'You have me broken hearted' - Joe Duffy to hang up his Liveline mic for final time today

Joe Duffy will present his last ever Liveline show this Friday afternoon after 27 years on the mic and over 37 years working for RTÉ.

The legendary broadcaster announced his retirement back in early May live on air. He told listeners: "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."

After joining Liveline in 1998, Joe soon became an iconic voice in Irish radio on the hugely popular programme which regularly attracted over 400,000 listeners.

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As well as hosting Liveline, Joe presented many television programmes through the years such as Liveline Callback and The Meaning of Life. He has also written his autobiography Just Joe as well as two award-winning history books, Children of the Rising and Children of the Troubles, with Freya McClements.

Since the announcement of his retirement, many people have come forward to share their appreciation for the radio host and how he has helped them in ways through the years as well as made them laugh.

Mrs Brown's Boys star Brendan O'Carroll called in to Joe's penultimate show on Thursday to open the show with a few jokes before reminiscing over community in Ireland, becoming household names and standout memories in their careers.

One man rang the show to tell Joe how he first came across him 11 years ago when his wife was sick with cancer. He explained how he had to go outside and work to distract himself essentially and how Liveline was the only channel he could get on his radio. 

Another woman rang in from Finglas and told the radio host that he "had her crying." She told him: "You have me broken hearted. You're a bloody legend. You've listened to everybody in this country, you've given us a voice that we didn't have and you allowed us to speak."

Joe will host his last show on Liveline on Friday afternoon at 1:45pm on RTÉ Radio One.