Moncrieff Highlights

As we gear up for Eurovision next week, this year marks the 50th anniversary of Abba’s famous 1974 win with ‘Waterloo’. Joining John is Giles Smith, Author of new book ‘My My! Abba Through the Ages’ to discuss.

Being a parent has become increasingly difficult in today’s society, with many external factors now influencing prospective parents’ decisions on whether or not to have a child. Rachel O’Dwyer recently wrote a piece for the Irish Times in which she detailed her experience as a mother of an only child by choice, she joins John to discuss.

One in four young adults have never answered their mobile phone. Henry McKean, who does answer his phone most of the time, joins guest host John Fardy to figure out why young people don’t like answering…

You may remember the extremely problematic reality show ‘There’s something about Miriam’, where contestants did not know that the woman they were hoping to end up with was transgender. A new Channel 4 documentary has been released about this woman called ‘Miriam: Death of A Reality Star’. Luned Tonderai is the Series Director, and joins Seán to discuss.Image: Channel 4

Asylum seekers have been moved from tents at the International Protection Office on Mount Street in Dublin’s city centre to State accommodation in Citywest and Crooksling in southwest Dublin. There were more than 200 tents in the streets and laneways surrounding the office, all occupied by male asylum seekers. To discuss the asylum seeking process in detail with Séan is Principal of Sinnott Solicitors Dublin, as well as Founding Member of the Irish Immigration Lawyers Association, Carol Sinnott. 

There seems to be a new trend every single day that never fails to shock people. Pee-stained jeans are the latest fashion trend...or disaster. Are these crazy pieces created just to get publicity, or are we just not fashionable enough?Laura Mullett is a journalist and fashion expert and joins Seán to discuss the latest ‘fashion’ trends.

As the government rolls out the hot school meals scheme to more and more primary schools across the country, is it fit for purpose? Or should it be done in a more environmentally friendly way? Joining Seán is Ruth Hegarty, Food Policy Consultant to discuss.

It’s the first of May, and for many people out there – the official start to summer. But for others, it’s all a lie - and summer won’t start until June! Discussing one of the greatest debates in the Irish calendar with Seán is Alan O’Reilly from Carlow Weather.   

With a small - but significant community of Irish people living in Israel, what are their views on how the Irish government, and Ireland in general, have been dealing with the current conflict in Gaza? Joining Seán to discuss is John Costello, a Dubliner living in Tel Aviv, who has been writing about these issues in today’s Irish Independent.Image: John Costello 

There’s a new festival in West Cork coming from a galaxy far, far away – you guessed it, the Feel the Force Festival will be celebrating all things Star Wars and superfan Nuri Albakri is the man behind the event and joins Seán to discuss.

With continental European summers getting hotter and drier, is it time for Ireland to step up to the mark and adopt wine agriculture on an industrial scale? The Brits are already at it...Joining Seán to discuss is Hannah Quinn-Mulligan, Farmer and Journalist, who has been writing about this in her column in the Irish Independent.

Despite much scholarship on the subject, there is little agreement on just how many people actually died during the Civil War in 1922 and 1923. However, a new project at UCC aims to change this. Joining Seán to discuss is John Dorney, Research Assistant on the Irish Civil War Fatalities Project and the author of The Civil War in Dublin.Image: National Library of Ireland, HOG54.

Passing down recipes from generation to generation is crucial to our culture but it seems that it has faded in recent years, most likely due to finding a recipe within seconds online. An Irish woman started collecting old Irish recipes in 2020, and now has 3,000 of them! Roisin Hynes is a writer at oldirishrecipes.com, as well as that collector and joins Seán to discuss.Image: Old Irish Recipes

Seán’s guest Susan grew up in a unique household in 1980s Dublin, where her mother ruled the roost as a dominatrix, to make a living after falling on hard times. Susan Bluechild even did a stint herself at 16, assisting her mother with her unusual profession.She joins Seán to talk about the experience.

We’ve all heard the saying ‘like father like son’ but how accurate is that statement? New research has been carried out to investigate how much of our personality we inherit from out parents. Joining Seán to discuss the findings is the lead author of the study, Dr René Mottus, Reader at the University of Edinburgh and Professor at the University of Tartu.