Ex Late Late Show musical director says Gay Byrne ‘kept the wages down at RTE’

Former Late Late Show musical director Frank McNamara has told how the late Gay Byrne “used to keep the wages down” at RTE – because he thought it was “immoral” for presenters to earn big money.

Mr McNamara – who worked with the late host for 20 years on the Friday night chat show – opened up about working with the star, who died in 2019 after a three year battle with prostate cancer at the age of 85.

And while he described Mr Byrne as “fantastic”, he said he also knew how to keep wages low.

READ MORE – RTE’s ex musical director says Kevin Bakhurst’s ‘anti-talent stance’ is ‘deplorable’

READ MORE – Christy Dignam’s daughter ‘still struggling’ ahead of first anniversary of dad’s death

He told us: “As a human being, he was fantastic. If he had a problem with you, he would tell you. Straight up to your face and that would be the end of it.

“And if you had a problem with him , it didn’t matter that you were his boss, you’d say it to his face, you’d deal with it together and it is over.

“He never held a grudge. Ever. It was out in the open, it was dealt with. Done and dusted. He was fantastic. He kept the wages down for everybody because he thought it was immoral to earn too much money.”

He said Mr Byrne – who earned €201,888 on retainer from RTE – didn’t earn much at the beginning when he first started out.

“Not at the beginning, no. Not for a long time. He wasn’t on huge money and anyone who looked for a raise, the line from management was ‘who do you think you are, Gay Byrne? He doesn’t even earn that much.'”

Mr Byrne was the longest running host of the Late Late Show for 37 years from 1962 to 1999.

In 1998, his final full year with the station, he was paid almost €500,000.

It comes after Frank – who is set to play 46 concerts from July at the INEC in Killarney – weighed in on high profile presenters and their salaries at RTE.

He said it’s nobody’s business what the talent are earning outside of RTE in the wake of RTE’s new Register of Interests, which will be out next month.

Speaking exclusively to The Irish Mirror, Mr McNamara told us: “It is not a matter of public interest what anyone gets for an ad.

“Their wage in RTE is public money but if somebody is paying them for a gig – that is a different issue.

“Back when Theresa (Lowe) was doing Where in The World, she wasn’t allowed to do an ad. It just wasn’t done. Nobody did it.

“I think the RTE public money should be a matter of public record but after that, how much you earn is your own business.

“But the there is an issue – and this is why it wasn’t allowed before – the issue is that if you weren’t working for RTE, if you didn’t have a radio broadcast every day or if you didn’t have or a big show on television, nobody would be asking you to do an ad.

“There is a certain connection there. I think if I was running RTE, I would be looking for a percentage of what they get,” he said laughing.

“Well, yeah, they wouldn’t be getting it only for us, so gives us 20 percent,” he said jokingly.

He previously hit out at RTE Director General Kevin Bakhurst’s comment that no one should make more than the DG.

Frank said at the time: “I think the worst thing that Kevin Bakhurst has said – in my opinion – is that no one is RTE should earn more than him.

“There was always that kind of attitude from some members of the upper echelons of the management. Like ‘why should you be earning so much money, why should Gay Byrne be on that kind of money when anyone could do that…’ kind of attitude.

“But it isn’t like that. It takes talent. It takes something very, very special to be able to do the kind of thing Patrick Kielty does or whoever. There are loads more people who can do what Kevin Bakhurst does than what Paddy Kielty does. That’s supply and demand.

“If there is only a small handful of people that can do what Paddy Kielty does on The Late Late Show well then surely that has to be worth more than the hundreds of thousands of people that could do what Kevin Bakhurst is doing. Sure every company has a Kevin Bakhurst.

“How else do you value anything? Like if you’re buying a house and there is only one of its kind in the world, it is going to be very valuable. The value is in the exclusivity and the rarity of the talent that you possess.

“I thought his anti-talent stance, if you like, was deplorable, really. There are loads of people who could do what he does.

“I’m not taking from the man, I never met him, I don’t know anything about. He could be fantastic at his job but so is the head of AIB, so is the head of Kerry Group. They’re all fantastic at their jobs, otherwise they wouldn’t be there. But there are loads of them. They are ten a penny.

“So they are turning them out of the Smurfit Business School, every year, probably twice a year,” he added.

Join the Irish Mirror’s breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive breaking news and the latest headlines direct to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.