Ryan Tubridy has “grasped defeat from the jaws of victory”, Shane Ross has said. 

Yesterday, RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst announced he had "decided not to continue with negotiations" with Mr Tubridy and he would not be returning to the broadcaster “at this time”.

Mr Bakhurst said the two sides had agreed on a number of key issues - such as fees and hours - but that “trust between the parties has broken down."

He hit out at Mr Tubridy for issuing statements “without consultation [that] appear to question the basis for the necessary restatement of fees paid for services for 2020 and 2021.”

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, former Minister Shane Ross described the announcement as a “tragedy for Ryan Tubridy personally”.

“Could they not have got together and got a deal which was satisfactory to everybody?” he said.

“They had one; this is what’s so extraordinary, I think.

“They had a deal and it was a triumph, really, for Ryan was my reading of it when I was looking at it.

“He was back in his job [and] was going to be paid about 3,000 a week in the same slot.”

Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ Radio 1. Credit: Andy Gibson/Alamy Live News.

For RTÉ, the straw that broke the camel’s back was Mr Tubridy’s statement issued in the wake of the Grant Thornton report - which Mr Tubridy viewed as a vindication.

“He [Kevin Bakhurst] was faced with the fact that the deal was, from his point of view, torpedoed by Ryan coming out and saying, ‘Yeah, and I won on this one too.’

“It was an extraordinary statement to make.”

Mr Ross added that a further reason for the breakdown in trust between the two sides was that the contents of their negotiations kept appearing in the media.

“I was struck by one thing that Kevin Bakhurst did say last night; he started talking about the leaks,” he said.

“That was very important because what he was saying was… ‘I’m not accusing anyone of leaking but I didn’t do it.’”

Ryan Tubridy on set ahead of the RTÉ One The Late Late Show St Patrick's Day Special.

Last night, Mr Bakhurst said he had telephoned Mr Tubridy with the news and that he had been “shocked and disappointed” by the decision.

“There is an element here of Ryan having grasped defeat from the jaws of victory,” Mr Ross said.

“He was going to be back, which was his great desire. I don’t think he was too worried about the money.

“He was going to be back in his slot and he was going to be back in September - that’s two weeks’ time.

“From the public’s point of view, that would look like an exoneration and it would have looked like a backdown by RTÉ.

“Basically, he was triumphalist. So, I think what he did was a matter of attitude more than anything else and it was difficult to cope with.”

Mr Tubridy has yet to issue any public statement.

Main image: Ryan Tubridy leaving Leinster House after giving evidence to the Public Accounts and Media Committees in relation to his pay issues. Picture by: Leon Farrell/RollingNews.ie