One of Ireland’s leading chefs Ross Lewis is the guest on this week’s podcast to discuss how the pandemic has affected the restaurant business and the hopes and fears in the sector about opening up again.He talks about how social distancing rules will impact on restaurants, the prospects for those working in the sector and the changes that can be expected in living and working habits and how that will effect eating out.He also gives an insight into the personal experience of turning the lights out on his business last March at the outset of the lockdown.

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Maurice McCabe is this country's best known whistleblower following his reports of malpractice in An Garda Siochana where he was a sergeant with an exemplary record.Now, two years after his retirement, following a series of inquiries and a tribunal examining his claims and the reprisal he suffered, he has agreed to act as patron for the anti corruption body, Transparency International.He spoke to the podcast about how he’s getting on with life, how Transparency International helped him and what he does when whistleblowers from various walks of life show up at his front door.

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The spread of the corona virus has led to major problems in particular settings, one of which is direct provision centres. One centre that has experienced an outbreak is the recently opened Skellig Hotel in Cahirciveen. Nearly one hundred asylum seekers were transferred there from the Dublin area with 24 hours notice in March and now over a quarter of the residents are infected.The asylum seekers, local people and politicians have all called for it to be closed down. But why and in what circumstances was it opened, and what does it say about the direct provision system? Mick spoke to a local businessman Jack Fitzpatrick and Aswer, one of the residents of the centre.

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While the western world has faced major upheaval in dealing with the pandemic, the developing world has a whole set of different, and largely more dangerous problems.John Wain, who hails from Cork, is currently based in the UN in Geneva but spends a lot of his time in the developing world, building shelters for refugees fleeing war, violence and famine. He joined Mick on the podcast to talk about the challenges faced in these regions and why in particular the lockdown solution may not be a good idea for the poorest countries in the world.

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Today’s guest on the podcast Eddie Hobbs has some strong opinions on how the country is going to come out of the current crisis, the role that the banks must play and the repeated failure in official circles to recognise the importance of small business. He talks about how we are facing into a New World Order in which “radical centralism” will be in vogue and political power will revert to the people in a manner not seen in decades. He also talks about the collapse of Brendan Investments, the vehicle of which he was the public face and how that and perceptions around it had a devastating impact on his reputation.

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The public health emergency and lock down has for many people provided space to reflect on how we are living as a society. Are our priorities as they should be? How do we measure success? Is there a better, more sustainable way of living?Ten years ago university lecturer Anne Ryan attempted to answer some of these questions in a groundbreaking and prescient book, Enough Is Plenty. Anne is also a co-ordinator in the organisation, Basic Income Ireland, which advocates for a system of Universal Basic Income. On the podcast she explains her philosophy and where it has been put into practice with some encouraging results.

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Adam Harris was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum at the age of five but by the time he was nineteen he had established the organisation ASIAM that today is the leading advocacy group for people with autism and their families. During the current health emergency people with autism have their own unique struggles and Adam spoke to the podcast about the challenges that are arising at this time. He also explained how he was given the opportunity to reach his full potential and how society today has made some advances in observing the human rights of people with autism yet there remains a lot more to be done.

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One figure who has emerged in the current pandemic to provide reassurance about the direction of the country is Tony Holohan. The chief medical officer at the Department of Health has been a nightly figure on TV screens as he gives his daily press briefing about infections and, sadly, deaths.But who is this high profile doctor and civil servant and how did he arrive at his current station? This episode of the podcast attempts to answer these questions with the help of our guest, long time Irish Examiner health correspondent Catherine Shanahan. Catherine also gives her opinion on whether or not the recent subsuming of private healthcare into the public system can be sustained in the long run.

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The changes imposed by the onslaught of the corona virus have affected all areas of society but most particularly those who work in the healthcare system. Professor Ronan Collins is a consultant physician in geriatric and stroke medicine at Tallaght University Hospital. Since the outset of the crisis he has noticed a worrying trend among some people who are reluctant to contact health professionals even when they show worrying symptoms of conditions such as stroke.He spoke to the podcast about the responsibility that we all have to ensure that fears about the virus and its impact on hospitals does not discourage people from addressing their own urgent health concerns. He also spoke of his optimism that as a society we can come through this better and why, despite working in the public health system he believes we should not retain the current, temporary one tier model in health.

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Nearly two months after the general election and in the midst of an existential crisis we still don’t have a government. Fianna Fail and Fine Gale are involved in talks that some suggest would make a slow bicycle race look at a Grand Prix event.So when will be have a government and if two of the three big parties do manage to come to an agreement, who else will go in with them? Joining Mick on the podcast to discuss these issues was Irish Examiner political editor Danny McConnell.

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