Lunchtime Live

From brown bread making to wedding rollercoaster taking, Breakfast Briefing Presenter Shane Beatty joins Andrea Gilligan with plenty of stories from around the country this week!

Independent brewers are facing challenges due to “astronomical” input cost increasing. It comes as some brewers have had to shut their doors due to high running and production costs…

High water charges and “archaic and arcane alcohol licensing laws” are some of the other reasons for these closures and the loss of multiple jobs.

What needs to be done to keep these breweries in business?

Joining Andrea to discuss is Tom Cronin, Founder and Chief Executive of the Rye River Brewing Company, Joe Donnelly from Rascals Brewery, Dean Mcguinness, Managing Director of Primary International Beers and others.

Should pets be allowed in public dining spaces? Do you mind having dogs around while you’re drinking a coffee – or to take it one step further – would you eat a sandwich with a cat climbing all over you?

What do you think? Is there a hygiene concern?

Joining Andrea to discuss is Ronan Flood, Co-Owner PYE Dundrum and The Barbers Bar in Grangegorman, Michael Moynihan, Columnist with the Irish Examiner and more.

Rather than calling in a professional, what are the jobs that you can do yourself, without worrying about breaking the bank?

Well, the Home Squad are here to talk about simple DIY fixes!

Joining Andrea to discuss is Jenny Sheehan, Irish Examiner Columnist and former winner of ‘Home of the Year’ (@workerscottage on Instagram) and Martin Glynn, Founder and CEO of The DIY Academy.

More than 100 organisations have signed a joint letter calling on Israel to stop the "weaponisation of aid" into Gaza, as "starvation deepens".

Humanitarian groups, including Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), say they are increasingly being told they are "not authorised" to deliver aid, unless they comply with the stricter Israeli regulations.

Joining Andrea to discuss this with his unique insight is former Israeli Hostage Negotiator, Gershon Baskin.

Image: Reuters

Are you guilty of doing things or going places, just to take photos of them?

If you don’t post about it online, were you even really there?

Feature Writer Chrissie Russell explores this in a piece in the Independent today, and joins Andrea, along with Stylist and Journalist Laura Mullet and Journalist Saoirse Hanley to discuss.

We’ve decided to do a deep dive on some of our favourite albums to explore the stories behind them.

What did the artists really think of each other? Where did the inspirations from the songs come from?

Joining Andrea to discuss is Head Tour Guide at the Irish Rock ‘N’ Roll Museum Experience, Alan Buckley, who’s going to talk through Oasis’ ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?’!

Since the Government took office in January, the number of children awaiting scoliosis surgery has risen from 112 to 131, despite 303 procedures being carried out by Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) up to July. CHI noted that the list is constantly changing as patients are added and removed.

In 2017, then–Health Minister Simon Harris pledged that no child would wait more than four months for surgery. That target remains unmet, and there have since been calls for the Tánaiste to resign on the back of his failed promises.

Why are children waiting so long for surgeries, and what needs to be done to improve these wait times for children and their families?

Joining Andrea to discuss is Bernard Mulvany, Advocate with Access for All Ireland, Co-Leader of the Spina Bifida Advocacy Group, Una Knightly and Carolann Walsh, whose 5-year-old daughter is currently waiting for an MRI scan for scoliosis.

Would 40 degree temperatures put you off your summer break?

Apparently not - a lot of us are still booking our holidays in Europe, despite the heatwave!

So, are there cooler places we can look to, to escape the roaring temperatures?

Joining Andrea to discuss is Sarah Slattery, Founder of the travelexpert.ie.

Lunchtime Live's Reasons to be Happy looks at some of the news stories that you might have missed that will leave you feeling more optimistic.

98FM’s Cathal O’Sullivan joined Andrea in the studio to put a smile on your faces…