Just briefly tell us your own story.

Good evening, Shane.

Yes.

Well, this is something I've really noticed in the last year.

I have a lot of friends in Ireland and family, and they're complaining that it's so expensive to see a dermatologist.

If your teenager has acne so bad that whatever the GP has prescribed hasn't worked, you'd be referred to a dermatology for serious medication.

And it's just so expensive, Shane.

But what would you like to see happen?

now than he was then probably.

Oh, listen, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

But anyway, back to the pampered pets.

So yes, what I have been doing, I've been getting these meals, I've been employing these dog trainers to help me.

The dog is dressed up to the nines.

I mean, she's got three winter coats going into this season.

And, you know, my brother was just looking at me and I was telling him I was regaling him with the trouble I had actually in finding a dog sitter.

If you really want to help, Mary, radical truth.

Well, do you have wrinkles, like things you'd like to smooth out or lift?

Well, I mean, I obviously have wrinkles, right? Because I'm 50.

And when I was in my 20s, I would have been out there baking in the sun.

So I do have wrinkles.

And I'm not saying I'm sitting around eating Jaffa cakes all day.

Like I do exercise.

I look after myself.

And that's the sort of way the conversation goes.

Is this something playing on your mind?

So morning, Claire.

Yes, so he's going into his final year.

We live in Brussels, in Belgium, and it is a big barrier, the rental.

Like, the rental market has just come off, the wheels have come off, you know, in the last few years.

It's, it's really just, it's out of reach for so many, and it is, it is, like, a defin- a, definitely it's a big barrier for Irish parents who are living abroad, and they'd like to send their kids back to Ireland to go to university.

And it is such a shame because, you know, you really want your kids to go back and reconnect, you know? But it's, like, the accommodation is very, very off-putting.

It comes down to choice.

You wrote that your children had a wonderful primary school experience in Ireland, but now that you live abroad, it's become obvious that the Irish school day was just too short, Mary.

Well, so just to clarify, so the school day is five hours, 40 minutes.

So some schools would start like at 8.40, some would start at 10 past nine.

But it's five hours, 40 minutes.

But the earlier classes, the junior and senior, they're in four hours, 40 minutes.

So to me, number one is to make it the same time.

So they should all be doing five hours, 40 minutes.

You were saying that your experience is that they don't even have time to eat properly and quite often the lunchbox comes home with the food still in because they don't have the time.

You've got one signed into an Irish college.

I do.

And it's been a revelation.

So today, actually, I'm quite relaxed.

When I say now there's a more relaxed tempo.

There is and you can enjoy it, but then there's a certain point, there's a fine balance.

And when they're lying around in their rooms all day, I mean, you just snap, you know.

And how long will he be packed off to the Gaeltacht from Brussels to Mayo?

Mary, what do you make of it all?

Oh, it's so disappointing.

So last year I was in Paris, we had booked an Airbnb and there was a bathtub and I was so excited, like, you know, lying back, shaving the legs in Paris in a bath, can't wait.

The bathtub is in the bedroom, like in the bedroom.

And Like, you know, I just, it's just really, I was like, okay, I'm just going to like, I'm going to like, you know, snuggle into this bath now.

Like, and my husband was lying on the, he's like, I don't want to see you in the bath.

I mean, maybe he should want to see me in the bath.

Am I just OCD or something? I'm totally with you there.

Uh, where were you at in your life at that time, and what drew you to running?

So I've been running now for nearly 20 years.

So I started running when I was 8.

Um, so my first marathon, obviously was my first, like, competitive marathon race, but it was, like, my 100th competitive race.

So I ran that marathon that period of my life because I basically came out of competitive running from the age of 8, primary school, secondary school, university.

Came to London and was like, "What does running mean to someone who's not in an, like, an athletics club and competitive space?" And I found a new circle of friends, and they all signed up to do Valencia Marathon, and I was like, "A marathon is a crazy thing to do." 'Cause I'd been running for so long, but I'd been running, like, 3K on track or, like, cross country.

Or, like, we didn't even, we weren't even really allowed to road race growing up 'cause it was, like, deemed bad on your bones.

Um, do you think that runners are being misled by, like, influencers on Instagram and, like, copying sessions that they shouldn't be running?

Mary, you have concerns.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Well, I do.

I have to say, I do think it's a sign of the times that there's, you know, there's no gatekeepers now on who becomes famous.

Like, so on social media, it's kind of normal people that are blowing up, you know, so that's been reflected in reality TV.

But there is a danger with that.

Mary, you're not going to be having your primary school child sitting up watching Love Island every night, surely?

Yeah, and I assume, or certainly the indications seem to be it's just a lot of hassle because it's a further burden on the school to collect money from parents.

Well, I mean, it doesn't have to be like the school I was in, you just paid it for the year.

So it was like, I think it was, I can remember it being about like maybe 40 quid for per kid for the entire year.

So, I mean, there might be that perception that it's hassle, but you actually get a lot more with it because there's, there's chats about nutrition and then they bring the kids to farms as well that's part of the school milk scheme so there was 1,500 kids were brought to farms in May like just May gone you know that it's run by the National Dairy Council so there's not that much hassle like I kind of feel when they brought in the hot meal scheme there a few years ago for primary kids they should have just thrown in the carton of milk because actually Sean when you look into it because I was quite surprised when I started researching it to find out there was so few schools.

And then that kind of led me to another rabbit hole.

And actually, there's ECD research there from last year to show that half of teenagers in Ireland, they're deficient in calcium.

And like you had your vegan clip there and like, yeah, you know, vegan bacon, I definitely would draw the line at that.

And I don't know, I just have a sense that kids just don't do that as much anymore.

Yeah, and I assume, or certainly the indications seem to be it's just a lot of hassle because it's a further burden on the school to collect money from parents.

Well, I mean, it doesn't have to be.

Like the school I was in, you just paid it for the year.

So it was like, I think it was, I can remember it being about like maybe 40 quid per kid for the entire year.

So, I mean, there might be that perception that it's hassle, but you actually get a lot more with it because there's, there's chats about nutrition and then they bring the kids to farms as well that's part of the school milk scheme so there was 1500 kids were brought to farms in may like just just may gone you know that it's run by the national dairy council so there's not that much hassle like i kind of feel when they brought in the hot meal scheme there a few years ago for primary kids they should have just thrown in the carton of milk because actually sean when you look into it because I was quite surprised when I started researching it to find out there was so few schools.

And then that kind of led me down other rabbit holes.

And actually, there's ECD research there from last year to show that half of teenagers in Ireland, they're deficient in calcium.

And I don't know, I just have a sense that kids just don't do that as much anymore.

So what are your concerns around child safety online?

Right.

Well, I'm very much of the opinion that younger teens should not be on social media.

So I would say 15 would be a good age for them to go on it.

I also think we can do both.

Andrea, I think we can make these places safer, which is what... everyone wants, but we should also not let kids under 15, under 16 would be obviously better, but I'd go for having teenagers myself.

I think under 15 is probably more realistic.

Mary McCarthy, are you surprised to hear that they're not actually addictive after all, Mary?

Can you explain it for the people that potentially don't know?

Yes, I can explain it.

I, I guess it's, like, my slogan online.

My, like, catchphrase is...

I, I originally, like, created it because I thought...

I met so many people that were, like, shouting my name in races and, like, would see me and say something.

And I was like, "I think I need something to, like, sum me up, so, like, when you see me," like.

... where you have had downs and you ha- have like struggled?

And Mary McCarthy, Irish independent columnist, is with me on the line today because she's Mary, have you noticed marketing strategies like this aimed at very, very young children?

I have, you know, I really have.

I can remember being in Sephora in Paris.

It was two years ago.

I was there for the Taylor Swift concert.

My daughter was 13 at the time.

And I remember there was all these things you could buy in store and you get points and there was like a mystery package you buy.

So the parents have a role of responsibility in all of this.

Should Granny and Grandad, should they be on some kind of payroll, Mary?

Good afternoon, guys.

How are you? Definitely not.

Definitely not.

Oh, my goodness.

Katie, you struck gold as your parents waking up at 6.30 in the morning.

Honestly, like, it would be impossible to get them to do that.

It's a treat occasionally, not a full time job.

Is that right?

Hi, Andrea.

Hi, Jack.

Yeah, I have a 15-year-old daughter, and I just find the baby Botox, the idea of it, it's appalling.

It's so unnecessary.

And, you know, Jack, what you were saying there about that study, I think there's such a harm, even if they're not going to do it ever, even just seeing it, right? Like, I have a look at my daughter's Instagram every so often, and I follow a few influencers that she follows just because I want to see what's being thrown at her, right? And I am so shocked.

The number of young girls and women, they don't actually look real to me, right? They just look...

Mary, has your daughter ever, you know, has she ever talked to you maybe about looking for lip filler or perhaps this is something down the line she might like to consider? I mean, is that a conversation that's ever happened in the house?

Is 6.28 your ideal dinner time, Mary?

Good afternoon, guys.

Yeah, I love 6.28. It's perfect.

It's because people are kind of, they tend to be into the sports, not all, not every day, but in our house, that's mostly.

Sometimes my husband will be like later at work, but I'll actually wait on, like, and the kids go mental because they're starving, but Orla was talking about a hack there when they left the office with the nuts and the fruit.

So what I do is I do like a big, huge plate of loads of chopped vegetables.

So the kids are whining about being starved and I just say, eat them.

Are you an evening snacker, Mary?

Do you celebrate today, Mary, first of all?

Good afternoon, Andrea.

Listen, I have nothing against, you know, meeting up with a few pals today, taking it easy.

I just don't really like, I just don't like the expression Women's Christmas because I feel it is completely outdated.

I just don't think it's, I think it's no longer relevant.

It's tied to old gender ideas.

It's also, as you mentioned, they're a little bit capitalist.

Like, it's just not something that's in my, it's not something that's on my radar at all in terms of something that I might think of or wish people, you know, some kind of greeting today or certainly have no celebrations, Mary.

How much of this do you subscribe to, Mary?

Good afternoon, everyone.

I love it.

I love the matching PJs.

Katie, I don't know why you don't like men in pyjamas.

I love men in pyjamas.

And Joey, I know you're a toxic man there.

you keep the festive spirit going all year Mary

Do you have children at home looking for kids face masks?

Hi, Andrea.

Listen, I agree with Deirdre.

There is so cynical.

It's actually a problem because it takes it up another level.

So there's nothing really wrong with your daughter wanting to do a face mask with you.

Like I had that with my daughter.

Why?