Highlights From Moncrieff

The local library in the Liberties in Dublin closed over 20 years ago, leaving a vacumm for book lovers in the area. Sean was joined by Joanne Hunter, General Manager of Books at One project, to explain how this was yesterday rectified, after a cross country project called Books at One moved into a vacant butchers unit on Meath Street.

Drug addiction is something we hear a lot about in this country but we often forget that over the counter medications can also be addictive. Sean was joined by a gentleman who was in the Irish Sun this week, to share his story with codeine addiction and highlight why he thinks these tablets should be prescription-only.

One Irish town is working to tackle the housing crisis and the positive thing is the architects behind this idea have found a way to build houses and help with climate change. In Ballina, Co Mayo, a group called Accelerating Change Together, or Act who are made up of architects, urbanists and policy specialists, has submitted an ambitious plan that could provide inspiration for unloved buildings in towns across the country. Act’s co-founder Kevin Loftus joined Sean to discuss the details.

A years long debate on the ethical implications of the naming of a library in Trinity College has come to a head this week with the university’s Student’s Union demanding the denaming of Berkeley Library. Gaby Fulham, President of Trinity College’s Students Union, joined Sean to explain why the philosopher’s links with the transatlantic slave trade have called the name into question.

Each week we’re going to bring you some suggestions for your summer reading, taking a different category each time. This week Bob Johnstone of The Gutter Bookshop, joined Sean with some recommendation for popular fiction reads. He suggested It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, The Wedding Party by Cathy Kelly, Beautiful World, Where Are You? By Sally Rooney, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, The 6.20 man by David Baldacci, The Accomplice by Steve Cavanagh, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, The Night Interns by Austin Duffy,Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Each week will take a topic and deep dive into it, doing all the research so you don’t have to. This week Dr. Emmet Kerin, Founding Partner of Gentle Procedures Ireland, joined Sean to explain how to get a vasectomy.

Lisa Fingleton is an artist and a farmer from county Laois and her passion for local food production and sustainability. She joined Sean to explain how she was inspired her to start the, which inspires people to eat only Irish produce for one month.

During the years of the War of Independence and the Civil War, over 250 great Irish country houses were burned down by the IRA and others. Hstorian Robert O’Byrne, joined Sean to explain how the stories of these houses are explored in his new book ‘Left Without a Handkerchief’.

Lou O’Brien in Co. Wexford, has had the same pet by her side for over half a century. She joined Sean to explain how Timmy the tortoise is missing and the search is on to bring him home.

Gout has always been considered an old man’s disease, affecting men of a certain vintage who are enjoying the finer things in life a little too much. Daniel Lavelle joined Sean to explain how at 35 was stricken with what started as a throbbing toe and soon discovered he has gout.

In the last week we have seen Irish athletes complete in the European Championships and break records. However their names caused difficulty for many Irish broadcasters. Kieran Cunningham, Chief Sports Writer and current affairs columnist with the Irish Daily Star, joined Sean to discuss that while we demand respect from other countries regarding our names and heritage, we often find it difficult to pronounce names from other heritages.

People with disabilities are often at the mercy of other people’s consciousness of the physical world and the way we all move through it. An abled bodied person doesn’t have to worry too much about a van on the footpath, on street dining, sandwich boards or even an untrimmed tree branch blocking their route, they can simply go around it. Those same obstacles are not as easy to navigate for the vision impaired. Tabitha Kenlon is an advocate for NCBI’s campaign to #ClearOurPath and she joined Sean on the show...

Travelling on long car journeys with small children can be a real challenge for parents, but what if there was a way you could potentially nip the problem in the bud and avoid it completely? Dr. James Hind, Statistician and Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University joined Sean to discuss a new formula, that has been created by a British statistician which predicts the probability of a tantrum.

As the debate about the regulation of drugs continues, a group in the Netherlands has organised a mock-up of what a shop selling ecstasy might look like in reality. Mack Busz, Director of the Mainline foundation, joined Sean to discuss what an ecstasy shop might look like.

Newstalk reporter Aoife Kearns headed to Cork to the mark the anniversary of the death of Michael Collins.

Graham Finlay joined Sean on the show today to recap the stories making the headlines this past week.

A stand up comedian named Masai Graham has won the annual Funniest Joke of the Edinburgh Fringe award, as carried out by the TV station Dave. Comedian and poet John Moynes, joined Sean to discuss the shortlist and what make's a good one liner.

Many of you will be familiar with the phenomenon of Tiktok but have you heard about BookTok? If you haven’t, allow me to enlighten you. It’s the book-obsessed corner of TikTok that focuses specifically on books and literature. Alex Aster is an author of teen fiction and after being rejected by numerous publishers and dropped by her agent, she took to TikBook to promote her latest offering. Fast forward a few months and she has signed a six-figure deal to publish one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the year. Tom Dunne was joined on the show by award-winning author, Alex Aster.

A new true crime series on Netflix is currently taking Irish viewers by storm. Called ‘I Just Killed My Dad’, the programme explores the events surrounding Anthony Templet’s killing of his father in 2019. Tom Dunne was joined on the show by the director, Skye Borgman.

Drastic times call for drastic measures. A couple from Italy took that saying literally when they undertook a European voyage via bicycle all in the name of sustainable living. As a response to the climate emergency, Arianna Casiraghi and Daniel Rayneau-Kirkhope came up with the novel idea of cycling through seven countries and clocking up 4,500 miles with the sole aim of creating an image of a bicycle on a gps map. Tom Dunne was joined on the show by Arianna Casiraghi and Daniel Rayneau-Kirkhope.