RTÉ Midlands staff protest after Tubridy appears in Dáil

RTÉ's Midlands Correspondent Sinéad Hussey has been joined by colleagues at the station's Athlone base as part of a national protest.

They were among RTÉ staff staging protests on July 12 around Ireland calling for transparency over payments and funding at the organisation.

The new RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst spoke with workers and union representatives at the staff protest at RTÉ studios in Dublin.

Speaking at the Dublin protest National Union of Journalists representative Emma O'Kelly said the purpose of the protest was to send a message to government that they cannot have public service broadcasting 'on the cheap'.

The protests took place a day after RTÉ present Ryan Tubridy met with TDs and Senators in the Dáil where he faced several hours of questions at two committees with his agent Noel Kelly over the payments controversy that has engulfed the station.

Ms Hussey was to the fore in the first protest at RTÉ in Dublin after news of the controversy broke. Speaking at that protest she said staff feel "very let down and betrayed".

Her predecessor in the Midlands, Ciarán Mullooly, has been a vocal critic of the station's handling of the crisis during recent weeks.