Joe Duffy media firm sees accumulated profits top €520,000

Directors’ fees for RTÉ presenter and his wife, June Meehan, drop €20,000 to €270,000 in 12 months to last April

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

Accounts for Claddaghgreen Limited, where Mr Duffy sits on the board with his wife, June Meehan, show directors’ pay at the business fell to €270,000 last year from €290,000 in 2021.

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

Figures released by RTÉ last month show that Mr Duffy was paid €351,000 in 2021 for his Liveline and TV work for the national broadcaster. The payout ranked him as the second-highest-paid broadcaster at the station behind only outgoing Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy.

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The €351,000 payout to the Ballyfermot man, who is not an employee of RTÉ but operates instead as a contractor, was down on the €360,650 he was paid in 2020, €392,494 in 2019 and €404,988 for 2018.

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.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times