Historian and critic Roy Foster; former Minister of State and upcoming RTÉ presenter Liz O'Donnell; writer and social campaigner Eamonn McCann.

'Atonement', Ian McEwan's acclaimed novel, is a story of doomed love set against the backdrop of the Second World War. Now directed by Joe Wright, and with a screenplay by Christopher Hampton, it comes to the big screen with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy as lovers Cecilia and Robbie, whose love is shattered by the overly fertile imagination of Cecilia's younger sister, played by the Irish actress Saoirse Ronan. Beginning in England on the hottest day of the summer of 1935, an unfortunate misunderstanding sets the tragic ball rolling.

'The Deportees' is book number 14 from Roddy Doyle and his first book of short stories. The stories originally appeared in Metro Eireann, and are tales of an Ireland quite different from that which the author has explored so successfully in the past. As Doyle says himself, he was so tired hearing stories about immigrants that he decided to make up a few of his own. 'The Deportees' by Roddy Doyle is published by Jonathan Cape at £11.99.

'Prosperity' is the new four-part RTÉ Two TV drama from the creators of 'Adam and Paul', director Lenny Abramson and writer Mark O'Halloran. Each episode follows a different character who finds his or herself not quite getting the full benefit of the Celtic Tiger. In the first programme we had the teenage single mother Stacey moving from hostel to shopping centre and back again and in the second episode we had the grim adventures of Gavin.

Paul Muldoon is one of Ireland's best known poets. In fact, he's one of the world's best known poets. He has recently been on an Irish tour - but not reading from a new collection. He has instead been playing a series of gigs with his band Rackett. This was rock 'n' roll but perhaps not quite as we know it: very few bands after all have a Pulitzer Prize winner writing the lyrics and playing rhythm guitar. Rackett's album, 'Resistance', is on the Scamafone Label. A book of Paul Muldoon's lyrics, 'General Admission', is published by Gallery Press.

The Thrills release a new single, 'Midnight Choir', on 12 October from their new album, 'Teenager'. Tonight they are with us to perform another track from that album, 'Restaurant'.