RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

More likely a stepping stone to obscurity

I don't know why anyone reads his posts

Same old BS from RTÉ staffers, and this is has completely spilled over to news media across the board.

what type of political cowardice?

In other words we want the public to ignore the governance scandal at RTÉ and focus on how great we are and that if we had more funding with no commercial interest we'd be even better.

They go on to mention that the licence fee has not be increased since 2008, however fail to mention that they were given €10m extra in 2020, 2021, 2022, that in 2022 the NSO and choirs move the the NCH saving them €8m.

They seem to think RTÉ is doing a good job, and we should talk about content or governance or really talk to the audience.

RTÉ's inaction and bad governance has lead to where we are, it is time RTÉ faced up to that.

Am I correct in thinking that there's no backdating fee if I'm brought to court for not having a TV license and then agree to pay it on the day?

If everyone did that the courts would be backlogged for years.

I believe we should all renew on the same day across the country at our local post offices, queue up just to pay the fee, long queues out of very post office in the country, with just people getting ready to pay their fee. When the TV crews come around to ask why just simple say "Because its the law, it certain isn't for the service we receive". Let's make the 8th of December TV license fee payment day.

Not sure John Brennan is doing much for his argument when he points out that the silence from Ryan’s colleagues has been deafening. Hilarious.

I'd say Kelly wishing everybody would forget the "godfather" moniker that he got his his minions to put out about him.

He's good at what he does, I'll give the man that much. Not that anyone would agree with his methods.

But what is he hoping to achieve you'd wonder. Unless they're all still drunk on the Kool-Aid in NKM, it's hard to understand. They must be wearing the same blinkers as the dead horse they're kicking.

PR and spin will only get you so far, they're trying to polish a turd at this stage.

Yes, good at what he does. Up to a point.

I'll play devil's advocate for a turn. Hate the sin, but not the sinner, and all that jazz. In fairness to Kelly, there's not many a lad whose career would go from Cadbury's Rep to powerbroker in RTE in the space of 20 years or so. To give him his due, and in contrast to Turbridy, he also did it on his own by all accounts. A lot to be admired there.

Unfortunately for Kelly. He's fallen into the same old timeworn trap that many successful people fall into. It's a cliche at this stage.

Graft > Success > Complacency > Corruption > Delusion > Downfall.

We've seen it from Gulianni to Johnson and closer to home with everyone from Michelle de Brun to Bertie Ahern.

You wouldn't mind too much about Tubridy really. He has no talent or work ethic, so he doesn't actually have that far to fall.

But when it comes to people like those above, and Kelly. It's always a shame to see people with genuinely good qualities fail through corruption.

No you'll more likely get jumped on for being discourteous out of the gate to people.

Tubridy is a public figure. He has been questioned by a public body and found wanting, in every sense of the word. Him and his agent have been caught rapid acting the bollix. They've been rightly critisized here on a Public forum for that. Ditto for the RTE Ponzi Scheme.

Brennans' comments are an attempt to defend the indefensible. He's pushing a narrative that the public isn't buying. This narrative is being driven by NKM and his stable. It is totally at odds with the facts.

So you're 100% entitled to nod along like Neddy the donkey if you want, keep giving it the big 'I AM'. But ultimately that sort of waffle and bluster will only getcha so far. Sure ask your mates, they'll tell you all about it.

If NK were to get Tubridy a spot abroad, would it be one of the first times that he's managed to get on of his 'stable' a job in the UK or the US? It's one of the things I always found very strange about his model. He stuck to Ireland, to RTE and TV3/VM over the years. Never any attempt to get people into better positions abroad.

Now I know he had a good system here, with just the two TV stations and a direct line to the tabloids and Sindo/Indo as well as any newer media groups that set up over the years. But surely a man with his ambition would have tried it abroad.

It almost looks like he actually hindered some of his better clients from developing themselves a bit more and getting better opportunities elsewhere. Why was he so reluctant to try an office in London, New York, Los Angeles?

I have a good idea of the reason, but can't say it here for risk of being banned.

Either way, he's down 6 figures per annum since the scandal broke, not sure how much more he'll lose over the next year or two.

You're right. I'd actually forgotten about Craig Doyle. I remember him of old, presenting the Olympics, I think it was, on the BBC. He seems to actually have some talent though appears to be a likeable enough.

How long will he remain loyal to Kelly though? NKM will be severely impaired by the fallout of all this. Kelly is frozen out.

And who wants an agent who has contributed to getting his best client fired?

Not sure what great qualities that Noel Kelly has, apart from being a hard worker and desperately pushy. His work as an agent is only a sideline job. He also has a marketing company. The fact that he was able to get lucrative contracts for the likes of Gerry Ryan and Tubridy was of no benefit to anyone, except themselves. Tubs should have made sure that everything was above board and transparent. That he was still running around after Kelly, after he landed him in trouble, beggars belief.

Good. The license fee revenues will continue to crash. Until the likes of Forbes and O'Leary stop pretending to be ill and face the music. Until Tubs pays back the 150k. Until O'Keefe explains the massive "redundancy" payment. Until Jennings and Coveney are held to account. Until the other vastly overpaid RTE presenters have new contracts (Duffy, Darcy). Until the influence of leeches like Kelly is reduced. Until RTE is a public service broadcaster and not a gravy train for the elites.