George Lee (right) with An Taoiseach Enda Kenny after his Dublin South by-election victory in 2009.
ADVERTISEMENT
No sooner had RTÉ’s new agriculture and environment correspondent picked out a pair of wellies when some of the unsuccessful candidates started sticking the boot in.
George Lee’s appointment has met with a great deal of anger and frustration by some of his colleagues in the RTÉ newsroom.
Given his lack of agricultural and environmental expertise, the former RTÉ economics editor was the outsider in the race.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sources close to the process told me that some of the candidates that missed out on the job are now considering seeking legal advice over what they perceive to be failings by the State broadcaster during the interviews.
Talking about the appointment process, another of the candidates told me they “never stood a chance”.
“It was a way to get [George] Lee back into the newsroom – he was costing them money sitting down in Prime Time and gathering dust. There had been moves around a year ago to bring him in as a consumer affairs reporter, but others kicked up a fuss. They figured it would only be a matter of time before one of them got pushed out for him.
“When that didn’t work, RTÉ had been desperate to get Lee back into the newsroom and this was the chance. The writing is on the wall, mark my words, he won’t be the agriculture correspondent in 18 months,” the RTÉ source said.
Register for free to read this story and our free stories.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe to get unlimited access.
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
CODE ACCEPTED
You have full access to the site until next Wednesday at 9pm.
CODE NOT VALID
Please try again or contact support.
No sooner had RTÉ’s new agriculture and environment correspondent picked out a pair of wellies when some of the unsuccessful candidates started sticking the boot in.
George Lee’s appointment has met with a great deal of anger and frustration by some of his colleagues in the RTÉ newsroom.
Given his lack of agricultural and environmental expertise, the former RTÉ economics editor was the outsider in the race.
Sources close to the process told me that some of the candidates that missed out on the job are now considering seeking legal advice over what they perceive to be failings by the State broadcaster during the interviews.
Talking about the appointment process, another of the candidates told me they “never stood a chance”.
“It was a way to get [George] Lee back into the newsroom – he was costing them money sitting down in Prime Time and gathering dust. There had been moves around a year ago to bring him in as a consumer affairs reporter, but others kicked up a fuss. They figured it would only be a matter of time before one of them got pushed out for him.
“When that didn’t work, RTÉ had been desperate to get Lee back into the newsroom and this was the chance. The writing is on the wall, mark my words, he won’t be the agriculture correspondent in 18 months,” the RTÉ source said.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525.
Link sent to your email address
We have sent an email to your address. Please click on the link in this email to reset your password. If you can't find it in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you can't find the email, please call us on 01-4199525.
ENTER YOUR LOYALTY CODE:
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
SHARING OPTIONS