LiveLine
Encyclopedia
Liveline is an Irish
radio interview and phone-in chat show broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1
each weekday afternoon between 13.45 and 15.00. The programme, which is currently presented by Joe Duffy
and known for its slogan "Talk to Joe", seeks the public's opinion
on various questions, normally one or more controversial current events. According to The New York Times
, it is Ireland's "most popular radio call-in program".
Liveline was originally presented and produced by Marian Finucane
and Doireann Ní Bhriain
, but is currently presented by Joe Duffy. During the presenter's absence, the role of presenter is typically filled by Damien O'Reilly or Derek Davis
. Friday's show features guests who include Brendan "Brush" Shiels
and Brendan 'Doc' Savage.
In early August 2007 Liveline ran a series of programmes focusing on the problems experienced by those who holiday abroad; scaring listeners with stories of the dangers of foreign resorts and the corruption of Turk
ish and other local police and warnings of grasping and unhospitable hotel managements. Equally, the poor behaviour of young Irish holiday makers was also highlighted. Callers also air their grievances over topics such as bikini-wearing models.
In September 2009, the screenwriter Frank Deasy
appeared on Liveline several days before his death from liver cancer
to discuss organ donor awareness. A record of at least 5,500 people soon applied to become holders of organ donor cards, 2,000 immediately afterwards and a further 3,500 the following day. By comparison, a similar request on The Late Late Show
in 2007 yielded only 1,000 more donor applicants. Mark Murphy, CEO of the Irish Kidney Association, put it down to "the power of Joe Duffy".
a platform on Liveline to make a "party political broadcast". Duffy considered it "direct party-political interference" in Liveline.
found herself playing host to a debate on gay adoption. The debate featured heated discussions with journalist Hermann Kelly
following the publication of an article he wrote in the Irish Mail on Sunday
in which he criticised the notion of gays and lesbian
s adopting children. Kelly criticised the foster father Colm O'Gorman
, the director of One-in-Four and a prospective election candidate for the Progressive Democrats
in Wexford
. Following the debate a number of complaints were aired by listeners centering on the conduct of O'Rourke and alleging that she had cut Kelly off, interrupted him on occasions and left him to defend his stance alone against several hostile callers. A Mary Moriarty, amongst five listeners to complain about the debate, told the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) that callers had made slanderous remarks on Kelly several times and had not been asked for an apology or retraction of their statements. O'Rourke unwittingly and accidentally revealed her support for gay adoption by referring to the pro-gay adoption callers as "we" when discussing the matter. The BCC decided that the show had not been impartial and that O'Rourke's quick questioning of Kelly had been "unfair". Journalist Eoin McMahon expressed his disgust in the Irish Independent
:
minister Martin Cullen
and his former PR adviser, Monica Leech, sought compensation in 2005 for damage to their reputation after a caller to Liveline made lewd suggestions about them live on air.
, Brian Lenihan
for inciting widespread public fear that Irish citizens were on the verge of losing their savings. Several callers freely spoke of their lack of confidence in the banking system, of how they had withdrawn their money from banks, some of which were identified, and were either carrying it around on their person, or considering keeping it "under the mattress", or burying it in their garden. Duffy inflamed the situation further by asking a woman what it felt like carrying over €70,000 "down the street" and a man how he would feel carrying his savings with him "on the bus" before opining that the banks would not be believed if they stated the system was working as normal. Lenihan personally rang Cathal Goan, the Director-General of RTÉ
, on 18 September 2008 (the date of the show) to express his outrage at the sudden increase in potentially disastrous speculation following the show.
Duffy and his Liveline production team were rebuked by RTÉ's management. A senior figure in Irish banking called the show "absolutely its single most destructive broadcast ever". RTÉ publicly defended Duffy and Liveline but behind the scenes was said to be deeply embarrassed, even permitting the Sunday newspapers to "castigate" Liveline. Duffy wished to return to the issue the following day, having prepared and even broadcast a promo piece, but was firmly ruled over by management who decided otherwise, "the damage having already been done". The extent of the Finance Minister's concern first publicly emerged the following morning when he was interviewed by RTÉ's economics editor George Lee
. In that interview, Lenihan insisted that deposits were not in any danger and said that people should not be going to banks to shift their deposit accounts "on the basis of unfounded allegations made on radio programmes".
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
radio interview and phone-in chat show broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...
each weekday afternoon between 13.45 and 15.00. The programme, which is currently presented by Joe Duffy
Joe Duffy
Joseph "Joe" Duffy is an Irish broadcaster employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann . A Jacob's Award winner, he is the current presenter of Liveline, which is broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1, Monday - Fridays between 13:45 and 15:00.Duffy has a history as a student activist; he was President of the Union of...
and known for its slogan "Talk to Joe", seeks the public's opinion
Public opinion
Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....
on various questions, normally one or more controversial current events. According to The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, it is Ireland's "most popular radio call-in program".
Liveline was originally presented and produced by Marian Finucane
Marian Finucane
Marian Finucane is an Irish broadcaster with Raidió Teilifís Éireann . She has worked with the national broadcaster since in 1976, starting as a continuity announcer. She was the first presenter of Liveline...
and Doireann Ní Bhriain
Doireann Ní Bhriain
Doireann Ní Bhriain is an Irish independent radio producer. She began her career as a radio and television journalist, and started out reading children's stories on television...
, but is currently presented by Joe Duffy. During the presenter's absence, the role of presenter is typically filled by Damien O'Reilly or Derek Davis
Derek Davis
Derek Orlando Davis is an Irish broadcaster. On television, he has co-hosted Live at 3, presented Out of the Blue and won Celebrity Bainisteoir.-Early life:...
. Friday's show features guests who include Brendan "Brush" Shiels
Brush Shiels
Brendan "Brush" Shiels is an Irish musician from County Dublin, best known for being the frontman of Gary Moore's first band, Skid Row. Brush Shiels had a TV show on RTÉ called Off yer Brush and was at one point managed by Louis Walsh...
and Brendan 'Doc' Savage.
In early August 2007 Liveline ran a series of programmes focusing on the problems experienced by those who holiday abroad; scaring listeners with stories of the dangers of foreign resorts and the corruption of Turk
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
ish and other local police and warnings of grasping and unhospitable hotel managements. Equally, the poor behaviour of young Irish holiday makers was also highlighted. Callers also air their grievances over topics such as bikini-wearing models.
In September 2009, the screenwriter Frank Deasy
Frank Deasy
Frank Deasy was an Irish screenwriter. He won an Emmy Award for the television series Prime Suspect and was also nominated for his works, Looking After Jo Jo and The Grass Arena...
appeared on Liveline several days before his death from liver cancer
Liver cancer
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...
to discuss organ donor awareness. A record of at least 5,500 people soon applied to become holders of organ donor cards, 2,000 immediately afterwards and a further 3,500 the following day. By comparison, a similar request on The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
in 2007 yielded only 1,000 more donor applicants. Mark Murphy, CEO of the Irish Kidney Association, put it down to "the power of Joe Duffy".
Michael McDowell interference
Joe Duffy thought about resigning from RTÉ in 2007 after the broadcaster forced him to give Justice Minister Michael McDowellMichael McDowell
Michael McDowell is a Senior Counsel in the Bar Council of Ireland and a former politician. A grandson of Irish revolutionary Eoin MacNeill, McDowell was a founding member of the Progressive Democrats political party in the mid-1980s...
a platform on Liveline to make a "party political broadcast". Duffy considered it "direct party-political interference" in Liveline.
Gay adoption debate
Whilst presenting Liveline as a stand-in host for regular presenter Joe Duffy in February 2007, Evelyn O'RourkeEvelyn O'Rourke
Evelyn O'Rourke is an Irish radio researcher, roving reporter, presenter and television personality employed by RTÉ and from Dublin.O'Rourke joined RTÉ in 1998 and featured as a researcher on The Gay Byrne Show and The Arts Show on RTÉ Radio 1 before moving on to become roving reporter on Today...
found herself playing host to a debate on gay adoption. The debate featured heated discussions with journalist Hermann Kelly
Hermann Kelly
Hermann Kelly is a Derry-born, Donegal-raised journalist who writes for the Irish Mail on Sunday and is a former editor of The Irish Catholic...
following the publication of an article he wrote in the Irish Mail on Sunday
Irish Daily Mail
The Irish Daily Mail is a newspaper published in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland by Associated Newspapers. The paper was launched in February 2006 with a launch strategy that included giving away free copies on the first day of circulation and low pricing subsequently....
in which he criticised the notion of gays and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
s adopting children. Kelly criticised the foster father Colm O'Gorman
Colm O'Gorman
Colm O'Gorman is an Irishman from County Wexford, founder of One in Four, former senator, and current executive director of Amnesty International in Ireland...
, the director of One-in-Four and a prospective election candidate for the Progressive Democrats
Progressive Democrats
The Progressive Democrats , commonly known as the PDs, was a pro-free market liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland.Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on...
in Wexford
Wexford
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...
. Following the debate a number of complaints were aired by listeners centering on the conduct of O'Rourke and alleging that she had cut Kelly off, interrupted him on occasions and left him to defend his stance alone against several hostile callers. A Mary Moriarty, amongst five listeners to complain about the debate, told the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) that callers had made slanderous remarks on Kelly several times and had not been asked for an apology or retraction of their statements. O'Rourke unwittingly and accidentally revealed her support for gay adoption by referring to the pro-gay adoption callers as "we" when discussing the matter. The BCC decided that the show had not been impartial and that O'Rourke's quick questioning of Kelly had been "unfair". Journalist Eoin McMahon expressed his disgust in the Irish Independent
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...
:
If a journalist or pro-homosexual activist writes an article promoting homosexual rights, three guesses whether Liveline would devote an entire programme rubbishing the article, with the presenter coaxing and cajoling irate callers to put the boot in. The silenced majority: they haven't gone away you know.
Slanderous airings
TransportMinister for Transport (Ireland)
The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport is the senior minister at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport is Leo Varadkar, TD...
minister Martin Cullen
Martin Cullen
Martin Cullen is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Waterford constituency. Cullen was a member of Seanad Éireann and served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government , Minister for Transport and Minister for Social and Family Affairs and...
and his former PR adviser, Monica Leech, sought compensation in 2005 for damage to their reputation after a caller to Liveline made lewd suggestions about them live on air.
2008 global financial crisis bank running government outrage controversy
Liveline has been censured by the government for host Joe Duffy's repeated attempts to continually discuss the effects of the global financial crisis on Ireland. This followed on from the outrage caused when Duffy was held responsible by Finance MinisterMinister for Finance (Ireland)
The Minister for Finance is the title held by the Irish government minister responsible for all financial and monetary matters. The office-holder controls the Department of Finance and is considered one of the most important members of the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Finance is...
, Brian Lenihan
Brian Lenihan, Jnr
Brian Joseph Lenihan was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and barrister who served in the government of Ireland as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform from 2007 to 2008 and as Minister for Finance from 2008 to 2011...
for inciting widespread public fear that Irish citizens were on the verge of losing their savings. Several callers freely spoke of their lack of confidence in the banking system, of how they had withdrawn their money from banks, some of which were identified, and were either carrying it around on their person, or considering keeping it "under the mattress", or burying it in their garden. Duffy inflamed the situation further by asking a woman what it felt like carrying over €70,000 "down the street" and a man how he would feel carrying his savings with him "on the bus" before opining that the banks would not be believed if they stated the system was working as normal. Lenihan personally rang Cathal Goan, the Director-General of RTÉ
Director-General of RTÉ
The Director-General of Raidió Teilifís Éireann is chief executive and editor in chief of RTÉ. The current Director-General is Noel Curran, and is the most senior person in the Public Service Broadcaster, Noel Curran replaced Cathal Goan in the role in February 2011.The RTÉ Board appoints the...
, on 18 September 2008 (the date of the show) to express his outrage at the sudden increase in potentially disastrous speculation following the show.
Duffy and his Liveline production team were rebuked by RTÉ's management. A senior figure in Irish banking called the show "absolutely its single most destructive broadcast ever". RTÉ publicly defended Duffy and Liveline but behind the scenes was said to be deeply embarrassed, even permitting the Sunday newspapers to "castigate" Liveline. Duffy wished to return to the issue the following day, having prepared and even broadcast a promo piece, but was firmly ruled over by management who decided otherwise, "the damage having already been done". The extent of the Finance Minister's concern first publicly emerged the following morning when he was interviewed by RTÉ's economics editor George Lee
George Lee (journalist)
George Lee is an Irish economist, journalist, television and radio presenter, and former Fine Gael politician. He worked for RTÉ from 1992 to 2009. He was appointed Economics Editor in 1996. During his time in RTÉ News and Current Affairs he was named Irish Journalist of the Year for uncovering a...
. In that interview, Lenihan insisted that deposits were not in any danger and said that people should not be going to banks to shift their deposit accounts "on the basis of unfounded allegations made on radio programmes".