Rté - Mornings With Dave Fanning

Dave speaks to Bob Geldof on Ireland, the Boomtown Rats & the refugee crisis.

Over 150,000 of you are heading to Croke Park this weekend for the Dublin & Mayo replay, of course it is the Kilkenny & Galway final – while many hundreds of thousands more will be stuck fast to TV & radio sets across the country. Marty Morrisey will be providing his usual lyrical commentary & he joins Dave in studio this morning.

At this time of the year all eyes are on Lisdoonvarna as the matchmaking festival kicks off for another year, but spare a thought for those matchmakers working hard all year round! In studio with Dave is Gus Martin, his wife Olive & Olive's father Tom Feeney who are all matchmakers from Trim in County Meath.

Vince Power is an Irishman who has promoted some of the giants of music at various venues in the UK. Today he's fighting for the jewel in what remains of his once lavish crown, a pub on Ladbroke Grove in Notting Hill, London, known to the locals as the KPH.

The abuses & trauma experienced by many women in the Magdelene Laundries & Mother and Baby Homes have been widely reported over the last few years. In studio with Dave is Jo Spain, whose debut novel, a story of a modern day murder case which is linked to those past atrocities.

Suicide is a growing problem in Ireland that strikes at the core of families. Our next item relates to this difficult subject & if you have been affected by suicide, you may find it too upsetting to listen to. For one man in California, stopping people from leaping to their deaths has been his life’s work. Keving Briggs speaks to Dave.

Its a known fact that the Irish community feature heavily in the police forces of the US & they are also making their mark Down Under. Starting this evening on RTE1 Garda Down Under is the story of life on the beat for Irish officers working in Australia. Two officers features are Michael Henderson & Ciarán Cleary who join Dave this morning.

Andrea Smith, a self-confessed mocker of the fit brigade doesn't get excited by diet talk & says 'life is too short to spiralise a zucchini'. So the freelance journalist & panellist with Midday on TV3, surprised herself a couple of weeks ago, then weighing 19 stone to sign up to walk 115km of the Camino in northern Spain in October for charity.

Ten year old Cian Smith from Waterford recently took home the Gold Medal in the Under 12 uilleann pipes & tin whistle competitions at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Sligo. Cian is in studio this morning along with his uillean pipes teacher, David Power.

Kate McGrew is a sex worker you may know from last year's video diary series, Connected on RTE Two TV. Kate welcomes Amnesty's recent vote to support the full decriminalisation of prostitution & is in studio with Dave this morning.

The dispute over flying the Union flag at council buildings has rumbled on in NI & there its no surprise to hear that the flag debate has been ongoing for decades. In 1934, it was the catalyst for a row in cycling with Ireland’s best athletes being prevented from competing internationally. Historian Ryle Dwyer joins Dave this morning.

Of course Blur & Oasis aren’t the only music acts to have squabbled so bitterly in the full glare of the record buying public and Roisin O’ Dwyer, Commissioning Editor of Hot Press joins Dave in studio to tell us about some of the less savoury ones.

“Breaking up is never easy, I know but I have to go.." - So says the lyrics of a well-known pop song & who could disagree? Most of us have been the victim of a difficult break up, or are perhaps planning one for the near future. Whatever the case, Rena Maycock of Intro Matchmaking joins Dave with her guide to the five phases of breaking up.

From the gateway of Asia to the heart of the Middle East, Irishmen are trending quite heavily this week. In Turkey & Abu Dhabi; In Beijing athletes were trending in victory & in defeat. And tragic events in Virginia, posted on social media, led to widespread shock. Dave is rejoined by Abie Philman-Bowman & by Stephen O’Leary of Olytico Analytics.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival draws to a close this weekend. It began in 1947 when some companies that hadn’t been invited to the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival - decided to turn up & perform anyway. Since then the Fringe has grown into the largest arts festival in the world. Abie Philman-Bowman is in studio with Dave.

When people attend music shows & festivals, they just concentrate on the gigs & not the work that goes into putting them on, the pre-post productions teams, people who make it all happen behind the scenes & some travel the world, producing shows & managing tours. In studio this morning are Tour Managers, Paddy McPoland & Suzie Shorten.

Many of us might dream of chucking in our nine-to-five jobs to travel the world but very few of us actually do it. Johnny Ward is a young Irishman who’s done just that & Dave spoke to him from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo last week . Johnny's website is OneStep4Ward.com / Twitter at @onestep4ward.

The death of a spouse is a traumatic event for anyone but when you & your partner have divorced, moved on, maybe remarried & had children with other people, the death of an ex-husband/wife while upsetting , presents you with a lot of questions. In studio with Dave is author Laurie Graham who recently wrote a newspaper article about her experience.

Paul Flynn of the Tannery Restaurant in Dungarvan & star of Lord & Ladles, a cookery series recently shown on RTÉ televison joins Dave in studio this morning

Tanya Sweeney is a freelance journalist & .broadcaster & if you were to ever take a look at her Facebook page you’d be forgiven for thinking she is living life to the full, close with her family, friends, holidays, fun & all that! But behind this Tanya fights with depression & the stigma with taking anti-depressants.