Government wagons are circling around Catherine Martin... but Opposition insists that her position has become untenable
THE reputation of the former chairwoman of RTÉ should not be ‘tarnished’, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.
Siún Ní Raghallaigh released a statement on Monday saying her resignation last month was an ‘enforced dismissal’ by Media Minister Catherine Martin which was seemingly designed to ‘traduce’ her reputation. Opposition parties say the minister now has further questions to answer.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Ms Ní Raghallaigh has admitted she gave the wrong information to the minister, who ‘lost trust in what she was hearing’.
He said: ‘I think they’re both women in good standing, in my view. What happened, essentially, between them is the relationship broke down, trust broke down.’ However, he added: ‘I don’t believe that Siún Ní Raghallaigh’s reputation should be tarnished by all of this.
‘Sometimes these happen – misunderstandings, relationships break down. It does not necessarily mean that anyone did anything wrong or lacked competence, in my view.’ Asked if Ms Martin should answer questions on the matter before Oireachtas committees, he told Morning Ireland: ‘I’m absolutely sure Ms Martin will be happy to respond to what the former RTÉ chair, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, has said.’
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said he has ‘no doubt’ Ms Martin will want to address some of the issues raised by Ms Ní Raghallaigh. He said: ‘I have confidence in Catherine Martin. She has been dealing with a very difficult situation over the last eight months in RTÉ and gave a very comprehensive account of her actions last week before the Oireachtas committee. ‘I have no doubt that she will address some of the issues raised in Ms Ní Raghallaigh’s statement. We, as a Government, are trying to move forward on this process with the appointment of a new chair.’ However, Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said Ms Martin’s position is ‘not tenable’ after Ms Ní Raghallaigh outlined a number of failures in the Green Party minister’s version of events which led to her resignation.
The former chair hit out at Ms Martin in her four-page letter, describing her as a ‘hands-off’ minister. Ms Ní Raghallaigh said she had no option but to resign after the Green TD refused to express confidence in her during a live television interview.
Mr Ó Ríordáin described Ms Martin’s appearance on RTÉ’s Prime Time as ‘disgraceful’.
‘It is quite clear that Siún Ní Raghallaigh is exposing what we all felt, which is that the minister has no control over the situation, has been a bystander and not somebody fully in control of matters,’ he added. ‘She hasn’t been a main player in trying to resolve the situation. Minister Martin is now part of the problem.’
He said it is ‘never a good look when a minister comes out and has to then come out again in order to make a further clarifying statement’.
He also said there are ‘two accounts which differ, and the minister has given one account, and Siún Ní Raghallaigh has given other accounts’.
He added: ‘It appears to me that Siún Ní Raghallaigh has performed her duties in a way that was conducive to RTÉ moving beyond this crisis, into a new phase, and the minister hasn’t behaved that way.’
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the RTÉ ‘shambles’ is the fault of the Government, remarking: ‘They have failed to resolve any of the issues that lay at the heart of the scandal. The comment that the minister is taking a hands-off approach confirms exactly what we’ve said – they failed to address the issue of the financing of RTÉ and, in fact, all the signs are that exactly the things that shouldn’t have happened in the aftermath of the RTÉ scandal erupting are going to happen.’
‘It is never a good look’