TV personality John Brennan says RTÉ “publicly executed” Ryan Tubridy

TV personality and hotelier John Brennan has called out RTÉ for what he calls a “public execution” of Ryan Tubridy.

The announcement that Ryan Tubridy will not be returning to the airwaves in the aftermath of the financial revelations at RTÉ has gone down poorly in certain quarters, least of all with John Brennan.

Brennan, who appeared on the RTÉ show At Your Service until 2015, says the treatment of Tubridy is “nothing short of disgraceful.”

In a letter to RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst, published on his Instagram account, Brennan said “in a lifetime devoted to public service and RTE Ryan Tubridy has, I would go as far as saying, never humiliated anyone in public. His skill as a communicator and interviewer always steered him away from this temptation as it serves no purpose.”

“Last week’s public execution of a person that has served this country so well is nothing short of disgraceful.”

Brennan said that Tubridy had agreed to “repay the Renault deals €150k (which RTE stupidly underwrote and he legally received)” and had accepted a considerable pay cut to return to the airwaves.

“On the 9 O’clock news, which you appeared on to put your side of the story out, was a very different performance in people management and humanity,” he remarked.

“The main motivation for your U-turn on your negotiations was and is very thin. The negotiations as you put it had ‘broken down’. They didn’t break down, you stopped them,” Brennan claimed.

“You may be very right in the backlash within RTÉ to Ryan. The lack of support for him from his fellow broadcasters is deafening. Some found their voice when it was announced he agreed to return on €170k a year.”

“A prominent point you made during the 9 O’clock News interview to establish a marker for future negotiations. Not a bad ploy on your behalf to put the wind up the organisation but at an enormous personal cost to Ryan Tubridy. You basically used him,” he said.

Brennan said Tubridy “did nothing but accepted a contract that RTÉ offered him and you say Ryan needs to “accept the facts.”

“Perhaps RTE needs to accept the facts. A flip-flop decision from a faceless person or persons who drafted a legal contract and you think the right thing to do is terminate the person who receives it.”

Brennan spoke of his friendship with Tubridy, and said “The last few days has not been nice, honest or confidence-enhancing for RTÉ. In fact, it has been a brutal shambles for all involved including the people of Ireland.”

“I have never encountered a Ryan that is anything but caring, gracious and generous with his time to others and I think it incredibly sad that all this has happened as he has a good soul. He lives for radio as he has a deep desire to deliver interesting and meaningful content that impacts on people.”

At the end of the post, Brennan offered Bakhurst his “best wishes”, rebuilding ‘trust’ within RTE in light of the scandal.