Highlights From The Pat Kenny Show

It’s parent-teacher meeting season and while the experience can be a joy for some parents and teachers, that’s not quite the case for everyone. So, what’s the most annoying thing about parent-teacher meetings? Is it parents who hog teachers?Jonathan asked Jen Hogan, Irish Times journalist and Host of Conversations with parents' podcast and Simon Lewis, Primary School principal & Host of If I were the Minister for Education podcast.

Female farmers are central to food security and climate resilience - So wrote President Mary Robinson ahead the COP 30 summit. So, who  are Ireland's growing number of women farmers. Is the future of Irish farming female? Newstalk's Sarah Madden reports.

At the Everton match last night, midfielder Idrissa Gueye has sparked huge discourse after he slapped his teammate, Michael Keane. He got sent off with a red card, but some are arguing that the punishment was far too harsh. But should violence on the pitch be normalised? Joining Jonothan to discuss this is Business and Life Coach Mark Fennell.

Our expert today was The tooth fairy Dr Bronagh Keane. Bronagh gave our listeners advice on dental care and answered our dental queries.

From its Grand bazaar to Blue Mosque, and street food to street cats, Istanbul is one of the great global cities. So what’s it like to visit? To tell us more was Irish Independent Travel Editor Pol Ó Conghaile.

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O'Callaghan is due to meet the European Commissioner for Migration, Magnus Brunner today. The meeting comes as reports of immigration rule changes may mean some refugees claiming social welfare payments might not be able to get citizenship.Jonothan discusses this in more detail with Sean Defoe Newstalk Political Correspondent and Host of Let Me Explain podcast.  

There has been outrage from communities over the new BusConnects routes. Locals in Chapelizod in Dublin say they've been completely cut off since the new 80 route replaced their 26 bus. The crowd for a public meeting was so large that it was split into two sessions in order to hear all the complaints raised. For more on this Jonoathan spoke to Social Democrat TD for Dublin South-Central Jen Cummins and Chapelizod Local Sabrina Mendes.

A new flu strain has started to circulate with six people having died this winter from the flu already. EU health experts are saying the strain has arrived much earlier this year than usual, with the number of cases increasing by over 40% last week.Dr Éamonn O’Moore, Director of National Health Protection from the HSE explains how we can protect ourselves from the new subclade k flu strain.

There was disappointment for rugby fans this weekend as Ireland were beaten by South Africa in the Aviva stadium. The 11 point win by the Springboks ended their 13-year wait to claim victory in Dublin.   Meanwhile it was another big weekend for Arsenal in the Premier League. The Gunners’ came up trumps in its game against Tottenham to put the team back in the hot seat. Eberechi Eze scored his first hat-trick in senior football the first in a north London Derby since 1978 and trashed Tottenham 4-1.Colm Boohig from Off The Ball takes a look back on the weekend of sport.   

The US and Ukraine are to continue working on the proposed 28 point peace plan following a meeting in Geneva yesterday. We get the latest with Paul Rogers, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies, Bradford University.

Reforms must tackle judicial and public procurement processes to deliver infrastructure. When political will and technical expertise align, Ireland can achieve anything. But we need to tackle the roadblocks first. All to discuss with Shane Dempsey, Director General of the Association of Consulting Engineers Ireland.

Dublin isn’t a ‘bargain bucket’ tourism destination. That’s according to the founder of the Little Museum. However, Trevor White is concerned about Ireland’s over reliance on the North American market. Trevor explained all to Jonathan this morning.

Doctors are warning that there has been a rise in the number of teens opting for weight loss jabs. An investigation by the Irish Daily Mail found over a six hundred percent increase in the seizure of unauthorised weight loss drugs entering Ireland within the last year. One of those concerned about this is Professor Donal O’Shea, HSE National Clinical Lead for Obesity.

A look back on the new stories of the week on the Friday Forum. Joining Pat today was James Geoghegan TD, Fine Gael, Dublin Bay South, Senator Laura Harmon, Spokesperson on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science; Disability, Labour, Cork South-Central, Cork City South West and Rose Conway-Walsh, Sinn Féin TD for Mayo.

The UK government acted “too little, too late”, according to a damning official report on the handling of Covid 19. We get the details of the report findings with The UK government acted “too little, too late”, according to a damning official report on the handling of Covid 19.

Executive Chef of The Anantara Marker Hotel Gareth Mullins talks through a classic Irish stew as the cold nights set in.

Enoch Burke is still at large after the High Court ordered him to return to prison for the fourth time. Gardai believe he’s hiding in his family home in Castlebar and have made multiple calls to the house, but Enoch still hasn’t presented himself. We get the latest on this with Legal Affairs Editor for the Irish Independent Shane Phelan.

Donnacha Ó Beacháin, Professor Politics, School of Law and Government, DCU and Author of Unfinished Empire joined Pat this morning to dissect Trump’s twenty eight point peace plan for Ukraine.

You’re likely to have frequently heard of the cryptocurrency bitcoin in the past number of years…but what about ‘stablecoins’? Aave is the world’s largest decentralised finance lending network and has just received a license from the central bank to trade here and across Europe. Tech Editor with The Irish Independent Adrian Weckler explains.

The Premier League returns as Arsenal remains top of the leaderboard.  While Ireland face a tough game against South Africa in this weekend's international test match this Saturday. And in Formula One all eyes will be on Lando Norris who could run away with the driver's championship in Las Vegas this weekend? Colm Boohig from Off The Ball brings us all the sport to look forward to this weekend.