Latest news with #RTÉRadio1
RTÉ News
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Alison Spittle: "Weight has been a constant war in my life"
Comedian Alison Spittle joined Brendan O'Connor on RTÉ Radio 1 to discuss her new show, Big, which she is bringing to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Dublin Fringe Festival. Based on her weight loss journey using prescription injections, the show explores her relationship with her body going back to childhood and how she navigates people's reactions to her weight now. "I was going to call it Fat B***h, that's what I was going to call it," she says, clearly thrilled to be cursing on Radio 1. "But, unfortunately, you couldn't put it on a poster." "It's about being a fat b***h, basically, Brendan," she continues, dryly. "Last year, I got into some health difficulties, and I believe that's known as f-ing around and finding out stage of my life." On the advice of doctors, Spittle tried to lose weight the "normal way" but struggled to get the results she needed. Eventually, she decided to try weight-loss injections, an experience that inspired much of her new show. "The best thing about losing weight is now I can catch buses," she deadpans. "Before, buses weren't for me. I was manifesting. I was like, what's meant for me won't pass me." "The worst about losing weight," she adds, "is that people treat me nicer." Going back to the beginning, Brendan asked Alison about her relationship with her body. "I've been fat since I was eight years old," she says, explaining that a lifetime of comments about her weight never once inspired her to become thinner. When told she would have to lose weight to make it in comedy, for example, she became all the more determined to succeed exactly as she was. When it came to critical comments and verbal abuse, for the most part, the comic found that she could see that the issue fell with others rather than herself. "If a fella comes up to you in Temple Bar and calls you a fat b***h, he's not doing it out of concern for your health," she says. Growing up during the Celtic Tiger years, Spittle says that women were constantly being valued on their appearance, whether it be an actress on TV, or an Irish model being photographed walking around town in a bikini. "I felt by staying fat, I was rebelling against that culture," she muses. "When I wanted to change its because I was unwell and I was scared. And then I realised I couldn't change. Like, that was scary." Spittle says that her health complications forced her to face her addictive behaviours towards food: "I barely ate because I was hungry, it was always around emotion." Bed-bound for two weeks, the comic says she "nearly died" during the health scare that led her to research weight loss drugs. Unfortunately, the process wasn't easy, with one doctor telling her that he didn't want her to have "an easy out". "What does that mean? It means that they don't want a fat person to have it any easier to lose weight. That's associated with punishment," she states. Eventually, Spittle was given a prescription for Mounjaro, which almost immediately took away the gratification she usually found from eating. "It's taken the joy out of eating for me, definitely, but that's grand," she says, acknowledging that although the "dopamine" is gone, the reasons why she became addicted to food have yet to be dealt with. Still in the early days of so much change, she says that coping with how people react to her can be challenging, and getting to know her new body and lifestyle is changing all the time. One thing she is clear on? No matter her weight, she never waited for life to begin. Some of her happiest days and most impressive accomplishments happened before weight loss, and she doesn't want to put down that past version of herself.
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Jack O'Connor set to step away as Kerry boss after more final glory
Jack O'Connor indicated he will step away from the job after sealing his fifth All-Ireland final win as Kerry manager. O'Connor signalled his intention to step down at the top in an interview with RTÉ Radio 1 following Kerry's win over Donegal. Speaking on TV earlier, he identified David Clifford's two-pointer just before half-time as the key moment in the final win. Kerry kept the ball for a long period before working the opportunity for Clifford to shoot after the hooter. Turning a five-point lead into seven was massive for Kerry, O'Connor said. "The two-pointer just before half time by David was a massive score. That put us seven up." And Kerry drew on Cork's experience in the hurling final to make sure they stayed the course. "We said to each other in the dressing room, what happened Cork last weekend wasn't going to happen us. We were going to come out and play and try to win the second half and we did by three points." The strength of Kerry's panel was the key this year, O'Connor added. "Take the year as a whole, we had a lot of adversity, a lot of injuries. We lost a lot of good men. But we had a tremendous panel spirit. "I heard a great man Brian Cody talking years ago about panel spirit and you can't beat it. "Men like Mark O'Shea, Sean O'Brien, lads like that who didn't think they'd be near the team starting midfield in an All-Ireland final for Kerry. It's the stuff of dreams. I'm delighted for them all. A massive team effort, a massive panel effort, backroom team effort I'm thrilled for them all. "The boys fought on their backs out there."
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Kerry's 'little hero' Brian Ó Beaglaoich can provide a star turn against Donegal
In a Kerry team richly endowed with attacking talent, Mike Quirke has tipped left wing-back Brian Ó Beaglaoich to finally get the national recognition that many in the Kingdom feel he deserves in the All-Ireland SFC final against Donegal. Former Kerry player Quirke was appearing on the final episode of the season of The Championship on RTÉ Radio 1 to look forward to the Croke Park decider, when he identified the Cumann Caide na Gaeltachta clubman as the player capable of upstaging the star names on Sunday. Ó Beaglaoich – whose name literally translates as 'little hero' in Irish – is set to shadow Shane O'Donnell in the senior football decider, and former Kerry player Quirke said: "I think Brian Ó Beaglaoich is criminally underrated nationally, I don't think people appreciate how good this guy is. "I actually think that he is Kerry's best half-back. "I think he has elevated himself to a level where he has a beautiful streak of bitterness in him, where he can be physical and aggressive and nasty. "He has so much football, he can attack a gap like he's coated with butter, and I think this year that he has started to finish and get scores and win frees. "I think a guy like him that has been playing really good football, this is a stage where sometimes it isn't your David Cliffords that take the headlines. "He's a guy I'd love to see have a big impact." Watch the All-Ireland Football Championship final, Donegal v Kerry, on Sunday from 2.15pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Is today's political climate making dating harder for young people?
Analysis: Larger social, economic and political trends can affect the perceived quality and stability of new relationships The last year has highlighted a political divide between young men and women. Data from elections in several countries shows that women aged 18 to 29 are becoming significantly more liberal, while young men are leaning more conservative. A recent 30-country study found Generation Z more divided than other generations on key questions around gender equality. At the same time, there is growing evidence that this cohort is turning away from traditional dating and long-term romantic relationships. According to the National Survey of Family Growth, in the US between 2022 and 2023, 24% of men and 13% of women aged 22-34 reported no sexual activity in the past year. This is a significant increase on previous years. And American teens are less likely to have romantic relationships than teenagers of previous generations. From RTÉ Radio 1's This Week, are dating apps losing their spark? Surveys over the past decades reveal a trend in reduced sexual activity, in terms of both frequency and number of partners, among young people. Dating apps are also losing their lustre, with the top platforms seeing significant user declines among heterosexual gen Z users in the last year. Is the gendered political divide making dating harder? As sociologists of intimacy, our work has shown how relationships are affected by larger social, economic and political trends. Our research on enduring gender inequality has shown that it can affect the perceived quality of intimate relationships and relationship stability. For example, heterosexual relationships are often underpinned by unequal divisions of emotional and domestic labour, even among partners with similar incomes. Some commentators and researchers have identified a trend of "heteropessimism" — a disillusionment with heterosexual relationships, often marked by irony, detachment or frustration. Anecdotally, women have widely expressed weariness with the gender inequality that can emerge in relationships with men. But heteropessimism has been identified among men too, and research has found that women are, on average, happier being single than men. From RTÉ Radio 1's Brendan O'Connor Show, 'you have to approach dating like a job interview now' Take domestic labour. Despite progress towards gender equality in many areas, data shows that women in mixed sex relationships still shoulder the majority of housework and care. In the UK, women carry out an average of 60% more unpaid work than men. This gap persists even among couples who both work full-time. In Korea, persistent gender inequality is thought to be behind the 4B movement. Young Korean women, fed up with sexist stereotypes which tie women to traditional roles, have declared their rejection of marriage, childbirth, dating and sex with men. Beyond Korea, young women have declared themselves "boy sober". Harassment, abuse and "toxic behaviour" on dating apps has reportedly driven young women away from wanting to date at all. Others have embraced voluntary celibacy. One reason is that, for some women, the erosion of reproductive rights, such as the overturning of Roe v Wade in the US, sharpens the political stakes of intimacy. Political disagreements that may once have been surmountable in a relationship are now deeply personal, affecting womens' bodily autonomy and experiences of misogyny. From RTÉ 2fm's Jennifer Zamparelli Show, where did all the pub men go? Journalist Edaein O'Connell on how daytime walks have replaced a quiet drink or dinner Of course, gender inequality does not just negatively affect women. In education, evidence suggests boys are falling behind girls at every level, though recent research shows this has reversed in maths and science. Men report feeling locked out of opportunities to care for their children through old-fashioned parental leave norms, which offer minimal opportunities for fathers to spend time with their children. Some influencers capitalise on real and perceived losses for men, pushing regressive and sexist views of women and relationships into the social media feeds of millions of boys and young men. Given all of the above, it is not entirely surprising that young men are more likely than young women to report that feminism has done more harm than good. Anxiety and uncertainty But there are wider political and economic issues that affect both young men and women, and how (or whether) they date each other. Gen Z are coming of age in a time of economic depression. Research shows that those experiencing financial stress have difficulties in establishing and maintaining intimate relationships. From RTÉ Radio 1's Brenda n O'Connor Show, 'romantic love is fine but platonic love is so deep" This may partly be because early stages of romance are strongly associated with consumerism, such as dinner out, gifts and so on. But there is also a lack of mental space for dating when people are under pressure to make ends meet. Insecure finances also affect young people's ability to afford their own homes and have access to private spaces with a partner. Additionally, there are growing rates of mental ill health reported by young people worldwide. Anxieties abound around the pandemic, economic recession, the climate and international conflict. These anxieties play out in the dating scene, with some feeling that entering into a romantic relationship is another risk to be avoided. Research with UK-based heterosexual dating app users aged 18-25 found that they often saw dating as a psychological stand-off, where expressing care too soon could result in humiliation or rejection. The result was that neither young men nor women felt safe expressing genuine interest. This left people stuck in the much-lamented "talking stage", where relationships fail to progress. As sociologist Lisa Wade and others have shown, even when casual sex is part of the picture, emotional attachment is often actively resisted. The proliferation of "hook-up culture" – characterised by casual sexual encounters that prioritise physical pleasure over emotional intimacy – may partly be a response to a cultural discomfort with vulnerability. Gen Z's turn away from dating doesn't necessarily reflect a lack of desire for connection, but perhaps a heightened sense of vulnerability related to larger trends in mental ill-health and social, economic and political insecurity. It may not be that young people are rejecting relationships. Rather, they may be struggling to find emotionally safe (and affordable) spaces where intimacy can develop.
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Health
- RTÉ News
Why our Stone Age brains aren't designed for sustained attention
Analysis: Our modern world demands sustained vigilance, but we're using brains that weren't designed for this kind of focus We've all been there. You're trying to focus on an important task, but your mind starts wandering. Maybe you're a student struggling to pay attention during a long class or lecture, or you're at work trying to concentrate on a detailed report. You might think the solution is simple: just try harder, practice more, or maybe find the right productivity hack. But what if we told you that perfect, unwavering attention isn't just difficult but actually impossible to achieve? Recent research from cognitive scientists reveals something that might surprise you: the human brain simply isn't designed for perfect sustained attention. This isn't a personal failing or something you can overcome with enough willpower. It's a fundamental feature of how our minds work. From RTÉ Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne, why is our attention more vulnerable than ever and what can we do about it? Think of your attention like a flashlight with a flickering battery. No matter how much you want that beam to stay perfectly steady, it's going to flicker. Scientists have discovered that our brains operate through rhythmic pulses, with attention naturally cycling several times per second. It's not something you can control or train away. The brain networks responsible for attention, particularly areas in the front and sides of your head, show constant fluctuations in activity. Even when you think you're paying perfect attention, brain scans reveal that your neural activity is constantly shifting. It's like trying to hold water in your cupped hands. During World War II, researchers noticed something troubling: radar operators whose job was to spot enemy aircraft on screens would inevitably miss targets after just a short time on duty. This wasn't because they weren't trying hard enough or lacked training. Even the most skilled, motivated operators showed the same pattern. From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, Dr. Philipp Hövel from UCC on what's competing for our shrinking attention spans Scientists called this the "vigilance decrement", which is the inevitable decline in attention over time. This finding has been replicated thousands of times across different jobs and situations. Air traffic controllers, security guards watching CCTV screens, and even lifeguards at busy beaches all show the same pattern. It doesn't matter how important the job is or how much training someone has received: performance starts to drop within minutes of starting a vigilance task. You might wonder why evolution would give us such a seemingly flawed attention system. The answer seems to lie in survival. Having attention that automatically shifts and scans the environment was actually a survival advantage for spotting danger in the wild. Our "distractible" attention system kept our ancestors alive. Even experienced meditators, who spend years training their attention, don't achieve perfect sustained focus. Brain scan studies of Buddhist monks with decades of meditation experience show they still have, and can't eliminate, natural fluctuations in attention. What meditation does teach is awareness of these fluctuations and the ability to gently redirect attention when it wanders. From RTÉ 2fm's Morning with Laura Fox, tech journalist Elaine Burke on how the entertainment industry is adapting to shorter attention spans Our attention limitations create real problems in today's world. Medical errors in hospitals, aviation accidents and industrial disasters often involve attention failures. We've built a modern world that demands sustained vigilance, but we're using Stone Age brains that weren't designed for this kind of focus. The traditional response has been to try harder: more training, more motivation, more discipline. But this approach is like trying to make water flow uphill. It fights against the fundamental nature of human attention rather than working with it. Instead of fighting our attention limitations, we need to design systems that work with them. This means creating technology that can handle the boring, repetitive vigilance tasks while humans focus on what we do best: creative problem-solving, understanding context (including emotions aroused), and making complex decisions. Some industries are already moving in this direction. Modern aircraft use automation to handle routine monitoring while pilots focus on higher-level decision-making. Medical devices can continuously monitor patients while nurses provide care and interpret complex situations. The key is finding the right balance. Complete automation isn't the answer either. Humans need to stay engaged and maintain skills. But neither is expecting perfect human attention in situations where technology could provide better, more reliable monitoring. Accepting that perfect attention is impossible might actually be liberating. Instead of feeling guilty when your mind wanders during a long meeting or beating yourself up for losing focus while studying, you can recognise this as normal human behaviour. The goal isn't to eliminate attention fluctuations but to work with them. Take regular breaks, change tasks periodically, and design your environment to support rather than fight your natural attention rhythms. Perfect attention isn't just difficult to achieve but theoretically impossible - and that's OK.
