Spirit Radio Podcasts

Dr Lorcan Sirr (Lecturer and housing policy analyst at TU Dublin and Visiting Professor at University of Galway) speaks to Wendy about the numbers of vacant houses and properties in Ireland, with tens of thousands of homes remaining vacant despite a national housing crisis.

Dr Jimmy Sheehan (Founder of Blackrock, Galway and Hermitage Clinics) speaks to Wendy with concerns regarding the continued delays, increased costs, and commissioning phase plans regarding the new National Children’s Hospital.

Michael Teehan, Board Member of Heart Children - the national charity supporting children and young people with congenital heart disease (CHD), speaks to Wendy about how he was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect shortly after birth, and his health journey living with CHD. Michael also shares about the work of Heart Children and The Beat Goes On conference. The conference is aimed at Ireland’s 19,000 young people and adults living with CHD, as well as parents. www.heartchildren.ie

Niamh Uí Bhriain from the Life Institute speaks to Wendy about continuing concerns around assisted suicide legislation being considered in Ireland, and shares about the upcoming conference ‘Assisted Suicide Harms Us All Conference’ that will take place in Dublin.

Dominic Brophy from The Professional Driving Instructors Association speaks to Wendy about the news that the speed limit on many rural local roads is changing from 80km/h to 60km/h.

Peter Sullivan (formerly Connacht Rugby, Irish 7s, Irish U20s, and currently Landsdowne Rugby with the AIL) speaks to Victoria about the latest news with the 6 Nations Rugby tournament, including Ireland's win against England last weekend, and looking ahead to Ireland VS Scotland, and what we can expect from this Irish team.

Alex Cooney, CEO of CyberSafeKids, speaks to Wendy about how parents need to constantly stay vigilant and cannot get complacent about online security and monitoring what their children might be seeing online.

Jen Hogan (Irish Times journalist Jen Hogan, and mum of 7) speaks to Wendy sharing advice to parents on how to manage the many whatsapp groups they are in on behalf of their children, including the whatsapp groups for school, their child's classes, sports, extra curricular activities, to birthday parties and playdates.

Jenny Belle (Lead film publicist in Ireland for Kova International, and Spirit Radio Screentime presenter) speaks to Wendy today to mark International Holocaust Memorial Day, and it being the 80th year Anniversary since the end of World War 2 and the Liberation of Nazi concentration camps in Europe. Jenny also speaks to Wendy about the upcoming film release called Bonhoeffer, that shares the story of German theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and how he courageously stood up against the Nazi regime.

Midlands-based Guidance Counsellor Betty McLaughlin, speaks to Kieran about concerns from teachers across the country about how continuous assessment exams with the new Leaving Certificate reform will be graded and examined and about assessment integrity due to artificial intelligence (AI) which can cause difficulties in authenticating a students work.

Pete the Vet speaks to Victoria about petcare advice, and how to assess if a dog is overweight. Pete also discusses how a pet being overweight affect its overall health.

Ruth Hegarty (Food Policy and sustainable food systems consultant, and Lecturer in food policy at UCC) speaks to Wendy about growing concerns about the nutritional content and ingredients of the food provided with the Schools Hot Meals programme, and also the level of ultra-processed foods.

BT young scientist Grace Carty speaks to Victoria at Spirit Radio about her AI project which researches and looks at how well people can identify if an image is AI generated.

Vicky McEvoy (Director of Vital Connections) speaks to Wendy about their Diploma Certificate in Counselling which has a faith perspective at it’s core. Vicky shares about her own experience of being a Pastor's wife and seeing the need for supporting people which led to her co-founding Vital Connections. More information is at: VitalConnections.org

Brenda Power (Irish journalist and Barrister) speaks to Wendy about how Minister for Justice Helen McEntee signed the order to ensure that the Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024 has come into force (from Tuesday 31 December 2024). The new legislation provides for increased prison sentences for certain crimes, where proven to be motivated by hatred, or where hatred is demonstrated. However this law introduced in Ireland by the Minister McEntee is recongiszing an unlimited number of genders – meaning the new Criminal Justice (hate offences) Act 2024 is contradicting the Gender Recongition Act of 2015 which states that there are only 2 genders – ‘male and female’. Brenda speaks to Wendy explaining this new law, what it says regarding what gender a person expresses or identifies as, and also confusion on how judges in court are meant to navigate this, if the law is trusting judges to determine which of a multitude of genders for example, a victim is in a case.

Principal Rachel Harper (of St Patrick's National School, Greystones, Co. Wicklow) speaks to Wendy about back to school advice, how to navigate the new term routine, with news too of some schools closures due to snow.

Ross Fitzpatrick (from Christian Aid Ireland) speaks to Wendy about attending COP29, the 2 week United Nations climate change conference.

Spirit Radio's Victoria Johnston attended Áras an Uachtaráin to interview young adult recipients of the Gaisce Gold Medal Awards and Gaisce CEO Avril Ryan. Interviews and audio editing by Spirit Radio volunteer Alannah Harrison.

Chef Wade Murphy (of 1826 Adare Restaurant in Limerick) speaks to Wendy about the continuing challenges facing restaurants across the country, which has also resulted in over 600 closures of restaurants and cafes in Ireland in the past 12 months. Chef Wade also shares with Wendy about the financial pressures for restaurants including the rise in costs of ingredients, and why people should consider supporting their local independent restaurant this Christmas season.

Author Candice Samons speaks to Wendy about her new children's storybook book 'Out of my Shell: Taylor’s Tale of Friendship’ that introduces the topic of autism and neurodiversity to encourage children to feel comfortable about being themselves, and to embrace their unique abilities. Candice shares about her daughter who inspired the book, along with the colourful characters such as Taylor the adventurous Turtle who is autistic. More information on all books and updates are at: www.TaylorsTales.ie