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10th May 2025

Joe Duffy reveals one of the standout moments from his 37-year career

Seán Crosbie

The broadcaster announced earlier this week that he would be hanging up his microphone.

Joe Duffy has revealed one of the standout moments of his 37-year career.

He announced his retirement from the airwaves earlier this week, with his final show scheduled for Friday, June 27.

The 69-year-old was a guest on Friday’s Late Late Show.

When asked by host Patrick Kielty why he was leaving now, he quipped: “Because I want to be on the Late Late Show.

“I’ve never been on your show.”

He added: “Well there’s many reasons, I’m of an age at this stage.

“Though I am younger than the new Pope by 135 days.”

The legendary broadcaster was asked what one of his standout moments from Liveline was, to which 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.’

“And by the end of the program, Margaret’s two daughters had phoned in.

“Two daughters she gave birth to, when she 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 mean, that was jaw-dropping.”

As the interview came to a close, Duffy got very emotional talking about how much he would miss his beloved show.

He said: “I will miss it so badly. I just 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 an interactive radio, live interactive radio. Interactive radio where people can feel part of a conversation.

“They’re 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.”

LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!