Kevin Bakhurst had what he described as exciting plans for RTÉ upon his return to the national broadcaster after seven years working in the UK.
But any notion the former director of news and deputy director general had of easing himself into the water scuppered weeks before his appointment after somebody leaked details from a RTÉ board meeting which suggested divided views on his appointment.
Then, in the fortnight before his appointment, revelations about a “secret” pay deal with the broadcaster’s top presenter Ryan Tubridy catapulted RTÉ into one of the biggest crises in its six decades. It was a little like being appointed captain of the Titanic moments after it hit the iceberg.
He doesn’t agree with the metaphor but is unambiguous when accepting the scale of the crisis. When you remove all the “who said what and when” arguments the nub of the issue is that RTÉ, as an organisation, was fully involved in a deal in 2021 with its best paid presenter worth €75,000 a year in extra income that it chose to keep secret.
“The fundamental problem is RTÉ made a terrible decision. It unveiled a complete failure of governance and I don’t begin to understand why the decision was taken, or how it could have been allowed to be taken. But, you know, it’s really clear the job is to stop that happening again.”
But it’s not just about setting out rules and principles to ensure governance and transparency in future. There are more immediate issues on Bakhurst’s in-try and the first of them is: what to do with Ryan Tubridy.
The new director general is no stranger to RTÉ. He came into the broadcaster as director of news and current affairs and then served as deputy director general from 2012 to 2016, then losing out to Dee Forbes for the top job that year. Having spent the intervening period as a director of the UK communications regulator, he was appointed D-G designate earlier this year.
In his previous existence he knew Tubridy socially. “I was one of the voices around when he got his slot on Radio 1 when he moved from 2FM. I thought that was a good idea. I knew him a bit. I went out for a couple of drinks with him and his friends, not very often. I would see him in the canteen and we used to talk about American politics quite often.
“He has a book about American politics, actually. Yeah, I always found him good fun and very intelligent, and I thought, and still think, he’s an extremely talented broadcaster.”
And at the time he also had dealings with Noel Kelly, the agent who represents Tubridy and a number of other of RTÉ's top earners.
[ Ryan Tubridy may come to regret hitching his wagon to Noel Kelly’sOpens in new window ]
“When I was here last time I got on pretty well with him. We had some robust conversations and after some of them we walked away. Some presenters left, as you know. But, you know, we had a good working relationship and actually a very reasonable cordial relationship. I’ve never had a problem personally. With him. But I think there’s clearly a wider issue.”
And the wider issue is the relationship that RTÉ has with its best-known and highest-paid earners, the “talent” as they are called. He says that those relationships will have to fundamentally change.
To that end, in advance of his decision on Tubridy’s future, Bakhurst is clear that he will speak to Tubridy and to Tubridy alone. Asked several times, he repeats – adamantly – he will not speak to Kelly again. “I can choose with whom I have the conversations.”
He insists it’s not personal to Kelly. “It does not mean I am never going to talk to an agent again. I’ve had very good contacts with agents and had good contact with Noel Kelly a few years ago. But I think we need to find a way that is much cleaner and safer for us going forward.”
On Tubridy he needs to make the decision quickly enough, but needs some time to talk to people and to staff. “I’ve got to judge a number of things here. One is the events of the past few weeks and the events of the last few days. But also, as I said, I want to talk to staff and I’ve already started doing that, and people who work in radio, and have worked with Ryan and other people who work in radio, and the leadership team.”
Back in his last stint in RTÉ Bakhurst arrived at the time of the fallout from the Prime Mission to Prey documentary that made defamatory allegations against a priest and during a large exit programme.
“There are significant things that I am now aware of that I wasn’t clearly aware of then. Now when I look back, I mean, there was definitely a culture that was there for years that if the director general said ‘do it’ you did it. And then you rely a lot on having a DG with great judgment and integrity. So I think I’ve said this to the new leadership team, I think it is a cultural challenge, but in the end someone’s going to make a decision but the culture around key decisions is absolutely critical. And also the freedom to challenge (decisions) is also critical.”
“So we’ve already discussed that in the new leadership group. I said to everyone, you know, you’ve got to challenge (decisions) even if it’s not your area. If you think it’s wrong you have to challenge it, and that’s the right thing.”
He is speaking to The Irish Times soon after attending his first board meeting as director general. He said the sense is that after the volatility of the past few weeks there is a little stability now and that it is getting a grip on things. The story sliding from the headlines from next week will assist.
In the medium term he agrees that he has a job of work to reassure the Government and the public that the organisation is fit for purpose.“I think we have to absolutely demonstrate that the organisation has changed. We got to demonstrate that governance is more robust, that the leadership team is a better functioning team. I think we’ve got to demonstrate that we believe in transparency ... I think you need to demonstrate from the top downwards that you are open to questioning and to transparency.
“We will have to demonstrate that we’ve taken proper action ... that we are driving a new culture. You can’t deliver that overnight.”
And if he looks to the future of RTÉ what does he hope to achieve as head of the broadcaster? “I want it to be a modern world class media organisation, and that involves an increased digital transformation. That helps serve younger audiences as well. We need to get the financial footing in the organisation sorted. That’s almost the first thing you need to do before you can do anything else.
“As the world moves on into digital RTÉ needs to move on at least as quickly as that and be ambitious for that. We also need to continue delivering fantastic and relevant content across the platforms and (fulfil) our public service duties. I was very proud over the last few weeks of seeing how well our news and current affairs divisions have performed during this crisis.”
He finishes with an upbeat note. “RTÉ needs to be more agile and more ambitious online. And we need a better place for talented people to work.”
We will know if that includes Ryan Tubridy within the next few weeks.
