Lunchtime Live

From James Bond hitting our screens to the Thrilla in Manila fight, Ciaran O’Connor from 98fm joins Andrea Gilligan to rewind the clock!

The annual state grant to the horseracing and greyhound industries has increased by €4.1 million to €99.1 million for 2025: the highest the fund has reached in its 23 years of existence.The funding will be split between the two sports in an 80:20 ratio, €79.28m will go to Horse Racing Ireland, with €19.82m for Greyhound Racing Ireland, the governing bodies for the two industries.What do you think about the Government giving funds to the tune of almost 100 million to horse and greyhound racing?Andrea is joined by Johnny Ward from Off the Ball’s Racing Pod, Nuala Donlon from Greyhound Action Ireland, Damien Matthews, Chairman of the Irish Greyhound Owners & Breeders Federation and more to discuss.

For this week’s Ask the Expert, Andrea Gilligan is joined by Frank McGrath, Hearing Aid Audiologist with Ear Care Clinics, to answer all of your hearing-related questions!

It’s International Coffee Day this week!Technically it was yesterday, but with Budget day overshadowing things, it seemed right to still celebrate!But, do we know enough about the stuff we’re consuming every day?Andrea is joined by James McCormack, CEO of the Dublin Barista School and Heather Leeson, Registered Nutritional Therapist with Glenville Nutrition.

The amount that a person can receive as a gift or inheritance from a relation before having to pay Capital Acquisitions Tax will be increased as part of Budget 2025.Inheritance tax, which is technically known as the Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT), is a tax of 33% on gifts and inheritances which kicks in at a particular limit. It does not have to be paid if the inheritance does not reach this limit.The threshold when inheritance tax must be paid has been increased from €335,000 to €400,000 for children. Is this fair?Andrea is joined by Jean Cashman, Registered Tax Consultant, Rowena Quinn, Managing Partner at Hunters Estate Agent and listeners to discuss.

‘Anyone else find friendship in their 40s hard?’ – so asked Journalist Niamh O’Reilly as she scribbled on the wall of a bathroom cubicle!Niamh joins Andrea as well as other listeners to discuss why she wrote that.

Lunchtime Live's Reasons to be Happy looks at some of the news stories that you might have missed that will leave you feeling more optimistic.Ciara Treacy, Newstalk’s Digital Content Creator, joined Andrea this week to share all the things to make you smile!

Earlier on Newstalk, Home Show Presenter Sinead Ryan spoke about being a Godparent despite not being religious, and whether or not that matters. What do you think?  Should you have to be religious to be a Godparent?Andrea is joined by listeners including Anne Marie McAuley, Wedding and Family Celebrant to discuss.

Are we losing the ability to write legibly?Poor handwriting in Scottish schools is holding pupils back with assessors increasingly deducting marks from “indecipherable” exam papers.Do you think handwriting has gotten worse?Andrea is joined by listeners to discuss.

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, Andrea is joined by Collette O’Hagan to learn all about marathons - she’s about to do her 1,000th!