‘I was trying to give people a voice' – Joe Duffy's statement in full as he departs Liveline next month after 27 years

Irish Independent

08-05-2025

Mr Duffy has been at the helm of the popular phone-in radio programme for more than 27 years and his ratings have been consistently in the top 10 of the most listened to programmes in the country.
Mr Duffy thanked listeners, his colleagues and those contributed to the show since 1998, in a statement confirming his departure next month.
Here you can read Mr Duffy's statement in full:
'After 37 wonderful years here in RTÉ, 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 RTÉ - 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'.
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'And I hope, in some small way, through Liveline and through RTÉ, we made people feel heard.
'And now, after many happy years, l've decided the time has come to move on.
'I wrote to the head of Radio last November, informing her that having already extended my 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 – I wish, 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, you're just answering the phones'. I was 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 of 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 next chapter. Please, please keep talking to Joe; I'm here until the end of June. l will explain a bit more on tomorrow's Late Late [Show], meanwhile back tomorrow at 1:45.