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

BrianD3 · 23-12-2018 12:16PM

paw patrol wrote: »

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

I'd say she's an employee, I think it is mainly the top "talent" (LMAO) who are self employed contractors. The 4 year rule as far as I know applies in cases where an employee has a temporary contract that has been extended/renewed to bring them over 4 years in the same role. A 5 year contract on its own doesn't give entitlement to a contract of indefinite duration, neither does an "acting up" arrangement.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/contracts_of_employment/fixed_term_or_specified_purpose_contracts.html

kneemos · 23-12-2018 12:26PM

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.

Didn't see anything a out her being sacked,just moved from the Dail reporting.

suicide_circus · 23-12-2018 12:33PM

she wasn't sacked, her role changed after her contract had elapsed and she threw a wobbler. she obviously has the dirt on someone and was paid off with a big wad of sweaty money, money extracted from the public on pain of imprisonment. after this **** show she's pretty well unemployable so the cash will come in handy.

hatrickpatrick · 23-12-2018 12:42PM

suicide_circus wrote: »

she wasn't sacked, her role changed after her contract had elapsed and she threw a wobbler. she obviously has the dirt on someone and was paid off with a big wad of sweaty money, money extracted from the public on pain of imprisonment. after this **** show she's pretty well unemployable so the cash will come in handy.

All of this may well be entirely accurate, but even so do you not find it strange that RTE would announce her replacement without mentioning her at all in their statement on the matter? It just seems very odd to me, and I think that's what started the gears turning on the widespread assumption that there's something else going on in the background. Maybe I'm wrong in my assertion that one would generally expect a statement along the lines of "Mr Cunningham will be taking over the role of political correspondent from Ms FitzGerald, who we would like to thank for her four years of dedication to the role" as opposed to just "Mr Cunningham will be our new political correspondent", no mention by name or even otherwise of the previous one? Am I honestly overthinking this? Thanking or acknowledging the person who's term in the role has ended is, at least in my own memory of such events, entirely expected - unless that individual has f*cked up or been replaced because of some undisclosed bad blood.

Certainly other journalists noted this specifically as a point of "interest" in their stories on it - "RTE did not mention FitzGerald in their statement". It would seem to be a genuine indicator of something out of the ordinary.

The Tetrarch · 23-12-2018 12:47PM

1k, 10k, 100k, 1,000k payout are all the same to RTE.
They don't have to earn it, they collect it.
Non-dislosure means RTE do not have to account for it.

23-12-2018 12:56PM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

I don't have the details on this agreement, but I do have it from people who have worked in RTE That the five year review thing is indeed a union-driven arrangement, and has not always been in place at RTE

"An undisclosed source has revealed to me that..... "

Do you normally believe second hand gossip?

Beechwoodspark · 23-12-2018 12:58PM

Sympathetic article and obviously posed photograph of Martina in the sindo today

NIMAN · 23-12-2018 12:59PM

You'd think she worked for MI5 or the CIA, being paid to keep schtum.

RTe is a joke, having to buy people's silence.

What exactly would she have said had they not paid her off?

23-12-2018 01:02PM

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.

The fact is - the four year rule applies to all employers, and has nothing to do with public or private.

hatrickpatrick · 23-12-2018 01:07PM

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

"An undisclosed source has revealed to me that..... "

Do you normally believe second hand gossip?

When they're family members who spent decades working in the organisation in question, I'd be inclined to take their comments on board, yes

CrankyHaus · 23-12-2018 01:07PM

In any public organisation throwing taxpayers money at a problem is the path of last resistance and the go-to option. There'll always be plenty more of it and no careers ever got ended by spending public funds, on the other hand choosing to fight a case and losing it is a career killer. The people making these decisions are PS lifers who've progressed by this axiom for their entire career.

hatrickpatrick · 23-12-2018 01:09PM

More drama in the newsroom apparently - reported in the Indo, but posting the Mirror's copypasta since the Indo's is behind their silly "free account wall":

https://www.irishmirror.ie/showbiz/irish-showbiz/sharon-nibheolain-rte-newssixone-caitrionaperry-13771156

If this is true, the sheer amount of ego on display here is staggering

RTE's Sharon Ni Bheolain has reportedly registered a formal complaint after a "major newsroom bust-up".

The news presenter and and anchor of the nine o'clock news did not appear on the show last Wednesday after the apparent row.

The Irish Mail on Sunday report that Mrs Ni Bheolain and head of news and current affairs Jon Williams had the disagreement in the newsroom.

The bust up is said to have began when the experienced presenter objected to Caitriona Perry co-anchoring the nine o'clock news from Westminster on the night of the failed no confidence vote.

Ni Bheolain is said to have been annoyed by the plans and thought that it undermined her position as presenter of the programme.

Presenter Eileen Whelan was brought in to replace Ni Bheolain for the Wednesday show, doing the same on Thursday and Friday.

23-12-2018 01:18PM

guessing Sharon wants a big pay out, her ego couldn't handle Martina getting something

Wanderer2010 · 23-12-2018 01:35PM

Dont know what to make of Sharon to be honest. There always seems to be some problem around her and the news. When she did the 9 o clock news, apparently she wanted it done a certain way and wasn't happy with the changes, and that is now public knowledge which means she is pretty much after burning her bridges now at RTE because of the reputation she seems to have for being difficult. Even if she was being treated badly she could always move on to something else if she didn't like it. But she has it too cushy in RTE so she wouldn't cope anywhere else.

If shes unhappy, let her stack shelves in Tesco for a living and see how long she lasts.

Franz Von Peppercorn · 23-12-2018 01:37PM

Sharon does have talent though. That seems a bit over the top, nevertheless.

LionelNashe · 23-12-2018 01:50PM

Ms Ni Bheolain is said to have informed senior bosses that she believes she has not been given opportunities to advance her career.

A source close to Ms Ni Bheolain said: "She's quite low-key and hates being the focus of the news. She finds all of this mortifying but she has real concerns about the way she has been treated over the last while.

"What happened on December 12 was, for her, the last straw and now she wants this looked at in a fair and comprehensive way through the complaints procedure."

What I find a bit ridiculous about both cases is you have quotes like the above, from unnamed sources close to the person concerned, and then you have the person themselves saying the following:

When contacted by the Sunday Independent yesterday morning, Ms Ni Bheolain said she would not comment, explaining: "I can't comment as there is a formal procedure under way."

kneemos · 23-12-2018 01:59PM

Got rid of all the male newsreaders,now the women are leaving.

KevRossi · 23-12-2018 02:00PM

In media circle "a close friend" is usually the eprson themselves making the comment to a trusted journalist/writer.

"A source close to the person" is usually the person them selves as well.

"A source" is sometimes the person, sometimes their PR person or suchlike.

NIMAN · 23-12-2018 02:02PM

kneemos wrote: »

Got rid of all the male newsreaders,now the women are leaving.

Its like politics in NI, they said for years, "we need more women about".

Now when they put in a pile of females, they can't get on with each other.

gandalf · 23-12-2018 02:05PM

Sounds like Sharon smells an opportunity for some readies after Martina has shown her the way.

23-12-2018 03:19PM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

When they're family members who spent decades working in the organisation in question, I'd be inclined to take their comments on board, yes

Do you think, maybe, that people working in what others have described as an 'incredibly political organisation" just might have an agenda themselves?

If the unions had looked for this, it would easily verifiable. It's actually the complete opposite of what unions normally look for.

suicide_circus · 23-12-2018 03:27PM

kneemos wrote: »

Got rid of all the male newsreaders,now the women are leaving.

men reading the news? you mean mansplaining the news. yuck, gross

blanch152 · 23-12-2018 03:34PM

From what I've read, Martina Fitzgerald was an employee of RTE, not an independent contractor. She was there for 18 years.

She got a job that she clearly wasn't able to do. The constant gulping and swallowing in the middle of live reports was distracting. Look at the RTE websites. Plenty of other correspondents write interesting opinion pieces, she doesn't.

While in the job, she made a big thing about women in politics and journalism and gender equality. A clever play for someone is isn't quite up to it as it ensures that she is difficult to get at.

Come the end of the contract and she isn't reappointed. That leaves both RTE and Martina with an issue. They don't want a disgruntled employee, she doesn't want a lesser job. Cue negotiations on a payoff.

What is substantial?

Statutory redundancy is two weeks for every year giving her 36 weeks - nine months pay. Is that substantial?

Standard public service redundancy is four weeks. That would give her 18 months, now that is substantial, but it also is nothing special for her situation, given the length of time, and given it would be redundancy rather than sacking.

She will obviously play up the amount, and the thing about time off probably reflects the lack of immediate offers rather than taking time out. Mightn't see her again.

23-12-2018 03:52PM

blanch152 wrote: »

What is substantial?

Statutory redundancy is two weeks for every year giving her 36 weeks - nine months pay. Is that substantial?

Standard public service redundancy is four weeks. That would give her 18 months, now that is substantial, but it also is nothing special for her situation, given the length of time, and given it would be redundancy rather than sacking.

It can't be redundancy. Posts get made redundant, not people. The post is still there.

hotmail.com · 23-12-2018 04:11PM

Sharon Ni Bheolan was always promoted way above her ability.

She's an old school news reader, not a broadcaster or presenter in the way Bryan Dobson is. RTE needed someone that could handle breaking news for that evening and were hoping to give Catriona Perry a bit of a boost.

The leaking of the row doesn't look good for Sharon who's probably on an enormous salary.

theoneeyedman · 23-12-2018 04:13PM

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Sharon does have talent though. That seems a bit over the top, nevertheless.

Reading.

A talent, reading an autoque.

Reading news prepared by other people (often from press releases etc prepared by PR agencies and Government press Secretary staff)

This is hardly a talent, certainly not one that should command a salary in the hundreds of thousands.

The Pheasant2 · 23-12-2018 04:37PM

I see that absolute moron Mary Mitchell O'Connor has rowed in behind Fitzgerald - shudder to think what was in the barrel she was scraped from the bottom of

suicide_circus · 23-12-2018 04:45PM

The Pheasant2 wrote: »

I see that absolute moron Mary Mitchell O'Connor has rowed in behind Fitzgerald

Quota Girls gotta stick together

Signore Fancy Pants · 23-12-2018 04:50PM

theoneeyedman wrote: »

Reading.

A talent, reading an autoque.

Sharon reads EVERYTHING on the teleprompter...EVERYTHING!

Ash.J.Williams · 23-12-2018 04:58PM

In fairness if politicians wanted her to stay then she's obviously a bit too cozy

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

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