National: No plans for Tubridy to return to presenting role, RTE says

RTE has announced there are no plans for Ryan Tubridy to return to his presenting role at the Irish national broadcaster following a controversy over the under-declaration of his salary.

Director general Kevin Bakhurst said negotiations with Tubridy about returning to his radio show had concluded after stating that trust between the parties had “broken down”.

Tubridy has been off-air since June 22, when controversy over the under-declaration of his salary was first revealed by the RTE Board.

Mr Bakhurst said: “We went into negotiations with Ryan in good faith and in the hopes of reaching an agreement that would see Ryan return to his RTE Radio 1 show.

“I have decided not to continue with negotiations and, as such, there are no plans for Ryan to return to his presenting role with RTE at this time.

“Despite having agreed some of the fundamentals, including fee, duration and hours, regretfully, it is my view that trust between the parties has broken down.”

Ireland’s public service broadcaster has been the subject of controversy since announcing it had understated Tubridy’s earnings by 345,000 euro (£295,000) from the years 2017 to 2022.

The crisis at the broadcaster has since widened beyond Tubridy’s pay to RTE’s internal financial, accounting and governance practices and its expenditure on corporate hospitality for advertising clients.

A report by Grant Thornton this week said it was “very plausible” that fees paid by RTE to its star presenter were under-declared by 120,000 euro from 2017-2019 to keep the payments under the 500,000 euro mark.