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
The Gerry Ryan Show new show in that slot "the biggest prize right now in radio". The now cross-media event "Operation Transformation" originated on "The Gerry Ryan Show". In 2010, Ryan launched "Undercurrents", a Friday slot airing unsigned unplaylisted Irish acts who then had their details published on his website. The "Irish Independent"s John Meagher disagreed that this was typical of RTÉ 2fm and Gerry Ryan. A spin-off show of the demoed songs premiered on RTÉ 2XM on 5 March 2010, presented by "GRS" researcher John Bela Reilly. Following Ryan's untimely death on 30 April 2010, Meagher hoped "Undercurrents" would be continued by his