Róisín Meets...

Actor Gabriel Byrne is a contributor to a new book published by The Hospice Foundation that celebrates the relationship between fathers and sons. On this week's podcast he speaks about how his own father struggled with social and economic changes in his lifetime, and the personal experiences behind his support for the hospice movement. He also refuses to back away from his controversial remarks on The Gathering, and worries about his daughter becoming an actor.

In honour of festival season Roísín welcomes Body & Soul founder Avril Stanley to talk about her long and storied career in putting on memorable events, from 300 people in Yosemite National Park to the 10,000 attending the sixth year of Body & Soul at Ballinlough Castle next weekend. She also welcomes journalist and blogger Louise Bruton, who campaigns for better wheelchair access in public spaces. She rates Body & Soul highly for accessibility and together with Avril has come up with some solutions to make festivals less hostile places for wheelchair users. Now all they need is some nice weather.

This week Roísín meets novelist Marian Keyes, whose latest novel The Woman Who Stole My Life is at the top of the UK bestsellers chart. They talk about being grateful in life, trying and discarding self-help techniques, and Marian's obsession with upcycling furniture. It's all about the knobs, apparently. Marian also reveals some information about two upcoming books.

This week Roísín meets devout twin sisters Gemma and Triona King on the occasion of their 60th birthday. Gemma and Triona, or G&T as they are sometimes known, are consecrated virgins. They tell Roísín about what led them to that decision, the intensity of their twin bond, and what they have made of the challenges to the Catholic Church in recent years.

On this week's show Roisin meets Tal Ben-Shahar to talk about that most elusive of states: happiness. Along with his colleague Daniel Philbin Bowman, Tal tells Roisin about his lifelong investigation into the attainment of a positive mental state, and the simple things that people can do to be more content. Tal Ben-Shahar is a Harvard lecturer in positive psychology, an author of several books on happiness and the founder of Potentilife, a 9-month leadership development program.

This week Roísín meets the legendary American singer-songwriter Don McLean. He tells her how he was at odds with his family over his choice of career, how the success of "American Pie" came with a price, and the problem with modern songwriting.

This week Roisin meets Sinead Burke, who also goes by the alias Minnie Melange when competing in (and winning) the Alternative Miss Ireland contest. Sinead is a primary school teacher, phd student in education and fashion blogger, and in her Extraordinary Women series she has interviewed a series of inspirational people. She tells Roisin about how being a little person has not hindered her life and they discuss whether her unusual height has given her a special understanding of other minorities.

This week Roisin is joined by Richard E Grant for a somewhat unorthodox interview, in which the extremely charming interviewee turns the tables on The Irish Times' answer to Oprah. They discuss the dark and the light in their family histories, Richard's lucky breaks, and his new fragrance Jack which is available now in Browne Thomas.

This week Roisin meets Brian and David, who have been together for 21 years and want to get married. Brian has recently been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a "treatable but incurable" form of cancer. They also talk about what it was like to be gay in Dublin when they met back in "the Jurassic period", and how gay children should be considered too in the debate about family that surrounds the marriage referendum.

This week Roisin meets novelist Julian Gough, who shares the news of his new publishing deal with Picador for his "brilliant, insightful and remarkable" novel for the first time. He tells Roisin about the novel, his life, how the Universe can give you what you need, and that new socks and underwear will be the only extravagances from his new deal.

This week Roisin meets TV presenter Angela Scanlon, fresh from her stint on The Voice. She talks about how she found her way to success and having to harden up along the way. She also explains what a 'bullet-proof coffee' is.

This week Roisin meets PJ Gallagher and Joanne McNally, two comedians with a bond. Both were given up for adoption as babies and reunited with their birth mothers later in life. They've created a show that explores that shared history. They also tell Roisin how their partnership had a rocky start.

This week Roisin meets Paula Hawkins, author of hit bestseller The Girl on the Train. They talk about her rapid rise to success, past life as a writer of romance novels, and growing up in Zimbabwe. Paula also reads an excerpt from The Girl on the Train.

This week Roisin meets Liz O'Donnell to talk about life after politics, using her column as an outlet, and her role at the helm of the Road Safety Authority.

To celebrate St Patrick's weekend, this week's show features new music from Conor O'Brien of Villagers, Lisa Lambe backed by a cappella group the Keynotes, and more from Cerys Matthews.

Cerys Matthews was in town last week to entertain the crowd at the British Embassy on the occasion of St David's Day. Róisín caught up with her there for a chat and recorded her lively performance to share in this podcast.

This week Roisin is joined by Ross O'Carroll-Kelly's creator Paul Howard and the multi-talented Lisa Lambe to talk about about their lives on stage, page and screen.

Róisín meets Lynn Ruane, President-elect of Trinity College. They talk about her upbringing in Tallaght, becoming a mother at 15 and her career in addiction services. Lynn explains why she got angry all over again when she went to University.

This week Róisín meets former politician and novelist Liz McManus to talk about her new novel "A Shadow in the Yard". Liz tells Róisín that she doesn't miss politics, but gives her views on homelessness, abortion rights, gender quotas and the bus pass.

This week Roisin Ingle meets Gay Byrne. They discuss life, gay marriage, Stephen Fry and sex.