Moncrieff

Over the last twenty-five years, Ireland has changed. Our voices got louder. Our culture reached further, and some extraordinary people helped shape it all. From trailblazers in the arts and social change, to leaders in sport, music and on the big screen, we’re counting down the most influential Irish people of the last 25 years. You, the listener, have been voting for who you think are the most i...

Has the rolling out of tasers as part of a pilot programme with Gardaí been a rushed decision, and could it lead to an escalation in the use of force particularly in these busy Christmas weeks, with body cams also being piloted? Lucy Michael is Principal Investigator at Lucy Michael Research Training and Consultancy and a former member of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. She has don...

What's it like when adults return to the family home for Christmas, do they revert to their childlike behaviours like fighting over the remote? Henry McKean has been asking the public, and joins Seán to discuss.

We’ve all seen politicians’ cringe-worthy efforts at communicating with us over social media. The question is: why can’t they get it right? Steven O’Leary, Founder of Olyitico and a social media expert, joins Seán to discuss just why politicians are so unnatural online.

Many women will know the struggle of Spanx, and especially as the Christmas party season is in full flow, there is a chance that people are looking to look slim in their party clothes... But, shapewear for men is now growing in popularity as men seek those smooth lines also. For more on this, Seán is joined by Guardian Columnist Tim Dowling. Image: Underworks

What is a film inside a film, and do you remember some of the movies that characters in famous Christmas films were watching? Home Alone and The Holiday are just some of the films which have fake movies, and Lynn Fisher has created a special database of these fake movies: Nestflix. Lynn joins Seán to discuss.

Renowned Chef Dean Diplock, joins Seán to talk about the national obsession of his home country of South Africa: barbequing, and whether or not you should barbeque your Christmas turkey!

According to Grindr’s end of year ‘Unwrapped’ data, Ireland has the highest percentage of bears in the world. No, not the ones that eat honey. Joining Seán to discuss is Neal O’Hara, Chairman of Dublin Bears!

Seán is joined by one of Ireland’s most influential poets, Paula Meehan. With a career spanning decades, Paula’s work has consistently explored themes of home, belonging, and marginalisation, speaking for those often left unheard. Born in Dublin, she grew up in the tenements and has used her poetry to give voice to the dispossessed. Paula is speaking at Other Voices, held in the Guiness storehouse...

Christmas time wouldn’t be complete without the festive shop window displays. Seán’s guest’s grandfather led the design and construction of Gimbel’s Christmas window displays in the 1940s. The department store has become a hallmark of the holiday season, featured in classics like ‘Elf’, and ‘Miracle on 34th Street'. Emer Roche joins to discuss!

A group of locals on Valentia Island are seeking permission to refurbish the old First Message Building and Cable Station in order to strengthen their case for it to be a UNESCO World Heritage site. Lucian Horvat, from the Valentia Island Development Company, joins to discuss.

According to a piece in the Huffington Post, American tourists can be spotted abroad because they are the ones scoffing at their food and not sitting down to relax while enjoying a meal in a restaurant... But, are we as bad here, are we all wolfing down our food way too fast? Registered Dietician Aoife Quinn joins Seán to discuss.

Is it better to get no present than to get a bad one? What's the drama behind Kris Kindle? Henry McKean has been asking the public about the politics of gift giving, and joins Seán to discuss.

As energy prices continue to rise and questions are raised over energy supply, it’s being wondered if Ireland should explore nuclear power. To discuss this, Seán is joined by Co-Founder of 18 for 0, Denis Duff, and Barrister and Environmental Campaigner, Neil McCann.

Author Glenn Kurtz is out with a brand-new book chronicling the lives of the men who built the Empire State Building: ‘Men at Work: The Empire State Building and the Untold Story of the Craftsmen who Built It’. He joins Seán to discuss!

With drink-spiking incidents expected to rise over the Christmas party season, the Government is considering new hospital testing protocols. Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan says talks with the Health Minister will focus on ensuring suspected cases are quickly identified, tested, and properly investigated. Joining Seán to discuss this is Dola Twomey of Safe Gigs Ireland.

When was the last time you backed up your data? New research shows that the majority of small businesses in Ireland don’t have any plan in place to avoid or deal with a cyberhack, and with all of us booking GP and hair appointments online, should we be worried?  Dr Hazel Murray, Chair of Cybersecurity at Munster Technical University, joins Seán to discuss.

Eileen Harkin has fostered 27 children so far. This remarkable woman became involved in foster care as a child, when her own mother began taking in children. Eileen joins Seán to tell more about her experience.

Fianna Fáil TD, Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere, joins Seán to discuss his new proposal to give 18-year-olds access to a ‘culture card’, allowing them to spend €100 on cultural and sporting events.

Renewed fighting on the Cambodian-Thai border has displaced thousands and shut down schools in some of Cambodia’s poorest provinces. Irish development workers warn that the unrest threatens decades of progress, and the education of the country’s most vulnerable children… Colm Byrne, CEO of Irish-Cambodian education development NGO, SeeBeyondBorders Ireland and former teacher from Portmarnock joins...

There are now a number of organisations across Ireland providing professional Christmas tree styling services. But, how does it work? Joining guest host Fionnuala Jones to discuss is Arlene McIntyre, Creative Director of Ventura Design in Dublin…

Bobbie Hickey is fully blind, and she has been writing about the simple things that make the world more accessible, and actually improve things for all of us whether you’ve got additional needs or not, like dipped curbs on pavements... Yesterday, she had surgery to begin the process of receiving an artificial eye… She joins Seán from hospital to discuss.

Have young people’s addiction to their phone gone too far? As Australia prepares to remove access to social media for anyone under the age of 16, several countries are reckoning with dangers of unsupervised internet access. Thus, the ‘Smartphone Free Childhood Ireland’ association was born. Starter phones, location tracking devices and even landlines, anything goes to stall the arrival of the smar...

Irish dance halls have been a cornerstone of social life, bringing communities together and sometimes sparking generational debate. The 1935 Public Dance Hall Act formalised these spaces, placing them under state and Church oversight. In Donegal, Edwina Guckian’s ‘The Devil’s in the Dancehall’ brings this history to life, blending theatre with traditional dance and inviting audiences to take part...

Over the past year or two there has been an enormous increase in religious AI chatbots, some even taking on the role of an Almighty. But, what are the ethical implications of this type of technology? Joining Seán to discuss this is Dr. Lyndon Drake, a research fellow at the University of Oxford, who studies theological ethics and artificial intelligence…