Brendan O’Connor radio review: What have you got to complain about?

The host began by saying: “There can tend to be an air of pessimism around these things. But Mark, you’d argue that, if we look at the census and facts in general, Ireland is actually a very good news story.”

He certainly did, citing a number of social and economic metrics; for example, we have the longest life-expectancy of any country in Europe, record low unemployment, more women in the workforce and “ridiculously” large tax surpluses projected for the next few years.

There have been, Henry said, “huge changes in Ireland — and these, to me, are for the better”. Not sure I agree with some of his contentions as being automatically a positive; for instance: “The population has grown by a million people in two decades, and that’s a good thing.”

Is it? I actually don’t know (unlike the vast majority of my fellow citizens, who seem to be experts on everything). At very least, it’s wide open to debate and not a “done deal”.

Anyway, he went on: “Life has become better for most people — and they feel it. We tend to overestimate how much negativity is out there, but a recent survey showed that 95pc of people are ‘fairly or very satisfied with life’.”

And one of the reasons for this discontent, in the face of the apparent reality of things? That infernal device in your hand, pocket or bag. Destroy all smartphones before they destroy you!

Although maybe it’s already too late. Brendan also spoke to Elaine Burke, of the For Tech’s Sake Podcast, about Apple’s introduction of a “VR/AR — virtual reality and augmented reality” headset.

It sounds like the usual pointless techie nonsense — a child’s toy tricked out and sold to adults, basically — but these yokes will, Elaine said, be selling for about three grand, so “early adoption is going to be for a certain subset of people only”.

Still, they reckoned that Apple’s virtual reality doodads might succeed in a way that Mark Zuckerberg’s haven’t quite so far, because Apple are “good at marketing” — understatement of the millennium so far, I think.

Elaine also touched on issues the makers are having with battery life, as enthusiasts spend hours jacked into these imaginary worlds, draining the power from their gadget. Yes, it is all like an Aldous Huxley novel come to life, only played this time as absurd farce, without the consolation of that sense of dignified tragedy in Brave New World.

If you still haven’t been turned off this futuristic hellscape and are determined to buy a headset, save up by cutting down on holiday costs. Brendan chatted with Dubliner Sharon and Mayoman Kieran about swapping homes with strangers for a cheaper holiday.

It gives you, the latter reported, a more authentic experience of the place you’re visiting, in that you’re staying in a neighbourhood, not just some indistinguishable hotel or whatever: “You’re immediately in a community, there’s friendship, the kids get to play with other kids… It all works really well.”