Emma O'Kelly: RTÉ's Tubridy distraction is over, now government must grasp the nettle

23/06/2023 Dublin, Ireland. National Union of Journalists Dublin Broadcasting Branch Emma O'Kelly is pictured leaving RTE after a meeting with management. Photograph: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie

In the newsroom and in the canteen and corridors of RTÉ yesterday, there was a sense that something had shifted. Whatever personal views people may have had about Ryan Tubridy as an individual and whether or not he should return to the airwaves, staff in RTÉ are hopeful now that the constant focus on one individual is at an end.

Speaking on RTÉ's Prime Time programme on Thursday evening Director General Kevin Bakhurst called this focus "a distraction" from his goal to rebuild public trust, and it had become a distraction too in terms of the message us staff needed to communicate to the public we serve.