Highlights From Lunchtime Live

For this week’s Ask the Expert, Andrea is joined by Botanist Pat Keville from Plant Store to answer any of your questions about indoor plants!

Whether you’re a bride to be or a bridesmaid, you’ll know that a huge amount of planning goes into a hen weekend...Travel content creator and bride-to-be Éadaoin Fitzmaurice has said she wants to be hands on. So, is it the right way to go?Éadaoin joins Andrea, as well as Sandra Scharlach from Infusion Weddings, to discuss.

What are the pros and cons of giving your children their inheritance before you die? Sinead Ryan, Consumer Columnist with the Irish Independent and Presenter of The Home Show joins Andrea to discuss…Also joining to discuss is James Sexton of the National End Discrimination and Inheritance Tax Campaign Group, as well as listeners.

Research suggests that there may be an underdiagnosis of ADHD in women, but why?Dr Sarah Carty from ADHDDoc joins Andrea along with Nessa Hill, a Barrister and CEO of Neurodiversity Ireland, who herself has ADHD, to discuss.

It's How I live well time! Andrea will be joined by experts to discuss ways you can improve your life…This week, Andrea is joined by Behavioural Change Specialist, Dr Heather McKee, who is working on an initiative with Irish Life, to discuss maintaining and checking on healthy habits!

A report for Transport Infrastructure Ireland has revealed that the toll for the Port Tunnel could rise to €17 at peak times after the traffic growth was described as “unsustainable”.Do you use the tunnel? Would this stop you using it if the toll is that high?Joining Andrea to discuss is Geraldine Herbert, Motoring Editor of the Sunday Independent, Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín and listeners.

Dr Nina Byrnes, GP at Generation Health Medical Clinic joined Andrea Gilligan to tackle your medical queries…

Do you ever regret what you called your child? Apparently 1 in 5 people do!Arlene Costello is one of them, so she made the decision to change it.She joins Andrea, as well as SJ Strumm, Baby-Naming Consultant and author of ’Baby Name Envy’ to discuss.

Housing Minister James Browne has suggested that the Government is set to liberalise rules around one-off housing, making it easier for people to build in rural Ireland…So, is this a good idea?Joining Andrea to discuss is Elaine Houlihan, former Macra na Feirme President, Astrid Madsen, Editor of Self Build Magazine, Architect Róisín Murphy and more.

A growing number of people in their 30s, 40s and 50s are realising they are neurodivergent. All this week, we’ll be looking at different aspects of living with ADHD as an adult.To kick off the week, we’re discussing how the testing and diagnosing process works.Dr. Ailish Kenny from ADHDdoc and Ken Kilbride, CEO of ADHD Ireland join Andrea to discuss.

Welcome to The Pod Squad!We review podcasts every week so you always have something new to listen to.Journalist and Stylist Laura Mullett and 98fm Producer Russell Alford join Andrea Gilligan to review ‘Hanging Out with Ant & Dec’!Image: Belta Box

Last week, we spoke about rising oil and petrol costs due to the ongoing conflict in the Gulf region.This morning, oil prices have surged over 15% and are now on track for a record daily jump…So, what impact will this have amidst the cost of living crisis?Andrea is joined by Shane O’Donoghue, Editor of completecar.ie, as well as listeners, to discuss.

For this week’s Ask Me Anything, Skydiving Instructor Coleman Brouder joins Andrea to answer any of your questions!

Are butter boards going to be the new cheeseboards?Cheese has long been on the shopping list for tourists keen to taste the local cuisine during their visits to France, but it seems that luxury butter is now top of the shopping lists.Russell Alford from Gastrogays joins Andrea to discuss!

A warning that the next item references sensitive topics that some listeners may find upsetting including domestic violence, coercive control and suicide.This week here on Lunchtime Live we’ve been discussing barring orders, protection orders and safety orders – the rulings available to victims of domestic violence here in Ireland. On Tuesday, we spoke to Donna, who bravely talked about her experience in trying to obtain a safety order against her former partner.Donna never obtained her safety order. Yesterday we spoke to SiSi, an organisation which supports women who are survivors of intimate partner abuse about whether these orders are fit for purpose, but to get a better sense of how they’re given out, and why in some cases they aren’t, we sent Newstalk Reporter Sarah Madden down to the family courts to observe the system as it works.Sarah joins Andrea to discuss what she found.

Sunday the 8th of March is International Women’s Day.To mark it, we will be speaking to women who work in trades, a typically male field, about their work.Joining Andrea to discuss Lisa Dooley, Chartered Quantity Surveyor for Ormonde Construction, Shauna Doyle (@the_tarmacing_mammy on Instagram) and Apprentice Plumber Emma Louise Crimmins with Gas Networks Ireland.

Breakfast Briefing Presenter Shane Beatty joined Andrea with a roundup of some of the stories from across the country this week.

This morning Anton spoke to Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh on the party’s tabling of a new bill to protect fadas used in Irish names and addresses.Do you have a fada in your name, and is it frustrating to see it left out?Joining Andrea to discuss is Seamus O’Reilly, author and Columnist, Caitríona Redmond, Irish Examiner Columnist, Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin and more.

You’ll be spending a lot of time with them, so what type of kitchen countertop should you pick for your home?This week, the Home Squad are here to discuss the ideal kitchen countertop for you!Joining Andrea to discuss is Jenny Sheehan, Irish Examiner Columnist and former winner of ‘Home of the Year’ (@workerscottage on Instagram) and Emma Delaney from April & the Bear.

“For most of us, our phone is now our most important, most used possession. It’s our alarm clock, our wallet, our diary, our workspace, our health assistant.” So writes Freelance Journalist Niamh O’Reilly.But, she wants to take us back to a simpler technological age – the year 1996, when she got her first phone.She joins Andrea to chat about the nostalgia of getting your first phone, as well as Aoife Rooney, Assistant Editor of Weekend Magazine at the Irish Independent.