Lunchtime

From live gigs, comedy, theatre, to festive family fun at key Dublin attractions right across the city – there's something for everyone in Dublin this winter.Every week we will be discussing some of the magical experiences that you can enjoy this winter in Dublin!This week Dara Quilty walks us through some of the magic Christmas spots around Dublin, including a very Christmassy Dublin Bus Tour.Catch the full chat by pressing the Play button on this page.VisitDublin.com is your one-stop-shop to find out everything that’s going on and start planning your Winter in Dublin trip.

It may have been a GAA hall disco, Irish college in the summer, the back of the school, on the edge of a pitch, a house party but wherever you got one did you ever consider where it all started? Today, Muireann O'Connell spoke to Darach Ó Séaghdha who is on the hunt for 'the shift' and is desperately in need of your assistance. He is a journalist, author of Motherfocloir : Dispatches from a not so dead language and curator of the hugely popular Twitter page @theirishfor and he wants to find the origin of the word "shift" Ireland has a well documented list of slang terms in our everyday language, but the one for kissing is one of the most celebrated Does it come from an Irish word? The Irish word ‘sioft’ meaning a trick or a move. Darach has a few theories from his digging but needs more help. Just press the play icon to listen back      

Fancy a Line of O’Kane? From twirling around the ballroom floor to providing belly laughs on stage and TV, it seems there's nothing Deirdre O'Kane can't do! The Drogheda born comedian has made quite the come back to comedy with her sell-out A Line Of O'Kane show. Now she's bringing the show to the Vodafone Comedy Festival on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th July. Deirdre joined Muireann in studio to talk about watching Love Island with her son and daughter, what is was like to work with Curtis on Dancing With The Stars and her love of the Vodafone Comedy Festival. Muireann also challenged her to a game of Deirdre's Deals! If you'd like to see Deirdre at the Vodafone Comedy Festival in Iveagh Gardens you can find ticket information here. To listen to the full chat click the Listen button above.   View this post on Instagram   That is a serious nights comedy @vodafonecomedy You CANT miss that !! 💃🏻 A post shared by Deirdre O'Kane (@deirdreokane123) on Jun 21, 2019 at 12:38pm PDT

Freya Ridings has entered the music scene with a bang. 2018 was a huge year for the London-based singer-songwriter with her single Lost Without You putting her on the map. She was nominated for The Times Breakthrough Award and even had her songs featured in Love Island! Freya's soulful vocal tone soon had listeners hooked. With two live albums and a studio EP already under her belt, plus a Glastonbury performance, fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of her debut studio album. Muireann got to catch up with the 25-year-old on the day of her very special debut studio album release. Freya told Muireann all about the album, how it felt to have Taylor Swift compliment her vocals and how much of a massive Hozier fan she is! Freya Ridings self-titled debut album is available today, July 19th, and has already entered the Irish and UK iTunes chart at number 1! You can listen to the full chat by clicking the Listen button above.     View this post on Instagram   I can't believe I finally get to say this... My debut album is OUT NOW! Thank you to every single person who has supported me over the years. You made this happen ❤❤❤ A post shared by Freya Ridings (@freyaridings) on Jul 19, 2019 at 12:07am PDT

Poor Val got in contact with the show: So, obviously we called her back and got her on air today. Nobody on The Muireann O'Connell show had any idea what the story involved. Boy, are we glad we called her back!! Wow. It's grim. She is STILL not over it and it haunts her to this day. This story involves dressing up to the nines at a new job, a baby elephant, bin bags and a very embarrassed young woman. Just press on the play icon to hear Val's story

Her brother has been parachuted into the Love Island villa and we wil get to meet him tonight, but who is Greg O'Shea? We know that he's 24, he's from Corbally in Limerick, plays sevens rugby professionally for Ireland, studied Law and likes a bit of Pilates. Laura is his older sister and says he's a clean freak like his Mammy! He's also just out of a 4 year relationship and is not afraid to put himself out there especially with the other girls in the Villa. Here he is in action:   View this post on Instagram   Good weekends work ☝🏽 A post shared by Greg O’Shea (@gregoshea) on Jul 25, 2018 at 12:01pm PDT He also loves a pair of budgie smugglers:   View this post on Instagram   Smugglin’ 🏄🏽‍♂️ A post shared by Greg O’Shea (@gregoshea) on Jun 25, 2018 at 11:21am PDT But, we need to know more and who better to chat to than his lovely sister Laura. She spoke to Muireann O'Connell about how the family knew absolutely NOTHING about Greg going on the show and they found out like the rest of us when they sat down to watch the show last night. Just press the play icon to hear the chat    

[audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2019/07/10123205/PJ-GALLAGHER-YOUNG-OFFENDERS-KIERAN-EXTRA-USE1.mp3"][/audio] The stand up superhero who is also known as the ray off sunshine  Barry Walsh in The Young Offenders told Muireann about filming series two and the hunt for extras to take part. The lads are currently filming the new season and were only recently hanging out in the hallowed turf of Turner's Cross: That's some mic biy!!   The action is underway at Turner's Cross. pic.twitter.com/erf0zO8ocu — Andrew Horgan (@AndrewHorgan) July 8, 2019 Here's some classic Barry cock blocking! dump your idiot boyfriend this father's day #TheYoungOffenders pic.twitter.com/2H5O0uAXFR — BBC Three (@bbcthree) June 16, 2019 If you're a feen or a beour and fancy being a part of season two...Just send your name, address and phone number to extrastyo@gmail.com Muireann also spoke to Kieran who was an extra in a movie directed by RON HOWARD. However, he nearly got thrown off set for continually singing the 'Happy Day's theme at Ron while he was directing...it only added to the weirdness that a big-bearded Kieran was dressed like Jesus at the time! Click the play button above to hear the whole chat.

Irish girl Hayley Ryan is blowing up Twitter with her uncanny impressions of this year's Love Island contestants. The 21-year-old from Cork has already hit over 1 millions views on the videos, and has brought much joy to fans. Muireann got to go live to Maura, Curtis, Amber, Anton and Molly-Mae through the amazing talents of Hayley. She is brilliant! We were particularly blown away by her take on Molly-Mae. You can listen to the full chat by clicking the Listen button above. Over on Twitter people were quick to point out just how accurate she gets them, especially fellow Irish girl Maura. Maura is spot on! — Maz C (@Maz_569086) July 7, 2019 Hayley also gave us a great laugh with her takes on Lucie, Amber, Molly-Mae and Amy. The mannerisms and voices are unmistakable. She even managed to nail Curtis and the Scottish twang of Anton. I had to watch your lips with the Maura one to see if it was actually you and not Maura — Shy.ovo (@ShyonGredley) July 8, 2019 We're hoping she'll keep the impressions coming with the rest of the Islanders. You can check out the videos below. Love Island 2019 Impressions ❤️ (Part 2/2) #LoveIslandpic.twitter.com/NtQEWplkuL — Hayley Ryan (@hayls_ryan) July 7, 2019

It’s lunchtime so what better time to chat about food! Mairead Ronan is in for Muireann all this week and today she spoke to a woman who is a professional 'Competitive Eater.' Her name is Leah 'Shuteater' Shutkever who is 29. Not only has she the Official Guinness World Record for the fastest burrito eaten, she also holds the record for fastest Chocolate Orange! Leah is also a fitness freak and sems to be able to burn off the calories pretty fast. She says, "I have very little fat so nothing is pressing down on my stomach so it can expand for these challenges. It takes lots of practice and I'm good at it so I just want to get better." Here she details how to approach a challenge and then proceeds to inhale A DOZEN KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS. She has also cained a 40z burger called 'The Beast' Tonight on Channel 4 is a film called ‘Battle of the Super Eaters: 3000 Calories a Minute’ which follows three competitive eaters.  

Kevin O'Brien is from Cork and had his bike stolen a few weeks back. He spotted it online for sale and then concocted an intricate sting operation to get it back. It included false names, emails and a team of crack individuals to pull off this mission! Here he is with the spoils of his sting operation.

There was room for about 400 people. Would Wee Daniel have got in? The TV show 'Chernobyl' recently got voted as the highest rated series on IMDB. At at the time there was literally a worldwide fallout of fear after the explosion and it stretched as far as the North West Of Ireland. This week back in 1986 'Jackson’s Hotel' in Ballybofey, Donegal offered to turn their underground disco into a nuclear shelter! There was one catch... it was £250 a head for the privilege! The current General Manager, Philip Lee told Muireann O'Connell they never sold a ticket but are now sticking to Spa weekends instead!  

If you spotted the trail of crumbs left on social media, then you may have guessed that this week is all about celebrating the biscuit. It's National Biscuit Week or Day or something along those lines. So, in this spirit The Muireann O'Connell Show was chatting all about Ireland's love affair with the crunchy treats. Little did we know it would inspire the greatest text we've ever received. This led to us calling them back. Behold, Eileen in Wexford and her hilarious Hob-Nob story. Just press play and make sure you're not operating any machinery, believe us you'll be in stitches. In other biscuit related news. Here is our Official Biscuit Map Of Ireland as voted by you guys:   This is The Official Biscuit Map Of Ireland according to listeners to @MuireannO_C show. We asked people to tell us their County and their favourite biscuit. Do you agree? Help us finish it! #NationalBiscuitDay pic.twitter.com/BPkrsumfV5 — Today FM (@TodayFM) May 29, 2019

It's here guys. The watch has ended. What did you make of it all? There is no further information to put in this post because I haven't watched it yet so I haven't even listened (I'm watching it tonight...Monday) but Muireann O'Connell and her very special guest and super-fan Roisin O'Reilly stayed up Sunday night and have all the goss. "This podcast is dark and full of reaction."    

***SPOILER ALERT*** This podcasts contains spoilers for Game of Thrones, Season 8 Episode 5, if you haven't caught up yet, bookmark this podcast and come back to us when you've watched it! Every week, when our watch has ended, Muireann O'Connell brings you all things Game of Thrones Season 8. Lads, we're down to the final episode, there's only one more left! What does a Game of Throne-less world even look like? Join Muireann and the panel as they chat through this week's penultimate episode, 'The Bells.' [audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2019/05/14124208/THE-NIGHTS-WATCH-EPISODE-5.mp3"][/audio]

Ellen spoke to us on Friday about her romantic weekend away in the West which turned into a mountain challenge! Her boyfriend Peter aka Ray 'Maybe' Mears fancied getting up on Mayo's finest hump, Croagh Patrick so she said, "feck it i'm up for the challenge!" She was told she needed to be "sure footed as a goat" and now she's proven she really is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) by getting up and down in one piece. Ellen says she couldn't have done it without her trusty stick. How did she get on? "It's the most Catholic thing I've ever done in my life! You need to be harbouring a lot of guilt to be doing that of a Sunday!" Muireann checked in with her today. Loved every minute 🙃 pic.twitter.com/UhKydqD87f — Ellen Coyne (@ellenmcoyne) May 12, 2019 And there's always a creamy reward at the bottom! Creamy angel 👼 pic.twitter.com/HNwVqnEN4K — Ellen Coyne (@ellenmcoyne) May 12, 2019

He got his first ride when he was only ten and has since been addicted to roller-coasters. Since then he's had 1,200 rides (not all naked!) David Ellis is an Accountant by day but a Nude Rollercoaster Rider at night! Unlike Superman he takes his clothes off and there's nothing underneath. It's been up and down and side to side but he is a five-time Guinness World Record Holder for his naked exploits and he told Muireann all about it. He's even featured in The Guardian: The most important question of course being, "What's the craic with bum sweat!?" [audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2019/05/13133233/ROLLERCOASTER-NUDE-GUY.mp3"][/audio] Here's David and the rest of his naked crew breaking the record for most naked people on a roller-coaster. They recently shivered their way into the Guinness Book Of Records by getting 195 naked bodies on to the Grand National wooden roller coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England.

Ellen and her boyfriend are heading to Westport this weekend for a romantic getaway – but she's swapping roses for rocks...the granite type. Discussing their trip West it was her partner Peter who suggested, "ah yeah let’s climb Croagh Patrick for the craic – and isn’t there a pub at the bottom for creamy pints” He seems to think it'll be a breeze. She wasn’t convinced. So, utilising her skills as an award winning journalist she took to the Internet to find out more... Is Croagh Patrick .... hard? I thought little children and old people with no shoes on did it but then I read this TripAdvisor review and now I’m very afraid of what the weekend has in store for me pic.twitter.com/cnPdJWkQQB — Ellen Coyne (@ellenmcoyne) May 8, 2019 She’s got lots of conflicting advice from “you have to be as sure footed as a goat” to “ah yeah no bother” And what the hell is “The Cone!” She is off to buy a high-vis and proper hiking boots – Peter her boyfriend is very blasé about the whole thing. Ellen is still bringing the glam to Croagh Patrick as she's just got the nails done! Hopefully there won't be any heavy impact rock ascending! She is doing all the research – he is very laid back – this could be a romantic comedy set on Croagh Patrick! As she tells Muireann on TodayFM she may have to document her expedition to ensure her survival! Watch this space we will be checking in with Ellen next week to see how she got on.

***SPOILER ALERT*** This podcasts contains spoilers for Game of Thrones, Season 8 Episode 3, if you haven't caught up yet, bookmark this podcast and come back to us when you've watched it! Every week, when our watch has ended, Muireann O'Connell and guests will be bringing you all the Game of Thrones Season 8 chats.  

Described as the “jewel in the crown of Irish rallying” the Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes 2019 takes place in Killarney this Bank Holiday weekend. The event is celebrating its 40th anniversary and they have a very special guest this year. So, who better to chat to about it than local man and this year's Rally Ambassador Michael Fassbender. The star of Hunger, Shame, Inglorious Basterds, 12 Years A Slave, Dark Phoenix, and the X-Men movies plus many more has another passion and that's cars. He loves a good ride!  (he can't help dropping in driving puns as you'll hear in this interview!)   The Hollywood A-Lister and Acting superstar has a real love of his Kingdom and in particular Killarney. He was asked to be the Ambassador of this year's rally and jumped at the chance. It comes with perks especially for a petrol head like Fass. As Ambassador he gets to test drive the cars taking part in the race – including a Porsche 911, a Mk 2 Ford Escort and a Ford Puma S1600. Proud as punch perched on a Porsche with his beloved Killarney in the background! Pic courtesy of Valerie O'Sullivan. Twitter: @valphoto After driving for Ferrari at the Canadian Grand Prix, he was so good Ferrari’s Scuderia Corsa Team offered him a place to be a driver and you compete professionally! He told Muireann about how much he loves being home, his car obsession, meeting his hero Michael Schumacher (would he play him in a movie?) and loads more. You can take the man out of Kerry but you'll never take the Kerry out of the man. Fassbender is officially one of the soundest people ever! Picture courtesy of motorsportmagazine.com                

Avril sent us this very cute little boomerang of her twins. Johnny and Harry are inseparable brothers/superheroes and wanted to do their bit to help Dare To Care. Listening to the Muireann O'Connell show Harry turned to his Mum and said,  "Mam I'd like to give my €11 to the dancers if it would help them out" Hey @MuireannO_C @TodayFM #DareToCare Harry is 6 and is kicking Lymphomas ass here in Waterford. We have €11 in the piggy bank to give you if you play Shotgun by George Ezra pic.twitter.com/vV5HNPCCoH — Avril Bowe (@abowe) April 30, 2019   It is all the money in his piggy bank. Thinking of other people at such a young age. In October of last year their world was turned up side down when Harry was diagnosed with Lymphoma. Mam Avril had only herself beaten cancer so this was a real kick in the teeth. But they haven't looked down only up and only forward. Harry has been an inspiration and has bounced back and started in Avril's own words to "kick Lymphoma's ass" The lads are both HUGE superhero fans and recently went to see Avengers: Endgame and dressed up as Captain America and Thor you can see! (they don't mess about these fellas) We know Harry is going to hammer Lymphoma!   ⚡ Harry's our REAL-LIFE SUPERHERO! ⚡ Harry, who is 6-years old and battling lymphoma, gave up his €11 from his piggy bank to help fight cancer! 🐷 💶#DareToCare @IrishCancerSoc #AvengersEndgame @chrishemsworth @marvel @marvelstudios ♥️❤️♥️ pic.twitter.com/6TQisUb7nZ — Today FM (@TodayFM) April 30, 2019 How Do I Donate? Text donation At any time at all, you can pick up your phone and text the word DARE to 50300 to donate €4 to the Irish Cancer Society. Text costs €4. Irish Cancer Society will receive a minimum of €3.60. Service Provider: LIKECHARITY. Helpline: 076 6805278 Or head to Cancer.ie/Dance to donate online. Where does my money go? €60 will cover the cost of a counselling session to help a person cope with a cancer diagnosis in their life €75 will provide in-depth consultations on our Cancer Nurseline for three people €120 pays for five Spill Kits for Volunteer Drivers in the event a patient is ill in their car Irish Cancer Society Night Nurses ensure that families of patients and their loved ones remain in the comfort and dignity of their own home. €306 provides one night of care for a patient during the last days of their life. If you've set up a fundraiser and you want to donate you can also call the fundraising team on CallSave 1850 60 60 60 and donate/lodge your funds by debit or credit card. If you have any questions you can get in touch with the fundraising team at the Irish Cancer Society on CallSave 1850 60 60 60 or by emailing fundraising@irishcancer.ie You can also drop a cheque or bank draft in the post with your name, address and supporter number to the Irish Cancer Society at: 43/45 Northumberland Road, Dublin 4. All cheques must be made out to Irish Cancer Society.