Colm Hayes

What's Your Big Idea?

We have been following the progress of Brenda Bolger, Sandra Graham and Dennis McCarthy over the last couple of months as they attempted to break into the world of business. Today was our final chat with the three.

How Bear Grylls are you?

Every day this week we are giving away a family holiday with thanks to Camping Ireland – Today in order to win we asked ‘how Bear Grylls are you?’ and heard some stories of coping with the wilds

Foreign Aid

A discussion on Irish Foriegn aid was prompted when a leading figure in an Irish charity called on the government to divert cash spent on foreign aid and use it to feed our own poor.

Eurovision

Ryan Dolan was on the line to talk about his experience at the Eurovision on Saturday

Showbiz News

Lottie Ryan was in studio with all the latest – this week; P Diddy has done a spoof on Downton Abbey – ‘Downtown Abbey’, The Ivor Novello Awards, controversy over Topshop’s Rihanna t-shirt, and the Cannes Film Festival

One Direction

Show Reporter; Amanda Fennelly was in studiowith all the gossip from her trip to London to see One Direction

Louis Walsh

Louis Walsh was in studio to announce some new auditions that he will be holding - And he was subjected to the best test in radio ; 'The Just A Minute Quiz'

Childhood Collections

We heard about some of the inexplicable things that people collected when they were children

Tomás Carter

Sentencing was yesterday given in the case of an attack of Tomás Carter - Colm spoke to Tomás about his decision to speak in favour of his attacker

Cyclists v Motorists

Independent TD Finian McGrath has commented that cyclists on our roads are not abiding by the rules of the road. What do you think of these comments, are they fair?

New Book of Short Stories

Joanna Siewierska and 23 of her class have taken part in a book writing project at Roddy Doyle’s Creative Writing Centre ‘Fighting Words’ - and now their work will be published

Stolen Jewellery

Veronica called in because her house was broken into and the burglars took her late mothers eternity and wedding rings

Wind-Farms

Contentious plans for a €20m wind-farm near a small village in west Clare have been put on hold. Today we discussed the pros and cons of wind-farms

Living Life to the Full

50 things that mean you have lived life to the full? Colm asked the listeners how many they had tried

'To Strike or Not to Strike'

Today there is news that Irish hospitals could be brought to a standstill if health workers follow through on threats to strike over any further changes to pay and conditions. And Bus Eireann is facing the threat of all bus workers going on strike on Sunday in a dispute over pay cuts. We asked listeners for their views on strike action

Know Your Rights - Property Tax

With the deadline recently passed for paper applications for the Local Property Tax (7th May 2013) - Andrew McCann, author of “Know Your Rights” was back to answer all your questions on property tax

What's Your Big Idea?

We caught up with Brenda Bolger who has been making great progress with her app. And we heard some expert advice from Anne O’Leary, the Executive Chairman of Kinematik and Dr Bruce Martin of UCD

Sir Alex Ferguson

Listeners told Colm about their encounters with Sir Alex

'Flipping Out'

Dame Helen Mirren broke character from her regal role during a performance on Saturday evening when she yelled at a group of drummers to be quiet while still dressed in her stage costume as Queen Elizabeth II. Have you ever felt compelled to give out to a stranger? Colm heard some great stories

Cycle Against Suicide

Amanda Fennelly was in studio to talk about her experience with the Cycle Against Suicide – which will be coming to an end this weekend. Jim Breen was also on the line to talk about the amazing journey

Women in Politics

Going back to yesterdays topic on why there are so few women in politics in Ireland – Colm spoke to Michelle O’Donnell Keating who is the co-founder of ‘Women for Election’

Children’s Nutrition

Gwyneth Paltrow has received a lot of criticism lately because of her views on carbohydrates. Suzanne Campbell is a food and farming journalist and she has an article in today’s Independent which explains that there is some truth to Gwyneth’s claims, however it may be extremely difficult to cut carbs from your child’s diet

Women in Politics

The recent debate on the abortion bill highlighted the fact that there are very few women in politics in Ireland. But why are we in a position where there is such an imbalance between men and women in Irish politics?

Abortion Legislation

There was a huge response on the show yesterday on the topic of legislating for abortion – Colm read some more of the e-mails that came in and also spoke to two women about their experiences.

David Mc Williams

David Mc William’s recently wrote an article ‘As the salt pillars of austerity crumble there will be enormous opportunities’ – David was on the line to explain more to Colm. David’s latest book ‘The Goodroom’ is out this weekend in paperback version

Pedigree Adoption Drive

The Pedigree Adoption Drive is now in its 6th year and everyday this week we will be profiling a different homeless dog in the hope of finding them a loving home. Today on the show we met two dogs looking for a home and along with them were former WBA Super Bantamweight World Champion Bernard Dunne and Chief ISPCA inspector; Conor Dowling

Cycle Against Suicide

Amanda Fennelly was in Tralee where the cyclists were about to arrive for another Positive Mental Health presentation. Colm also spoke to Bressie who was a speaker at the presentation.

Gun Laws

A picture of Michael Healy Rae on the front of this morning’s Examiner shows him aiming a shot gun at the sky under the headline “Let rural dwellers have guns for protection”. What do you think – should gun laws be changed?

Optimism

Apparently the Irish are the most positive people in the world - Colm spoke to some optmistic Irish

What's Your Big Idea?

Colm caught-up with Sandra Graham from Carrigaline who is moving along with her up-cycling shop and is now looking at developing into a small cafe on the premises. And we heard from a 13 year old entrepreneur as well as someone who has 'made-it' in the world of business.

Cycle Against Suicide

Over the course of the next couple of weeks on the cycle Positive Mental Health Workshops will be happening in schools around the country. Today on the show we gave a glimpse in to the kind of talk that happens at the workshops, with a listen in to a workshop that happened here in the Radio Centre a couple of weeks ago.

Broadband Packages

Sinead Ryan is Consumer Columnist with the Herald and was in studio to shed some light on the competing offers from broadband providers and which packages offer the consumer the best value

Cycle Against Suicide

The Cycle Against Suicide got underway today and Colm set-off with hundreds of other cyclists from RTE

Boston Manhunt

In light of the manhunt currently underway in Boston , Criminologist John O’Keeffe was on the line to talk about the processes involved in this kind of search and the methods that are used by the F.B.I. John also spoke about the way that the police release information to the public, and how this can sometimes be used purely to ‘spook’ suspects

Social Housing

Cork County Council has warned that refusals of social housing are clogging up the system and said that some seemingly ridiculous reasons were given for refusal. However there must also be very legitimate reasons for refusing an offer of social housing – Colm spoke to some people who have been on the waiting lists

Hoodies

Independent Councillor Michael Kilcoyne in Castlebar, attended a Joint Policing Committee and raised the issue of problems with identifying suspects in crimes because of the wearing of hoodies

Gay Marriage

There was a massive reaction to yesterday's topic on gay marriage - Today we spoke to more listeners who wanted to give their views

Cycle Against Suicide

Alan Heary is a cycling coach and co-founder of yourcyclingacademy.com – The Cycle Against Suicide starts next Monday – Alan spoke about the final preparations and training that you should be doing ahead of a big cycle

Showbiz Gossip

Lottie Ryan was in studio with news of a new Irish Wrestler in WWE, Amy Huberman has a new shoe collection and Jay-Z has purchased an island. Also it’s 20 years since the formation of Boyzone

North Korea

Gary Harte is living in South Korea - He spoke about how things are at the moment in light of the tensions with the North

Cycle Against Suicide

Aoibheann McCaul aka Caoimhe Dillon and Maclean Burke aka Damien Halpin from Fair City were on the line because they are both going to get involved in the Cycle Against Suicide

Religious Payments

The Department of Social Protection has confirmed that exceptional needs payments (ENPs) will not be made in 2013 for religious ceremonies.

Personal Safety

Following a number of stories in the papers this week of unprovoked attacks - Colm spoke to many listeners about issues of personal safety and how they protect themselves

Funeral Arrangements

We received an e-mail from a listener who questioned why in Ireland we hold funerals so soon after the death of a loved one – The e-mailer questioned why there is such a rush to get the funeral organised and asked if we could we not give those grieving more time to get their heads together

Cycle Against Suicide

Alan Heary is a cycling coach and co-founder of yourcyclingacademy.com – This week Alan had tips for people who are doing multi-stages in the Cycle Against Suicide – If you are doing many stages it is very important to take care of yourself i.e.; get plenty of rest between each stage and make sure that you eat and drink properly.

Showbiz News

Lottie Ryan was in studio with news of Graham Norton’s 50th birthday surprise, icon off-spring; Lourdes Ciccone and Prince Michael Jackson 1st are all grown up, Nicole Kidman is joining the Anchorman cast, and the Rolling Stones are charging massive prices for their Hyde Park Concert

Whistleblowers

The two men who have been most instrumental in the outing of disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong as a career-long doper are sports journalists and authors Paul Kimmage and David Walsh - Colm spoke to them both

Cycle Against Suicide

Mary O’Keeffe is running a cycle in conjunction with the Cycle Against Suicide on Sunday April 28th

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise was in town yesterday for the premiere of his new movie Oblivion. Reporter Amanda Fennelly was in studio to talk about her meeting with Olga Kurylenko, Director Joseph Kosinski, the other celebs who were there, the excitement of the fans and of course her chat with the man of the moment

Cannabis and Teenagers

Colm read an e-mail from a mother who is concerned because her 16 year old son has effectively dropped out of school and the listener believes that the cause of this is her son’s habitual smoking of cannabis

Milo O'Shea

Bryan Murray spoke about the great actor Milo O'Shea. Bryan had worked with, Milo on a production of the musical ‘Finnian’s Rainbow’

Enrolment Lottery

Parents could face a lottery for school places as proposed changes to the current system of enrolment are put forward. We heard some differing views on the fairness of the potential changes

National No Uniform Day?

Keith Maguire is 13 years old and is still undergoing treatment for Leukemia - He received great care at Our Lady’s Hospital in Crumlin. Keith would love if there was a National No Uniform Day in schools to raise funds for the hospital

The Full Monty

The stage show of The Full Monty is coming to the Bord Gais Energy Theatre next Monday 8th April and running until the 13th. Maia spoke to two of the stars of the show; Craig Gazey and Kenny Doughty.

Showbiz News

Lottie Ryan had news on Niall Horan’s brother’s wedding, Madonna is worth a billion dollars!, X-Factor have some big changes for 2012 and Lady Gaga has a mad-haters themed birthday party

Robert Sheehan

Robert Sheehan who plays Darren in Love Hate was on the line to talk about his mysterious appearance in filming of the new series of Love Hate and his new movie; The Mortal Instruments, alongside Aidan Turner, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Lily Collins

Lent

Listeners told Maia how they got on with their lenten promises

Impact of Porn on Young People

Joanna Fortune is a clinical psychotherapist and also the director of the Solamh Parent-Child Relationship Clinic and yesterday she wrote a startling article for TheJournal.ie about how easy access to porn is adversely affecting our teenagers

What's Your Big Idea?

It’s been two weeks since we met our three finalists for our ‘What’s Your Big Idea?’. The three have been for a meeting with Grant Thornton to look over their business plans. Kevin Foley of Grant Thornton was in studio to let us know how the meetings went and our three budding entrepreneurs were also on the line.

Arranmore Pipe Band at the Aviva

Tonight 20 percent of the population of Arranmore in Donegal will be heading to the Aviva – Not necessarily because of the football - The Arranmore Pipe Band are playing at the Ireland match and the 32 members of the band have brought along their family and supporters

Property Tax Letters

Letters have started arriving from revenue for the property tax - However it seems some evaluations are widely off the mark and some people received letters even though they do not own any property

Soccer: World Cup Qualifier in Stockholm

Showbiz Gossip

Lottie Ryan was in studio with news on how Nadine has spoken out about the Girls Aloud split, Darren apparently won’t be a main character in the 4th series of Love/Hate, Ryan Gosling is to take a break from acting and Daniel Day Lewis has been lined up to play the founder of Celtic FC

'Have a Go Hero'

There is a story today in the papers about a woman in Cork who chased after a mugger who she believed had taken her phone. Is it wise to do something like this?

CAP Subsidies

Today there was a debate about CAP subsidies to farmers

Public Apology

Coronation Street star Bill Roache has been forced to apologise for comments he made about sex-abuse victims. Do you think an apology is acceptable in cases of offensive opinion?

St Patrick's Day Mayhem

Would you venture in to the centre of town on St Patrick’s Day or have you been put off in recent years by the drinking?

Irish T-Shirt Slogans

Listeners came up with some great slogans for Irish t-shirts on St Patrick's Day - that don't involve any references to drink

Pope For A Day

Colm asked listeners how they would change the Church if they were to become pope for the day

What's Your Big Idea

Today we announced the three finalists that we will follow in our ‘What’s Your Big Idea?’ initiative. Pat Burke and Kevin Foley of Grant Thornton were in studio to have an initial chat with the three budding entrepreneurs

Shield Campaign

Mark Feehily of Westlife is involved in the ISPCC’s Shield Campaign, which aims to provide a unique response against bullying that will support, empower and equip the entire community to deal with the issue effectively

Teenager's Freedom

How much freedom do you give your teenager - Should you know exactly where they are at all times and who they are talking to?

Property

Headlines in all the papers today feature property in some shape or another. Property tax, mortgage arrears, repossessions, rising rents...it seems nobody can escape the property issue in this country

What's Your Big Idea?

Susan Treacy has invented a device that you can attach to a halter-neck dress, if you are larger-chested – and it will protect the back of your neck. Ross Elliot is another inventor and he has created a product that will protect ‘little fingers’ from slamming doors.

Rathdrum Job Losses

Pharmaceutical company MSD is to close its plant at Rathdrum in Co Wicklow by the end of 2015, resulting in the loss of 280 jobs. Evelyn spoke to Noel Jacob; a local business owner, about the situation

Tax Back

Andrew McCann Author of Know Your Rights was in studio to tell us how to claim tax back

Household Chores

A recent reports shows that mothers are now working a massive 70 hours a week, between home and the workplace.

Seachtain Na Gaelige

Lochlainn O’Mearain aka Dara O’Riordan is an actor on Ros Na Run and he told Evelyn about taking his Irish to another level

Surrogacy

A landmark decision by The High Court yesterday means that the genetic mother of twins born to a surrogate is entitled to be registered as their mother on the birth certificate. Dr David Walsh is co founder of the SIMS IVF Clinic spoke about the implications of the case

Cycle Against Suicide

Paddy Lally is the Galway Coordinator of the Cycle Against Suicide and he has been spreading the word about the cycle with the old fashioned paper and pen and post. And Petrina let us know how she is getting on with her tandem

Cremation and Burial

Over the last couple of days we have had a number of queries regarding cremation, burial and funeral costs. To answer some of the questions Neal Massey of Rom Massey and Sons Funeral Directors was on the line

What's Your Big Idea

Today we heard of a meal deal for students, and have we really found the 'guilt-free' crisp?

Showbiz News

Lottie Ryan was in studio with all the latest showbiz news - Are Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran really together

Mandatory Sentencing

Going back to the conversation that we had earlier in the week about mandatory sentencing – Colm spoke to a Barrister who agreed with the sentiments that sentencing laws in Ireland need an overhaul

Cycle Against Suicide

If you are in Gorey, Castlebar or Dundalk, you might be able to help

Victim Impact

Yesterday we spoke about mandatory sentencing for certain crimes - But what about the sentence of the victim? What is life like for those who have suffered from crime?

Mandatory Sentencing

John O’Keefe is a Criminologist with Trinity College and he spoke to Colm about his views on mandatory sentencing, and his belief that in the Republic of Ireland we are too lenient on sentencing

Gaffes

We heard some great stories of the times listeners cringed

Croke Park II

Will public sector wokers be voting 'yes' or 'no' to Croke Park II

What's Your Big Idea?

The 'What's Your Big Idea' initiative is underway - We got an initial flavour of the kind of great ideas that are coming in

Stalking

Women's aid have called for stalking to be made a specific criminal offence because a growing number of young women are being terrorised via texts and social media sites.

Showbiz Gossip

Lottie Ryan had news of Danny De Vito’s trip to Dublin, a look at the Eurosong hopefuls form tonight’s Late Late Show, Kim Kardashian is to quit her TV show, Tulisa has been axed from the X-Factor, and Mila Kunis has moved in with Ashton Kutcher

Breast Reduction

Mr Peter Meagher is a Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon and Secretary of The Irish Association of Plastic Surgeons, he told Colm about how breast reduction surgery has become one of the most sought after plastic surgery procedures in Ireland

Brain on Fire

Susannah Cahalan was a normal 24 year old woman, who suddenly started suffering from hallucinations, seizures and psychosis

Credit Union Loans

The Central Bank has advised Credit Unions to stop lending to people who may be in arrears on their mortgages.

Public Sector Pay Cuts

Jamie is a fire-fighter and feels like there is a campaign against public service workers at the moment

Sean O'Sullivan

Sean O'Sullivan, managing director of technology firm Avego, and star of Dragon’s Den has called for a change to the Leaving Certificate to make it "less specialised" and said students should be taught to problem-solve

Horse Meat Scandal - The Latest

Food and Farming Journalist Suzanne Campbell was on the line to talk about the latest developments in the horse meat scandal

Pay Cuts to Front-Line Public Sector

A discussion on the cuts to over-time and Sunday pay for front-line public sector worker

Alzheimer's and Dementia

Colm read an e-mail from a listener who described the heart-break of witnessing her father’s dementia and his daily confusion and pain