The Stage

RTE reveals stars’ salaries

Published Monday 17 May 2004 at 15:35 by Anthony Garvey

Dublin, Eire

Irish state broadcaster RTE has revealed for the first time what it pays its top stars, prompting a claim from veteran presenter Gay Byrne that the disclosure will cause unrest within the organisation.

The station had long resisted making such information public, pleading not only contract confidentiality but also arguing that to reveal the salaries would assist competitors in poaching its top talent. However, it has been forced to come clean following a ruling by Irish ombudsman Emily O’Reilly that the details must be revealed under the Freedom of Information Act.

According to figures which have now been issued, RTE paid its top ten earners a total of more than 2.5 million euros in 2002. The station’s biggest earner that year was Gerry Ryan, presenter of a morning radio show on 2FM, who received 1.8 million euros. That represented a doubling of his earnings from the previous year and put him ahead of Pat Kenny, who hosts the long-running Late Late Show as well as a morning radio programme.

Kenny, who earned 556,430 euros in 2002, was the station’s highest paid star in the previous three years. The dramatic increase in Ryan’s earnings could be attributed to “contract renegotiations”, said an RTE statement.

Third in the top earners’ list was Marian Finucane, who collected almost 330,000 euros for her early morning radio show. Despite having officially retired in 2000, Byrne, who presented the Late Late Show for almost 40 years, still ranked fourth on the list, with a retainer of 201,888 euros. While he still works occasionally for the station, the money is to meant ensure that, even in retirement, he is not recruited by the competition.

The veteran star feels the station will be “riven with bitterness and jealousy” over publication of the list. “It will lead to envy, resentment and begrudgery,” he warned, and could damage the career prospects of young broadcasters.

Others on the top ten earners’ list for 2002 are Joe Duffy, host of Liveline radio show (193,144 euros), David Hanly, Morning Ireland radio presenter (173,919 euros ), John Bowman, TV and radio presenter (EUR164,485), Eamon Dunphy, football analyst (156,708 euros ), John Kelly, TV arts presenter and DJ (146,972 euros ) and Miriam O’Callaghan, current affairs presenter on TV’s Prime Time (133,322 euros).