Former Radio Clyde presenter and newsreader Sheila Duffy dies
Sheila Duffy was part of the original news team when Clyde went on air
Last updated 6th Nov 2023
Sheila Duffy, who was part of the original line-up of presenters and journalists when Radio Clyde went on air has died, aged 77, from cancer.
Already an established name as a reporter with Scottish Television, Sheila was one of the team recruited by Jimmy Gordon - later Lord Gordon of Strathblane - to launch the station, which began broadcasting on Hogmanay 1973 and is about the celebrate its 50th anniversary.
In a radio career lasting more than a quarter of a century, Sheila became one of the most familiar voices in Glasgow and the west as a newsreader and presenter.
Sheila was married to the actor Paul Young, known most recently to fans of Still Game for playing 'Shug' - a technical wizard with astonishingly good hearing.
Laughs at 'Recipe Time'
Appointed as the station's Womens Editor, and reflective of attitudes of the time, one of her roles was to present the 'Recipe Time' slot alongside Steve Jones, and later, Bill Smith who recalls: "When I did the lunchtime show Sheila used to record 'Recipe Time' and the laughs we had!
"It used to take us two or three times longer than the actual broadcast because there was always a laugh and something funny to be said.
"She could turn her hand to just about anything - she was so learned - and always had a smile and a joke for the place, and in radio that's what keeps you going."
Chat show host
Her longest-running slot was the interview show 'Duffy Meets' where over two decades Sheila created an extensive library of recordings with showbiz celebrities and notable figures from across Scotland and the UK, including Sir Billy Connolly, Sir David Attenborough, Sir Jackie Stewart, Michael Parkinson and Dame Joan Collins, discussing their upbringing, careers and sharing some of their favourite music.
"She was always well researched, always got something different out of every guest," remembers former newsroom colleague, Ronnie Bergman.
Embarrassing moment with 'The Big Yin'
Despite being a personal friend of Sir Billy, Ronnie recalls the time Sheila failed to recognise the comedian-turned-actor in the radio station's canteen.
"There was this man sitting unobtrusively in the corner with a pot of tea. He’d shaved his beard and cut his hair to film the movie ‘The Big Man’ and it was only when he said, "Are you trying to ignore me Ms Duffy?" did we recognise his voice!"
As well as being a radio personality Sheila made occasional appearances on the small screen, playing cameo roles in famous Scottish TV shows including 'Taggart' and 'City Lights', often playing the part of a reporter.
For a period in the 1990s she was a columnist in the Evening TImes (now known as the Glasgow Times).
Outside broadcasting Sheila had a deep interest in genealogy, and latterly campaigned for a change in the law in Scotland on assisted dying.
15 minutes of fame
The one time newsreader Sheila Duffy herself became front page news was the morning after Glasgow woke up to a blanket of thick snow in late-December 2000.
Sheila was photographed digging her beloved Mini Cooper out of a snowdrift near her home in the west end and years later told the story to the Guardian.
She wrote: "It was about 8am, and the streets were deserted. Loads of people had had to abandon their cars in the main road. I hadn’t a hope in hell of moving it.
"I started to dig around the car, in an attempt to get it out, so I wasn’t aware of this guy approaching me. He said, “Is it all right if I take your photograph?” I didn’t realise he was a press photographer; I thought he was just a passerby with a camera.
"I said, “Yeah, go ahead.” I wasn’t that interested, I was worried about the car. He took the photograph and must have asked my name and age. I didn’t think any more about it.
"The next morning my daughter came through the house shouting, “Mum! Mum!” Her boyfriend was at his father’s newsagents sorting the newspapers for the delivery boys, and he’d phoned, saying, “Your mum’s in the Sun, the Express, the Daily Record, the Herald, the Scotsman…”
"I use it as my screensaver, and as a heading on my notepaper. It’s framed and hanging on the wall.... It was my 15 minutes of fame."