Latest news with #LateLateShow
RTÉ News
17 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
On This Week: THAT 'Normal People' Chain raises €70k for charity
On This Week: Irish Moments from History (2nd - 8th June) Welcome to On This Week, where we delve into the standout stories from the years gone by, featuring standout news stories, major sporting events, and pop culture highlights that helped shape Irish life. Here's your dose of Irish nostalgia from 2nd - 8th June. This Week In Irish News McDonagh Tower, a 15-storey block of flats in Ballymun, north Dublin, was reduced to rubble as part of a regeneration project. Thousands of people gathered to witness the tower's demolition, which was brought down by a controlled explosion. Oscar McAuley, the great-great-grandson of Thomas McDonagh, one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising, after whom the tower was named, pressed the detonator. 2024: CSO marked 75 years of counting the Irish economy The Central Statistics Office (CSO) celebrated its 75th anniversary this week. The CSO was established in 1949 to gather, analyse and publish independent statistics and insights about Irish society, its economy, and the environment. In 1951, it carried out its first census, the first Census of Population, which is conducted every five years. This Week In Irish Sports Barry McGuigan captured the WBA and lineal featherweight titles after 15 rounds against Eusebio Pedroza. The fighter, nicknamed the 'Clones Cyclone', was on a 27-fight winning streak before facing Pedroza, who held the title for seven years and made 19 successful defences before this fight. Yet it was McGuigan who had the upper hand, flooring Pedroza in the seventh round before winning unanimously. 2024: Gold for Ireland in 4x400m mixed relay in Europe Team Ireland produced a magnificent performance to win gold at the European Athletics Championships. The relay team included Chris O'Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr & Sharlene Mawdsley who finished in a time of 3:09:92, a championship record. The four join Sonia O'Sullivan as the only gold medallists for Ireland in the 90-year history of the European Championships. This Week In Irish Entertainment Gay Byrne returned to the Late Late Show set to mark the 50th anniversary of the talk show. After receiving a standing ovation upon his arrival, Byrne spoke about how people hated it when the show started, but it quickly became popular, and the rest is history. The anniversary also included Brendan Balfe, who was in the audience for the very first Late Late Show, who recalled his memories of the first show. 2020: Paul Mescal raises €70,000 raffling THAT chain for charity Paul Mescal raised over €70,000 for suicide prevention charity Pieta by raffling off the iconic chain worn by his Normal People character Connell. The chain became a hit with fans to the point that it had its own Instagram account with over 180,000 followers. Mescal said he particularly wanted to help Pieta because "suicide and depression are themes directly linked to Normal People." This Week In Irish Culture 2003: St Anthony relics tour Ireland The relics of the Franciscan monk Saint Anthony of Padua, one of the Catholic Church's most popular saints, came to Ireland for a nine-day tour. Saint Anthony is famous for his power to return lost possessions, and his tour began at Fairview in Dublin. At one point, the poles used to carry the reliquary were lost in Dublin Airport, but Franciscan Conventual friar Father Xavier Goulet, who helped organise the tour, knew who to turn to. They found them about an hour before the official reception of the relics in Fairview started. 2023: Largest collection of Cumann na mBan memorabilia goes on display One of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Cumann na mBan memorabilia has gone on display at the Cork Public Museum after its surprise discovery in a dusty attic. The archive, which contains over 5,000 items, including photographs, letters, pamphlets, and newspaper clippings, gave insight into the role of the women's Republican paramilitary organisation during tumultuous times in the country's history, especially during the Civil War. The collection would have been lost forever if a house owner had not contacted the museum and asked them to assess the material before selling the property in 2007. What was Number 1 in Ireland This Week? 1979: 'Sunday Girl' by Blondie Sunday Girl was written by Blondie's guitarist Chris Stein and was inspired by Debbie Harry's cat having run away. 1983: 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police The Police's signature song was recognised by BMI in the US as the most played song in radio history. 1998: 'C'est La Vie' by B*Witched The iconic song from B*Witched made them the youngest girl group ever to have a UK number one. Irish Celebrities Celebrating Birthdays This Week Liam Cunningham (64) Actor best known for roles in Game of Thrones, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, and Hunger. Donal Skehan (39) Television presenter, chef and food writer. Helen McEntee (39) Minister for Education and Youth, and Deputy Leader of Fine Gael. Other Irish Trivia From This Week 2019: The Irish pigeon who played a vital role in D-Day An Irish pigeon played a small but vital part in bringing the news of the Normandy landings on D-Day 75 years ago. Paddy the Pigeon was one of 32 pigeons released from Normandy to bring back the news of D-Day to England. He travelled 368 km (230 miles) in four hours and 50 minutes. For this feat, Paddy was awarded the Dickin Medal, which has been described as the animal equivalent of Britain's Victoria Cross, and is the only Irish animal to have been so decorated. Looking Ahead
Extra.ie
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Ryan Tubridy: 'Sarah tells her story with extraordinary dignity and insight'
I migrated to Times Radio last Monday for a three-hour juggernaut of a show that covered everything from Ukraine to UK Labour Party tax U-turns and on to more feature-based stories, including an interview with Thomas Harding, author of a fascinating book called The Einstein Vendetta. Towards the end of the show, an 18-year-old Irish woman joined me in the studio to talk about her desperately sad story. I first met her when she was just nine years old, and again when she was 13. So, here we were, five years later, in a London radio studio, but this time to talk about her book and her involvement in a much-talked-about Netflix documentary. Sarah Corbett Lynch has had a very unfair run at life since she was a baby. Her birth mother, Mags, died when Sarah was just 12 weeks old, leaving her father, Jason, to look after baby Sarah and her brother Jack. Sarah Corbett Lynch. Pic: Tom Honan Most of you will know the story, but as a brief reminder, Molly Martens arrived on the scene as an au pair. She and Jason fell in love, got married and moved to America to set up home. On the face of it, all was well until August 2, 2015, when Jason was beaten to death by Molly and her father, Tom Martens. What followed were endless court cases and appearances until the eventual conviction and subsequent release of Molly and Tom Martens. I won't get into the details here, as this is a reflection on Sarah herself. I was keen to have her on my Times Radio show on Monday because she is an exceptional person with a terrible story to tell, and yet she does it with extraordinary dignity and insight. Ryan Tubridy and Sarah Corbett Lynch. Pic: Supplied Her book, A Time For Truth, is a personal and difficult account of her life so far. She takes us through every detail of a story that fascinated the nation for so many years, offering intimate and thoughtful commentary along the way. She also participated in a recently released Netflix documentary, A Deadly American Marriage, which is not an easy watch but yet reinforces the image of Sarah and her family's dogged persistence for the truth and a need for justice on behalf of Jason Corbett. It was so good to reconnect with Sarah and with her aunt Tracey and uncle David, who were with her in London. Their bond is clearly unbreakable and, in their hands, the story of what happened will continue to be told for as long as they feel the world should know. Shobsy. Pic: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos In the last couple of years I spent hosting the Late Late Show, we enjoyed introducing lots of new Irish singers to the country. One of my absolute favourites was Shobsy, a charismatic and pitch-perfect performer whose appearances were always utterly compelling and whose voice drifted from smooth bass to heavenly falsetto. I'll never forget his version of Bronski Beat's Smalltown Boy, which he sang for us after a week that saw fatal attacks on two gay men in Ireland. It always stayed with me as the lyrics were so relevant and the performance so compassionate. I was delighted to watch Shobsy command a crowd in London last weekend, reminding me of everyone from Roy Orbison to Elton John, as well as being very much his own man. It was a joy to watch him own the stage and bring the punters to their feet. Here's hoping he'll break the London music scene and then keep going to the very top. I was very fortunate to be invited to a small but intriguing lunch at The French House in Soho last weekend. The invitation came courtesy of Ewan Venters, who is currently looking after one of my all-time favourite designers, Paul Smith. I was a little late, as my radio show ends at 1 pm, so I had to jump on a city bike (the quickest way to navigate this city) and make it before 1:30 pm. There were only two tables, so I swiftly sought out my name place (complete with RT-monogrammed Paul Smith card wallet – a touch of class!) and before I knew it, I realised I was beside the incomparable actor and foodie, Stanley Tucci, and across from the always amiable comedian, John Bishop. We covered everything from Conclave to US politics and the state of British comedy. Paul himself joined the chat, as did Stephen Fry and Vernon Kay, among others, in this small but fascinating crew. By 4 pm, I was back on the bike and homeward bound to meet my brother, who was in town for the weekend, which was tremendous fun, but that's for another day!
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Ryan Tubridy willing to address repayment of €150,000 to RTÉ at ‘appropriate time'
Ryan Tubridy would have no major problem dealing at an appropriate time with the issue of €150,000 in controversial payments made to him by RTÉ , a source close to the broadcaster has said. However, there are unresolved issues between the former Late Late Show host and his former employer, including an outstanding data access request, the source said. 'It would be unreasonable to expect the issue (of the €150,000 payments) to be dealt with until those other matters have been resolved,' they added. Tubridy, who now works for Virgin Radio UK, and his agent Noel Kelly have made requests to RTÉ to access all data pertaining to them held by the broadcaster from around the time of the payments controversy that led to him leaving the organisation. READ MORE RTÉ is understood to have spent more than €100,000 in legal fees responding to the request, but it is understood there is a dispute between the parties on the extent of the information that should be provided. The requests were made under data protection law, which entitles people to see what personal information a body holds about them. It is understood the requests were submitted about 18 months ago but have not yet been finalised. RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst told the Oireachtas media committee on Wednesday that Tubridy had not repaid to the national broadcaster the €150,000 he received as part of a controversial payment deal in 2020. Tubridy was to be paid a total of €225,000 over three years by RTÉ as part of a deal brokered by him, Mr Kelly and the station in 2020. In return, for the payments, which were not disclosed publicly by RTÉ until 2023, he agreed to participate in three corporate events for Late Late Show sponsor Renault . The payments formed the centre of a controversy that resulted in Tubridy, then RTÉ's highest-paid presenter, leaving the station that year. Asked in 2023 if Tubridy should repay the €150,000 received for those events, Mr Bakhurst said it might not be possible, on a legal basis, to recoup the money. But he also said there was a 'moral case' for Tubridy to repay the sum. The payments were nominally made by Renault but RTÉ underwrote all three and effectively paid Tubridy. The sums were not classified in the broadcaster's annual accounts as salary payments. At the height of the controversy over the 'secret payments' in 2023, Tubridy indicated he would be willing to repay the money should he return to RTÉ.
South Wales Guardian
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
RTE executives defend newsroom promo expected to cost 77,000 euro
The advertisement aims to portray 'a day in the life' of three RTE journalists, including RTE Europe Editor Tony Connolly, and has been in production for months. RTE's director of news and current affairs Deirdre McCarthy said concerns had been raised by staff but she rejected the ad was 'fake news'. 'Some issues were raised and an awful lot of the misinformation has come from a leak to the media from an internal editorial meeting that took place last Thursday,' she said. Deputy director of RTE Adrian Lynch, who said he is responsible for the ad, said three to four people are currently in Brussels to film part of the promo. He said the only external inputs in the production of the promo are in camera crew. RTE director general Kevin Bakhurst said he was 'infuriated' by the reaction to the promo clip. 'A significant amount of the press coverage has been totally inaccurate about it,' he told TDs and Senators at the committee. When asked about props used during the filming by Fianna Fail TD Peter 'Chap' Cleere, Mr Bakhurst said two plants were moved from elsewhere in RTE to cover up electrical points during filming before being put back. 'Even when you're filming news interviews, sometimes people wear make-up, they have lighting, you might move a plant so the shot looks better, and I would expect that of our highly professional promotions team. 'There's been some coverage about, you know, extras being brought in. 'The proper conversations were had about this between our marketing team, who were doing this, and the news management team about how we were going to do it. 'The initial request was, can some journalists from the newsroom sit in the background – they're going to be blurred out – can they sit in the background while we're filming this for several hours and the answer was 'No our journalists are too busy'.' He also said RTE had 'just spent 50,000 euro doing up parts of the newsroom' and the cost of filming the promo came out of RTE's annual two million euro marketing budget. Media committee chairman Alan Kelly said the newsroom promo 'really has annoyed a lot of people', adding it seems 'bananas' to the public that the camera crew is from outside RTE. Mr Bakhurst said it is not 'bananas' and that getting external experts is 'the most efficient way of spending public money'. Senior RTE figures appeared before the Oireachtas media committee on Wednesday for the first time since the new Dail was formed. In 2023 the broadcaster was sharply criticised over a series of governance and financial scandals which further fuelled a years-long trend in declining TV licence revenue. Among the issues RTE was criticised for was a commercial arrangement that saw the broadcaster underwrite sponsor payments that were to be paid to then Late Late Show presenter Ryan Tubridy. This ultimately led to the organisation paying 150,000 euro to him when the sponsor chose not to renew the deal after one year. Tubridy had previously indicated a willingness to return the two 75,000 euro payments to RTE if the personal appearance events did not materialise. The committee heard the 150,000 euro payments to Tubridy had not been repaid to RTE. Mr Bakhurst said: 'The answer is Ryan Tubridy has not paid that amount back. We've asked him, we have no legal basis as I have said previously, but I would like him to pay it back obviously.' RTE executives' appearance before the committee on Wednesday came after the broadcaster confirmed it had written down 3.6 million euro on a partly failed IT system. Mr Bakhurst told the committee while the write-down of public money was 'very unfortunate', it was 'very different from 2023'. He said the main part of the project, an updated finance system, was delivered while the HR element was not. 'Big projects, and particularly big IT projects, can go wrong, and what I've looked back at is how the organisation tried to salvage that, and what are the lessons learned from that.' Director general Kevin Bakhurst was among the RTE executives to address the committee (PA) He said one example of the changes made as a result is that every month the full list of significant capital projects now go to the leadership team. RTE's HR director Eimear Cusack told the committee the project was properly managed. 'I was responsible for the HR element and the HR requirements. We went through a tender process,' she said. 'There were a number of vendors who participated in that process. 'The final bids, we had external evaluation of those bids to ensure that we were picking the right providers and that was the result. 'The project ran into a number of difficulties. 'I think, that there were a number of issues that arose, particularly between the contractor and the subcontractor.' When put to her that the spec was not right, the right contractor was not chosen and it was not properly project managed, she said: 'I couldn't agree with that. 'We put in our requirements, the contractor and the subcontractor who won the tender said that they could deliver on those requirements. 'Ultimately, the finance system was delivered upon. 'The HR system, they could not deliver on, but that was not known at the time that they signed up and they said they could deliver on it.' Chairman of the RTE board Terence O'Rourke, RTE chief financial officer Mari Hurley and director of commercial Gavin Deans also appeared before committee. Ms Hurley said there was a 4% decline in TV licence fee revenues in 2024 compared to 2023. 'The more significant declines that have been experienced in '23 have been averted,' she said.
Rhyl Journal
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
RTE executives defend newsroom promo expected to cost 77,000 euro
The advertisement aims to portray 'a day in the life' of three RTE journalists, including RTE Europe Editor Tony Connolly, and has been in production for months. RTE's director of news and current affairs Deirdre McCarthy said concerns had been raised by staff but she rejected the ad was 'fake news'. 'Some issues were raised and an awful lot of the misinformation has come from a leak to the media from an internal editorial meeting that took place last Thursday,' she said. Deputy director of RTE Adrian Lynch, who said he is responsible for the ad, said three to four people are currently in Brussels to film part of the promo. He said the only external inputs in the production of the promo are in camera crew. RTE director general Kevin Bakhurst said he was 'infuriated' by the reaction to the promo clip. 'A significant amount of the press coverage has been totally inaccurate about it,' he told TDs and Senators at the committee. When asked about props used during the filming by Fianna Fail TD Peter 'Chap' Cleere, Mr Bakhurst said two plants were moved from elsewhere in RTE to cover up electrical points during filming before being put back. 'Even when you're filming news interviews, sometimes people wear make-up, they have lighting, you might move a plant so the shot looks better, and I would expect that of our highly professional promotions team. 'There's been some coverage about, you know, extras being brought in. 'The proper conversations were had about this between our marketing team, who were doing this, and the news management team about how we were going to do it. 'The initial request was, can some journalists from the newsroom sit in the background – they're going to be blurred out – can they sit in the background while we're filming this for several hours and the answer was 'No our journalists are too busy'.' He also said RTE had 'just spent 50,000 euro doing up parts of the newsroom' and the cost of filming the promo came out of RTE's annual two million euro marketing budget. Media committee chairman Alan Kelly said the newsroom promo 'really has annoyed a lot of people', adding it seems 'bananas' to the public that the camera crew is from outside RTE. Mr Bakhurst said it is not 'bananas' and that getting external experts is 'the most efficient way of spending public money'. Senior RTE figures appeared before the Oireachtas media committee on Wednesday for the first time since the new Dail was formed. In 2023 the broadcaster was sharply criticised over a series of governance and financial scandals which further fuelled a years-long trend in declining TV licence revenue. Among the issues RTE was criticised for was a commercial arrangement that saw the broadcaster underwrite sponsor payments that were to be paid to then Late Late Show presenter Ryan Tubridy. This ultimately led to the organisation paying 150,000 euro to him when the sponsor chose not to renew the deal after one year. Tubridy had previously indicated a willingness to return the two 75,000 euro payments to RTE if the personal appearance events did not materialise. The committee heard the 150,000 euro payments to Tubridy had not been repaid to RTE. Mr Bakhurst said: 'The answer is Ryan Tubridy has not paid that amount back. We've asked him, we have no legal basis as I have said previously, but I would like him to pay it back obviously.' RTE executives' appearance before the committee on Wednesday came after the broadcaster confirmed it had written down 3.6 million euro on a partly failed IT system. Mr Bakhurst told the committee while the write-down of public money was 'very unfortunate', it was 'very different from 2023'. He said the main part of the project, an updated finance system, was delivered while the HR element was not. 'Big projects, and particularly big IT projects, can go wrong, and what I've looked back at is how the organisation tried to salvage that, and what are the lessons learned from that.' He said one example of the changes made as a result is that every month the full list of significant capital projects now go to the leadership team. RTE's HR director Eimear Cusack told the committee the project was properly managed. 'I was responsible for the HR element and the HR requirements. We went through a tender process,' she said. 'There were a number of vendors who participated in that process. 'The final bids, we had external evaluation of those bids to ensure that we were picking the right providers and that was the result. 'The project ran into a number of difficulties. 'I think, that there were a number of issues that arose, particularly between the contractor and the subcontractor.' When put to her that the spec was not right, the right contractor was not chosen and it was not properly project managed, she said: 'I couldn't agree with that. 'We put in our requirements, the contractor and the subcontractor who won the tender said that they could deliver on those requirements. 'Ultimately, the finance system was delivered upon. 'The HR system, they could not deliver on, but that was not known at the time that they signed up and they said they could deliver on it.' Chairman of the RTE board Terence O'Rourke, RTE chief financial officer Mari Hurley and director of commercial Gavin Deans also appeared before committee. Ms Hurley said there was a 4% decline in TV licence fee revenues in 2024 compared to 2023. 'The more significant declines that have been experienced in '23 have been averted,' she said.
