Ryan Tubridy - From Virgin to Youtube **Mod: Read OP**

Fair enough, we all have our own tastes it's true. Just out of interest where would you rank Ryan among LLS hosts?

If the chair and CFO of RTÉ hadn't looked into the finances at RTÉ none of this would have come out.

Tubs would still be on RTÉ radio, while hosting some TV show, and he wouldn't have had to return €150K for work not done.

Instead, over a couple of weeks it was found that RTÉ had been desperate to hold on to their "top talent" at all costs.

Noel Kelly (on behalf of tubs) negotiated and agreed those terms with RTÉ (Dee Forbes and Breada O'Keeffe). Yes, RTÉ came up with the idea and ultimately Dee Forbes resigned from her position. But at the end both parties agreed with the contract and signed on the dotted line.

Remember Tubs was paid €12.5K per month when he was off the air until negotiations ended with RTÉ for his Radio show.

Tubs is just trying to make things right. He believes that he is worth all that money that was spend on him, as does Pat Kenny and the rest of them.

They truly believe that it was commercial revenue that paid their wages, and that they were the cash cows in RTÉ. And without them RTÉ could not function.

For the last 25 years, every Director General and Chair would enter the House of the Oirechtas and say something similar to Moya Doherty on D'Arcy's first contract (in 2015): -

I have been assured that the 18-month, six-figure sponsorship deal that RTÉ struck… will more than cover the salary RTÉ is paying Ray D’Arcy.

Indeed Claire Byrne just does understand (in 2026, last week's Sindo)

I hadn’t done anything wrong; we had a sponsor for the show, advertising was strong. So, I didn’t understand why I deserved to be capped.

One of those sponsors being a state agency "Solas" …. once a division of FAS … but sure Joe Duffy has said that The Post Office Scandal in the UK would have first been heard on Liveline and would have saved a lot of heartache for those involved.

What they all don't seem to understand is that they work for a Public Service Broadcaster is a small market and that the idea of Commercial revenue is there to provide some extra money towards public service broadcasting programming. This is not to say that RTÉ should just be there to Inform and Educate but also it should Entertain.

They also don't understand the loyalty that the audience provide to the organization, Radio 1 programming have yet to see their listenership figures fall and neither Claire or Tubs leaving has changed that. The same goes for RTÉ1.

2FM never recovered from his death. So at least he was delivering an audience that nobody else could keep.

Every thing that Tubridy has exited has increased audience numbers after his departure

We all know the real reason he left.

2fm’s audience would have aged with Gerry if he had lived

How have the other episode of the series been

I only watched the Micheál Martin one and it was ok. He just acted natural. I can't see that happening with Tubridy though.

I've never seen an episode of this show.. 'The Assembly' but I'll most likely tune into the upcoming one with Tubridy. The premise of the show sounds bizarre.. if not a little exploitative. Am I correct in understanding a group of neurodivergent, ie. autistic/special needs individuals get to ask questions of a celebrity or someone else who's in the public conscience?

After over two years of controversy and questions that need answering, Tubridy submits himself to a compromised ( please forgive my lack of political correctness/ignorance, I don't know what's acceptable anymore) instead of a room full of informed journalists?

He's not exactly going out on a limb here, is he?

IMHO, he's been unfairly scapegoated for the whole RTE payments thing, no ones looking at the boarder culture, everyone's demonizing him.

He did nothing wrong, but was just caught up in the backlash and RTE found an easy scapegoat in him...

(I've no connections to the guy, but I'll always defend him over this, even if it seems I'm the only one...)

I knosw from staff in RTE that Ray D'Arcy was horrible to work with. Nobody wanted to work with him. It was nearly seen that you were being punished if you were put working with him.

If it were rte in the wrong then why did he pay back the 150k, and why did he willingly receive his "top up" via the slush fund Barter acc?

That taxi wasn't even for him. It was for a representative from his management company and billed to RTE.