Cork school boy set to feature in TV series

Cad Faoi Na Tuismitheoirí?, Mondays RTÉ1, 7,30pm

What benefits can mindfulness have on schoolchildren?

We get an insight in the second episode (December 6) of Cad Faoi Na Tuismitheoirí?, with a visit to Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers in Cork city and to the home of the Ó Dubhgain family, where seven-year-old Pádraig is leading a happy, balanced life thanks to mindfulness.

Also in the parental advice programme, we meet the Cookes in Brandon, Co Kerry. Julie and Fred are struggling to put their nine-month old baby Ted, to sleep. He is too hyper in the evening and won’t settle down.

The Cookes benefit from guidance from the show’s parenting expert Stella O’Malley, who helps them navigate through the tricky world of sleep.

Also in this programme, we find out what makes the children in the Glen Outdoor school so sturdy. It is the first outdoor school in Ireland and we see the children in action in the torrential rain.

Plus, in the Parents of Ireland segment, parents share their memories about the day their first child was born.

OTHER TV HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK INCLUDE:

10 Things To Know About..., Mondays, RTÉ1, 8.30pm

The science team explore how digestive systems work.

From Sunday roast dinners to Friday night takeaways, food has long been a central feature of our lives. We don’t just eat for our survival, we eat for pleasure, to celebrate weddings, deaths, birthdays, achievements. Yet we still don’t fully understand how the digestive system works, how our bodies choose which compounds to absorb and how the microbiome in the gut interacts with the brain.

Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin meets researchers exploring how these complex systems work, Jonathan McCrea investigates whether it’s possible to manipulate our feelings of hunger and fullness by using gut hormones, and Kathriona Devereux heads to Westport to meet a group of Irish people who are managing a debilitating illness with “magic poo bread”!

The Case I Can’t Forget, Mondays RTÉ1, 9.35pm

Retired Sergeant Major PJ Higgins of the Defence Forces takes us back to the chaotic search in 1983 for kidnapped Quinnsworth executive, Don Tidey.

Snatched from near his home by the IRA, it took the combined efforts of An Garda Siochana and the Defence Forces three weeks to track Tidey to dense woodland in Co. Leitrim.

Almost 40 years on, Sergeant Major Higgins reflects on the mistakes made during the rescue mission which lead to a fatal shoot-out, and the death of his colleague Army Private Patrick Kelly. Also killed was Garda recruit Gary Sheehan, and his close friend Det Sergeant Cyril Meehan recalls the tragedy of his death.