Noel Kelly and Tubridy submit data request

It’s a very strange development considering how many eggs Kelly still has in the RTÉ basket, putting all of their overpaid contracts at jeopardy to potentially score a pyrrhic victory for Ryan. Ryan was also telling us just a few weeks ago in his Sunday column that there were “no hard feelings between him and RTÉ”, which these actions run completely contrary to.

These types of requests are normally precursors to further legal action (esp. re. Employment Law), so that suggests Kelly and Tubridy are gearing up for a further battle, Round 2 as it were.

On the question of costs, they had arisen because of the involvement of legal counsel, presumably to screen all requests and responses - and also because they’re aware where this is likely going. And guess who is paying for those?

Considering the performances of the RTÉ Exec. Team (a mixture of incompetence and arrogance) at the time in the Oireachtas hearing I would be confident digging might produce some details that would be embarrassing for the organisation. However, given Kelly’s role facilitating the invoicing he’s hardly squeaky clean on that front.

What is puzzling from the outside is why RTÉ continue to do business with a man who landed them in the middle of a national scandal, seems to accept no blame for his part in it, continues to blame them, and is likely gearing up to sue them. Indeed Doireann Garrihy’s return was negotiated whilst Kelly was submitting these FOIs. Would this happen in any other organisation?

Ryan’s radio show is good though, worth listening to if you haven’t given it a chance since the move. That is of course if you are able to separate the art from the artist, I appreciate many can’t.

I’d argue that he and Kelly did more damage to themselves by their pronouncements before and after the disastrous Oireachtas hearing. I’m not sure what this is doing other than to bring up the scandal again - this is a classic example of the Streisand Effect playing out before our eyes. They were re-igniting something many have parked or even forgotten about.

I’m no fan of Kelly’s but I’d say he’s being badly advised here - but I get the impression he’s not one to take advice.

Duffy will retire from RTE. Newstalk might take a punt on him but at much reduced rates.

I haven't listening to a single second of his guff since he came back on the radio but from what iv'e heard he remains as talentless as ever.

Tubs - through his own actions - has made himself so unpopular in Ireland that nobody is interested in giving him a chance - even at a knock down bargain basement cost - he has become so toxic to listeners that his very presence would “torpedo” an entire radio station. Sad times.

If his top talent had to take a pay cut of 400000 to get a job in the UK I doubt he wants any more to leave RTE

I remember following this story and reading up on it after the fact. I did not know anything before it had all been done, so I may be wrong - hence me asking here.

But was Ryan Tubridy sacked, or was his contract just not renewed? Or is that just semantics? I do remember that he was due to start work and he said something that irked the then new head of rte, which i thought was the actual nail in the coffin for him, not anything else that had gone before it, although those issues surely contributed along with the unwelcome attention that it brought to rte.

A mutual friend of ours could produce a sizeable amount of glue.

That's a two way street,he and his clients would be screwed without access to RTE.