[2] According to the Irish Independent, "[Joe Duffy's] greeting at 1.45pm every weekday—"Hello, good afternoon and you're very welcome to Liveline"—is the signal for 400,000 listeners to sit back and await some lively debate or the exposure of a scam or a social scandal".
As an example of typical programming, in early August of 2007, Liveline ran a series of programmes focusing on the problems experienced by those who holiday abroad, regaling listeners with stories of the dangers of foreign resorts, and the corruption of Turkish and other local police authorities, and warnings of grasping and inhospitable hotel managements.
The debate featured heated discussions with journalist Hermann Kelly following the publication of an article he wrote in the Irish Mail on Sunday in which he criticised the notion of gays and lesbians adopting children.
Following the debate a number of complaints were aired by listeners centring on the conduct of O'Rourke and alleging that she had cut Kelly off, had interrupted him on occasions, and had left him to defend his stance alone against several hostile callers.
A Mary Moriarty, amongst five listeners to complain about the debate,[9] told the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) that callers had made slanderous remarks on Kelly several times and had not been asked for an apology or retraction of their statements.
[10]Transport minister Martin Cullen and his former PR adviser, Monica Leech, sought compensation in 2005 for damage to their reputation after a caller to Liveline made lewd suggestions about them live on air.
[12] This followed on from the outrage caused when Duffy was held responsible by Finance Minister, Brian Lenihan for inciting widespread public fear that Irish citizens were on the verge of losing their savings.
The broadcasts were subsequently criticised by LGBTQ+ activists and others, with Ailbhe Smyth accusing the programme of enabling "hate speech",[15] and RTE receiving nine formal complaints.
[16] After the episodes were aired, Dublin Pride announced that they would be terminating their media partnership with RTÉ, with a statement from the group saying they were "angered and disappointed" by the discussions held on the broadcasts, and criticising "anti-trans rhetoric" on the programme.