Joe Duffy said he takes great offence to crime dramas like Love/Hate and Kin for ‘exploiting’ the travails of real people’s lives - like his own growing up in Ballyfermot.
The RTE presenter openly declared his distaste for Love/Hate in the past and said he won’t be rushing to his sofa to catch RTE’s newest crime series Kin at the weekend.
He said: “That’s real people’s lives, that’s my sister’s life, my family life in Ballyfermot.
“I hate their travails being exploited by middle-class actors who are putting on their thick working-class Dublin accents and then go back to eating foie gras during their lunch break,” he told RTE Guide.
RTÉ's highly anticipated Irish crime drama Kin will premiere on Sunday, September 12 at 9.30pm on RTÉ One.
Starring Aidan Gillen and Maria Doyle Kennedy, it follows the lives of a fictional Dublin family embroiled in a gangland war.
Despite tipping away at his own crime novel in his spare time, the Liveline host, 65, admitted he tends to opt for comedy when it comes to relaxing in front of the TV after work.
He said: “The thing that kept me going during the lockdown was Paths to Freedom, the RTE show that’s on the Player now, I must have watched every episode about six times.
“It’s easily the funniest thing RTE has ever broadcast, intentionally,” he joked.
In fact, he was such a big fan, he even wrote to one of the stars of the show, Irish actor and comedian Deirdre O’Kane.
“I wrote to her while I was watching it, because I was so conscious of actors who have lost all of their work during the lockdown, it must have been very tough on them.”
In the meantime, the top radio presenter has been preparing for his own return to the screen, in his second season of The Meaning of Life.
Taking over the spiritually based show from his late colleague and friend, Gay Byrne, Joe admits he still keeps his words of advice to mind at all times.
“Gay Byrne once said to me ‘never mock anyone’s religions or beliefs’.
“I take that very seriously and I don’t mind if people check me if I say something that is insulting to their religion.”
However, asked if he ever sets out to make people cry in the deeply personal interviews - like Piers Morgan has been accused of in his own in-depth interview show, Life Stories, he said: “That’s an insult.”
He went on: “No, you’re not trying to get someone to cry, you want people to be honest with you and tell you what they feel comfortable telling you.
“If that was your attitude in life, you’d be a deeply cynical person and shouldn’t be anywhere near broadcasting.
“You have to care about people and like them, you’re not trying to use them for a reaction.”
The Meaning of Life returns on RTE One Sunday at 10.30pm.
