Lunchtime Live

Every Friday, as part of our ‘Ask Me Anything’ series, we put your questions to people from interesting backgrounds or working in different careers. This week, Andrea was joined by Pat Falvey, explorer, adventurer and mountaineer to answer any of your questions, including what it was like to climb Mount Everest!

We’re a week out from visiting our local polling station – often a school – and today the National Parents Council have called for alternative facilities to be used to stop needless disruption to working parents. What are your thoughts, should local GAA clubs or parish halls be used more? Does running an election on a weekend morning facilitate greater turnout and avoid school closure? Andrea is j...

A study by Showcase Cinemas has voted Home Alone as the best Christmas film – but what elements make a good Christmas film? Joining Andrea to discuss and share their favourites is Rory Cashin, Entertainment Journalist, Cara O'Doherty, Film Reviewer and Bella Finn from Newstalk’s Newsroom. Image: 20th Century Fox

From a Grammy winner starting out working in Galway to poems on the menu in Sligo, Breakfast Briefing Presenter Shane Beatty joins Andrea with plenty of stories from around the country this week!

Noel Gallagher, 33, from Dadreen, Louisburgh, Co Mayo, was sentenced to four years in prison earlier this month. Sometime between 2006 and 2007 when Noel was 15 years old, he raped his cousin Dylan Gallagher, who was 9 years old at the time. Mr Justice David Keane praised Dylan Gallagher's strength, resilience, dignity and perseverance. Dylan joins Andrea to discuss. If this podcast affected you i...

Whether you’re an early bird or hanging on closer to December, you’ve probably started to think about putting the Christmas decorations up. From storage to making your room more classy and less tacky – the home squad are here to help! Róisín Lafferty, Founder and Creative Director of Róisín Lafferty and Emma Delaney, Senior Interior Designer from April & the Bear join Andrea to discuss.

Hopefully you heard some of our Election Special yesterday, where we heard from you about what issues you wanted raised in the upcoming vote, and we put those issues to our politicians. One person who was there and heard it all was Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal Consultant Ruth Maxwell, and she joins Andrea to discuss her reaction to what the politicians had to say on crime.

The Lidl or Aldi ‘Middle Aisle’ has become a world of its own. There seems to be so many stories of people getting lost down the middle aisle, spending a fortune and coming home with a kayak when they only went out for cheese! So, what’s the appeal? Andrea is joined by Jess Kelly, Newstalk’s Tech Correspondent Laura MullettIN: Fashion Stylist, Journalist and Broadcaster, Damian O'Reilly Lecturer i...

Are you a hoarder, or maybe just find it difficult to part with certain things? Have you ever considered taking a leaf out of Sweden’s book and doing a ‘death clean’? Kathy Donaghy, Journalist with the Irish Independent is writing about this, and joins Andrea along with listeners to discuss.

From Toy Story to the Kindle, 98fm’s Ciaran O’Connor joins Andrea with plenty to chat about on this week’s throwback Thursday! Image: Disney

Healthcare stu­dents at Trin­ity Col­lege Dub­lin have staged a protest over what they call ‘years of mis­treat­ment’ related to the high cost of going on place­ment. The students said they had issues trav­el­ling cross-country with little notice for clin­ical place­ments, and pay­ing out of pocket for accom­mod­a­tion, uni­forms, trans­port and vac­cin­a­tions. Trinity College Dublin Students’ Un...

Lunchtime Live is taking place in the Royal Dublin Convention Centre for its General Election 2024 Town Hall Special, hearing out listeners’ issues and getting answers from candidates face-to-face. Andrea is joined by a live audience to cover topics such as the cost of living, family, healthcare and crime. Also joining is Newstalk’s Political Correspondent, Seán Defoe. The election candidates in t...

Welcome to The Pod Squad! We review podcasts every Tuesday so you always have something new to listen to. This week, Entertainment & Culture Journalist Rory Cashin and Today FM Presenter Shelly Gray join Andrea to review ‘How Did This Get Made?’! Image: Earwolf

As the cold weather creeps in, apparently we should be keeping the curtains open to make our house cosier? Jenny Sheahen, Irish Examiner Columnist and former winner of ‘Home of the Year’ joins Andrea to discuss if that is true, and talk about some other cold weather home hacks!

Bilingual food packaging seems to be the only thing government parties can agree on at the moment: including the Irish language on products has been a key promise on most parties’ manifestos. This is the result of the work of Cian Ward, a 28-year-old Cavan man who thought of the idea when living abroad. Should introducing bilingual food packaging be a government priority? Andrea is joined by liste...

Escape rooms, axe throwing, obstacle course… No, they’re not SAS training regimes - these are all examples of the new trend hitting offices across the world: team-building events!  Cringe-inducing as they might be, these team building events are sworn by to help improve productivity and communication, but could they also be just a load of nonsense? To discuss, Andrea is joined by Margaret Cox...

This year on Lunchtime Live we’ve been looking at things that we can do in order to make ourselves that bit happier and healthier. This week, to talk about being sober-curious, Andrea is joined by Alcohol-Free Performance Coach Siobhan O’Connor.

Gardaí will today publish the pictures of dozens of rioters who took part in the violent disorder in Dublin city centre in November of last year… Around 100 suspects are yet to be identified in the investigation, and Gardai are appealing to the public for information. It is an unprecedented move - the first time in the history of the force that such a tactic has been used on such a large scale. Wh...

Dr Niall Breen from the Portmarnock GP Clinic joined Andrea Gilligan to tackle your medical queries.

Do we think enough about the after care of our prisoners? Are we doing enough to help them rejoin society, and stop reoffending? Andrea is joined by three people who think we can do a lot more to discuss, including Michele Kerrigan, Executive Director at Care After Prison.

Andrea is joined by Independent candidate Dr Tom Clonan to discuss an issue he had over the weekend with people parking in disabled spaces when they shouldn’t be. How often does this happen, and how big of an issue is it? Also joining to discuss is Peter Gohery from the Disabled Drivers Association and listeners.

With Christmas on the way - many people will be putting lights up outside, and city centres will light up like a festive tree. But, are Christmas lights too wasteful, and do they hurt the environment? If so, is it time to drop them? Andrea is joined by John Gibbons, Environmental Journalist as well as listeners to discuss.

This is Lunchtime Live’s Big Batch. Every Monday we’ll be learning new easy to cook batch recipes to keep you eating well. No more staring into an open fridge looking for inspiration! This week, Andrea is joined by Chef and Director of Conbini Condiments, Holly Dalton to learn more about how you can make and use different ice cubes for easy cooking! Follow the hashtag #LLBigBatch for all our recip...

Is there too much violence in movies and TV shows? Director Ridley Scott has said that TV shows about murder and rape are ‘giving people ideas’... Speaking to the Sunday Times he said: “Entertainment is, to a degree, a little twisted...what’s the matter with good, clean stories? If there’s one more TV show about a girl found in the woods who has been raped and dead for 25 years? Stop. It gives peo...

Trying to pick the right tiles or wooden flooring can be daunting – or do you go for carpet? There’s a lot to consider, but the Home Squad are here to help! Andrea is joined by Jenny Sheahan, Irish Examiner Columnist and former winner of ‘Home of the Year’ and Sarah Carroll from Sand and Deliver DIY to discuss.