Lunchtime Live

Dr Ann-Marie Creaven, psychologist at University of Limerick, joins Lunchtime Live to explore why making new friendships gets harder with age — and how to open yourself up to connection. Listeners also share how they’ve built friendships later in life, and the challenges they faced.Listen here.

Edel Carey, school liaison officer with the Irish Wheelchair Association, and Joan Carthy, National Advocacy Manager with the IWA, join Lunchtime Live to discuss the challenges of travelling as a wheelchair user. Travel agent John Galligan also joins to explain how accessibility is improving (and where it’s not).Listen here.

In this week’s Regional Roundup, Shane Beatty checks in with stories and voices from across the country.From #lovedonegal day reaching 99 million people to Bruce Springsteen's ancestral Kildare home becoming a tourist Mecca.Listen here.

Independent Senator Michael McDowell joins Lunchtime Live to argue that banning bedsits may have made housing less accessible. He’s joined by listeners who share their views on whether small, single-occupancy units should return to ease the housing crisis — or if those conditions are a step backwards.Listen here.

Pat Keville from Plantstore.ie joins Lunchtime Live to help listeners with their summer planting dilemmas, from wilting herbs to container vegetables.He’s joined by Peter Dowdall, better known as The Irish Gardener, to offer more advice on minding your indoor and outdoor plants,Listen here.

With the summer holiday season in full swing and temperatures climbing across Europe, many of us are reaching for insect repellent to avoid those pesky, itchy bites. But what exactly causes these bites, and is there anything we can do to stop them? To help us understand more, Andrea is joined by Collie Ennis, Zoology Research Associate and Biodiversity Officer at Trinity College Dublin, and Catriona O'Riordan, Pharmacist in Cork.Listen here.

Earlier this week tickets went on sale for the All-Ireland hurling semi-finals in Croke Park, with stand tickets for either day costing €60 each.  Many people have been complaining about the cost of tickets, which have increased in recent years. So, have GAA tickets become too expensive? Andrea speaks to listeners impacted by the rising prices.Listen here.

Joyce, June and Paula Kavanagh are three sisters born into a large family of ten children in the late 1950’s-early 1960’s in a disadvantaged area of Dublin, where their father sexually abused them daily from age three or four right up to their late teens.In 1989, they made the decision to bring charges against their father and, in 1990; the Irish State took a successful case against him.The sisters joined Andrea earlier to tell their story and speak about their new audiobook The Grip of Childhood Sexual Abuse to help others going through or dealing with childhood trauma.Listen here.This episode discusses topics related to sexual abuse and trauma, which some listeners may find distressing. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised, support is available. You can contact One in Four for professional, confidential help.

In this week's The Making of, we do a deep dive into The Beetles' iconic, influential and incredible Abbey RoadJoining Andrea today is Head tour guide at the Irish Rock ‘N’ Roll Museum Experience Alan Buckley.Alan talks us through the road to Abbey Road and the ever-lasting impact this album has.Listen here.

With fast fashion increasingly under fire for its environmental impact, online retailer ASOS has taken a firm stance against 'serial returners’ This growing trend has prompted ASOS to tighten its return policies, identifying repeat offenders and warning them that their accounts could be permanently closed.  What does this mean for online shoppers who depend on these sites to find clothes that best suit them? Andrea speaks to listeners and more, listen here.