RTÉ insiders told the Sunday World that Katie had been scheduled to fill in for Duffy on Liveline for the next fortnight before Joe made the shock announcement last Thursday that he’s set to retire from the show after his 27-year run as its host.
Regular Liveline fill-in Katie is the bookmaker’s favourite to replace Joe ahead of Ray D’Arcy, Claire Byrne and Sean Moncrieff from Newstalk.
Katie herself hasn’t commented either way on whether she is interested in the Liveline job. She is said to be waiting out of courtesy until Joe has left the role.
Joe Duffy is taking a break from Liveline
On Saturday, legendary RTÉ presenter Derek Mooney, who filled in on Liveline in the past, said that whoever sits in the hot seat after Duffy will face a major challenge emerging from his formidable shadow.
“Joe really made Liveline his own and anyone who is going to follow him has got to be themselves, because if you even sound a little bit like Joe Duffy you are going to get hammered,” Derek says.
Although he is not in the running himself to take over from veteran broadcaster Duffy (69), Mooney says he wouldn’t be interested if he was offered it because it’s an onerous role.
“I don’t think I would like to do it even if I was asked,” says Derek, whose Mooney Goes Wild show is currently celebrating 30 years on air.
“Liveline is very heavy. I’d rather be doing nature and live entertainment. I just think Liveline takes too much out of the person presenting it. It’s like being in the confessional and you are listening to people telling you their deepest, darkest thoughts.
“You have the headphones on and all of that negative news is coming into your head and you can’t get away from it. I wouldn’t like that because 90 per cent of it is negative.
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“They are phoning Joe as a last resort mostly, let’s be honest. They’ve tried this, that and the other and Joe is going to sort it. I think he will be a super hard act to follow and it takes a certain type of person to do it.
“It’s different in a magazine programme where you are bringing on interesting guests the whole time. With Liveline you are bringing on real people with real stories and usually they are really troubled.
“With his skill, Joe is very much involved in the running of the programme and so up to date on current affairs and social issues. I think he is just brilliant
“There is light and shade in a magazine programme and to his credit Joe also brought that to Liveline.”
Mooney had the experience of filling in on Liveline for a month one summer.
“The time I did it was great experience because who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to fill in for Joe Duffy,” he says.
“If you want to start making a career, to fill in on the biggest show on radio after Gay Byrne left the station was massive.
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“I remember the first interview I did on Liveline was with a guy called Brian O’Driscoll, who had been hired to drive the then British Ambassador Christopher Ewart-Biggs and their car was blown up in Dublin by an IRA bomb.
“Ewart-Biggs and his 26-year-old secretary Judith Cooke were killed. Brian was injured but survived. We did the entire Liveline with Brian and listeners contributing.”
As a radio producer, Derek also produced one of Marian Finucane’s last Liveline programmes.
“I had a troupe of male strippers called The Chain Gang on because, of course, they were causing outrage around the country at the time,” Derek laughs.
“Listeners were up in arms about them. They were asked ‘how far would they go?’ ‘The whole way.’ It was pure nonsense and Marian loved it. Marian had a sense of devilment about her.”
Derek jokes that even if he put his name in the RTÉ hat to take over from Joe Duffy on Liveline, he probably wouldn’t be considered for the role.
“When I was asked if I had put my hat in the ring for the Late Late Show after Ryan Tubridy left I said, ‘I threw my hat in and it was thrown out several times’,” he adds.
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