JOE-VER AND OUT

Tributes as broadcasting icon Duffy set to retire

- BY SANDRA MALLON Showbiz Editor

LIVELINE host Joe Duffy has announced he is set to retire from RTE after 37 years.

The presenter — who earns €351,000 hosting Liveline and the Meaning of Life - confirmed that his final time hosting the show will be Friday, June 27.

He has hosted the popular RTE Radio 1 phone-in show since 1998.

"After 37 wonderful years here in RTE, 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," Duffy said.

"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.

"RTE has been a great place to work. Public service has always been at its heart. And now, after many happy years, I've decided the time has come to move on.