Lunchtime Live

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.

On Tuesday, Andrea spoke to Donna about her experience of domestic abuse, and the difficulties in getting a Barring Order.Is the system fit for purpose, or does more need to be done to protect victims?Mary Louise, Founder of SiSi & Emma Jane Byrne, domestic violence advocate and volunteer with SiSi join to discuss.

When was the last time you went to the cinema?And would you pay extra for a more luxurious cinema experience?The Stella Cinema in Rathmines in Dublin offers armchairs, food directly to your seat and a cosy setting - and it has now been voted the second best cinema in the world.Joining Andrea to discuss this is Karl Geraghty, Head of Stella Cinemas and Adam Smyth, TikToker and moviegoer.