Conversations with Parents

Coleen Nolan has always had a very open relationship with her children.When it comes to having conversations with them, nothing is off the table, explains the TV personality and member of The Nolan Sisters.When her son told her he had sex for the first time, it was possibly a more personal sharing of details than many parents are used to when it comes to their teenagers’ lives, but Nolan says her own experiences of growing up, with parents who didn’t like to talk about certain things, made her particularly conscious to be a mother whose children could speak to her about anything.In today's episode, Nolan shares what it was like growing up in the spotlight, navigating being a parent amid marriage separation, and bringing up teenagers under the glare of the British tabloids. Produced by Andrew McNair. The series producer is Declan Conlon.

Dec Pierce has had a tough couple of years. The Today FM presenter and creator of Block Rockin Beats – his dance music and live gigs show - had a brain haemorrhage in 2023 and last year was diagnosed with breast cancer.On the latest episode of the Conversations with Parents podcast he tells host Jen Hogan about the shock of learning he had breast cancer while on holiday with his wife and young daughter.Fatherhood is something Pierce always hoped to experience but he had thought it wasn’t going to happen for him. “Myself and Kate were trying for a while”, he explains. “I always wanted to be a dad. But I never thought I’d be blessed”. He discusses the surprise of finding out he was going to be a dad when he had given up hope.Maintaining a presence on social media means Pierce is well aware of its risks. “I know how toxic social media can be”, he says and he worries about raising a daughter in the social media age. “I think we’ll handle that very carefully as she gets older. We’re so lucky the generation we grew up in where social media wasn’t a thing”.Pierce was bullied in school and he’s conscious of his hypervigilance to this because of his own experience. “I’m very aware of that. I’m very aware that might not be the case for her. And I don’t want to put my worries, my stresses and my hang ups from those days on her shoulders”.Conversations with Parents is presented by Jen Hogan.This episode was produced by Andrew McNair.The executive producer is Declan Conlon.Brought to you in association with Avonmore Super Milk.

Oisin McConville was destined to get involved with Gaelic football from a young age growing up in Crossmaglen, Co Armagh in the 1980s.“The Troubles is something that played a large part in my life, because bombing, shootings, killings were common place day in day out when I was growing up”, he says.His dream was to score the winner for Armagh at Croke Park. And sure enough, he was the star of the county's first Sam Maguire trophy victory in 2002.He’s the father of two boys and a girl and for now he’s just about hanging in there on the coolness scale “but it’s only going one way”, he laughs. Presented by Jen Hogan. Produced by Andrew McNair.

Colman Noctor is a well-known child and adolescent psychotherapist, so you’d be forgiven for presuming with all this expertise at hand that he always gets it right when it comes to parenting his own three children.Not so, the father-of-three says on the latest episode, explaining his children “slam doors” and face the same “trials and tribulations” as the everyone else’s children. He shares the “sobering” moment he realised that you can read all the books and have all the theory, “but in Dundrum Shopping Centre when you’re kid kicks off, it’s a lottery. Parenting is an act of failure. It’s just not failing too much.”

Sarah McInerney is known for her self-assured, cool and calm approach to interviewing politicians, but on the first episode of the brand new season of Conversations with Parents podcast she tells host Jen Hogan, about the anxiety that plagued her second pregnancy.In a revealing and personal interview, McInerney discusses best laid plans and shares how becoming a mother of two children wasn’t as straightforward as she might have hoped.“My first pregnancy was a dream,” she says on the podcast. “I absolutely flew through it and thought, ‘Oh, I’m a natural mother. I’m just made to do this.’ The second pregnancy was the complete opposite.”Sarah talks to Jen about what surprised her about having boys, the guilt she felt over her heavy Drive Time schedule and more.

Conversations with Parents from The Irish Times and parenting journalist Jen Hogan is coming back with a new season. Season three will feature another group of interesting people with new parenting stories to tell. Find us wherever you get your podcasts - or on irishtimes.com.Conversations with Parents from The Irish Times is brought to you in association with Avonmore Super Milk.

Miriam O’Callaghan says she understands that having eight children is a source of fascination for people. And where once she might have been bothered by the double standards (i.e. how male broadcasters don’t seem to be defined by their parental status), she is now as happy to talk about her brood as she is about her TV career. The current affairs presenter has just released her memoir “Miriam: life, work, everything” and she delves into all of the above in this enthralling conversation with Jen Hogan. Miriam reveals she had secondary infertility after the birth of her first child, and how her last pregnancy almost had a tragic outcome. She also speaks about her blended family and how close she remains to her former stepdaughter. Miriam also explains how a period of disordered eating in her teens motivated her to build up her daughters’ confidence before they entered the tricky teen years. And she speaks about the devastating loss of her sister Anne, who she closely shared her early years of mothering with.Presented by Jen Hogan. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.Brought to you in association with Avonmore Super Milk

Sophie Ellis-Bextor wasn’t expecting to have a baby so soon into her relationship with her now husband, but she says there was a part of her that felt really good about it. This was in the early 2000s when it was not the done thing for a female pop star to start a family. 21 years and five boys later she’s managing to juggle family life with a successful singing career, having just released her eighth studio album, Perimenopop. But it hasn't all been smooth sailing. In this episode Sophie speaks about her first-born’s shaky start after a premature birth, raising five boys and embracing the wisdom that comes with getting older.Presented by Jen Hogan. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.Brought to you in association with Avonmore Super Milk