Spirit Radio Podcasts

Today we’re joined by Michelle Reynolds, CEO of Anam Cara, the organisation dedicated to supporting bereaved parents and families across Ireland.  

Michelle brings extensive experience in nonprofit leadership, counselling, and advocacy, with a strong focus on compassion, connection, and community support for families experiencing the loss of a child. 

A new report from the The Iona Institute suggests that almost one in four members of Generation Z could remain childless.  

The report examines changing family patterns in Ireland and asks whether rising childlessness is a matter of choice or the result of factors such as housing costs, financial pressures and delayed family formation.  

 Breda O’Brien from The Iona Institute. 

 With the Leaving Certificate getting underway today, many students will be thinking about what comes next. While college remains a popular option, increasing numbers are also looking at apprenticeships and traineeships as a route into employment. 

 FIT, the national coordinator for Tech Apprenticeships in Ireland, is encouraging students to consider careers in the growing tech sector. Clodagh Kearns is the People, Analytics and Wellbeing Lead at FIT (Fastrack into Information Technology)  

New EPA projections show Ireland is likely to miss its 2030 climate targets by a significant margin. 

Even with current policies fully implemented, emissions are expected to fall by about 25 per cent by 2030, well short of the 51 per cent reduction target.  

To discuss the findings, Dr. Tomas Murray from the EPA. 

Today’s prayer coach reflection comes from Mark 12:38-44, where Jesus warns against seeking recognition and praise, before pointing to the example of a poor widow who quietly gives ‘all she had to live on.’ It’s a passage that challenges us to think about generosity, humility and what truly matters in the eyes of God.  

To reflect on that message and how it applies to our daily lives, we’re joined by Fr Shane Gallagher, Chaplain at Letterkenny University Hospital. 

Loneliness is increasingly being recognised as a major public health issue, with research suggesting its impact on health can be as serious as other well-known risk factors.

A conference last week brought together researchers, policymakers and charities to examine the links between loneliness and health, and what can be done to address the problem.  

Sean Moynihan, CEO of ALONE and a member of the Loneliness Taskforce. 

David Turner was in studio to discuss the plight of young Christian girls and women in Pakistan who are abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and pressured into marrying their captors. The issue has drawn international concern, with human rights groups highlighting cases involving vulnerable young women from minority communities.

The conversation follows the recent escape of one Christian woman from captivity and examines the challenges faced by victims and their families in seeking justice and protection.

We also look at the work being carried out by Church in Chains and its partners in P...

Will the proposed Leaving Cert history course be anti-Catholic and anti-Western? Well, according to critics, if you boiled down parts of the Leaving Cert history course into one sentence, it would read: ‘Western civilisation bad, Catholic Church bad.’  

David Quinn from the Iona Institute has been writing about this issue and spoke with Nikki Hayes 

The global situation is pretty tense at the  moment. We have wars going on in Ukraine, the Middle East, Sudan and Myanmar. The situation in the China sea is very tense.

It is a time for us to be praying for wise calm heads to prevail. 

It’s a time for us to be praying for peace.  

Barry Mallet is organising an intercontinental prayer event.. Rob Clarke had a chance to talk to him about it 

Lydia O’Kane, News Editor at Spirit Radio talks to Trocaire’s Roisin Pye Alexander about Laudato Si week, which is currently underway, about how communities in Ireland are taking action to protect creation through daily choices, prayer, and concrete acts of care.