The nation awoke this morning to the announcement that RTE's Gaelic Games commentator Micheal O Muircheartaigh is retiring. Paidi O Se, retired Irish Gaelic football manager and former player, chats to Ryan about the legend of a man. Tributes flooded in with caller's stories of Sundays spent watching the GAA with the telly on, sound down and the radio blasting Micheal's inimitable style. This Sunday, we will hear Micheal's final commentary for the 114th All-Ireland Senior Football Final between Cork and Down, his 25th final in the year of his 80th birthday. His voice has defined GAA broadcasting for a generation, and will echo down the generations to come. Go n-eiri an t-adh leat, a Micheal!
Ryan had a chat with 82 year old Kitty Gabbet whose son texted into the show yesterday - Kitty only recently decided she was fed up sitting in the passenger seat and wanted to take the wheel and learn how to drive! She had kept it a secret from her 8 children, 32 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren and went for her first lesson this morning with her driving instructor who was very pleased and impressed with her! Happy Driving Kitty!
With Pope Benedict XVI kissing the tarmac on the landing strip at Edinburgh Airport this morning, we talk to Vatican insider Father Michael Collins, who taught in Rome for years before returning to work in Dublin in 2005 and has reported for CNN, BBC and Sky News. It's the first visit since John Paul II's pastoral visit in 1982 and the first ever official visit by a Pope to Britain. The Pope plane will be filled with cardinals and Vatican press correspondents known as 'The Vat Pack'.
Nob Nation - Today the Nobs reveal the voicemails that Taoiseach Brian Cowen heard on the famous morning after the infamous night before...
15 year old Gavin Tucker wrote a letter to the show during the week - he's a 6th year student in Lanesboro Community College and describes himself a 'gifted child'. Gavin felt let down by our education system and tells Ryan how his otherwise 'blissful life' was almost destroyed last year as he found himself losing the motiviation to work in school and refusing to contribute in class. After much deliberation, Gavin was allowed to move straight from 3rd year into 5th year - provided he sat his Junior Cert - which he did and he received his results yesterday. He is much more stimulated and looking forward to the Leaving Cert next year.
We also hear from Eileen, mother of two young gifted children herself, who compares the Irish education system's approach to gifted children to that of the US, where she lived for 5 years. She also feels that we are wasting a huge amount of potential in our brightest children by not supporting and challenging them.
21 year old Jeremy Beshoff described the tragic incident which occured at the pier in Howth Co. Dublin back in July where he encountered a 'near-death' experience. Jeremy recounted his struggle to break free from a Mini Cooper after a 45 year old father, who had taken it for a test drive from his garage Beshoff Motors, appeared to deliberately drive it over the edge of the middle pier in the harbour. Before he knew it, they were in the water and within 15 seconds, the whole car was submerged. Jeremy smashed the front passenger window, escaped and was pulled to safety by a fisherman at the pier. The body of the other man, who sadly drowned, was later recovered.