RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

It would do your fantasies of seeing Kelly getting dragged through the coals a great service, more like.

Any right thinking person would agree that neither Kelly nor Tubridy did anything wrong. Kelly’s job was to get the best deal possible for his client, particularly in such a turbulent field. As for Tubridy, if some sucker in RTE is going to give you extra money for nothing you’re not going to turn it down. End of.

The fault lies with the dopes in RTE who signed off on ludicrous contract agreements for their top earners and who have a habit of pissing money away.

I’m a big fan of public service broadcasting but it is obvious that there is an institutionalised culture of waste in RTE where considerations such as managing finances and budgets are ignored in favour of treating the populace as a big ATM machine.

They need to (figuratively) decapitate the board, and start over. Never mind all this talk of Dáil committees and public floggings, focus getting rid of all the rot and deadwood. Salary caps, funding via general taxation instead of the TV licence, the whole shebang.

All that being said, Tubridy hasn’t done anything wrong.

It’s obvious what happened: NK is a great agent so he negotiated a fantastic deal for his client, and the dopey wasteful culture in RTE meant some idiot signed off on it without considering the consequences/budget.

The thing is that the whos and the whens doesn’t matter, what does matter is that it is yet another example of the profligate culture in RTE that needs to end.

Resources should be focused on reforming RTE instead of these tabloidy wish fulfilment fantasies of Tubridy or NK sweating under the red hot lights of a Dail committee. That’s performative rubbish. It’s time for action.