
Brendan O'Connor
Brendan O'Connor has all you need for the weekend with time to pause and reflect on the week just gone. Featuring a selection of human interest, consumer and lifestyle stories, as well as keeping you up to date on the news stories that matter. Listen live Saturday and Sunday at 11am - 1pm on RTÉ Radio 1.
Latest episodes

May 31, 2025 • 7min
How to marinade like a pro
Eamon de Freitas, Irish-Trinidadian Chef tells Brendan why a marinade might be your ticket to big flavour.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 31, 2025 • 29min
“I never would’ve left Ireland if it had been the creative country it is today!”
Award-winning actress Fiona Shaw talks about her Cork upbringing, her career in theatre, opera, film and TV and meeting her wife, Sonali, who lost her husband and children in a tsunami. She also picks five songs that have meant something special to her throughout her life from Bob Marley to Tracy Chapman to Leonard Cohen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 31, 2025 • 13min
Meabh Quoirin - “Nóra is always there holding my hand”
Nóra Quoirin was 15 years old when she died in tragic circumstances while on a family holiday in Malaysia in 2019. Today, on Nóra's birthday, her mother Meabh talks to Brendan about her brave, brilliant daughter. Meabh describes a powerful evening at Queen's University Belfast, where Nóra was celebrated through poetry and music.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 31, 2025 • 8min
Why your kids need to be doing household chores
Leisha Redmond McGrath, chartered work and coaching psychologist talks to Brendan about the long-lasting benefits of kids helping-out with household chores, the tricks to getting kids and teenagers on board, and how chores can build confidence and resilience long into their adulthood.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 31, 2025 • 30min
Your summer reading list by Naoise Dolan, John Banville and Emer McLysaght
Authors Naoise Dolan, John Banville & Emer McLysaght bring us an eclectic list of book recommendations for your suitcase this summer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 25, 2025 • 53min
The Newspaper Panel
Joining Brendan to discuss the Sunday papers are Mick Clifford, Special Correspondent, The Irish Examiner; Brigid Laffan, Emeritus Professor at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute, Peter Brown, Managing Director of Baggot Investment Partners, Susanne Rogers, Research and Policy Analyst, Social Justice Ireland.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 25, 2025 • 30min
“My acts of self-sabotage made my life a million times worse”
Academic Mary Ann Kenny joins Brendan to talk about her new book The Episode which details her mental health struggles after the death of her husband, how her overwhelming guilt and fears for her children consumed her to an extreme level causing her to lose touch with reality and the events that led to her eventual recovery.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 25, 2025 • 10min
"Bands would do well to have a HR figure"
Guns ‘n’ Roses, Foo Fighters, and The Who – three bands which have fired their drummers in recent weeks. Why? Musician Cait O'Riordain has been studying "small team dynamics" - a.k.a. Bands!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 25, 2025 • 10min
The Watchlist
Irish Times Arts Journalist, Nadine O’Regan and Dave O’Callaghan, host of the Here and Back Again Podcast, give Brendan their recommendations for the best T.V. and films to watch for the week ahead.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 24, 2025 • 7min
Summertime Sips
Food and drink writer with the Irish Independent, Aoife Carrigy provides a selection of seasonal mocktail and cocktails to suit those evenings of entertaining and garden barbecues.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.