JOE Duffy will hang up his microphone laughing with the final Liveline show a Funny Friday.
The 69-year-old will host his last Liveline on Friday June 27.
And RTE producers have decided it will be the funniest Friday ever with a galaxy of showbiz pals ringing in to tell gags and wish him well.
An RTE insider told The Irish Sun: “Although Joe did so much important work bringing so many serious stories to public attention, from the Magdalene Laundries to the Tuam Babies, he also had the ability to make the country laugh.
“He will be doing that on his very last show. There’s lot of colleagues on Liveline, who will be genuinely upset to say goodbye to Joe and making his last show a Funny Friday will turn those tears into laughter.”
Mrs Brown’s Boys star Brendan O’Carroll – who made regular appearances on Funny Friday – is expected to take part, as are popular comedian June Rodgers, Brush Shiels, and Clint Velour, aka band leader Paddy Cullivan.
A spokeswoman for RTE said: “Radio 1 will broadcast a special Liveline marking Joe Duffy’s remarkable career on Friday, June 27.
“We will reveal more details in relation to the programme closer to the time’”
Some are wondering if the Funny Friday slot later this month could be the last one ever on the show.
The comedy slot has been missing for over a year on Liveline, with former colleague Pat Kenny recently telling The Irish Sun that RTE bosses may decide to axe it because a new host might not be able to juggle serious topics and comedy as well as Joe.
Pat told us: “They (RTE) may decide to abandon Funny Friday because Joe is a bit of a stand-up.
“If you saw his interview with Patrick Kielty on the Late Late Show, you’d have heard Joe throwing in gags, he’s absolutely brilliant at it.”
The much-loved radio man is going out on a high after recent JNLR figures saw him add 6,000 listeners to his phone show during the past twelve months, giving him a daily audience of 307,000.
Announcing he was hanging up his microphone last month, Joe told listeners it had been his “incredible honour and privilege” to spend 37 years in RTE and 27 years presenting Liveline, which he called a show that relied entirely on “the trust of our listeners”.
Paying tribute to colleagues, Joe said: “I’ve been blessed to work alongside hundreds of producers, researchers, broadcasting assistants and the wider public servants who make RTE.”
RTE have said they will run a process over the summer to appoint the new host of Liveline, with an announcement expected in autumn.
