RTÉ clamps down on stars’ nixers

Bosses’ emails show eagerness to rein in presenters

RTÉ bosses have made efforts to crack down on nixers carried out by its star staff members, documents seen by the Irish Daily Mail reveal.

Montrose chiefs were upset following Claire Byrne’s decision to chair a conference by Davy stockbrokers last October. An email from one RTÉ News boss said of the stricter guidelines: ‘Would the above fly with staff generally?’

‘Would it fly with staff generally?’

RTÉ stars can front Tidy Towns ceremonies – but they can’t do lucrative corporate gigs, documents released to the Irish Daily Mail have revealed.

The shake-up in what kind of non-broadcasting work RTÉ staff can engage in outside the station followed controversy over Claire Byrne’s presentation of a corporate event last October.

The internal documents show that one week after Ms Byrne’s Davy stockbroker event, RTÉ chiefs decided that its stars should only host private shows if they promoted RTÉ’s public service mandate and had ‘genuine public service merit, consistent with the role of good public service journalism in society’.

That includes Tidy Towns, certain book launches and award ceremonies, but not corporate gigs, they said.

The documents also show that some stars are being reined in more than others. Of the ten requests presenter Ms Byrne made to do side projects last year, six were granted, while all of Miriam O’Callaghan’s were approved.

The documents, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that bosses fretted about how the stricter policies would fly with their presenters and independent contractors.

As previously revealed in the Irish Daily Mail, all news and current affairs staff were told in January that they now have to seek agreement in writing from a group of RTÉ managers up to a month in advance of any nixers.

The change came after Ms Byrne chaired a conference in October where she also conducted a public interview with Finance Minister Pascal Donohoe. RTÉ was unaware of the interview and said afterwards that they were ‘disappointed’ with her decision.

Management held a meeting on October 25, a week after Ms Byrne’s Davy show.

David Nally, managing editor of RTÉ current affairs television, sent an email to Jon Williams, head of RTÉ news and current affairs, and Hilary McGouran, deputy managing director of the same department, asking would it be possible to include the ‘internal policy’ in the contracts of independent presenters.

Mr Nally wrote: ‘What I’m thinking of is something along the lines of an internal policy – which we communicate to the presenters and reporters in whatever’s the best way – that says something like: “In general, the policy of RTÉ News and Current Affairs is that personnel who are associated with this division should only agree to public appearances or public events which have as their primary purpose the furtherance of an objective with genuine public service merit, consistent with the role of good public service journalism.’

He noted that there was still a lot of ‘grey areas’ on the matter but said they would be able to judge it on a case by case basis.

However, he questioned how it might sit with RTÉ stars who face losing out on sideline gigs.

‘Legally and practically, would the above fly with staff generally? Would it fly with our independent contractors, even though it would mean refusing permission for things they have been granted permission for in the past? Could it even be incorporated into their contracts?’ asked Mr Nally.

A host of requests were made by RTÉ stars last year to chair events across the country. The vast majority of these events were for charitable events.

Ms O’Callaghan told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘Almost every outside event I do is for charity and pro bono. I am honoured to do these and try to do as many as I can.’

There was no response from Ms Byrne when contacted for comment.

Among the other RTÉ News staff applying to do nixers were Bryan Dobson, Caitríona Perry and Tony Connelly. A spokeswoman for RTÉ told the Mail that ‘following internal discussions there was a streamlining’ of its guidelines on nixers ‘but no change to the guidelines’.