RTE radio 1 with 250,000 listeners, he was poached by Newstalk to present another Sunday morning show. One year later he had less than 50,000 people tuning in. Similarly, Pat Kenny now has less than half the audience he had on RTE. RTE Radio 1 is in such a dominant position, a programme being on that station is much more important than who the presenter is.

I don't want to derail this thread by getting into an argument about RTE salaries, but they are indefensible on so many levels. Chief one being, our relatively small population. The fact that a couple of RTE's top ten salaries would also make the BBC's top ten, shows something has gone seriously wrong somewhere.

sideboard

Deleted User wrote: »

Are you of a generation that remembers the whole Mespil debacle? I suspect you are not. The Mespil Estate in prime location Dublin 4 is one of the oldest estates of blocks of apartments in the country, and was in ownership of semi-state body Irish Life Assurance Company.

It was an all-tenanted estate, and had long term residents there for many many years, very many of them junior civil servants. The State decided to sell this asset; however the scandal was that it was not offered for sale to the general public, but to selected individuals, and was sold for less than would have been fetched on the open market. My aunt was living there and not given the option to buy. They were all sold to selected people who were friends of politicians in power - it was huge news at the time. The residents were turfed out and had to find accommodation.

Marian Finucane was one of the beneficiaries of a purchase. Details of her libel action:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/marian-finucane-begins-libel-action-against-independent-1.32229

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/finucane-libel-action-settled-1.32374

Thanks for that, although I still remain unclear why you decided to gift us with your account of Mespil flats. Marian happened to be a purchaser of one of them, so are you inferring she shouldn't have done so? Seems to me by reading the accounts you provided, that she only did so after discussion with the existing tenant - who does not seem to have been subsequently 'turfed out' either, as you put it, following her purchase. Other owners may have done so to their tenants, put that's hardly Marians responsibility? I wish I could say that the State/Irish Life had acted appropriately in this saga, but I don't see any scintilla of wrongdoing by Marian in this.
So again, what is the point you are making?