A whiff of Cordite

[RoboProp]

I know they tried their utmost to show they've buried the hatchet and all that, but I reckon it must really get ROG's goat that Johnny is the GOAT Irish 10.

[ronk]

Nah. If you wrestle with a pig: you get dirty and the pig likes it.

He's inventing slights to try and inflame things. Real ones would be even better. And they let him off the hook.

The single thing I hate most about watching coverage of games on TV is the he-said, they-said bull. Let's ignore the actual game so we can focus on a petulance competition.

I won't care how much we win if I've already given up watching. There's been some really improved rugby analysis in recent years. It's retrograde to hear people hear about a dispute between Ronan O'Gara and someone else in a stadium tunnel and consider only that the other person might be at fault.

Aldritt may want to immortalise his moment of triumph by inventing a slight over eye-contact. I'm glad our 4 stars stood for something different. Leo Cullen quietly let someone else lift the trophy first. And that's what I remember about those moments even though it didn't register at the time.

I heard at the weekend that Peter Clohessy wouldn't go to collect his runners up medal in his last ever game. That just makes him look like a nob to everyone who gave their all and never even got that prize.

[FLIP]

It's not just ROG though, it's the media at wide being willing to slander Leinster rugby and it's players and get away with it. We've seen South African, French, and Irish media at it openly, with other rugby media re-reporting it as fact from them without any form of fact checking or even critical thinking about it.

Not doing anything about it is already doing reputational harm to Leinster rugby and our players.

If you wrestle with a pig, you may end up covered in sh!t but the pig ends up in the butcher's.

[Barry]

I know they tried their utmost to show they've buried the hatchet and all that, but I reckon it must really get ROG's goat that Johnny is the GOAT Irish 10.

Wouldn't rate o'gara as Cork Con's GOAT 10 - about 10 light years behind Johnny as the Irish GOAT.

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

[PeteIRL]

Nah. If you wrestle with a pig: you get dirty and the pig likes it.

He's inventing slights to try and inflame things. Real ones would be even better. And they let him off the hook.

The single thing I hate most about watching coverage of games on TV is the he-said, they-said bull. Let's ignore the actual game so we can focus on a petulance competition.

I won't care how much we win if I've already given up watching. There's been some really improved rugby analysis in recent years. It's retrograde to hear people hear about a dispute between Ronan O'Gara and someone else in a stadium tunnel and consider only that the other person might be at fault.

Aldritt may want to immortalise his moment of triumph by inventing a slight over eye-contact. I'm glad our 4 stars stood for something different. Leo Cullen quietly let someone else lift the trophy first. And that's what I remember about those moments even though it didn't register at the time.

I heard at the weekend that Peter Clohessy wouldn't go to collect his runners up medal in his last ever game. That just makes him look like a nob to everyone who gave their all and never even got that prize.

Well said. Thankfully there were one or two post CC final podcasts that didn't even mention any of this nonsense and just talked about the rugby.

[nc6000]

No Gerry, Leinster didn't win the Champions Cup in 2013. We did a league and Challenge Cup double.

"it always felt that even the 2008-09 season was eclipsed by 2017-18, when Ireland’s Grand Slam was augmented by Leinster completing a Champions Cup/Pro14 double, as they’d done five seasons previously"

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... erfection/

[Ruckedtobits]

I wonder at what point Mr Tubridy decided NOT to "correct the record" of his earnings from RTE, in their annual listing of ten highest earners on their payroll?. Was it 2018, 2019, 2020 (now in Pandemic) or did he hope it would be brushed under the carpet, until he left the station?

This story doesn't smell right.

[riocard911]

I wonder at what point Mr Tubridy decided NOT to "correct the record" of his earnings from RTE, in their annual listing of ten highest earners on their payroll?. Was it 2018, 2019, 2020 (now in Pandemic) or did he hope it would be brushed under the carpet, until he left the station?

This story doesn't smell right.

I always maintained he was an overpaid airhead - and I was right!!!

[Ruckedtobits]

I wonder at what point Mr Tubridy decided NOT to "correct the record" of his earnings from RTE, in their annual listing of ten highest earners on their payroll?. Was it 2018, 2019, 2020 (now in Pandemic) or did he hope it would be brushed under the carpet, until he left the station?

This story doesn't smell right.

Not all the right questions have yet been asked, but we're getting there. However, it's probably not the only public sector company which has 'irregular' remuneration facilities for senior executives. Auditors have a serious 'watchdog' role for State funded companies.

[Ruckedtobits]

I wonder how many of the Top Ten, who have confirmed their earnings from RTE, have "exit payments" - effectively a guaranteed payment above their annual salaries?

RTE Executive Board were very circumspect in their 'full and frank statement' about Tubridy's earnings. It is to be hoped that either or both of the Dail Committees have the expertise to ask the right questions to determine who didn't discharge their corporate responsibilities to the public.

[riocard911]

I wonder how many of the Top Ten, who have confirmed their earnings from RTE, have "exit payments" - effectively a guaranteed payment above their annual salaries?

RTE Executive Board were very circumspect in their 'full and frank statement' about Tubridy's earnings. It is to be hoped that either or both of the Dail Committees have the expertise to ask the right questions to determine who didn't discharge their corporate responsibilities to the public.

I'm delighted Tubridy has disgraced himself. I always thought he was an overpaid, third-rate lightweight.

[FtD]

I completely understand on the Tubridy thing that it's very obviously wrong, very obviously a complete joke and very unfair to the lower paid staff at RTE etc. I have zero time for Tubridy, and rugby / sport is pretty much the only thing I watch on RTE.

But all that said - I cannot for the life of me understand the press coverage and column inches devoted to this story. There are literally hundreds of significantly more pressing matters of public concern in this country, or hundreds of examples of more egregious waste of public funds than the money in question here.

[kff15]

I completely understand on the Tubridy thing that it's very obviously wrong, very obviously a complete joke and very unfair to the lower paid staff at RTE etc. I have zero time for Tubridy, and rugby / sport is pretty much the only thing I watch on RTE.

But all that said - I cannot for the life of me understand the press coverage and column inches devoted to this story. There are literally hundreds of significantly more pressing matters of public concern in this country, or hundreds of examples of more egregious waste of public funds than the money in question here.

I think you'll find that the news agenda is set by journalists, according to their own view of what is important - and to them, nothing is more important than being shafted by one of their own

[paddyor]

I completely understand on the Tubridy thing that it's very obviously wrong, very obviously a complete joke and very unfair to the lower paid staff at RTE etc. I have zero time for Tubridy, and rugby / sport is pretty much the only thing I watch on RTE.

But all that said - I cannot for the life of me understand the press coverage and column inches devoted to this story. There are literally hundreds of significantly more pressing matters of public concern in this country, or hundreds of examples of more egregious waste of public funds than the money in question here.

Jealousy will do that Journos.

[FtD]

It was the headline story all weekend (and still is) in the Irish media at a time when there was a literal coup d'etat happening in Russia.

[ronk]

I completely understand on the Tubridy thing that it's very obviously wrong, very obviously a complete joke and very unfair to the lower paid staff at RTE etc. I have zero time for Tubridy, and rugby / sport is pretty much the only thing I watch on RTE.

But all that said - I cannot for the life of me understand the press coverage and column inches devoted to this story. There are literally hundreds of significantly more pressing matters of public concern in this country, or hundreds of examples of more egregious waste of public funds than the money in question here.

I think you'll find that the news agenda is set by journalists, according to their own view of what is important - and to them, nothing is more important than being shafted by one of their own

That's a big part of it, sure. They pay of top earners sets an upper bound on their own salary negotiations.

There's another component which I haven't see as explicitly discussed in the media: post bailout austerity. The reason they hid payments to him is that there was political and public pressure to cut wages. Publicly he (& they) were doing their bit, but in reality they were lying hypocrits. Austerity was really unpleasant and had lasting negative consequences for many people. It didn't effect some people, they were lucky. Some people pretended to be affected. Tubridy lied to the public about his pay, because he didn't want tax payers to know how their money was being spent.

RTE were asking the government for more money and lying about how they were spending it (to make it look like they would spend it wisely), which makes this morally a form of fraud.

He took dodgy payments under the table, now his brand has to pay the price.

[FtD]

Yeah, look I 100% get it from the perspective that he's is unquestionably wrong, and so is RTE, and so is the oversight of RTE.

I'm just saying it's a relative storm in a teacup compared to, for example, a national children's hospital where the cost is heading towards €2.5bn (and the timelines consistently get pushed out).

It cannot be a matter of significant public interest or relevance to warrant the continual headlines and live blogs etc it's generated, with the solitary exception of the fact a few of you have pointed out, it's pissed off journalists who are pushing it.

[ronk]

The amount of money is small, certainly compared to whats going into the Children's Hospital.

But if a government owned body was taking money from somewhere and then making payments under the table to make it look like the hospital wasn't costing as much then it'd be as big a scandal.

This wasn't an accident, it wasn't an oversight. RTE were caught secretly defying instructions from the government. It was a planned scheme and they still haven't fully come to heel.

No one is surprised that the hospital is late or overbudget. It was always going to happen, even to honest and competent administrators. It would have been a miracle to be on time.

[FtD]

I would just say generally it's hard to point to any aspects of Irish public life that aren't a complete shitshow, or that are well run or represent 'value for money' by European or international norms.

This is just the latest grubby little scandal.

There won't be any material fall out from it either - he won't return the money, the DG has resigned. RTE will get a slap on the wrist and probably face further budget cuts, politicians will squander more money on a public enquiry if they can, but nothing ultimately will change, and it'll all blow over.

[neiliog93]

It's the usual scandalised reaction, endemic in Irish outrage culture. It's really not that bad IMO. The bad part is that RTÉ were deceptive. It shouldn't be such a big story though, and wouldn't be in a more sensible country.