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Ray D'Arcy Daily

La la la,La la la, Long Weekend.

29 May 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the significance of the long weekend in this episode?

2.866 - 39.943 Ray D'Arcy

Easy now. It's Long Weekend. There you go. Mairead Ronan, back in vocals. Jenny Kelly, a bit of bass from myself, as recorded on the last long weekend at the beginning of May. Mairead is busy today. Always busy. Thanks, Mairead. Thank you very much for that. Thank you. Thank you. And because of the long weekend and people are a little bit giddier than they normally would be on a normal Friday...

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40.193 - 55.675 Ray D'Arcy

We decided to do things differently today and we're very excited because today is the day, for the first time, we have two listeners on doing a quiz. Yes, I know it sounds a bit like radio, but it's going to be the podcast version. We have the technology, we think.

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57.257 - 75.211 Ray D'Arcy

I spent two hours trying to organise the technology yesterday and I went round and round and round in frustrating circles until I ended up, guess where I ended up? Where I started. And in the end, the workaround was quite simple, as oftentimes it is.

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75.571 - 100.284 Ray D'Arcy

But I went through hoops, technological hoops, did somersaults and backflips and roundoffs and all sorts of things and got very tired and frustrated. Eventually, oh yeah, we'll do it that way. We'll do it that way. We'll see what happens anyway. It's a little journey. It's a little adventure. And we're looking forward to it. So that's coming up for the giddiness of the long weekend.

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100.324 - 143.532 Ray D'Arcy

And you will hear that every so often. It's great to hear that there are more people joining us. Yes, they're getting on board. Ray Darcy Daily, the podcast. Come on, here we go. Here we go. And it was Stephen Wexford. So Steve was probably listening going, that was me, that was me. So there you are, Steve in Wexford.

144.074 - 159.306 Ray D'Arcy

Bernard was talking about Bags for Life yesterday and his favourite is Mr Price. Ellen has been on and she says her favourite is Pingo Dotey. Now, I don't know what Pingo Doce is. I'm presuming it's a shop. She does say it's in Portugal.

Chapter 2: How is the quiz format introduced in the podcast?

159.446 - 184.204 Ray D'Arcy

I don't know if it's a supermarket or what sort of shop it is, but Pingo Doce. So much so they brought it home two years ago and when they were on holidays again, they bought another one. They were so impressed by the Pingo Doce bag for life. And Peter from Kilmac Thomas, been on the Holy Communion bit, just reminded me of a satirical label I recently heard. It was Bouncy Castle Catholics.

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185.225 - 207.374 Ray D'Arcy

Didn't Rory Quinn come up with it? There was cultural Catholics and then other Catholics and then lapsed Catholics. And, you know, he had, I think, three different types of Catholics. I couldn't find it just when I went looking. Yeah, we talked to Simon Lewis yesterday, who's a principal in an Educate Together in Carlow. And he had written a piece, an op-ed for the Irish Times yesterday.

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207.414 - 227.717 Ray D'Arcy

And I see that it's one of the most read items on the website overnight. And Mary has been on about the First Holy Communion. It's a good email. So sit back, relax, and I'll read you. Mary's email came in to ray at darcydaily.com. Hi, Ray and Jenny.

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Chapter 3: What challenges did the hosts face with technology?

228.34 - 247.603 Ray D'Arcy

In response to the perennial question regarding communions and their place in the schools versus outside the school, I said I'd drop a line. As a mum... who just had my third child receive communion and as a teacher in a Catholic school. Aha. I understand all the perspectives. Do we go to too much trouble? Probably.

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248.204 - 265.587 Ray D'Arcy

But the same could be said of the preparation that we put into the Christmas parties that Jenny mentioned yesterday and the Christmas dinner that you mentioned there. And of course, church weddings. Does anyone force us to go to such effort, including the school principal or the parish priest? Absolutely not. We all have agency over what we sign up to.

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266.389 - 285.85 Ray D'Arcy

And what doesn't get mentioned enough is in this argument every year, it's a wonderful day out for the children and the families. There I said it. Just like the Christmas party, the Christmas nativity play, which I don't hear getting criticised to the same degree. The effort is proportionate to the enjoyment derived from the occasion. Do these families go to Mass every Sunday? Absolutely not.

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286.19 - 309.403 Ray D'Arcy

But that's not part of the criteria. That's not obligatory and priests accept that now too. It's interesting that the sacrament of first confession and confirmation also takes part in the school but it doesn't receive the same attention. Why is that? Perhaps because it isn't followed by the same level of celebration, suggests Mary. So it seems to be the celebration and the noise that is the issue.

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310.312 - 331.965 Ray D'Arcy

And to that I can safely say, in all the horror that is going on in the world with elderly men and their egos and power trips, what a beautiful distraction it was recently to have children come together to learn some prayers that might give them solace as they grow and to reflect on something bigger than themselves, to dress up, get spoilt and have a lovely day of fun and excitement with their families.

332.506 - 353.631 Ray D'Arcy

God knows it doesn't happen often. And if they get a few quid while they're at it, good for them. Maybe it will change down the line, where it's removed from all schools, good luck to the parents willing to take it on. But in a society where community is becoming increasingly isolated and fragmented, I find it a lovely way for a parish to come together for a positive and happy occasion.

353.651 - 378.88 Ray D'Arcy

And the parents I know are very grateful to the teachers who currently do undertake it as part of their role in schools. Oh, and my skirting board's got clean too. Win. Thanks for reading. Ray and Jenny. Enjoy the la-la-la-la-la long weekend. Mary and Kilkenny. So there's a lot to unpick there, as they say. I suppose all of that is true, Mary, and you make good arguments.

379.421 - 402.505 Ray D'Arcy

My only problem is the connection to the Catholic Church. That's my big problem. And if you could divorce the whole proceedings and just have it as a celebration of children reaching the age of reason, then I would be fine with it. Go off and get your bouncy castle and your chauffeur and your chocolate fountain and wherever. But anyway, it doesn't matter what I think. And thanks, Mary.

403.546 - 427.185 Ray D'Arcy

Ray at rcdaily.com. And Conor was on as well. Dear Jenny and Ray. Sorry, Ray. Jenny is the boss, I think. We can all admit that. I love the new podcast you guys have created and makes for a welcome connection to home as I listen in my adoptive home of Scotland. And he goes on to tell us that he's studying to be a therapist. He likes listening to Coleman.

Chapter 4: What are the listeners' favorite shopping bags?

558.876 - 576.525 Ray D'Arcy

Anyway, some of the ones that I spotted, you may not have. Direction of travel. It sort of faded a bit, I haven't heard in a while, but at one stage, direction of travel, I remember putting it in and I had this little thing that I could Find words that were said on the radio across RT Radio 1 News Talk and BBC Radio 4.

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577.267 - 594.16 Ray D'Arcy

And I found, one day I found Direction of Travel, I think it was 15 times by various politicians and contributors. Ecosystem was another one. Everything had an ecosystem. Now everything does, but we don't refer to it as an ecosystem. The ecosystem of the local primary school demands that we go out into a field on a fine day.

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594.701 - 609.598 Ray D'Arcy

The ecosystem of that and the ecosystem of that and the ecosystem of the other. And then delving. I remember reading that article. I think I shared it with you. It could have been when we were doing dry runs. But delving is a word that's used often by AI and now it's back into people using it.

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610.219 - 631.26 Ray D'Arcy

And now when people read the word delving in an article, they suspect it's AI when actually it's just the influence of AI on people writing. Anyway, language is fascinating, always interesting. And as long as we can understand what we're saying to each other, it doesn't really matter how many anyways or moving forwards or look or absolutely or thanks for having me we say, does it?

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632.041 - 663.603 Ray D'Arcy

We could get caught up on them. There is the thing when you spot a word that somebody repeats, it does sometimes interfere with you listening to what they're saying, because all you hear is the word. Look, I'm telling you, look, it is like, yeah, and yeah. We need a bit of a break. Lovely story. And it's because of the fine weather. British folk singer and writer Matthew Crampton has gone viral.

664.244 - 691.534 Ray D'Arcy

He uploaded a clip on Instagram from Tudal Wiliog on the LlĆ­n Peninsula in Wales. I love the Welsh language, but I can't pronounce it. And it was on Monday evening. And it's been watched by over 200,000 people. And the reason it's been watched is that he could see Ireland from Wales. He could see Ireland from Wales. Now, I won't take from him because he describes it very well.

692.335 - 714.762 Ray D'Arcy

And we put a bit of his music behind him as well, because he's a folk singer and writer. He said, this was something different. I was coming back from the Cnailfin Feilin Ucaf Centre that night. I was listening to stories and I felt that such a magical mood coming back, driving back the north side of the peninsula. And I looked back and I couldn't believe it.

715.763 - 737.995 Ray D'Arcy

I thought it was Holy Island where Holly Head is on Anglesey, but no, it was Ireland. And it came to say hello. Isn't that nice? There you go. It came to say hello. Why? Why could he see it? Because he'd been around that area for a long time and he'd only seen it once before. Well, it's because of the weather conditions.

738.937 - 761.348 Ray D'Arcy

Holly O'Neill, a meteorologist with Metairn says, in a situation like we have had recently, very large high pressure systems, the amount of subsidence from the pressure clears the air of any debris, such as dust particles, sea spray, etc. And that would otherwise scatter to sunlight and cause glare. And then there's another guy called Conor Sweeney who works in UCD in the Earth Institute.

Chapter 5: What perspectives are shared about First Holy Communions?

859.954 - 885.364 Ray D'Arcy

It's not infinite. this doom scrolling thing. So I did a bit of research and I went around the houses and what I wanted to find out was how much content is created for Instagram on a daily basis, right? That was my question. How much content in minutes, hours, years, weeks, whatever, is created for Instagram on a daily basis?

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886.34 - 920.08 Ray D'Arcy

So I got a number of different estimates from various sources and I averaged them all out. And yeah, what do you think? What do you think? Right, I'll put you out of your misery. You don't care, do you? I'll put you out of your misery. 95 years. Yes, 95 years of content, according to my research, is created for Instagram Reels daily. You see, get your head around that. Get your head around that.

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920.16 - 955.148 Ray D'Arcy

And while you're doing that, we'll set up. We have the technology. And I think we have Carl and Daphne ready to go after this. I'm very excited about this. The first of many. We don't have a title for this quiz, so we'll just say the first of many of this quiz. Right. Right. Raymond, make those calls. Yeah, it's sort of one call but two calls. Yeah. That's why I said those calls. Yeah.

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955.168 - 955.969 Ray D'Arcy

Let's see how it goes.

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957.331 - 957.491

Oh, God.

959.434 - 960.175 Ray D'Arcy

Hello? Hello, Daphne.

962.859 - 963.981 Daphne

Hello, hi.

964.081 - 965.503 Ray D'Arcy

It's Ray Darcy here.

965.77 - 973.688 Daphne

Hey, Daphne. How's it going? It's meant to be on loudspeaker. Have I done something wrong already?

Chapter 6: How do the hosts feel about the current state of content creation?

1042.468 - 1060.608 Ray D'Arcy

So thanks so much for being our guest. So let's find out a little bit about you both. So to you, Daphne, first, you have been walking in Jenny's footsteps when it comes to candle making, I believe.

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1060.708 - 1080.391 Daphne

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I was there at the Pink Moon event. craft workshop last Sunday. It was a friend, my friend Karen, a special roundy birthday and we're into our walks. We do our walks. We don't go out for dinner. We go for walks and rant about the world and hubbies and kids and all the rest. But for a birthday, I want to do something special.

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1080.672 - 1090.168 Daphne

We might go to a music thing or whatever, but we went and decided we made candles because I remember Jenny and Mairead raving about it on the pod. Jenny, was it last year or the year before? I can't remember.

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1090.188 - 1097.597 Ray D'Arcy

It was last year for Maraid's birthday. Yes, for Maraid's birthday. Isn't it just amazing? The house and everything and going in. Oh, it's beautiful.

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1097.978 - 1112.737 Daphne

And Jenny, the weather last weekend was stunning. And we arrived at the front door and brought through the house and out into this oasis. Absolutely gorgeous. And Helen was so nice. And we had an absolute ball. And then she brought out this rake of food. I know.

1112.757 - 1112.957

Oh my God.

1112.937 - 1139.385 Daphne

I know and when we when we had gone um I'd taken Mairead for lunch beforehand I didn't realize that we were going to get so much food I didn't have your booking yes oh my god Daphne yes you remember I do I'm not stalking you Jenny I just have a good photographic memory and you insisted to the guy no no no I did book like I'm right. I'm right.

1139.686 - 1146.505 Ray D'Arcy

Look at me going for God's sake. Anyway, it all worked out. It all worked out. And you're originally from Cork, Daphne.

1146.653 - 1160.113 Daphne

I am, indeed. I am from Cork, originally. Gone there a long time now, Ray. As my husband likes to point out, you're in Dublin longer than you were in Cork. You never lose. The Cork Cork never leaves you, you know, when you're a Cork person.

Chapter 7: What insights are shared about the impact of social media?

2438.018 - 2447.314 Ray D'Arcy

Yes. Bank holiday Monday off. We will be back bright and breezy. Well rested on Tuesday. There you go. Have a brilliant weekend.

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