RTE star Louise Duffy has said she was left baffled when her predecessor Ronan Collins left his Radio 1 show to host a show on RTE Gold.
The presenter took over from Collins earlier this year.
But she admitted she was left “perplexed” when he announced he would host a new show, Daytime Gold, on RTE Gold, 10-1pm Monday to Friday.
READ MORE: Ronan Collins breaks down in tears as he bids farewell to his lunchtime radio show after more then 43 years
She said: “That was perplexing. I would say. I mean, it was an unusual decision...business wise.
“He had always planned to do a little more, but it was more that we’re now on at the same time. But they are very different shows and very different platforms, like radio, a digital platform.
“I don’t know the set up of it. My show is an hour of highly curated playlist and interaction with a listener that a text can change the course of the show.
“To be honest, beyond the first week of knowing that that was happening, I haven’t really given it much thought. Without sounding glib about it,” she told the Sunday Independent’s Life magazine.
Meanwhile, Louise revealed her RTE colleagues have been left “hurt, upset and disappointment” over details of the station’s payments scandal that emerged last month.
“You know, there’s definitely an air of disappointment. People are sad and angry. It’s very all-encompassing at the moment. There’s little else that people can talk about.
“As I was driving out, there was a protest. It’s tough times over there at the moment.
“It’s a strange place for me to be because I feel like I’m still quite new to the organisation. But what I have witnessed in the six months that I’ve been there is really hard-working people, people who have so much integrity, who are very dedicated to RTE, who believe in the purpose of public service broadcasting.”
Her comments come in the wake of RTE bosses being split over whether or not Ryan Tubridy should return to the airwaves.
According to the Sunday Mirror, the general view at the station is that Oliver Callan, 42, has done more than well filling in for Tubridy and there are also real fears of a staff backlash should he return.
Bad feeling remains among RTE staffers, especially surrounding the so-called letter of comfort from former director general Dee Forbes promising he would not have a salary reduction at a time when they were forced to take pay cuts.
Station bosses also have to take into account the huge falloff in TV licence renewals since the pay controversy broke amid fears Tubridy is seen by the public as the face and voice of the scandal.
A station insider said executives have a very tricky situation on their hands which could easily backfire if they get it wrong. The source told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “The view held by many is that the longer this rumbles on the harder it is going to be for Ryan Tubridy to resume ‘service as usual’ on his morning radio show.
“There was a lot of ill feeling when the scandal first hit the headlines, a lot of staff felt very aggrieved over the pay issue and that hasn’t gone away. While it seems likely that a return of some sort is on the cards, it is still up in the air whether he can just waltz back into that prime morning slot.
“It is a key ratings marker in terms of advertising, but at this stage you have to ask how the listenership will react if he returns to the morning show.” Tubridy has been off air since June 22 when revelations emerged about different payments.
The RTE board said that between 2017 and 2022, Tubridy received a series of payments totalling €345,000 above his annual published salary, which were not declared to the public and the Oireachtas. The payments were uncovered after the company’s auditors alerted the board to some of the transactions.
He has not been seen in public since the scandal unfolded, barring appearing before the Oireachtas committees with his agent Noel Kelly in July.
Last week, he returned to social media to pay tribute to legendary Irish singer Sinead O’Connor in the wake of her death. The yet-to-be-published Grant Thornton Report into Tubridy’s additional payments between 2017 and 2019 is expected to clear him of any wrongdoing.
