Dee Forbes banging the RTE TV licence drum again 60m uncollected fee *poll not working - pl ignore*

It is completely and utter arrogance.

When everyone across the country is taking a pay cut or loosing their job, RTÉ say they have no way to cut top stars wages due to multi-year contracts.

When you get to the point you've had to make people redundant because of your failures and still you have someone begging to be let back in and another basically saying she's off because she want's more money.

When you consistently blame everyone else. And call it all an "existential crisis" or say "to get the best you must pay well".

I absolutely agree D4rbes is to be blamed (this thread has been going since 2017) as are her predecessors in the role, who since the 1990s built these people up.

You seem to think that world of RTÉ is large, look at how friendly Marty Morrissey is with the KB4, look at how KB4 went to dinners with Jimbo Jennings, I'd be very surprised if D4bres wasn't invited to many a soirée.

Of course there is an amount of arrogance and ego.

It was consistently stated over the years by most people that RTÉ were over paying, and the rebuke? …. your just jealous, sure wouldn't you take if you were offered it?, your just an Irish begrudger. No we knew that they were overpaid and BBC is over there in the UK if they want and the if the independents want to pay for them they are across the road.

Tubridy went along with the lie to his financial advantage. His earnings were undeclared and could not be publicly justified. It is not the same as other types of financial negotiations where there is (a) no onus for the earnings to be disclosed and (b) public money at stake.

He was a participant in it by not correcting the record - a lie of omission on his part.

And remember he said he was wrong not to correct the declarations.

Or was that another lie?

I do as do many others - both on this thread and among his former colleagues in RTE as noted in the Extra article linked above.

He was a current affairs commentator on radio. The publication of RTE top earners including his own was a major media story every year. He well knew that his declared earnings were wrong and speaking up about it could jeopardise that money as could teh backlash should it come to light.
Which is why he should have had the sense not to agree to it.

So we'll just have to agree to disagree on that point, I've made one cases, you've argued the opposing - otherwise we'll go round and round.

You’re acting as if Tubridy and Kelly had zero knowledge of or input into the agreement they were party to. Mr. Kelly of course had to provide invoices for said payments (which he did) so their claims they knew nothing of what was going on ring a little hollow.

And let’s not forget both of them gave “nothing to do with me” statements when this first broke, when they were in fact party to the agreement.

Were I to speculate as to who dreamt up this “creative” agreement and given only Kelly or Forbes as the options, I know where my bet would be placed.

Tubridy lied many times actually. He lied to his colleagues about taking a pay cut for one.

When he gave his “seven untruths” opening statement to the Oireachtas Committee Fionnán Sheehan went through those one by one on Eamon Dunphy’s podcast and in his own paper Mr. Sheehan found those claims to be…..well, and I’ll be “kind” here….inaccurate.

Why are you assuming I think it was Kelly? Sure Noel never ever met Dee Forbes or had as much as a cup of tea with her after all. It’s clear she was the mastermind and Ireland’s greatest celebrity agent had the wool pulled over his eyes and he was forced to comply. Same with the invoices - he was only following orders and doing what RTÉ told him to do.

I see you ignored the comment about Tubridy lying though. Intriguing.

Sure. You offered no similar defence for Forbes intriguingly. Given you only offered this for one side one might suspect you had some pro-Kelly/Turbidy bias under-pinning your speculative answer, or that you had “some skin in the game” so to speak.

On Tubridy lying, nice attempt at deflection. I’ll ask a direct question then - do you accept he lied to his colleagues about taking a pay cut in solidarity with them?

https://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/ryan-tubridy-and-rte-clash-over-request-to-see-stations-pay-scandal-files/a1372709250.html

Sorry just to slight move away from Tubs even though I am link a story about him and KB4.

The celebrated Donnybrook grapevine suggests Bakhurst wanted Tubridy to drop the data request.“It’s thought he was asking Ryan: ‘Can you back off on that?’,” a source said.RTÉ doesn’t say what was said, but Bakhurst admits bringing up the data request over coffee.

This is a grapevine that for Seven years had little or nothing to say about the running of their organisation by D4rbes. Would ye ever stop with the quotes from a source at RTÉ who clearly know f-all.

Why is that interesting?

KB4 had coffee with Tubs and to mend any suggested hostile that they both might have or to avoid any future embarrassment that they might have.

KB4 bringing up the data request, you have to remember this is also a business meeting, it away to mend any issues.

Tubs is not looking for this data out of curiosity, he's looking to either sue RTÉ or announce a smoking gun that vindicates him from all responsibility.

There are numerous issues at RTÉ, no one is suggesting that Tubs caused the lack of Governance in RTÉ, or put blame on him for either the Musical or the failed IT project.

It is the issue of the top ten earners.

Tubs, and all of the top talent at RTÉ, created an environment where it was suggested that they were worth more than what they were getting and that they could easily be getting more for working in the Independent sector or in the UK. BTW this environment still exists and it is the believe of the current governance team.

RTÉ, over the last 15 years, ran around desperately trying to down play this, issuing the figures for 3 years, some of them late and one earlier than required, both D4bes and Noel Curran* did this, but they did this with the presenters/actors/talent earning over 100K. There were meetings with all of them Daithi O'Se does just shoot into the top earners list, he was already in and around that figure over the last decade at least. He discussed this with RTÉ. He realized last year he might as well take a pay increase and it was agreeable with him now to be in the top 10.

*I will call him "Christmas Fruit you find in a Cake", not sure if any one get this!

@Cyclingtourist I argue that the main person to blame for the current environment and that of the environment of pay for talent at RTÉ resides with Mike Murphy way back when he told Gay Byrne to ask for more money, because he wanted a pay rise.

It follows on, Tubs is part of that, along with all of the leadership team, sorry I did mean to include them in this. I thought I had made that clear. Though I did think that the following made that clear "RTÉ, over the last 15 years, ran around desperately trying to down play this, issuing the figures for 3 years, some of them late and one earlier than required, both D4bes and Noel Curran* did this, but they did this with the presenters/actors/talent earning over 100K."

And then you quote me on "BTW this environment still exists and it is the believe of the current governance team".

These people got paid too much money and continue to do so. RTÉ will now begin to have most TV production outside of news and current affairs produced by independent producers.

So from now on many presenters will be pay for Radio via RTÉ and TV via the independent production company.

Running around like headless chickens trying to hide renumeration packages.

As predicted, no reply.

Ahem…..

You have to explain why it is a stretch.

IMO this is an opinion boards, I base my opinions on facts and on my biases. Like most people.

So your only care is the top earners and one that you feel was mistreated, and those facts alone. You care about nothing else surrounding the mismanagement of the national public service broadcaster.

so tell me how well did she do her job?