Newsletter 22nd January 2017
Superann Newsletter 22nd January 2017
If you would like the Newsletter sent to your personal email address or if you have changed your email address, or know a colleague who would like to get the Newsletters, please send their email address to me Charles Byrne at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Reminder to colleagues and those recently retired ...to be aware that the "RTÉ Alumni" meet every first Tuesday of the month from 13.00 Hrs in the Tara Tower Hotel.. Very informal gathering of colleagues having a snack and a chat....give it a try, you will be very welcome....CB
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The death has occurred of colleague Gerry FITZGERALD retired RTÉ Radio Sound Supervisor
69 Bayview Drive, Killiney, Dublin / Waterford
Our deepest sympathy to colleague Brendan Fitzgerald ( TV Sound) and the Fitzgerald family on the death of his father Gerry Fithgerald former Radio Sound Supervisor . Gerry worked as a Sound Supervisor on many Music and Entertainment programmes on RTÉ Radio over many years . He would also have worked with many of our TV colleagues on simul broadcasts, like the Castlebar Song Contest and the National Sound Contest and many other O.B.s . May he rest in peace.
The follwoing notice appears:
Gerry Fitzgerald, 69 Bayview Drive, Killiney, Co. Dublin and recently St.Joseph's Hospital, Dungarvan. Arriving at The Sacred Heart Church, Dunhill, tomorrow, Monday 23rd January 2017 evening, at 7pm. Requiem Mass on Tuesday morning 24th January 2017 at 11am. Burial immediately afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Family flowers only, please.
( My thanks to colleague Alan Byrne for alerting me to this sad news)
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Death of Eddie Barrett. ( Formerly Newsroom)
I also understand that former colleague and Journalist Eddie Barrett ( Newsroom) has died. I don't have any further information as of now. Will post funeral arrangments on the website when they are to hand.. CB
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Health Insurance Renewals - Information
Please note the following in relation to Irish Life Health and VHI that may be of interest to some of our pensioner colleagues.. Interested colleagues should note that a representative from Irish Life Health, formerly AVIVA Health, will be in the canteen on Wednesday 25th January 2017 from 10.00 to 14.00 hours.
In addition a representative from VHI will be in the canteen on the following dates and times
Tuesday 31st January from 10.00 to 14.00 hours
Wednesday 1st February from 10.00 to 14.00 hours
In both cases the representatives will answer any questions you have in relation to renewals or any other health insurance queries."
Many thanks to Michael O'Brien ( Senior RTÉ HR Manager ) for the above information.. CB
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Health Insurance Renewal - Dermot Good and Charlie Weston Interview with Sean O'Rourke..
I have had many colleagues enquiring for the latest information on renewal of Health Insurance ... Here is a link to the most recent interview by colleague Sean O'Rourke with Dermot Good, TotalHealthCareCover.ie and Charlie Weston, Irish Independent Personal Finance Editor regarding renewal of your Health Insurance..transmitted on "Today with Sean O'Rourke " on Tuesday 3rd January 2017...
You can also look at Dermot Good's website at the following link..
http://www.totalhealthcover.ie/alternative_health_care_products
You can also compare different plans and providers at
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Photos 51st Annual General Meeting of RTÉ Credit Union Ltd.
The large gathering of RTÉ Credit Union members attending the 51st Annual General Meeting of RTÉ Credit Union Ltd. which took place in AR4 RTÉ TV Building on Tuesday 17th January 2017 at 17.45.
RTÉCU Chair Claire Byrne and Secretary Vera Sullivan Butler with RTECU CEO Ronan Flynn at the 2017 AGM
Joe Kavanagh who organised the members draw and the draw for those who attended the AGM
The large gathering of RTECU members who attended the AGM in AR4..
RTÉCU CEO Ronan Flynn giving his report to the meeting..............
Charlotte Doyle ( Chairperson Board Oversight Committee)
Joe Kavanagh and Karen Tiernan ( Marketing)
Colleague Arthur Mc Guinness speaking to the meeting..
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RTÉ Archives Weekly
www.rte.ie/archives
www.twitter.com/rtearchives
RTÉ Archives Daily Stories are available at www.rte.ie/archives Coming up on www.rte.ie/archives…
My thanks to colleagues Liam Wylie and Colm Talbot for adapting the content and links they send us each week for the RTÉ Archive site..
These links should make it easier for you to get into the extensive RTÉ Archive site.. CB
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Coming up on www.rte.ie/archives…
Poteen, Cilla Black, the first Irish pub in China, Shay Healy, skateboarding, Mountjoy Prison Goats Don’t Shave and much more…
Here are the Top 10 most viewed daily archive stories at the moment.
1. Tanáiste Takes A Trip
http://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/0111/844168-tanaiste-takes-a-trip/
2. Surfing The Net In Skibbereen
http://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/1117/832415-technology-west-cork-cyberpub/
3. Snow Causes Major Disruptions
http://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/0109/843556-snow-causes-major-disruptions/
4. Solo Sean-Nós Dancers Don’t Spill A Drop
http://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/0509/787210-door-dancing/
5. Bonesetter Jimmy Heffernan 1967
http://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/0110/843898-bonesetter-jimmy-heffernan/
6. Blessington Cut Off By Snow 1982
http://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/0109/843699-communities-snowed-in/
7. Bomb Blasts O’Connell Monument 1971
http://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/0114/760229-explosion-at-oconnell-monument-in-glasnevin/
8. Hunger Strike Mother Speaks Out 1981
http://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/0714/802366-hunger-striker-kieran-doherty/
9. What Is It Like To Loose Your Job? 1975
http://www.rte.ie/archives/2015/0116/673171-unemployed-in-70s-ireland/
10. The Big Snow 1982
http://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/0115/760459-the-big-snow/
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RTÉ’s online and mobile services attract record levels of online traffic in 2016
Online traffic to RTÉ’s online and mobile services (RTÉ.ie, RTÉ News Now app, RTÉ Player, RTÉ radio apps) reached record levels in 2016, attracting up to 1.2 million browsers per day,according to figures released by RTÉ today.
Commenting on the increasing reach and impact of RTÉ’s online and mobile services, RTÉ’s Chief Digital Officer, Múirne Laffan said “Within the Irish market, RTÉ operates the number one multi-media website, news and entertainment app and on-demand TV and radio services. With close to 50% of Irish adults connecting with RTÉ’s online services every week, 2016 delivered strong growth and engagement with online audiences. This reflects the increasingly important role of our online services for the public’s access and consumption of RTÉ content and our constant focus on harmonising our online services with our audiences’ lives, while evolving our offering to meet consumers’ new expectations.”
“Across our digital services, RTÉ is seeing some interesting trends. Audience expectations are constantly growing, in terms of expected product performance and the availability of our online and mobile services across multiple platforms. To keep pace with expectations, RTÉ.ie has undergone a significant redesign and its transformation will continue into 2017. The insatiable appetite for online news is reflected in the marked increase in online traffic across our online and mobile news platforms, RTÉ.ie and RTÉ News Now. RTÉ Player, which served a record 50 million streams this year, is also evolving, expanding beyond a pure catch-up TV offering, to become an exciting TV and video destination; offering extra and exclusive content and commissioning new original short form content to better serve the rise in mobile users. Live streaming of content was also significantly up this year, reflecting changing viewing habits.”
The top online news stories for 2016:
The 2016 Irish General Election, the US Election, Michael Conlan’s defeat at Rio, the Orlando nightclub shooting and Ireland’s historic victory over New Zealand in Chicago, were among the top online stories in 2016, attracting the highest peak in online traffic across RTÉ.ie and RTÉ News Now app.
The weekend of the Irish General Election attracted the biggest surge in traffic during the year, with over 31 million page views and 1.9 million unique browsers across RTÉ.ie and RTÉ News Now app across the count weekend alone. Online traffic that weekend was up by 68% compared to the 2011 General Election count weekend. 76% of total online Election traffic during the count weekend came through RTÉ.ie where extensive live interactive count information was available alongside news coverage and analysis. Dwell time for the RTÉ.ie Election site was also very high with the average online browser spending over 15 minutes on RTÉ.ie and over 10 minutes on RTÉ News Now app.
The RTÉ Sport Rio Olympics site on RTÉ.ie achieved a record 15.4 million page views and 2.1 million unique browsers across RTÉ.ie and RTÉ News Now app. Boxer Michael Conlon’s defeat in Rio attracted one of the highest surges in daily traffic to RTÉ.ie and RTÉ News Now app during the year, with 7.6 million page views. Alongside the news coverage, RTÉ’s digital production and operations team created an interactive game to see if online users could beat Russian boxer Vladimir Nikitin. Created within hours of the defeat, the online game attracted over 430,000 page views.
Increasing reach of RTÉ’s digital news platforms:
RTÉ.ie, Ireland’s number one media site with a monthly average of 54 million page views and 5.6 million unique browsers underwent a significant re-design in 2016 offering users a more seamless, responsive experience across desktop, mobile and tablet. Across the year, RTÉ.ie saw a rise in mobile traffic to 54% from 49% in 2015.
The RTÉ News Now app has achieved over 1.6 million downloads, adding over 165,000 downloads in 2016. Overall, traffic to Ireland’s number one news app increased by 26% to a monthly average of 68 million page views, while monthly unique users averaged at 426,000, an 11% increase on 2015. Reflecting the loyalty of RTÉ News Now app users, on average, daily app users opened the app 2.5 times per day consuming 5.5 pages each visit.
RTÉ Player delivers record streams in 2016:
RTÉ Player delivered a record number of streams in 2016, serving over 50 million streams, an additional 10 million streams which is a 26% increase on 2015.
During the year, Ireland’s number-one broadcast video-on-demand (VOD) service, delivered an average of 4.2 million streams per month, and an average of 1.7 million unique browsers per month, with both figures up 30% on the previous year.
Signifying changing viewing habits, live viewing on RTÉ Player was up by 74% on 2015 volumes, with 20% of monthly streams being live in 2016. Of the 2 million streams served for Euro 2016, 1.5 million streams were live.
RTÉ Player’s offering continued to evolve in 2016, moving away from being a purely catch up service, with the commissioning of more online exclusive content and extra content around some the most popular RTÉ Television series and events of the year, as well as the addition of new permanent content hubs, including Doc Hub, Food Hub and Culture Hub. Together the online extras and exclusive new shows on RTÉ Player attracted over 3 million streams.
Investing in new, up-and-coming talent, RTÉ Player commissioned more short form content to better serve mobile users and viewers on the move. New shows commissioned exclusively by RTÉ Player in 2016 including a new beauty series with Holly Carpenter What Would Holly Do?, a new food show Chef Adrian Eats Ireland, a series of comedy shorts with comedian and snapchat star Pamela Joyce and new Food Hub video recipes from Roz Purcell, Indy Power and Eva Lawes of Delicious Circle.
Across the year, the soaps remained the most popular shows on RTÉ Player, with Fair City topping the soaps with 5.8 million streams, followed by Home and Away with 5.4 million streams and EastEnders with 4.7 million streams.
To meet audience expectations for the availability of RTÉ Player on an ever-increasing range of devices and platforms, RTÉ Player is now available on eleven platforms, having launched on Sky set top boxes, the Sky GO app, as well as new LG and Samsung Tizen Smart TVs in 2016.
RTÉ’s Growing International Reach:
As well as serving domestic audiences, RTÉ’s online and mobile services, attracts and serves a large international audience, attracting an average of 2.2 million unique browsers per month. In 2016, 25% of online traffic to RTÉ.ie was from international audiences, while international traffic to the RTÉ News Now app accounts for 16% of overall traffic. In addition, 30% of traffic to RTÉ’s radio apps was from international listeners in 2016.
In 2016, RTÉ Player International (across Desktop, iOS and Android) delivered an average of 460,000 streams per month to international viewers, which reflects a 28% growth in average monthly streams on the previous year. Fair City, Nine News, Six One News, The Late Late Show and Extras were consistently the most popular programmes for audiences abroad.
In 2016, GAAGO, RTÉ and the GAA’s online streaming service for Gaelic Games around the world, continued to expand its service offering, streaming over 120 GAA events to fans in over 190 countries. With a focus on enhancing fans’ viewing experience and developing key markets, GAAGO launched a new dedicated GAAGO channel on the Roku streaming platform, bringing Gaelic Games to millions of American households.
RTÉ’s Apps:
Usage of RTÉ’s apps continued to soar in 2016. RTÉ’s stable of eleven apps across news, TV, radio and children’s content have to date been downloaded 5.2 million times.
RTÉ’s radio apps including RTÉ Radio Player, RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ 2fm, RTÉ Radio 1’s Documentary on One are hugely popular with combined downloads of 1.2 million. Across the RTÉ Radio Player on desktop and on mobile radio apps, the most popular on demand programmes across the year were The Sean O’Rourke Show, Liveline, Documentary on One, The Marian Finucane Show and The Ray D’Arcy Show.
RTÉ Archives
The RTÉ Archives website http://www.rte.ie/archives/, a curated online public exhibition from RTÉ Archives collection, attracted a record number of online visitors and page views in 2016. Page views across the year reached 3.5 million, a 75% increase on the 2 million page views achieved in 2015. Monthly unique browsers close to doubled to 128,000 per month in 2016, compared to 67,000 average monthly visitors in 2015. Publishing new content every day in the RTÉ Archives Daily section was a major factor in driving the traffic and page view increase. In 2016, 1,267 new stories were published online in Archives Daily.
The top three viewed stories on RTÉ Archives throughout the year were archive interviews of Gabby Logan being interviewed as the Leeds Rose in 1991, talking about her ambition to be a TV presenter. The second most popular story of the year was Bibi Baskin’s interview with Mary Trump, mother of Donald Trump at the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel in Atlantic City. This was followed by RTÉ Archives’ Easter Rising collection, featuring personal accounts from those who took part in the Rising.
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Start the Week with a smile....!!
From Colleague Pat Molloy ( Production Designer)
Subject: Nun Grading Papers
IMAGINE THE NUN SITTING AT HER DESK GRADING THESE PAPERS, ALL THE
WHILE TRYING TO KEEP A STRAIGHT FACE AND MAINTAIN HER COMPOSURE!
PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE WORDING AND SPELLING. IF YOU KNOW THE
BIBLE EVEN A LITTLE, YOU'LL FIND THIS HILARIOUS!
IT COMES FROM A CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEST.
KIDS WERE ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS.
THE FOLLOWING 25 STATEMENTS ABOUT THE BIBLE WERE WRITTEN BY
CHILDREN. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN RETOUCHED OR CORRECTED. INCORRECT
SPELLING HAS BEEN LEFT IN.
1. IN THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, GUINESSIS. GOD GOT TIRED OF
CREATING THE WORLD SO HE TOOK THE SABBATH OFF.
2. ADAM AND EVE WERE CREATED FROM AN APPLE TREE. NOAH'S
WIFE WAS JOAN OF ARK. NOAH BUILT AND ARK AND THE
ANIMALS CAME ON IN PEARS.
3. LOTS WIFE WAS A PILLAR OF SALT DURING THE DAY, BUT A BALL OF
FIRE DURING THE NIGHT.
4. THE JEWS WERE A PROUD PEOPLE AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY THEY HAD
TROUBLE WITH UNSYMPATHETIC GENITALS.
5. SAMPSON WAS A STRONGMAN WHO LET HIMSELF BE LED ASTRAY BY A
JEZEBEL LIKE DELILAH.
6. SAMSON SLAYED THE PHILISTINES WITH THE AXE OF THE APOSTLES.
7. MOSES LED THE JEWS TO THE RED SEA WHERE THEY MADE UNLEAVENED
BREAD,WHICH IS BREAD WITHOUT ANY INGREDIENTS.
8. THE EGYPTIANS WERE ALL DROWNED IN THE DESSERT.
AFTERWARDS, MOSES WENT UP TO MOUNT CYANIDE TO GET THE TEN
COMMANDMENTS.
9. THE FIRST COMMANDMENTS WAS WHEN EVE TOLD ADAM TO EAT THE APPLE.
10. THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT IS THOU SHALT NOT ADMIT ADULTERY.
11. MOSES DIED BEFORE HE EVER REACHED CANADA THEN JOSHUA LED THE
HEBREWS IN THE BATTLE OF GERITOL.
12. THE GREATEST MIRICLE IN THE BIBLE IS WHEN JOSHUA TOLD HIS SON
TO STAND STILL AND HE OBEYED HIM.
13. DAVID WAS A HEBREW KING WHO WAS SKILLED AT PLAYING THE LIAR.
HE FOUGHT THE FINKELSTEINS, A RACE OF PEOPLE WHO LIVED
IN BIBLICAL TIMES.
14. SOLOMON, ONE OF DAVIDS SONS, HAD 300 WIVES AND 700 PORCUPINES.
15. WHEN MARY HEARD SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF JESUS, SHE SANG THE
MAGNA CARTA.
16. WHEN THE THREE WISE GUYS FROM THE EAST SIDE ARRIVED THEY
FOUND JESUS IN THE MANAGER.
17. JESUS WAS BORN BECAUSE MARY HAD AN IMMACULATE CONTRAPTION.
18. ST. JOHN THE BLACKSMITH DUMPED WATER ON HIS HEAD.
19. JESUS ENUNCIATED THE GOLDEN RULE, WHICH SAYS TO DO UNTO
OTHERS BEFORE THEY DO ONE TO YOU. HE ALSO EXPLAINED A
MAN DOTH NOT LIVE BY SWEAT ALONE.
20. IT WAS A MIRICLE WHEN JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND MANAGED TO
GET THE TOMBSTONE OFF THE ENTRANCE.
21. THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED THE LORD WERE CALLED THE 12 DECIBELS.
22. THE EPISTELS WERE THE WIVES OF THE APOSTLES.
23. ONE OF THE OPPOSSUMS WAS ST. MATTHEW WHO WAS ALSO A TAXIMAN.
24. ST. PAUL CAVORTED TO CHRISTIANITY, HE PREACHED HOLY ACRIMONY, WHICH
IS ANOTHER NAME FOR MARRAIGE.
25. CHRISTIANS HAVE ONLY ONE SPOUSE. THIS IS CALLED
MONOTONY
Many thanks to colleague Pat Molloy ( Production Designer) for the above...CB
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Many thanks to colleague Michael Casey for the following....
ALWAYS ASK, NEVER ASSUME!
His request approved, the CNN News photographer quickly used a cell phone
to call the local airport to charter a flight. He was told a twin-engine plane would
be waiting for him at the airport.
Arriving at the airfield, he spotted a plane warming up outside a hanger. He jumped
in with his bag, slammed the door shut, and shouted, 'Let's go'.
The pilot taxied out, swung the plane into the wind and took off.
Once in the air, the photographer instructed the pilot, 'Fly over the valley and make
low passes so I can take pictures of the fires on the hillsides.'
'Why?' asked the pilot.
'Because I'm a photographer for CNN' , he responded, 'and I need to get some close up shots.'
The pilot was strangely silent for a moment, finally he stammered, 'So, what you're telling me,
is . . . You're NOT my flight instructor?’
If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.
~Jay Leno~
The problem with political jokes is they get elected.
~Henry Cate, VII~
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
~Aesop~
If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these State of the Union speeches,
there wouldn't be any inducement to go to heaven.
~Will Rogers~
Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there
is no river.
~Nikita Khrushchev~
When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it.
~Clarence Darrow~
Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel,
go out and buy some more tunnel.
~John Quinton~
Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your
opponents will do it for you.
~Author unknown~
Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from
the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.
~Oscar Ameringer~
I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop
telling the truth about them.
~Adlai Stevenson, 1952~
A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.
~ Tex Guinan~
I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.
~Charles de Gaulle~
Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the
locks.
~Doug Larson~
There ought to be one day -- just one -- when there is open season on Congressmen.
~Will Rogers~
That's all for now ....Have a good Week... CB