RTE legend Joe Duffy fights back tears during emotional Late Late Show interview as he says he'll miss radio ‘so badly'

The Irish Sun

09-05-2025

RTE legend Joe Duffy fought back his tears during an emotional Late Late Show interview tonight.
The legendary host revealed yesterday that he is
, Liveline, which he has helmed for over a quarter of a century.
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Joe Duffy appeared on the Late Late Show tonight
Credit: RTE
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Joe got emotional on air during his interview
Credit: RTE
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Joe spoke about his beloved mum who passed away in 2022
The dad-of-three joined
He presented programmes like Soundbyte before taking over
The 69-year-old sat down with
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In his 27 years in the Liveline hotseat, both Joe and the programme itself have become national institutions, with the programme frequently attracting some 400,000 listeners.
When Joe was asked what a standout moment is for him, he replied: "When we were doing a program one day we had a phone call from a woman called Imelda Murphy, I'll never forget her name.
"She rang in from the United States of America and she had been in one of the Magdalene laundries.
"And she said, 'I just discovered that one of my sisters, so to speak, who worked with me in the Magdalene, had died six weeks ago. And I don't want her buried in the communal plot in Glassnevin. I want Margaret to have her own individual grave with her own name and her own headstone'.
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"And by the end of the program, Margaret's two daughters had phoned in.
"Two daughters she gave birth to, when was in the Magdalene laundries, to say, 'We didn't know her mother was dead. We didn't know our mother had died eight weeks ago'.
'I hope we made people feel heard' - RTE icon Joe Duffy in emotional statement as he hangs up Liveline mic
"I mean, that was jaw-dropping."
Margaret's daughter Samantha was actually sitting proudly in the audience and explained how "special" it was for her to be there.
She praised Joe on how much change he created in Ireland during his decades on the show.
Patrick asked Joe how he "feels" to have affected so many people in the country - which got the radio star talking about his mum.
Joe's mum, Mabel Duffy, passed away aged 92 in Kiltipper Woods Care Centre in Co
in 2022.
He said: "Like my mother, I said it... anyone who knows Liveline is like, 'Joe is going to go on about Mabel'.
EMOTIONAL STAR
"Well Mabel, my mother, had a great line. She was in Ballyfermot, down at the shops. Someone returned to Ballyer, who had been away for a few years, one of her buddies.
"And they said, 'Mabel, I heard your Joseph is working in RTE. What's he doing?'. And she said, 'He answers the phones'. And she wouldn't let me lose her.
"She always used to say, 'You're never as good as anyone says you are, but you're never as bad as anyone said you are'.
"But the other thing, she would have been 96 this Sunday."
Joe fought back his tears as he choked up saying: "And when she was born… this is how far we've come as a country. When she was born on May the 11th, 1929, the Irish Parliament of the day was debating the abolition of workhouses, Dickensian workhouses.
'MAKING THAT CHANGE'
"And by the time she died, she had a house in Ballyfermot, she paid for it, she walked around with the deeds in her handbag when she eventually bought the house. We have come so far.
"And I know people say sometimes that Liveline can be very negative, but we have come so far, and I think that's absolutely brilliant.
"We should acknowledge it without losing the context of the housing crisis and all that carry on.
"My mother lived in 19 different places before she was 19. And she's only dead two years.
"So I mean, we have as a country, that's how it makes me feel. That's just not a product of radio, it's a product of campaigners like Samantha, it's a product of politicians and people participating in local communities."
Patrick replied: "It's also a product of you, Joe. It's also a product of you, taking the call and making that change. It really is."
READ JOE DUFFY'S STATEMENT IN FULL
"After 37 wonderful years here in RTE, and 27 years presenting Liveline, I just wanted to share a few words with you as I prepare to move on.
"First of all, it has been - and I mean this from the bottom of my heart - 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.
"Over these years, I've been blessed to work alongside hundreds of producers, researchers, broadcasting assistants, and all the wider public servants who make RTE - and when I say everyone, I mean everyone. Those who lifting a paintbrush, wielding a Black & Decker, a hoover drill, operating a sound desk. From the person at reception to the person climbing a mast. We were and are all working towards the same goal: serving the public.
"And it goes without saying that my wife June and my three children Sean, Ellen and Ronan, have been such a part of keeping me going, day after day, often through difficult times on an intense daily programme.
"For that alone I am deeply privileged and eternally grateful.
"As the American poet Maya Angelou wrote: 'People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.'
"And I hope, in some small way, through Liveline and through RTE, we made people feel heard.
"And now, after many happy years, I've decided the time has come to move on.
"I wrote to the head of Radio last November, informing her that having already extended by contract for two years, that Friday June 27 next when it was due to expire would be my final day on Liveline.
As you know I'm not a firefighter - a garda, not a paramedic, teacher, parent of young children, not a nurse, not a street cleaner - all of them real, vital, essential public servants.
"As my late mother Mabel used to say to me, you're not to lose the run of yourself if you're just answering the phones, I was just trying to listen, trying to connect, and trying to give people a voice, especially those without.
"Mabel, who died two years ago would have been 96 on Sunday and on the day she was born the Irish parliament was debating the abolition of workhouses - we've come a long way - like many in her generation who have been great Liveline listeners, remember you dug the well - subsequent generations drank the water. As a country, a community we've come a long way.
"Liveline began under the stewardship of the late Marian Finucane 40 years ago and it will endure.
"So onwards! I'm looking forward to the chapter. Please, please keep talking to Joe. I'm here until the end of June."
Joe revealed his retirement plans saying: "I'm gonna be more active, be more mindful and see more of my family and friends. I love traveling around the country.
"So that is what I want to do and what I want to try and be. Let's see what happens."
The dad-of-three got emotional as he added: "I will miss it so badly. I just I love it. I love coming in every day.
"I love it. At quarter to two, the excitement. Put those headphones on and you're talking to one person.
"I'm so conscious that radio, again to where we started, it's that wonderful, wonderful medium. It's of an interactive radio live interactive radio. Interactively radio where people can be part feel the part of a conversation.
"They're sitting in sitting in their chair and it's like hearing a step on the stair as I said the neighbour coming in without knocking on the door. And I'm very conscious that that's the power of radio without losing the run of ourselves."
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Joe said he's going to miss Liveline 'so badly'
Credit: RTE