The Gerry Ryan Show begged him "on bended knees" and "over whiskey" to stay with 2fm but at the same time Ryan was impressed that Tubridy was willing to compete with him directly. Tubridy has credited Ryan with being "one of the few gentlemen in [RTÉ]", saying he had been "very kind to me when I started out in RTÉ making tea and coffee and right all the way up to the very day I got "The Late Late Show" job". In 2004, Ryan was the subject of controversy when he cancelled an interview with the Taoiseach of the time, Bertie Ahern. Ahern had
Tubridy (radio show) the programme was Bono. Tubridy's RTÉ Radio 1 slot was filled by John Murray. In March 2011, Majella O'Donnell, the wife of singer Daniel O'Donnell, spoke on the show about her battles with depression. In May 2011, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) upheld a complaint against Tubridy who called a paedophile a "monster" and "creature" and then said: "From what I gather these guys cannot be quote unquote cured ... only one way to deal with them, and that's physiological ... these guys should have bits taken off." On 25 October 2011, Tubridy dressed up for Barnardos as Scarecrow