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For sale signs outside RTÉ HQ in Dublin, May 2017. Sam Boal

'Move RTÉ outside Dublin and fund it through the sale of the Donnybrook studio'

Moving RTÉ to rural Ireland would create an opportunity to change its funding mechanism away from traditional advertising and the TV licence, writes Marc MacSharry.

LIKE MOST PEOPLE in this country, I grew up watching and listening to RTÉ through some of the most important changes in this country’s history. It’s provided an invaluable service, catering for all the different tastes of Irish society.

As time has gone on and with the advent of new services like Netflix, streaming and social media, the way we are entertained and consume news has changed drastically.

Why is RTÉ losing money?

This was evident when RTÉ released its annual report showing a net deficit of €19.7m after tax. It’s clear this situation is not sustainable, however, how we decide to fix it will be a point of contention.

Indeed, there’s already been talk of job cuts, increases in the licence fee, retransmission fees and even a bailout. All of these solutions end with the consumer paying the price, be it through a decline in quality or an increase in costs.

But why is RTÉ losing money? Having a dominant position in the Irish market with guaranteed income from the licence fee, RTÉ should be able to make a profit. RTÉ’s Director General Dee Forbes said the impact of Brexit and licence fee evasion rates had contributed to their losses. She even went as far to call for an increase of the licence fee to €175.

2017 was a landmark year for advertising in Ireland, for the first time in history the amount spent on digital advertising in Ireland is expected to overtake traditional media. Irish advertisers are tipped to spend €433 million on digital ads this year, up 12% on 2016’s tally, mostly benefitting tech giants like Twitter, Google and Facebook. We’ve seen other newspapers like INM experiencing great difficulties adjusting to these new realities. We need to change our approach to funding this public service if it is to survive.

RTÉ’s assets

To change a business, you have to do an analysis of what assets it has to leverage change. RTÉ sits on 25 acres of land in the most exclusive area of Dublin. Located beside the plush Ailesbury road and within a 20-minute walk of Dublin’s central business district, RTÉ’s best asset is its land.

It’s not surprising that Cairn homes bought 8.64 acres of RTÉ’s 25 acres for €107.5 million. Based on this transaction, it would be reasonable to estimate that the rest of RTÉ’s land would be valued at over €200 million.

With Dublin in the midst of a housing crisis and with new businesses moving into the central business district, demand is set to skyrocket for high-quality apartments in this area. How will selling this land facilitate change?

A new business model

As a rural TD, it’s a constant theme in every election of the over reliance on Dublin for growth. It has skewed regional disparities and is unsustainable in the long run.

My proposal is to see real meaningful decentralisation. For RTÉ, this would mean moving RTÉ outside of Dublin, into an area with a surplus of housing and cheap land costs and funding it through the sale of the Donnybrook studio.

This would mean moving the majority of the 1,984 RTÉ employees out of Dublin to rural Ireland and establishing a smaller office in Dublin city centre for news and current affairs. By moving the main studio outside Dublin, RTÉ could invest in modern studio space and introduce meaningful structural changes to adapt to future consumer demands.

I also believe by moving RTÉ to rural Ireland, it creates an opportunity to change its funding mechanism away from reliance on traditional advertising and the TV licence. Demand for film and television studio space in Ireland from international productions remains high thanks to the Section 481 tax incentive scheme.

The government’s Creative Ireland Strategy plans to make Ireland an international hub for film and TV production, by allowing our state broadcaster to create a state of the art studio with access to RTÉ’s facilities, it would diversify RTÉ’s revenues with fees from international productions funding public services.

Marc MacSharry is a Fianna Fáil TD representing Sligo-Leitrim, he is a member of the Public Accounts Committee.

‘We should follow Norway and publish everyone’s tax returns online’>

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105 Comments
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    Mute y6Qe5BN3
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    Aug 18th 2020, 9:44 AM

    The Ellen degenerates

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    Mute Newnob
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    Aug 18th 2020, 9:37 AM

    I would love to see some secret footage of Ellen loosing her sh1*t

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    Mute Sean McCann
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    Aug 18th 2020, 9:58 AM

    @Newnob: wait for the court cases.

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    Mute Patricia O'Reilly
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    Aug 18th 2020, 1:27 PM

    @Newnob: would you like to see a video of yourself losing it?? And don’t dare say you never have.. everyone gets cross, or annoyed at times , especially in times of stress.. working in live tv shows I’m sure is as stressful as it gets ..

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    Mute Steve Monk
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    Aug 18th 2020, 1:29 PM

    @Patricia O’Reilly: that doesn’t give a person the right to shout at other people and make their lives miserable!

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    Mute Evan
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    Aug 18th 2020, 1:29 PM

    @Newnob: check out her interview with Dakota fanning from a few years back. Can definitely see the intimidating side of her personality coming through there.

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    Mute Evan
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    Aug 18th 2020, 1:30 PM

    @Evan: Dakota Johnson.

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    Mute Newnob
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    Aug 18th 2020, 3:50 PM

    @Patricia O’Reilly: I don’t loose it,

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    Mute Pauline Gallagher
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    Aug 18th 2020, 10:09 PM

    @Newnob: Like the Buddy Rich tapes lol

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    Mute Pauline Gallagher
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    Aug 18th 2020, 10:12 PM

    @Patricia O’Reilly: That’s no excuse for yelling and treating people like garbage. If you have no coping skills, then youre in the wrong job, or learn some.

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    Mute Donal McGrath
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    Aug 18th 2020, 9:48 AM

    People in the US can’t get over the fact that she has carefully cultivated a persona to mirror what they want her to be while the cameras are on.

    It’s a national scandal that it’s turned out she’s a pretty hard nosed businesswoman who isn’t always ‘in character’ for the rest of the time.

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    Mute Brian Dunne
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    Aug 18th 2020, 10:05 AM

    @Donal McGrath: i don’t think she’s accused of any wrong doing personally here though?

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    Mute my name
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    Aug 18th 2020, 10:25 AM

    @Brian Dunne: don’t know if there was any complaints made against her but there sure is a lot of “celebrities” talking about bad experiences with her and how they were treated on her show

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    Mute Philip Kelly
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    Aug 18th 2020, 11:27 AM

    @Donal McGrath: Brings to mind a great Phrase.
    ” You can’t kick a#s with both feet on the ground”

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    Mute Ian Breathnach
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    Aug 18th 2020, 12:26 PM

    @Donal McGrath: She is not being accused of anything, her senior producers, production team are. So what are you talking about?

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    Aug 18th 2020, 12:38 PM

    @Ian Breathnach: other producers have walked from the show because of her

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    Mute Evan
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    Aug 18th 2020, 1:47 PM

    @Brian Dunne: she has been personally accused of numerous things, making personal remarks about employees appearances, sending people home to have showers because she thought they smelled, firing people for taking bereavement leave, losing the rag if people looked her directly in the eye etc. Those accusations broke well before producers started walking.

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    Mute Alan Roddy
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    Aug 18th 2020, 2:33 PM

    @Donal McGrath: the issues with her aren’t down to being a hard nosed businesswoman. They’re about her being a pr1ck to people, while pretending not to be.

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    Mute Anthony Lambe
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    Aug 18th 2020, 7:01 PM

    @Brian Dunne: I’ve heard all the allegations against Ellen that the commentators below have said and apparently she also told all staff that if they have to talk to her then they must have chewing gum or mints because their breath smells.. sounds like a pig of a person to me..

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    Mute Randle McMurphy
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    Aug 18th 2020, 10:36 AM

    Something always erked me about Ellen. I bet shes a real piece of work in real life.

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    Mute Hup Abù
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    Aug 18th 2020, 11:12 AM

    @Randle McMurphy: Something never sit right about that cailìn alright. Her stitched together eyes and bad dancing where always a dead give away I suppose.

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    Mute Randle McMurphy
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    Aug 18th 2020, 11:42 AM

    @Hup Abù: cult like audience fawning over her. Been a few episodes I’ve seen where she didn’t know her boundaries with guests. The cringeworthy dancing was always enough to reach for the remote.

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    Mute Pauline Gallagher
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    Aug 18th 2020, 10:15 PM

    @Randle McMurphy: And the fact her hysterical audience acted like she was the second coming. Some even seemed to be crying when she came on. Obviously paid or threatened to do that!

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    Mute Cocker
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    Aug 18th 2020, 10:47 AM

    The show is an awful heap of shyte anyways. No big loss

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    Aug 18th 2020, 10:25 AM

    Street angel House devil comes to mind!

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    Mute Sean Ryan
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    Aug 18th 2020, 11:08 AM

    I liked her in the 90s. Her sitcom(as) were enjoyable and good for the gay/lesbian community. I never liked her as a show host – she seems disingenuous at best. I struggle to see how people thought she was nice- she’s actively unpleasant to guests and audience members of it gets her a laugh.

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    Mute Sean Ryan
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    Aug 18th 2020, 11:09 AM

    @Sean Ryan: *sitcoms

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    Mute Wood Jackson
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    Aug 18th 2020, 11:59 AM

    In my opinion, a Loud, unfunny comic. Totally Overrated.

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    Mute PJ McGonagle
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    Aug 18th 2020, 11:31 AM

    Never liked the little elf eared dweeb, these allegations come as no surprise ! And I bet she’s into a lot worse !

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    Mute GinandJetfuel
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    Aug 18th 2020, 12:00 PM

    @PJ McGonagle: The allegations were towards the producers rather the ‘star’ of the show.

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    Mute blue exile
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    Aug 18th 2020, 10:33 AM

    Nightking comment taken down. Why ?

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    Mute Pauline Gallagher
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    Aug 18th 2020, 10:18 PM

    @blue exile: lol

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    Mute Steve Martyn
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    Aug 18th 2020, 11:08 AM

    Who’s editing this piece? Grammar all over the place

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    Mute Crocodylus Pontifex
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    Aug 18th 2020, 1:44 PM

    @Steve Martyn: I doubt a story about producers on a foreign chat show is going to be given to a senior journalist. Everyone has to start somewhere.

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    Mute Raymond Dennehy
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    Aug 18th 2020, 10:38 AM

    Just keep swimming.

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    Mute Seagoat returns
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    Aug 18th 2020, 1:57 PM

    I hear she’s a gowl

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    Aug 18th 2020, 3:15 PM

    @Seagoat returns: she liked pink and brown

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    Mute Steve Martyn
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    Aug 18th 2020, 11:07 AM

    Editing is atrocious @thejournal. Get it together guys. Grammar mistakes abound

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    Mute D'oh
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    Aug 18th 2020, 7:30 PM

    @Steve Martyn: You missed a fullstop at the end of your last sentence.

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    Mute Alan Richard Scott
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    Aug 18th 2020, 7:35 PM

    @Steve Martyn: And where is your full stop mate

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    Mute Brian Lee
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    Aug 18th 2020, 11:17 AM

    Christ almighty. I don’t want to live in this world anymore.

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    Mute Seán Dillon
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    Aug 18th 2020, 1:08 PM

    Scapegoats? Hope they sue!

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    Mute IRL77
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    Aug 18th 2020, 1:20 PM

    @Seán Dillon: they will come out with a tell all soon enough….rats always turn on each other in the end.

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    Mute Jonny
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    Aug 18th 2020, 10:43 AM

    Minnie Mouse

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    Mute Seamus Mac
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    Aug 18th 2020, 9:08 PM

    What a terrible show

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    Mute Brian Lee
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    Aug 18th 2020, 11:15 AM

    Oh no……

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    Mute Mairtin Antaine O Conaill
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    Aug 18th 2020, 11:49 AM

    #ibelieveher

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    Mute Michael Wynne
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    Aug 18th 2020, 7:11 PM

    Mrs Potato Head is not who she makes herself out to be. I’ve said this before…people ridiculed me.. alas…

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    Mute Jaymes Moynihan
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    Aug 19th 2020, 3:26 PM

    @Michael Wynne: the fact that you had to resort to childish name calling says you’re hardly a saint yourself.

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    Mute Alan Murray
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    Aug 19th 2020, 1:51 AM

    Crazy as a bag of Raccoons I would imagine.

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    Mute Breda Claffey
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    Aug 20th 2020, 10:21 AM

    She threw them under the bus

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    Mute Jaymes Moynihan
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    Aug 19th 2020, 3:24 PM

    Nothing says genuine like a mass apology aimed at nobody in particular lol

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