Alex Cooney

Chief Presenter with BBC News and former presenter and Washington Correspondent with RTÉ Caitríona Perry shares with Sean what life is like in Washington second time round and how her experience in Newstalk, Today FM and RTÉ has led her to anchoring in front of millions of viewers both in the US and globally.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Consultant Psychiatrist, Head of Addiction Services at St John Of God University Hospital and Clinical Professor at UCD’s School of Medicine Professor Colin O’Gara speaks to Sean about growing up in Cork in a family steeped in rugby and although he did play the sport like his famous brother Ronan he was more of a windsurfing enthusiast. He shares how he spends his time now advocating for those in the fight against addiction, highlighting the increasing numbers of people presenting with gambling and sex addiction as mobile phone possession and usage grows.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Director of Radio Programming and Public Affairs in RTÉ Kevin Healy joins Sean to share his journey as a journalist for the Cork Examiner and RTÉ and his decision to change careers in his fifties to retrain as a barrister. He opens up about the end of Scrap Saturday, his time involved in the Confidential Committee of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation and dealing with tragedy over the past number of years with the passing of his wife author Deirdre Purcell and his step-son Simon’s death and inquest.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chartered Counselling Psychologist and lecturer in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in TU Dublin Leslie Shoemaker shares her journey with Sean from Pittsburgh to Ireland and how her dad’s side are one of the founding families of Pennsylvania. As co-founder of OCD Ireland, she explains what the disorder is and how she treats it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Manager of Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap, chief commercial officer at Bohemians Football Club and former owner of Bang Bang cafe in Phibsboro Daniel Lambert joins Sean to share his journey from working in the Department of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations General Assembly in New York to managing Kneecap who have had a number of legal challenges against them. He opens up about growing up in Finglas and how his parents were influential in his life in relation to education, football and business. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Star of ‘The Chase’ and ‘Beat The Chasers’ professional quizzer Darragh Ennis speaks to Sean about his journey from Rathcoole in Dublin, where he was suspended twice in primary school, to graduating from Maynooth University with a PhD before swapping it all for life in Canada and Oxford. He opens up about his breakdown on The Chase following his father’s death from Dementia in 2024 and how he’s writing a new book on memory.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Irish ambassador Dáithí O’Ceallaigh joins Sean and explains what life was like serving in places like London and Belfast during the Troubles. He also opens up about his wife’s dementia, his Sheriff Street roots in Dublin’s inner city and how he was the first in his family to go to secondary school.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Cyber Safe Kids Alex Cooney speaks to Sean about her journey from working in the international development and non-profit sector in East Timor, Jamaica and London to empowering children, parents, schools and businesses in what can be a very challenging online world. She discusses what can be done to protect children with the fast-paced development of AI and if social media bans for under-16s are a good idea.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Minister for Housing and Fine Gael TD Eoghan Murphy joins Sean to share what life is now like for him following his turbulent time in politics in Ireland and the severe impact it had on his mental health. As his second edition of his book ‘Running from Office: How to Fail at Politics’ is published, he opens up about his relationships with former Taoisigh Enda Kenny and Leo Varadkar, and how he’s much happier living in London and monitoring elections in countries such as Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Journalist, author and migration activist Fintan Drury joins Sean to discuss trials and tribulations over his career in the RTÉ newsroom and Northern Ireland, public relations and serving on the board of Paddy Power and Anglo Irish Bank, leaving not long before it failed. He also opens up about his friendships with former Taoiseach Brian Cowen and former chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank Sean FitzPatrick and why he chose to write his latest book ‘Catastrophe: Nakba II’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.