Brendan O'Connor

Ornithologist and author Seán Ronayne talks about becoming a father, his awe at watching his daughter’s developing love of nature, how his autism informs his parenting, the influence of the late Manchán Magan, his sadness at watching the effects of climate change, his live tour Untold Sounds and his new Headstuff podcast, The Seán Chorus.  

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Podcaster and Author Blindboy BoatClub has had some of his short stories adapted by director Dan Colley into a new Abbey Theatre play, ‘Animals’. He talks to Brendan about the philosophical theory, ‘Umwelt’, his own sensory processing, the burnout that too much small talk can cause and how his autism inspires his work. 

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Cork woman Róisín Stakelum suffered a head-on motorway crash in July 2023 when she was driving to Dublin Airport and a car of teenage joyriders were driving the wrong way down the M8 motorway. Her plans to emigrate to Australia disappeared, she now lives with physical and psychological pain and she appeals to the Irish Government in the wake of the M9 crash to roll out wrong way detection technology on roads. 

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Chef Maggie Roche tells Brendan about her cafe, The Little Acorn, shutting down tomorrow and about her career ranging from The Merrion Hotel to working with Michel Roux. Her sumptuous recipes before we head back to the September grind include a blueberry scone with jam and cream and lemon curd and fluffy pancakes with crispy bacon, pecan nut crumb and maple syrup. 

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Joining Brendan to pick the best shows and films available this week are host of the Extra Vision Podcast, Andy McCarroll and entertainment journalist and host of The Bellissimo Files, Sarina Bellisimo. Their choices include ‘Holly Willoughby: Together’, season two of ‘Ludwig’ and documentary ‘The Healy Raes: Blood Sweat and Tears’. 

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Podcaster and Presenter, Fionnuala Jones, joins Brendan to discuss the growing obsession with cringe. We are now at the point in our culture where anything millennials do is full on cringe according to Gen Z – but do they even care?  

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Novelist Richard Ford, joins Brendan to discuss the current state of Donald Trump’s America, rediscovering his Irish heritage and the dynamics of his life-long marriage. He also explores his changing relationship to age, ambition and his friend, John Banville. 

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Joining Brendan to discuss the top stories in Sunday’s newspapers are: farmer & presenter of Ear to the Ground, Darragh McCullough; Columnist with the Irish Daily Mail and Sunday Independent, Brenda Power; Law Lecturer at NUI Galway, Larry Donnelly; Head of Social Justice and Policy at SVP, Louise Bayliss; and RTE Sports Commentator, Greg Allen.  

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Acclaimed poet Rita Ann Higgins reads a new poem “Odyssey Round the A&E” inspired by her husband Christy’s recent visit to the Emergency Department.

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Chef Kevin Dundon joins Brendan to discuss the delights of home-made ice cream. He talks through how to make simple ice-cream at home and tweak it with a range of own favourite flavours, from brown bread to orange to butterscotch. 

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