Newstalk Weekend

The new RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst met with union representatives and committed to meeting with RTÉ staff and their unions again in the coming weeks. One of those at the meeting was Seamus Dooley, Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists and he joins Anton to share his thoughts.

On the back of his latest single, Mick Flannery joins Anton to talk music. Mick is an Irish folk singer who, after winning the International Songwriting Competition in Nashville, toured the world and his latest single is called ‘Goodtime Charlie’.

Joining Anton for this week's installment of Ask the Expert is GP, Dr. Eleanor Galvin.

Today will see the annual 'Rally for Life' march in Dublin which is organised by a number of pro-life organisations. It comes at a time when the five-year review of existing legislation has been published, and, just this week, Minister of Health, Stephen Donnelly, promised that there will be ‘safe zones’ around facilities offering abortion services. Joining Anton to give her perspective is Niamh Ui Bhriain from the Rally for Life Committee.

If you’re into sport, this weekend is really the start of your summer. Wimbledon is less than 48 hours away, but all eyes are on Croke Park this weekend with all four quarter-finals in the All-Ireland Football Championships. Joining Anton to preview all the action is Off The Ball’s, Cathal Mullaney.

As we come to the end of a very eventful week with RTÉ executives in front of the Media and PAC Committees - with another committee meeting to take place next Wednesday - the RTÉ pay crisis looks set to continue to dominate the headlines. Joining Anton to discuss the latest revelations and the future of RTÉ is Independent Senator, Rónán Mullen & Cearbhall Ó Síocháin, RTÉ Trade Union Group Secretary and Member of the Irish Executive Council, NUJ, and RTÉ staff member.

With the imminent release of the new Barbie movie, there is no better time to ask - what were your favourite childhood toys? Joining Anton to delve into all the nostalgia is TV presenter and podcaster, James Kavanagh and Irish Examiner columnist, Jennifer Sheahan.

Joining Anton to go through the top stories hitting the headlines is John Lee, Executive Editor with DMG Media Ireland & Lauren Boland, reporter with TheJournal.ie.

Anton was joined in studio by entrepreneur and equality advocate, Sonya Lennon. Together they discuss Sonya's start in television, the challenges of predicting fashion trends, and the importance of starting your pension earlier rather than later.

We heard the tragic news this week of the debris field found during the search for the missing tourist submersible 'Titan'. But how did we first become interested in learning about deep sea tourism and when did our fascination with exploring underwater wrecks begin? Joining Anton to discuss is Mensun Bound, maritime archaeologist and author of ‘The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton's Endurance’.