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wash yer hands
Listen to Joe Duffy saying goodbye to '51551 wash yer hands' with a poem
It’s Friday and the sun is shining.
He's said it thousands of times over the last 15 months, but today @joeliveline officially retired "51551 Wash Your Hands". And he penned a very special poem for the occasion. "The soon that we hoped for, is now." @RTERadio1 @rteliveline #WashYourHands pic.twitter.com/VSZFA5Llka
— RTÉ (@rte) June 11, 2021
IN APRIL OF last year Joe Duffy told The Journal that he had “no idea” why he started saying “51551 wash yer hands” when giving out the text number on RTÉ’s Liveline.
The broadcaster had already been giving the pandemic reminder multiple times a day for a month at that stage.
He hasn’t stopped since but Duffy told listeners on his show today that he will not be saying it anymore.
He previously admitted that the ad libbed slogan may end up “on his gravestone” but, with the worst of the pandemic now likely in Ireland’s rear view mirror, he is calling time on “Five One Double Five One Wash Your Hands”.
To mark the occasion, Duffy has penned a poem to remember it. Even better though his delivery is about as perfect as you’d expect.
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