Joe Duffy's firm record profits of over €520,000

Gordon Deegan

Accumulated profits at the media firm co-owned by one of the country’s best known broadcasters, Joe Duffy last year increased to just over €520,000.

New accounts for Duffy’s Claddaghgreen Ltd show that the company’s accumulated profits increased by €23,647 from €496,793 to €520,440 in the 12 months to the end of April last.

During the same period, the firm’s cash pile rose by €17,968 from €511,354 to €529,322.

Duffy sits on the board of the firm with his wife, June Meehan and the directors last year shared ‘remuneration and other benefits’ of €270,000.

The directors' pay was €20,000 down on the €290,000 paid to directors in the prior year.

Duffy - who celebrated his 67th birthday in January -remains one of RTE’s best paid presenters and is also a best-selling author.

Figures released by RTE last month show that Duffy was paid €351,000 in 2021 for his Liveline and TV work for the national broadcaster.

The payout ranked Duffy as the second best paid broadcaster at the station behind only outgoing Late Late Show host, Ryan Tubridy.

The €351,000 payout to the Ballyfermot man was down on the broadcaster’s €360,650 pay for 2020, €392,494 for 2019 and €404,988 for 2018.

The figures show that since 2018, Duffy is being paid more than €1,000 per week less by RTE as his pay has dropped by a cumulative €53,933 or 13per cent across the four years.

The most recent JNLR figures show that 310,000 listeners were tuning in every weekday to Liveline making it one of the most popular weekday non-news radio shows in the country.

Mr Duffy is not a paid employee of RTE but is instead employed as a contractor.

In a press interview in the year under review, Duffy revealed that in 2016 he turned down an offer from rival independent station Newstalk “much greater” than his current salary at the State broadcaster.

Mr Duffy said he had received a “very significant offer from Newstalk”, and he and his wife, June, had several meetings with Newstalk and had met with its then owner, Denis O’Brien.

Mr Duffy said he had ultimately turned down an “absolutely incredible” offer because, he said, “I believe in RTÉ [and] I believe in public service”.

Defending his salary in the interview, Duffy said he is employed as a contractor, and as such he had negotiated his salary “fair and square”, adding that he knows that he is well-paid, but he never encounters “begrudgery” himself.

He said: “I just know from where my own family came from, I’m well-paid … [but when] I used to go up to Ballyfermot once a week, it was never once said to me.

He said: “In fact, people say ‘Fair play to you, why shouldn’t you? If other people are getting it at that level, why shouldn’t you?’