On Gay Byrne's retirement in 1999, Finucane took over his early morning radio slot to present "The Marian Finucane Show". Another broadcaster, Joe Duffy, took over "Liveline". On 24 June 2005, Finucane presented her final "Marian Finucane Show" in the early morning timeslot. Later that afternoon she received an honorary degree from NUI Galway. Apart from recognising her media work, this degree was in recognition of her work raising funds, along with Clarke, towards the building of an AIDS hospice and orphanage in Cape Town, South Africa. In June 2005 she was replaced in her radio timeslot by Ryan Tubridy; in turn she took over morning slots on Saturday and Sunday.