Pretty much everyone in this country, either directly or indirectly, is affected by the housing crisis. And it has come up as topic on this podcast time and time again. We have had lots of guests that are hugely successful in the world of writing, acting, performance, but who can’t afford to buy a home and/or who are looked at very unfavourably by the banks for a mortgage. And its come up in my conversations with campaigners like rory hearne and Ciaran crazy house prices.

And it’s a subject that my special guest Conor Skehan has a lot of experience in and a lot to say about. Conor is an expert in planning and architecture and in 2013 the government appointed him as chair of the Housing agency, a role he held for 5 years. And in that time Conor learned a lot about housing – not just the facts and figures and the big picture stuff, but why its is such a complex, emotional issue that we find so hard to fix. He has a lot of strong opinions about it, and he doesn’t hold back in this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast.

COMEDY - Leo Varadkar has recorded an audio version of his hotly-anticipated autobiography, and he’s even convinced a few of his former political colleagues to take part in the recording. We got exclusive access to the unedited footage that reveals what really happened in the studio

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

John Gibbons is one of Ireland’s best-known and most vocal environmental campaigners, consistently highlighting the climate emergency for well over 20 years. He has appeared on this podcast several times and he also does a weekly slot with Matt Cooper on Today FM’s Last Word. John has just published a new book called The Lie of the Land - A Game Plan for Ireland in the Climate Crisis, and he joined me here in the GoLoud studio to tell me all about it.

We talk about how we have gotten into the situation we’re in, and he deals with some of the climate-sceptic arguments that are floating around quite a lot at the moment. John also outlines some very clear solutions and he’s very optimistic that its not at all too late to put them into action. He also shares a story about a pretty serious run in he had with a certain, very well-known national broadcaster, now who might that be…?

COMEDY - As you can imagine, John’s attracts a lot of attention with his very vocal views, and so as soon as I put out the word that he was going to join me here on the podcast, the Mario Rosenstock Podcast hotline started hopping

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Eileen Magnier spent 35 years as RTE’s North west correspondent, and in that time she covered an incredible number of stories of all different kinds. It was a job that she loved, but it was also very demanding and unpredictable in nature. Sometimes Eileen would have to report on incredibly tragic stories like the Creeslough explosion in co Donegal in 2022, in which 10 people died. This was a part of the job that Eileen took very seriously, as it is so important to cover these stories sympathetically and accurately, and with consideration to those left behind.

The physical and emotional toll of the work, after over three decades, was starting to become very apparent to Eileen and so, just over a year ago, she decided to retire and today, she says she has never felt so healthy, so free, and so energised.

In this episode Eileen and I have a fascinating chat about her almost four decades at the frontlines of public service news, the various factors that prompted her to make that very big decision to retire, and the amazing things that she has been doing since retirement.

COMEDY - when some of Eileen's former colleagues in RTE spotted her walking in the doors of Marconi House to record this interview, they thought she might be 'doing a Claire Byrne' and the Mario Rosenstock Podcast hotline started buzzing!!

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand