Martina FitzGerald quitting RTE; Receiving substantial payout in exchange for silence

Venom · 22-12-2018 11:27PM

dxhound2005 wrote: »

If you think that beggars belief you would be amazed at the stupidity of those who pay the likes of Sky. They fork out vast sums every month, and then mostly watch BBC and ITV programmes which are Free to Air.

People have the choice to pay for the likes of Sky or Virgin Media, unlike RTE where there is no choice. There is also the fact that both Sky and Virgin Media offer phone, internet services, radio and a 100+ TV channels.

chicorytip · 22-12-2018 11:34PM

TheRiverman wrote:

I always thought her presentation was very poor in front of the camera,constantly pausing to catch her breath and swallow,even when she was in the studio with the newsreader,she was still doing it.

That aside, her general level of knowledge and reportage of the political scene was not impressive. She seems to have a sense of entitlement and clearly regarded her reappointment as a mere formality.

dxhound2005 · 22-12-2018 11:36PM

Venom wrote: »

People have the choice to pay for the likes of Sky or Virgin Media, unlike RTE where there is no choice. There is also the fact that both Sky and Virgin Media offer phone, internet services, radio and a 100+ TV channels.

If they have Sky or Virgin in this country they are also liable for the TV licence fee. Some people here don't pay it, so they think there is a choice. Sky offer 100+ channels, but the people who throw money at them mostly watch BBC and ITV. Really odd behaviour.

I would not choose to get broadband from anyone who also makes me buy a TV service.

Gimme A Pound · 23-12-2018 01:16AM

Cockford Ollie wrote: »

Woman replaces man in a job. Good thing.

Man replaces women in a job. Sexist, patriarchal misogynist society which warrants condemnation from elected officials.

Has that happened?

Gimme A Pound · 23-12-2018 01:17AM

Idbatterim wrote: »

Laughable many of you complaining here and at the same time paying the license fee.

How do you know?

touts · 23-12-2018 02:23AM

gandalf wrote: »

Then why the payoff?

Because they made a complete pig's ear of her removal and replacement and my bet is they were staring down the barrel of a very nasty and well publicised constructive dismissal case so paid her off as the faster and cheaper option.

freshpopcorn · 23-12-2018 07:19AM

Maybe Prime Time will investigate the large payouts in exchange for silence within RTE!

OldMrBrennan83 · 23-12-2018 07:27AM

Zaiden Prickly Schoolmarm wrote: »

Go the Netflix route, you want it, you pay a tenner/fifteen a month....cant think of anything id watch on it, American shows which are months behind other stations, Crap shows with D'arcy/Tubbs/talentless relatives et al

Netflix isn't much of an alternative in this country, it's rubbish.

AndyBoBandy · 23-12-2018 09:27AM

kneemos wrote: »

As she says herself she can take her time looking for another job thanks to the settlement. Who's going to hire her I wonder?

She’s apparently spent the last few weeks promoting her ‘best selling’ book!! So I can’t imagine she’ll be signing on for her €200 a week anytime soon! I believe the book is about females being elected to political roles/positions.
I wonder has that anything to do with the contract not being renewed? Was she seen to be profiting from her privileged position as a journalist with access to the political classes?

c.p.w.g.w · 23-12-2018 09:35AM

Idbatterim wrote: »

Laughable many of you complaining here and at the same time paying the license fee. If people stop paying in large numbers , they won’t be able to do sfa about it. This outrageous waste goes on and there was war about the water charges ? Lol!

Some people can't risk getting caught, as it could affect their job. Especially within the financial services industry

seamusk84 · 23-12-2018 09:37AM

touts wrote: »

Because they made a complete pig's ear of her removal and replacement and my bet is they were staring down the barrel of a very nasty and well publicised constructive dismissal case so paid her off as the faster and cheaper option.

No, her contract naturally ended after 5 years. Therefore no case to be had in terms of dismissal. She just didn’t get the job when she reapplied.

So the question remains - Why the payoff?

23-12-2018 09:40AM

kneemos wrote: »

Looks like she threatened them with something or other and RTE responded by "here have a bin bag full of money".

"Take one of the bags in the room to your right on the way out"

Kivaro · 23-12-2018 10:07AM

So, in essence (going by the Martina Fitzgerald debacle) if you work at RTE there is no way that you can be fired, and if you are let go, then you can expect a substantial tax-funded payoff.

God, I want to work at RTE.
The only problem is that I have no relatives at RTE, so there isn't a chance in hell that I would get a job there; irrespective of my qualifications.

And, continuing on with the petulant, self-righteous, entitled behaviour of RTE staff, Sharon Ní Bheoláin has filed an official complaint after a "bust up" in the newsroom during the week. She is refusing to do any further broadcasts.

Jesus, what a cesspit of an organisation. It must be a nightmare if you are just an "ordinary" RTE worker (i.e. not a "star" on massive wages) trying to do your job. I wonder if they are allowed to actually look at or talk to the likes of Sharon, Tubriby, or the other six-figure elites?

Gimme A Pound · 23-12-2018 10:10AM

seamusk84 wrote: »

No, her contract naturally ended after 5 years. Therefore no case to be had in terms of dismissal. She just didn’t get the job when she reapplied.

So the question remains - Why the payoff?

People don't know, but by god they'll say what happened anyway.

Not that I'm a fan of RTE.

paw patrol · 23-12-2018 10:13AM

touts wrote: »

Because they made a complete pig's ear of her removal and replacement and my bet is they were staring down the barrel of a very nasty and well publicised constructive dismissal case so paid her off as the faster and cheaper option.

but that is just not true,
She signed a contract and that contract was fulfilled for the full term.

it was done and dusted. They then had a new contract for that role and a new term. Somebody else got it.
There was nothing of what you suggested.

I suggest people write to their TDs on this, hopefully the public account committee can hammer RTE on this.

Cockford Ollie · 23-12-2018 10:24AM

Kivaro wrote: »

And, continuing on with the petulant, self-righteous, entitled behaviour of RTE staff, Sharon Ní Bheoláin has filed an official complaint after a "bust up" in the newsroom during the week. She is refusing to do any further broadcasts.

Complaint is against head of news and current affairs Jon Williams.

Sounds like a man's name, she's won that already.

Mad_maxx · 23-12-2018 10:29AM

I'm a fairly prolific conosuer of news media yet I can honestly say I barely noticed her down the years, was amazed to read she is eighteen years at rte.

Franz Von Peppercorn · 23-12-2018 10:38AM

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

She’s apparently spent the last few weeks promoting her ‘best selling’ book!! So I can’t imagine she’ll be signing on for her €200 a week anytime soon! I believe the book is about females being elected to political roles/positions.
I wonder has that anything to do with the contract not being renewed? Was she seen to be profiting from her privileged position as a journalist with access to the political classes?

Oh I don’t doubt she will be signing up if she has paid stamps.

RTE, like a lot of the civil service and universities, is basically a mechanism to transfer money to people who were already born privileged in the leafy suburbs of the south city. They see milking the taxpayer as their right.

23-12-2018 10:40AM

paw patrol wrote: »

but that is just not true,
She signed a contract and that contract was fulfilled for the full term.

The fact is once you go over 4 years in a public job you are entitled to be made permenant. I’m not sure if RTE falls under this rule but it possibly does.

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

RTE, like a lot of the civil service and universities, is basically a mechanism to transfer money to people who were already born privileged in the leafy suburbs of the south city. They see milking the taxpayer as their right.

That is absolute nonsense.

The J Stands for Jay · 23-12-2018 10:43AM

TCM wrote: »

Whatever about the pay out, I'm happy that I don't have listen to her amateurish reporting. Every second sentence was interrupted by a swallowing catching breath type motion. Good riddince I say.

I've been hearing all these stories about her, but had no idea who she was, no recollection of ever seeing her. But now you mention the swallowing, I know exactly who she is.

hatrickpatrick · 23-12-2018 10:48AM

paw patrol wrote: »

but that is just not true

They did make a pig's ear out of it though. Not mentioning her service at all in their statement about her being replaced is bad form in any profession but especially in broadcasting. This was what kicked off all the speculation that this was more than just a routine change and that something "happened" behind the scenes.

I would have thought this was kinda obvious? Have you ever heard of someone as high profile as her being replaced without the statement to that effect at least mentioning the person by name, never mind saying anything like "we'd like to thank X for their tenure in the job"? It's extremely unusual especially with showbiz, unless something went wrong and there was bad blood behind the scenes. Either way, it was moronic by RTE. They either chose to be deliberately petty, or they're unimaginably short sighted in terms of how a statement like that will be perceived, particularly when the individual in question had recently highlighted what she saw as issues within RTE's management. There's literally no way that a statement entirely devoid of acknowledgement was going to be taken as anything other than a deliberate burn.

23-12-2018 10:53AM

Her appointment was considered a surprise five years ago and many in the industry felt she had been over-promoted.

I was told a few years ago - long before this all cropped up - that she was considered 'difficult' and was always falling out with people. I was not one bit surprised at developments of the last few weeks.

Make of that what you will.

realitykeeper · 23-12-2018 10:56AM

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Publicly funded organisations shouldn't get to give undisclosed payments to anyone without an explanation.
I'm seriously sick of RTE and wish the government would appoint a minister who has the balls to clean it up and have a major clear out.

I completely agree. I never purchased a saorview box but I still have to pay for a tv licence. I have no problem paying for Irish language programming (even though the education system failed to teach me Irish), what I object to is RTE propaganda and high pay on broadcasters when any ol` gob***** off the street would do just as good a job.

Larbre34 · 23-12-2018 11:01AM

I knew the SharonBot in our younger years, she is a #*/~×*@, and you may quote me on that.

Amazed its taken this long for a big barney involving her within RTÉ.

suicide_circus · 23-12-2018 11:04AM

Kivaro wrote: »

continuing on with the petulant, self-righteous, entitled behaviour of RTE staff, Sharon Nheol has filed an official complaint after a "bust up" in the newsroom during the week. She is refusing to do any further broadcasts.

her decanter of Evian was chilled to 6 degrees rather than 8 degrees

Franz Von Peppercorn · 23-12-2018 11:05AM

Alexia Silly Barricade wrote: »

That is absolute nonsense.

Well not just the leafy suburbs. There’s the farmer class.

Kivaro · 23-12-2018 11:20AM

paw patrol wrote: »

.....
I suggest people write to their TDs on this, hopefully the public account committee can hammer RTE on this.

If a politician dared to speak openly about the dysfunctional nature of RTE and the disservice it provides to the country, then one would imagine that the RTE Investigates crack team of investigative reporters, cameramen/women, soundmen/women, researchers/hims, editors etc. would divert their tax-funded resources away from the trials and tribulations of Irish Travellers, and would instead focus on that politician.

The flip side for the politician though, would be topping the polls at the next election due to the public's complete disdain for RTE.

RTE is the epitome of what's wrong in this country.

paw patrol · 23-12-2018 11:25AM

Alexia Silly Barricade wrote: »

The fact is once you go over 4 years in a public job you are entitled to be made permenant. I’m not sure if RTE falls under this rule but it possibly does.
.

I didn't know that on the 4 years but I'd guess it applies to temporary staff .

most of those RTE folks are actually independent contractors which is different. The person say like Tubridy would have a company and the company is hired by RTE.

Not sure of the make-up in this particular case but if she was any way savvy she'd have organised it this was and it's quite tax efficient to hold money in a company and disperse it as required rather than have the whole salary hammered by PAYE and the rest at source - so I'll assume she had a similar set up

paw patrol · 23-12-2018 11:28AM

Kivaro wrote: »

If a politician dared to speak openly about the dysfunctional nature of RTE and the disservice it provides to the country, then one would imagine that the RTE Investigates crack team of investigative reporters, cameramen/women, soundmen/women, researchers/hims, editors etc. would divert their tax-funded resources away from the trials and tribulations of Irish Travellers, and would instead focus on that politician.

The flip side for the politician though, would be topping the polls at the next election due to the public's complete disdain for RTE.

RTE is the epitome of what's wrong in this country.

We'll see ….I've lashed out some emails...I'm sure some TDs like Claire Daly/Mick Wallance, Mattie McGrath have already reached critical mass of enemies in RTE anyway. But we'll see if my local TDs do anything.

McMurphy · 23-12-2018 12:10PM

Alexia Silly Barricade wrote: »

The fact is once you go over 4 years in a public job you are entitled to be made permenant. I’m not sure if RTE falls under this rule but it possibly does.

That is absolute nonsense.

Does this apply to contract workers though?

Doubt it, otherwise you would have plumbers, brickies etc on long term jobs wanting permanent roles on a site.

Martina FitzGerald quitting RTE; Receiving substantial payout in exchange for silence

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