Liveline With Joe Duffy - Mod Note in OP

I’m new to the parish so to speak. I’ve been confined to bed for the last week and have little to amuse me with but some books that I have finished, and the radio on my phone. During that time I’ve discovered this show.

I have some questions that I’m hoping you more regular listeners can shed some light on for me:

1. Is Joe contractually obligated to say “so to speak” a minimum number of times per day? He seems to say it an awful lot, and rarely correctly.
2. Are his grammar and diction always this appallingly bad?
3. Does he always mumble incoherently like this or have I just caught him at a bad time?
4. Is he always this condescending?
5. Whilst I have some sympathy for the victims in these cases is there anything by way of fact-checking or verification taking place of these contributor’s stories before they go on air? I hate to sound like a cynic, but some of these stories do seem somewhat embellished and exaggerated - or am I the only one thinking this?
6. The empathy Joe is showing (or rather pretending to be showing) doesn’t appear very sincere. Am I misjudging him here or would that be a fair assessment? If it is as contrived as it appears, why don’t the contributors call him out on this? Has anyone ever done so?
7. Is it just me again or can he be quite rude and insensitive? Perhaps I am misjudging based on a handful of shows but it appears to me that if you agree with the host’s point of view you are indulged and given somewhat of a free reign to say whatever comes into your head without challenge, but offer a contrary viewpoint or veer off script and the conversation seems to be terminated rather quickly. It’s all quite strange.

I have many more questions to be honest. This is quite frankly a very “unusual” radio show, and I’m not quite sure what purpose it serves.

A load of callers getting the story in for use in a compo case later

So we have moved on to "this might have been a dream" territory.

This one Edie could make a good fist of reading Give up yer Aul Sins.

an ad for Wills for the RNLI , some one knows the age profile of listeners

Man injured after dog attack in Dublin

Joe won't be interested though, he will continue the "research" for his upcoming book tomorrow.

Edit: The story has been updated to...

Man injured after XL Bully dog attack in Dublin

1. Yes. Also 'moriya' and 'whoy' and 'what colour is the..' and 'how does that make you feeeel' and 'tell me about de paaaaaain' and 'will ye leave it the presbytery' and 'bad bad baxtards' and 'the unwell'

2. Joe says he has had no complaints

3. You are new here aren't you?

4. Yes. Point blank rude, belligerent, uncaring, bellicose, etc.

5. Tee hee hee aaah.

6. It is rare that they do, otherwise there is a 'bad line bad line' or an 'you cannot say that' or 'you will expunge that remark back after dese (ads)'

7. He is obsessed with death, and he is worth €350k per annum of your licence fee.