Trust.
It is at the heart of everything that RTÉ stands for.
The organisation's Vision Statement talks about championing Irish culture with "trusted, engaging and challenging content…"
The station’s list of Values includes the need to "nurture trust by being fair and open about the decisions it makes…"
It also cites the requirement for RTÉ to demonstrate its ability to "manage its business in a responsible manner" and "be accountable to each other within RTÉ and to audience and stakeholders."
And when it comes to transparency, the Values state RTÉ needs to "make decisions openly" and "be upfront about the reasons for the actions taken."
So when RTÉ’s Board took the necessary step in June of revealing that the organisation had under-stated Ryan Tubridy’s earnings by hundreds of thousands of euro over a period of six years, it shattered to pieces the fundamental trust and values that go to RTÉ’s core.
The trust of the television licence-fee payers, who fund a large part of RTÉ’s budget.
The trust of the audience, who consume RTÉ content and turn to it for reliable news, current affairs, sport, entertainment and more.
The trust of Government and politicians, who are responsible for general oversight of the organisation and holding it to account.
And the trust of staff, who day in, day out go the extra mile to do the best job they can for the audience that they serve.
Since that fateful day in June, the sole focus of the RTÉ Board and its relatively new Director General has been to find a way to restore that trust.
Multiple reviews have been commissioned, both internally and externally.
Some members of the top leadership team have departed the organisation.
Others have been left off the interim leadership team that Mr Bakhurst has put in place to steer the station forward.
Staff surveys are to be commissioned, a register of interests for employees is to be put in place and the senior management team are to be advised on changes that need to be made to corporate governance.
All in an effort to rebuild trust.
But arguably the hardest call of all for Mr Bakhurst, was always going to be deciding whether to let Ryan Tubridy back on air or not.
He was RTÉ’s highest profile and best paid presenter, popular with large portions of the audience and with advertisers too, making him a valuable asset for the station.
Yet he was at the centre of the controversy and had some questions to answer, even though the blame ultimately rested with RTÉ.
Mr Bakhurst made it clear he had taken soundings, including from staff, about whether or not Mr Tubridy should return.
He also held lengthy direct discussions over recent weeks with the presenter.
Those talks seemed to lead the Director General to a position where he felt he could open the door to Mr Tubridy to make a return.
Fresh contractual details were hammered out, including a new salary of €170,000 - which would have been considerably lower than the radio host had received previously.
Ryan Tubridy was also prepared to return €150,000 to RTÉ that had been at the centre of controversy.
Another piece of the jigsaw fell into place on Wednesday when the second Grant Thornton report, which examined RTÉ's misstatement of Mr Tubridy’s earnings by €120,000 between 2017 and 2019, found the presenter had no involvement in the under-declaration.
So all that appeared to be left was to conclude the contract and make an announcement.
But then, unexpectedly, a spanner was thrown in the works, in the form of Mr Tubridy's statement, responding to the publication of the Grant Thornton report.
In it, he welcomed the fact that he had been found not to have claimed €120,000 in fees due to him in 2020.
But he also stated: "It is also clear that my actual income from RTE in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published as my earnings for those years and RTÉ has not yet published its top ten earner details for 2022."
This provoked the ire of some in the senior management of the organisation, who interpreted it as meaning Mr Tubridy did not accept corrected restated earnings for him for those years, which were published by the Board in June.
Clarity was sought though from Mr Tubridy’s advisors, Mr Bakhurst explained, and the Director General said the response he received "was basically a restatement of that statement."
And it was that stance which seems to have prompted the RTÉ boss to make the huge call of ending negotiations with Ryan Tubridy.
In Mr Bakhurst’s view, he felt "trust between the parties has broken down."
"As I set about a programme of recovery from this crisis, it is imperative that all parties are aligned in one key respect: the misstatement of fees should never have happened; and the correct re-statement of those fees is accepted by all," he added.
"I have been clear since I took up the role of Director-General of RTÉ that I am absolutely committed to restoring trust in this organisation following a shameful period in our history. To achieve this, and fully draw a line between our recent past and present, we must acknowledge and accept the issues that have arisen."
And so, that work towards restoring trust will go on, but without Ryan Tubridy being a part of the process.
The presenter had made it clear in his own statement following the publication of the Grant Thornton 2 report that he was "committed to re-establishing the confidence and trust" of colleagues and listeners.
But for now, at least, he won’t get that chance.
