RTÉ Sport staff vote no confidence in leadership team
Detailed summary
Members of a new NUJ Sports Chapel in RTÉ have "unanimously" expressed "no confidence in the RTÉ Senior Leadership Team".
Members of the National Union of Journalists, in the RTÉ Sports department, have expressed "no confidence" in the broadcaster's senior leadership team.
A statement said that "recent revelations" regarding the appointment of a new podcast presenter have brought "embarrassment, dishonour and ridicule, yet again, to RTÉ".
It comes after issues regarding the 'Howler' sports podcast, presented by Ger Gilroy.
In response, RTÉ said that it "acknowledges receipt of an anonymous email from the NUJ Sports Chapel" and would "respond in due course".
The statement, from union members, came after the first meeting of the reformed chapel, and outlined how members "unanimously" expressed "no confidence in the RTÉ Senior Leadership Team" who have presided over "this debacle".
It said that staff have been "consistently" told that the era of "murky practices, secret deals and a general lack of transparency is in the past", but "the events of the last weeks have shown us in fact that nothing has changed".
The statement described the "apparent a-la-carte adherence to transparent HR practices" as having "aggrieved Sports staff who face a number of longstanding issues including incorrect grading, career progression and a lack of programme resourcing, including underinvestment in technology".
"We believe the values of public service broadcasting have been trumped by commercial interests," members said, adding that "nowhere is the abandonment of public service values more evident than in the lack of women’s voices on the new podcast in its first few weeks".
In its response, RTÉ said that it "acknowledges receipt of an anonymous email from the newly formed NUJ Sports Chapel and will respond in due course via RTÉ's Chief People Officer, Annette Malone.
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