Glor Theatre Clare Ireland

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10 Books you should Read with Fiona Looney & Joe Duffy

‘What shall we read next’ is a perennial question for book clubs and avid readers.

’10 Books you should Read’ will be suggested in a session presented by Fiona Looney & Joe Duffy

Fiona Looney is a playwright, author, newspaper columnist and broadcaster.  Her two plays, Dandelions (2005) and October (2009), enjoyed extended runs in Dublin’s Olympia Theatre and at The Opera House in Cork. Prior to her debut as a playwright, she carved a career as a journalist, scriptwriter and broadcaster, becoming a household name through her columns in The Sunday Tribune and, for the past two years, The Daily Irish Mail and The Irish Mail On Sunday and through her weekly contributions to The Gerry Ryan Show. She has appeared regularly on television – The Late Late Show, Midday, The Panel and Capital D are amongst her most recent credits – and she has worked extensively on radio, both in Ireland and in the UK. 

She presented a weekly programme on BBC London for two years and has contributed to BBC Radio One, Radio Four and BBC Glasgow.  In Ireland, she presented two series of the travel series Voyager on RTE and has been with The Gerry Ryan Show for more than 20 years. Her scriptwriting credits are likewise split between Ireland and the UK. 

Her television credits include The Fast Show (BBC), No Limits (Sky One), This Is Ireland (BBC) and You’re A Star, Chain Reactions, Buried Alive and The Irish Film and Television Awards, all for RTE.  She devised Celebrity Bainisteoir, which was a critical and commercial hit for RTE earlier this year. 

Joe Duffy was born in Dublin in 1956. He joined RTÉ Radio as a producer in 1989. Since then he has worked his way through several shows, first as a reporter on the Gay Byrne Show and then as presenter of several programmes including the media programme Soundbyte. Liveline has been in his very capable hands since 1999. From that date the early afternoon talk show has taken on a distinctive character that is all Joe. Liveline was already an established chat show, before Joe took it on. From day one he went out to get the people's story. It has been like that ever since."If people have a story to tell they phone Liveline", he says. "The topics come from the callers. They make the show what it is". And that could be anything, from dodgy dealers to your favourite holiday reading.