Joe Duffy hangs up the mic as he hosts final Liveline show

Irish Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Legendary broadcaster Joe Duffy is set to present his last ever Liveline episode this afternoon as he bids farewell to RTE after 37 years on air.
One of Ireland's best-known and most loved broadcasters, Joe confirmed last month that his final Liveline broadcast will be on Friday, June 27 - 27 years after his first broadcast.
Joe joined RTE as a radio producer in 1989 and came to prominence as a reporter on the Gay Byrne Show.
The Ballyfermot native took over as Liveline host from Marian Finucane in 1998 and quickly became an iconic voice in Irish radio on the hugely popular programme which regularly attracted over 400,000 listeners.
Joe shocked Liveline listeners last month when he announced his retirement live on air, saying at the time: "After 37 wonderful years here in RTÉ, and 27 years presenting Liveline, it has been an incredible honour and privilege to be part of a programme that relied entirely on trust: the trust of our listeners.
"People felt they could pick up the phone, ring Liveline, and share their lives, problems, stories sad, bad, sometimes mad and funny, their struggles, and their victories. I never took that for granted, not for a single minute."
Joe will host his last show on Liveline this afternoon at 1.45pm on RTÉ Radio One.
Joe Duffy will present Liveline for the final time this afternoon, but he doesn't want it to be an emotional show.
"I'd rather that day be a Funny Friday. I'd love to see all the old gang back - June Rodgers and Doc Savage and Frank Forde and all the rest - and just have a bit of fun," he said.
"I'd rather it was a roast than a toast, something to give me a good kick in the backside, something to say: 'Just get over yourself, Joe'."
Joe Duffy has praised the callers as he prepares for his last episode of RTE's famous phone-in show on Friday afternoon.
The Ballyfermot broadcaster, 69, is retiring after 37 years at the station, where he has presented Liveline for 27 years.
'It will go on. Liveline is on today, but it's on on Monday as well,' Duffy told RTE Radio ahead of his last programme at 1.45pm.
He added: 'It's the voices on Liveline; the less I talk the better, I find.
'We (the media) are still trusted. In the main we are still trusted, unlike other countries.
'They're all part of our daily discourse, which is great and I hope that continues.'
Duffy joined RTE as a radio producer in 1989 and came to prominence as a reporter on the Gay Byrne Show.
He presented programmes such as Soundbyte before taking over Liveline from Marian Finucane in 1998, attracting some 400,000 listeners to the phone-in programme.
He said hearing his Dublin working-class accent on the national broadcaster had prompted some 'green-ink letters' of complaint, some of which were internal.
Among Liveline's most famous episodes were callers with thoughts on the television series Normal People, people sharing stories of corporal punishment in Ireland over the decades, and women talking about menopause.
Duffy said the only time he has been physically threatened during his tenure was over discussions about the closure of 'headshops', which sold drugs paraphernalia, where he said a man confronted him in a car park.
Asked about whether he would run for the presidency in the autumn, Duffy said: 'I will not lose the run of myself.'
'I can see the Aras from Claddagh Green, I'd say that's the closest I'll ever get to it.'