Boss says sorry to snapper at centre of Fair City drama

RTÉ’S director general has apologised to a Fair City photographer who unexpectedly found herself at the centre of a media storm.

Kevin Bakhurst addressed a ‘town hall’ meeting for all 1,800 staff at the national broadcaster yesterday, where he was confronted by Fair City photographer Beta Bajgart. Ms Bajgart was subject to numerous media reports when it emerged she was paid €60,000 to take promotional images on the set of Fair City.

She questioned Mr Bakhurst yesterday on why no one at RTÉ had checked in on her when she found herself in the headlines.

Sources inside RTÉ confirmed Ms Bajgart was the first to put a question to the director general as the meeting was opened to the floor.

At a meeting of the Oireacthas Media Committee in September, Mr Bakhurst was asked why RTÉ was putting out a tender for a photographer to take still shots on the Fair City set for €80,000 a year.

After the DG said he couldn’t believe they were paying €80,000 a year to a photographer for Fair City – which transpired to be €60,000 – a decision was announced to pause the contract. Fine Gael senator Micheál Carrigy queried the contract’s value for money and called the job ‘ridiculous’, adding: ‘RTÉ need to cut the fat and I consider this as excess fat.’

Ms Bajgart has been working at Fair City for 12 years, having tendered for the job on three separate occasions. The mother-of-two, who lives in Dublin and is originally from the Czech Republic, told the meeting of staff about how hard it was for her hearing people discuss her job, and said she felt like she was not supported by RTÉ. Mr Bakhurst apologised over the fact nobody was in touch with her to ensure she was OK.

It is understood Mr Bakhurst said he wasn’t sure whether it would have been appropriate for him to contact her directly at the time. Ms Bajgart told the Irish Daily Mail last month she felt her job represented good value for money, and that her friends and colleagues at RTÉ had been ‘extremely supportive’ since the row over her salary broke out.

Before RTÉ paused the tender, the executive producer of Fair City, Brigie de Courcy, defended the cost, commenting: ‘It is vital to have a skilled photographer to capture, in single frames, moments of drama that will intrigue our regular audience, and bring new viewers to Fair City.’