Irish Island hopping

Today's the first day of the summer season for Ireland's beach lifeguards and Brendan is joined by Caroline Casey, Water Safety Development Officer for Cork County Council with tips on staying safe in the sea and on the sand this bank holiday weekend.

Author Kevin Barry's discusses his new novel The Heart of Winter, set in Butte, Montana in the 1890s. He also picked five songs that connect him to different moments in his life including writing poetry in Limerick graveyards as a teen and what the 'Walk Of Shame' meant in Cork in the 1990s

Why can some people eat what they want, and still never put on weight? What exactly is metabolism, and what can we do to alter it? Endocrinologist, Professor Mary Ryan, gives us a lay person’s introduction.

Psychotherapist Richard Hogan on how to ensure your holiday isn't a pressure cooker when you go away in a group with friends and family.

With the warm weather, comes talk of water and conservation. Horticultural teacher Hazel Proctor tells Brendan how harvesting domestic, and rainwater can be a small, positive step many of us can take to futureproof our resources.

Catherine Fulvio of Ballyknocken House shares her ‘no-bake' desserts, from the simple to the sophisticated.

Today's panel includes Louise Burne, Political Correspondent with the Irish Mirror; Oisín Coghlan, Chief Executive Friends of the Earth Ireland; Bobby McDonagh, Former Ambassador to the UK and EU and Larissa Nolan, Features editor at the Reach group of newspapers and websites.

Ahead of his summer gigs in Ireland, legendary guitarist Johnny Marr talks to Brendan about growing up through music, the influence of his Irish family, and about the guitars that come with ‘songs in ‘em’, as featured in his new book, Marr’s Guitars.

Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez… We’ll be hearing a lot more about those Brat Pack actors in the weeks ahead, because of a new documentary 'Brats'. Writer Anna Carey takes a look at the original 1985 New York magazine article which coined the term, and assesses how it impacted their friendships and careers.

Film Critic with the Business Post John Maguire and writer Esther O’Moore Donohue share their tips on what to watch in cinemas and on TV this week