Highlights From Lunchtime Live

From Toy Story to the Kindle, 98fm’s Ciaran O’Connor joins Andrea with plenty to chat about on this week’s throwback Thursday!Image: Disney

Healthcare stu­dents at Trin­ity Col­lege Dub­lin have staged a protest over what they call ‘years of mis­treat­ment’ related to the high cost of going on place­ment.The students said they had issues trav­el­ling cross-country with little notice for clin­ical place­ments, and pay­ing out of pocket for accom­mod­a­tion, uni­forms, trans­port and vac­cin­a­tions.Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union President Jenny Maguire and more join Andrea to discuss.

Lunchtime Live is taking place in the Royal Dublin Convention Centre for its General Election 2024 Town Hall Special, hearing out listeners’ issues and getting answers from candidates face-to-face.Andrea is joined by a live audience to cover topics such as the cost of living, family, healthcare and crime. Also joining is Newstalk’s Political Correspondent, Seán Defoe.The election candidates in the audience are:Jennifer Whitmore, Social Democrat candidate for Wicklow.Emer Tóibín, Aontú candidate for Meath East.Ruth Coppinger, People Before Profit candidate for Dublin West.Shane Moynihan, Fianna Fáil candidate for Dublin Mid West.Ciarán Ahern, Labour candidate for Dublin South West.Hazel Chu, Green Party candidate for Dublin Bay South.Grace Boland, Fine Gael candidate for Dublin Fingal West.Daithi Doolan, Sinn Féin candidate for Ballyfermot-Drimnagh.Fergus McDonnell, Independent Ireland candidate for Offaly.

Welcome to The Pod Squad!We review podcasts every Tuesday so you always have something new to listen to.This week, Entertainment & Culture Journalist Rory Cashin and Today FM Presenter Shelly Gray join Andrea to review ‘How Did This Get Made?’!Image: Earwolf

As the cold weather creeps in, apparently we should be keeping the curtains open to make our house cosier?Jenny Sheahen, Irish Examiner Columnist and former winner of ‘Home of the Year’ joins Andrea to discuss if that is true, and talk about some other cold weather home hacks!

Bilingual food packaging seems to be the only thing government parties can agree on at the moment: including the Irish language on products has been a key promise on most parties’ manifestos.This is the result of the work of Cian Ward, a 28-year-old Cavan man who thought of the idea when living abroad.Should introducing bilingual food packaging be a government priority?Andrea is joined by listeners to discuss, including Ard-Rúnaí of Conradh na Gaeilge, Julian de Spáinn.

Escape rooms, axe throwing, obstacle course… No, they’re not SAS training regimes - these are all examples of the new trend hitting offices across the world: team-building events! Cringe-inducing as they might be, these team building events are sworn by to help improve productivity and communication, but could they also be just a load of nonsense?To discuss, Andrea is joined by Margaret Cox, CEO of ICE Group, Matt Levell, Founder of Axe Club and Damien McCarthy from H.R. Buddy.Image: Axe Club

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, to talk about being sober-curious, Andrea is joined by Alcohol-Free Performance Coach Siobhan O’Connor.

Gardaí will today publish the pictures of dozens of rioters who took part in the violent disorder in Dublin city centre in November of last year…Around 100 suspects are yet to be identified in the investigation, and Gardai are appealing to the public for information.It is an unprecedented move - the first time in the history of the force that such a tactic has been used on such a large scale.What do you think about this approach from the Gardai? Should they publish photos of Dublin riots suspects?Andrea is joined by listeners to discuss.

Dr Niall Breen from the Portmarnock GP Clinic joined Andrea Gilligan to tackle your medical queries.

Do we think enough about the after care of our prisoners? Are we doing enough to help them rejoin society, and stop reoffending?Andrea is joined by three people who think we can do a lot more to discuss, including Michele Kerrigan, Executive Director at Care After Prison.

Andrea is joined by Independent candidate Dr Tom Clonan to discuss an issue he had over the weekend with people parking in disabled spaces when they shouldn’t be. How often does this happen, and how big of an issue is it? Also joining to discuss is Peter Gohery from the Disabled Drivers Association and listeners.

With Christmas on the way - many people will be putting lights up outside, and city centres will light up like a festive tree. But, are Christmas lights too wasteful, and do they hurt the environment? If so, is it time to drop them?Andrea is joined by John Gibbons, Environmental Journalist as well as listeners to discuss.

This is Lunchtime Live’s Big Batch. Every Monday we’ll be learning new easy to cook batch recipes to keep you eating well. No more staring into an open fridge looking for inspiration!This week, Andrea is joined by Chef and Director of Conbini Condiments, Holly Dalton to learn more about how you can make and use different ice cubes for easy cooking!Follow the hashtag #LLBigBatch for all our recipes.

Is there too much violence in movies and TV shows?Director Ridley Scott has said that TV shows about murder and rape are ‘giving people ideas’...Speaking to the Sunday Times he said: “Entertainment is, to a degree, a little twisted...what’s the matter with good, clean stories? If there’s one more TV show about a girl found in the woods who has been raped and dead for 25 years? Stop. It gives people ideas.”What do you think? Is there too much violence in our entertainment?Joining Andrea to discuss is Patrick Osbourne, author & screenwriter based in Kerry as well as listeners.

Trying to pick the right tiles or wooden flooring can be daunting – or do you go for carpet? There’s a lot to consider, but the Home Squad are here to help!Andrea is joined by Jenny Sheahan, Irish Examiner Columnist and former winner of ‘Home of the Year’ and Sarah Carroll from Sand and Deliver DIY to discuss.

With Christmas around the corner and lots more waste knocking around the house, do you know what you can and can’t recycle?Dr. Joanne Rourke, Spokesperson from MyWaste joins Andrea to discuss.

Yesterday on the show the topic of fathers and mental health was explored - including a discussion on whether or not it gets ignored. With many strong responses, it needed to be revisited.So, how do fathers deal with pregnancy loss, and is their grief put to the side?Andrea is joined by Tony Owens from Féileacáin, a charity for bereaved parents, Kathie Stritch, Founder of Grief Ireland and more to discuss.

You may have dreamed of leaving the workforce and retiring early, but have you ever worried about getting ‘retirement regret’?Burdened with a slower pace and tighter finances, more & more ‘unretirees’ are heading back to work.According to a survey by financial services company Canada Life, 40% of people have some form of retirement regret, with 1 in 10 saying they wished they had chosen to retire later and that they wouldn’t have left work when they did, if they had known what it was like.So, have you suffered from retirement regret?To discuss, Andrea is joined by CEO of Active Retirement Ireland Maureen Kavanagh, Cellie Irwin, Chair of the New Ross Active Retirement Group, Paul Kenny, Ireland’s former Pensions Ombudsman and Course Leader with the Retirement Planning Council of Ireland and Pat O’Mahony, Author of ‘Rethinking Housing Options for Senior Citizens’.

From the Xbox to the Twilight Saga, 98fm’s Ciaran O’Connor has plenty to chat about on this week’s throwback Thursday!