Not a good look. I wonder did he go because this was going to come to light?
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If Renault were paying for Tubridy to attend their function in Drogheda then why did RTE pay for the taxi? It just doesn't add up.
Ive done it once. A taxi from Dublin to Galway. Cost 450 euro. Where was the 897 euro taxi to and from?
I bet, the way RTE splash the cash, special prices have been conjured up especially for them. A la:
RTE receptionist ringing local cab firm: "Hi, can I get a taxi going to Dublin Airport?"
Taxi Firm:"Sure, what time, and where from?
Receptionist:"For 2pm, how much will that be roughly?"
Taxi firm: "About 70 quid, where are we picking up from?"
Receptionist:" Montrose. RTE HQ"
Taxi firm: "*cough, splutter* aherm, oh sorry, I did my maths wrong, a trip from Montrose to Dublin Airport will be about 370 euros"
Receptionist:"Thats fine. See you at 2pm".
Also, an RTE aide: "Hello, Dominos Pizza, can I get 5 12" pepperoni passions and one vegan 9" pizza for delivery for 3pm?"
Dominos(using the special RTE Charge code): Sure, that'll be 976.95.
RTE Aide: OK, Ryan's corporate credit card number is:.....
RTE also paid for the stage and food and drink for those events too, €47,000 worth.
Stop the lights, lord save us and bless us, its for the childer.
……….
It was not a taxi as we know it. It was a chauffeur driven car for Niamh Tyndall the Managing Director of NKM who was 8 months pregnant.
One wonders why Niamh had to be in Drogheda.
This is a massive problem in communication.
Too many moving parts.
So easily moved and forgotten by the media.
The over complication is its genius in my opinion.
You simply turn your Brain off and let it slide...
But The Toyman said it was for him in front of an Oireachtas Committee. He wouldn’t lie, would he?
Well he allegedly has form for lying as well as been the most trusted man in Ireland.
I love lobster, but that image would put me off it. Can we put the long gangly looking one back in the tank please?
He did lie.
Then offered to expand on that.
He was not allowed to expand on that.
MASSIVE MISTAKE.
He was about to hang hiimself...and was stopped in his emotional tracks...
An absolutely valid question, and again one raised in the radio forum many times.
That would be absolute BONKERS!!!
I dont know why but that image has triggered a memory. I was on a flight from Washington to Utah and a little old lady befriended me. For some reason Older women love me. I helped her with her suit case, put it up into the overhead bin for her, and carried it up the stairs for her, etc and she rewarded me by talking non-stop for the 2.5 hour flight. This was near the end of a very long day of travelling, starting in Vienna. about 26 hours previously.
She told me, her flight from Baltimore to Washington was delayed by 3 hours and to say sorry, the airline, put them up in a hotel for the night and also gave them a white box, about the size of a shoebox. In it, was a live lobster. She didn't know what to do with it, so put it in the bath tub of the hotel and left it there. She said she couldnt sleep from the sound of it clicking about in the bath all night.
So, theres a lobster story from across the pond.
I know you know; but just by calling it a “taxi” it’s been deliberately downplayed by RTÉ/NKM/Tubs.
Nomnomnomnom. Youre giving me midnight munchies. No lobster in the fridge. :(
A taxi service was not used, it was a chauffeur driven limo service that was used and as you said by calling it a "taxi" RTE are intentionally downplaying it.
NK LIMOS LTD
RT's fav was KITT
Where I live currently in rural Galway, the only taxis I can get, are big leather interiior Lexus'. Really nice looking cars. I am sure Ryan would be perfectly happy in one of these. But if he wants his driver in a suit, that'll cost extra. I'm sure theres a setting on the meter for "Driver has to wear a suit", so it ticks up a bit quicker. Did the car wait for him and drive him back? This money can add up.
One of the cars I mentioned above would have been fine, but sure, I would not be surprised if it was an actual limo. Not stretched, but the car version of flying first class. That **** costs $$$
It would, because it changes the legal requirement for paying for RTE from having the ability to receive the signal to earning income.
You are talking about removing the opt out from workers to pay for this, that to me is unacceptable.
RTE in its current form funded by the PAYE worker? No, not acceptable, why the free ride for excess on the backs of paye workers?
RTE as a purely public service broadcaster funded by a household levy, acceptable.
Any attempt to force people to pay the licence fee will backfire on them. Especially in the current climate.
I can only hazard a guess about the negative press that would bring to potential advertisers, sponsors and so much more. It would be like crossing a picket line. They would be risking a boycott from the people opposing the fee. This is an absolute mess. RTE and the government could go around in circles all day long fighting those protests but the public who would choose to oppose it would inevitably win. A forced fee would not work, it would cost too much.
It is possibly one of the reasons that the department of media has refused to publish their report. I can only think of three [I do not agree that at this stage it is not finalised or in the final stages]. 1. It is non existent - i.e. nobody has come up with a solution. 2. it is a pathetic report, it has no hope. 3. They may be afraid of people opposing it before it gets anywhere.
Regarding the Taxi. There must be a record of that somewhere. What service was used, what taxi did the invoice come from and where did the invoice say. Sure they could pay off the driver [I am not suggesting that they would], but the records should still exist. There is no taxi service that I know of that could possibly charge that much from Louth to Dublin.
@[Deleted User]
"I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before but I think this was handled well from a bad news/incident management perspective."
Not quite an eye-opener, but it is worth noting nonetheless. That perspective would only really be taken by a certain fraction. The rest of us seem to be more concerned about how deep it goes and who is to blame and how to stop it.
When did RTÉ begin to think that truth wouldn't matter?
On 1 June 1960. Seriously
I suspect that the chauffeur driven car firm will be a recognised contractor to RTÉ and will know that it’s a complete cash cow of a job. Top rates. Paid for from the barter account. Nice work, if you can find it. It’s totally symptomatic of an organisation that is out of control.
And the cover up and lack of accountability are facilitated by highly paid early retirement and voluntary severance packages. So nobody’s around to take the consequences. And we shake our heads, tut-tut, but the fiasco rolls on. Ask yourself, who’s being taken for a fool.
The nothing burger is down 40% year on year
I couldn't see any government, heading into a election, slapping a new tax(regardless of them calling it a broadcasting charge, RTE solitary payment etc.) on workers in a cost of living crisis, it would be like shooting yourself in the foot. OK the pigs at the trough in Montrose will be forever in your debt but what government would risk a water charges 2 style civil campaign...
Don’t forget, the payment for the chauffeur car was routed through the barter account, aka Slush Fund, which incurs a surcharge of 35% (IIRC)
As I said it makes no difference to those who already pay the licence as required by law. If people think it should be optional to pay the licence fee, then a change in legislation is required. Obviously that's not an option, so here we are...
It absolutely is an option, because as with all laws they only work with the consent of the governed. They can't imprison the entire country.
