Brendan Griffin: What does RTÉ stand for?

The additional documents and evidence requested from RTÉ by the Oireachtas Committee to try to piece together what has been going on at our national broadcaster could make for shocking reading, writes Brendan Griffin

Fri, 30 Jun, 2023 - 20:30

Brendan Griffin

Late on Thursday night when I returned home from the Dáil, my eight-year-old asked me: "Daddy, does RTÉ stand for Ryan Tubridy’s Euros?"

I told him: "No, buddy, it doesn’t." to which he replied: "But, Daddy, what does RTÉ stand for?"

I have heard many questions asked about RTÉ this week. I asked quite a few myself. The question from my son was the toughest of them all. I honestly don’t know the answer.

It was a tiresome and disillusioning two days on Wednesday and Thursday in Committee Rooms 1 and 3 respectively. The rooms are located deep underground beneath the Leinster House campus, each somewhat resembling a war-room or bunker. It’s as low as anyone can go in the parliamentary precinct, deprived of natural light, the air often stale and stuffy. It seemed a most appropriate place to discuss the current crisis engulfing RTÉ.

When the RTÉ story first broke last week, I and some fellow members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Media called for RTÉ representatives to be brought in for questioning. By Friday afternoon, everything was in motion.

Fast forward to lunchtime on Wednesday and the mood in the lobby outside the Committee Room is tense. Inside is worse. There’s a horrible feeling in the air. Few want to be there. I look across at the RTÉ witnesses from the members’ positions.

I’m always mindful that the people tasked with answering our questions are someone’s daughter or son, brother or sister, mum or dad, husband or wife. I’m also acutely aware that the people who have elected us expect us to act on their behalf and are entitled to the full truth.

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The meeting kicks off. Some Committee members have to sit in a row of chairs by the back wall as all the desk positions are occupied. The public gallery is close to full capacity. A significant media contingent has shown up.

A quick check of Twitter tells me that many more journalists are watching and commenting remotely.

The sitting lasts nearly five hours. It’s jilted, tedious, frustrating and, at times, infuriating. I’m 12th questioner on the rota. Usually when you get such a late speaking slot, all the key questions have been asked by the time you’re reached. On this occasion, the list of outstanding relevant questions grows as the meeting grinds on. I have too many questions to fit into my allocated time but try my best to elicit as many answers as possible.

There’s strong co-operation amongst Committee members. We take up the can from each other on a number of important issues of public interest. We learn some new information but nowhere near as much as I’d like. It becomes clear to me that getting the full picture here will take much more time and repeated scrutiny.

Jennifer Horgan: We have a lot more to worry about than Ryan Tubridy’s bank balance

Gareth O'Callaghan: I worked for RTÉ for 17 years. Time to tell a story I have never told before

Elaine Loughlin: Looking for the truth in RTÉ payments scandal is like 'nailing jelly to the wall'

The level of interest in the committee session from the people of the country is like nothing I’ve seen in my 12 years in Dáil Éireann. It’s both encouraging and daunting, but makes me more determined than ever to help get to the truth and achieve the changes we need in RTÉ.

One comment in particular catches my eye on Wednesday night: “I always thought Brendan Griffin was a thick fucker but this was important work today.” I think it was a compliment.

On Thursday, our colleagues on the Public Accounts Committee carry out a similar exercise with RTÉ. They take up on many of the issues delved into by the Media Committee and uncover further information. The new revelations are grim. The list of outstanding questions grows further.

Both committees have now demanded a whole range of additional documents and evidence from RTÉ to try to piece together what has been going on at our national broadcaster.

Some of these documents, I fear, will make for shocking reading, but we need to know more about who was responsible for some extremely worrying actions. Nothing short of full co-operation from all the main players is essential. Anything less will not be acceptable to a rightly outraged public.

Some this week have questioned if recovery will ever be possible, or if the damage is irreparable. We owe it to the many decent women and men who built RTÉ over the decades to ensure its survival. We owe it to the people of Ireland who have loyally supported RTÉ through their eyes, ears and pockets, to guarantee a healthy national broadcaster.

I want future generations to benefit from the cultural enrichment that RTÉ has been and can be capable of. I want to be able to provide a positive answer to my little boy when he asks me “what does RTÉ stand for?” Quickly establishing the full facts about what has happened is just the first step. It will be a long, hard road to rebuilding trust eventually—perhaps for now, that’s what RTÉ should aim to stand for.