As he prepared to hang up his mic on RTÉ Radio 1's Liveline on Friday, veteran broadcaster Joe Duffy said that the show will "go on" after his departure.
Duffy retires from the station after 37 years this afternoon, signing off as one of the most enduring and influential voices in Irish media.
Appearing on RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland on Friday, Duffy joked: "I don't know what all this hullabaloo is about," before continuing more seriously about the importance of radio.
"I'm very conscious about radio and the importance of radio and the sense of community, that was very strong during Covid," he said.
"It will go on. Liveline is on today but it's on on Monday as well."
Read more: Joe Duffy hailed as a 'broadcasting genius' ahead of RTÉ Radio 1 departure
The Ballyfermot native said that it's the voices of the people and the callers on Liveline that make the show so special.
"The less I talk the better," he said. "It's the voices of the callers."
Duffy paid tribute to the participants, but also the national and regional media offering in Ireland.
He said that unlike other countries, in the main "we are still trusted".
"They are all part of our daily discourse, and I just hope that continues," he said.
Speaking about head shops, he said that he came across them in 2010 when he saw people queuing up at a shop window. He said that in January, he discovered there were over 100 head shops thriving in Ireland and people started ringing in to speak about the effects.
"We didn't know what they were selling, unregulated, making massive profits," he said.
Duffy recalled that by 10 May, the government raided every head shop in the country and shut them down at once.
"That’s the power of politics, and the power of people on Liveline bringing it to peoples’ attention".
He spoke about being physically threatened in an underground car park by a headshop owner, and was spat at on Gardiner Street by another.
"My job is trying to be a mediator. On the headshop thing, I did get very passionate," he said.
Read more: How Joe Duffy changed Irish radio forever
Speaking about how he started at RTÉ, he said that he came in "almost accidentally" and became a reporter.
Duffy said with a Dublin working class accent, he couldn't pronounce his "th"’s and he received letters from people complaining.
The broadcaster said that fellow RTÉ presenter Gay Byrne was "such a supporter".
"We bounced off each other," Duffy said, adding that Byrne used to text him when he was presenting Liveline and ask him why he was asking certain questions.
"He used to give out to me... Was I the son he never wanted? I don’t know," Duffy laughed.
"He was so intense. He would say people pay our wages, people trust us and keep it that way. Stop on the street if people want to chat to you.
"I do like meeting people and I like being on the Luas and the 130 [bus] and talking to people".
Asked about what is next, Duffy said he would be kept busy and that he hoped his activism would continue.
He ruled himself out of running for president, and said that he had not been asked to run.
"I'm still part of RTÉ until Monday... I will not lose the run of myself.
"There’s some great names having been mentioned so far".
