Grey Matters

What happens when the dream of living out your retirement years sailing around the world turns into a nightmare? Terry Prone sits down with regular contributor Valerie Cox to examine the stranded Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship, the realities of residential cruise ships, and how a €98 travel policy saved Valerie €320,000.

Would you leave your marriage if there were no financial consequences? We surveyed people entering the last third of their lives, and the answer surprised even us: over one in four women said they’d seriously consider divorce, compared to just over one in ten men.

Terry Prone and Fergus Finlay are joined by Valerie Cox to ask why. They discuss temptation, duty, and the real price of doing the laundry.

Loneliness, and a withdrawal from the community organisations that keep older people connected, are among the biggest challenges facing older people in Ireland today, according to author and former TD Liz McManus.

This week Liz joins Fergus to talk about her short story collection Tiny Bruises and a life that has taken in architecture, politics and writing.

Comedy expert Brendan Balfe joins Terry and Fergus this week to explore what makes great comedy, share some of his favourite comedians and discuss his career, humour, and talent behind a truly good laugh.

Tony Murray and his son Conor join Fergus on this week's episode of Grey Matters to discuss what it means to be an older parent, and a sibling, of an adult with an intellectual disability, and why they believe the State’s approach to housing and care must change. 

This week Grey Matters looks at their recent survey findings that 56% of women regularly mind grandchildren, compared with 37.8% of men, while 15.4% of women feel a lot of pressure to help with grandchildren, compared with just 1.4% of men. Returning guest Valerie Cox joins Terry and Fergus to react to the findings and to discuss what they say about the expectations placed on older women in Irish families.

What does ageism look like when you’re trying to find a new job? In this episode, Terry and Fergus are joined by careers expert Sarah Geraghty to explore the barriers older workers can face, from being “ghosted” after sending hundreds of applications to navigating AI screening tools and age-coded language in job adverts. Sarah shares practical advice on making your CV current and evidence-based, using your network to get in front of decision-makers, and recognising the transferable skills that come with experience. The conversation also looks at age bias in the workplace, from missed promotions to exclusion from training.

This week, Terry and Fergus sit down with one of Ireland's best literary agents, Jonathan Williams. They discuss how unpublished writers can get their books on shelves, writing advice and Jonathan's career working with some of the biggest authors in Ireland.

On this week's episode of Grey Matters, Terry and Fergus sit down with Conor Pope on the questions older listeners actually want answered: how to switch health insurance without losing cover, why travel insurers and car-hire firms quietly penalise customers once they pass a certain age, and why taking out travel insurance the moment you book, not the moment you travel, could save you from disaster.

Terry and Fergus are back for Season Two of Grey Matters. This week they discuss Fergus's health diagnosis last spring and reflect on vulnerability, ageing, family, the Irish healthcare system. Fergus opens up about the support of his wife and children, the realities of recovering from major surgery and why, ultimately, he considers himself incredibly lucky.