Do you welcome the extra bank holiday on March 18th? Giving us a very long weekend with St Patrick’s Day the day before? Is it like a crumb of a reward for all the hard work people did during the pandemic or do you welcome it? From next year onwards we will get St Bridget’s Day as a bank holiday. Does this country get enough bank holidays to get us through? We normally wait 70 days from New Year’s Day to Paddy’s Day for the first bank holiday of the year. Until now we have had 9 bank holidays, one of lowest in the EU. Compared to Austria, Sweden and Poland who get 13. Should we have more?

"We will be expected to work the bank holiday." Reaction to March 18th

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Limerick is leading a national experiment as the campaign for Ireland's first directly elected mayor is now in full swing. The directly elected mayor model aims to give real power in local government back to those elected by the people. Joining Seán to run everybody up to speed on the campaign and the 13 candidates currently running is News Reporter for Limerick’s Live 95, Nigel Dugdale. 

Limerick’s first directly elected mayor - how much power will they have?

As part of the foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan was passed by the US Senate, Tik Tok has just one year to divest from its Chinese parent company - or else face a total ban in America.  Joining Seán to untangle all of this is Adrian Wreckler, Irish Independent’s Technology Editor.

Will TikTok be banned in America?

When this guest retired, he decided to drive his motorbike the full length of the Americas, from Chile to the US. Joining Seán is Peter Murtagh, Journalist and author of ‘From Tip to Top: The journey of a lifetime from Chile to Alaska’.

This man drove the full length of America on a motorbike

Hozier has become the fourth ever Irish artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States.   The Wicklow musician’s song ‘Too Sweet’ has ascended to the number one spot, climbing from the number two spot since last week.  Danny McElhinney is a Music Journalist from the Irish Mail on Sunday and joins Seán to discuss the song’s success.

Hozier gets a number 1 hit in America!

With the increase in outdoor areas for hospitality businesses since the pandemic, is there an argument for putting a roof over streets to stop the pesky rain from ruining our al fresco dining experiences? This is exactly what has happened on Monck street in Wexford town. However, it has divided opinion. Joining Seán is Padraig Byrne, Journalist with the Wexford People to discuss. Image: Visit Wexford

"We will be expected to work the bank holiday." Reaction to March 18th

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