Former Limerick TD's move to sack RTÉ authority remembered in new book
Bestselling author Shane Ross meets Gerry Collins over unprecedented event in 1970s
THE UNPRECEDENTED move by former Limerick TD Gerry Collins to sack RTÉ’s authority is recounted in a new book by bestselling author Shane Ross.
During his time as the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs in October 1971, Mr Collins issued a directive under the Broadcasting Act to prevent the national broadcasting body, RTE, from promoting and broadcasting material on behalf of violent groups.
However, the national broadcaster broke this a year later when it broadcast an interview with Seán Mac Stíofáin, the chief of staff of the Provisional IRA.
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As part of a new 450-page book, entitled RTÉ: Saints, Scholars and Scandals, Mr Ross visited Mr Collins at his home in Limerick to recount the episode.
Former Transport Minister, Mr Ross, believes up to the time Mr Collins sacked the authority in 1972, they had “ran rings” around Government.
"There was a constant battle between Government and RTÉ at the time which RTÉ was looking like winning. But nobody wins from the position of a semi-state. Gerry sat back and took it for a while, then he and [then Taoiseach] Jack Lynch lost it,” he said.
Mr Ross began writing the book – which charts the State broadcaster’s history from the founding of its television arm in 1961 – following the fallout in 2023 around the revelations regarding payments to star presenter Ryan Tubridy who features on the cover of the book, in shops now.
He charts the broadcaster’s history of broadcasting excellence alongside what the book summarises as accusations of “waste and ineptitude” it has faced along the way.
Mr Ross believes the controversies RTÉ has faced can be traced back to 1972.
"That to a certain extent emasculated the board for generations to come. The board, I blame – because they were so ineffective, so weak, so detached, more than any other parts of RTÉ – for the scandals. They were weak, inept and incomplete,” he said.
Mr Ross admits he was surprised upon meeting Mr Collins that he was quite “generous” about many of the people who he had dealings with in his 35-year career in national politics. "I suggested he should write a book. But he said he won’t. He doesn’t bear anybody any ill-will. He doesn’t want to upset families. It surprised me as he was a real street-fighter in his day.”
Also in the book – which Mr Ross describes as “half-political history and half on the recent scandals” – he traces the successful campaign in 2019 to keep RTÉ Lyric FM broadcasting from Limerick. He praised local TDs Niall Collins – nephew of Gerry Collins – plus Willie O’Dea and Kieran O’Donnell for their efforts.