Brendan O'Carroll pays tribute to Joe Duffy ahead of RTE retirement
Brendan O'Carroll has paid tribute to Joe Duffy as he bids farewell to RTE today.
The Mrs Brown's Boys creator phoned into Liveline on RTE Radio One on Thursday, pretending to be an anxious caller.
Disguising himself as a worried caller, Brendan began the show pretending to be Mrs Brown with a problem before Joe discovered who the caller really was.
"Brendan O'Carroll, you goose," Joe exclaimed.
Speaking from his Florida home, Brendan said: "I couldn't let the moment go by. I mean, it's been an amazing, amazing run for anybody on radio, but particularly for you, because you're so boring that it's hard to believe that people listen five days a week," he said jokingly.
Joe said: "I remember a man telling me, up in the Phoenix Park, when I started here, I did a documentary on the Phoenix Park, and he was a psychic. Noel was his name, and he said to me at the end of the interview, 'You know I have a funny feeling you're going to be a household name someday.'
"I was chuffed. So here we are, 37 years later."
On Friday, Mr Duffy will host his final show and RTE are planning a show that will be "filled with music, celebration and friends of the show from over the years."
Speaking on the show today, Joe recalled to Brendan how people used to ask him what the late Gay Byrne was like.
"I always say, people say to me about Gay Byrne, what was Gay? Was he a politician? Was he a socialist? Gay loved showbiz. Gay loved showbiz people. He loved being around them. He loved telling stories.
"But show business is a fickle business. It is a fickle business, as you well know it is."
Brendan replied: "I was out playing golf with Jenny, and we stood on one of the tee boxes, and it just dawned on me, and I turned around to her, and I said, 'It's only dawned on me now. We work in a horrible business sometimes.'
"It can be really, really hard, Joe. It can be really horrible to people."
The duo praised June Rogers, who appears in Mrs Brown's Boys, with Brendan questioning why she wasn't a "star in Hollywood."
"She's just so good. June was fantastic. Because I don't know if you're aware, but she hadn't been well.
"I never really understood why RTE or somebody didn't build a whole show around her, because she's just got funny bones."
Another caller broke down crying saying: "You're a bloody legend. You've given us a voice, and you've allowed us to speak.
"Joe what are we going to do?
"I feel sorry for everybody that depends and listens to you every day. You've given us a voice that we didn't have. We don't have that anywhere. You're unbelievable. You're absolutely brilliant," while another caller also called him "a national institution."
A chuffed Joe said: "It's the listeners that have done for each other."
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