RTÉ - Liveline

The property tax continues to be a cause of concern while Mary struggles to raise a family in Ireland while her husband works in Australia

The families of both Gerald and John had first-hand experience of the Magdalene laundries and mother & baby homes

Listeners debate the moral rights and wrongs of the property tax and the assessment methods

listeners debate the moral rights and wrongs of the property tax and the assessment methods

Diana and Bonnie on what it was like being incarcerated in a Magdalene laundry in New York

the squeezed middle are fed-up struggling to negotiate with banking institutions and getting little or no leeway

Joanne's sister Audrey and her husband, Mark and George all ran into difficulties on a cruise ship

reaction to last night's exposé of how Irish Nationwide ended up costing the Irish taxpayer billions and how the Irish banks deal with homeowners with mortgage problems

following-on from the stories from Magdalene laundries and mother & baby homes, Anne, Susan and Alison with stories of Irish babies adopted to America

The shock announcement from the Vatican today that Pope Benedict is resigning at the end of the month led to much comment on Liveline today. Father Seamus Ryan studied under the then professor Ratzinger in Germany in the early 1960s. He spoke to Joe about his impressions of the man who he felt did the right thing in resigning as pontiff at this point in time. Gail Freyne, a family therapist with a strong interest in the Church offered her opinion that the resignation could be connected to some of the more challenging revelations of recent years.

Laura bought a house in Wicklow at the height of the property boom for almost €400,000. Last October she and her husband received a letter demanding the outstanding developer’s levies for their house. A number of other residents on the same estate received letters and are now said by the council to be in breach of their planning permissions and under threat of sanctions including fines. Another homeowner, John spoke about his similar situation on the same estate.

The programme returned to the subject of the Magdalen laundries and mother and baby homes with stories told of babies being brought out to America for adoption.

reaction to the surprising news that Pope Benedict XVI has announced his resignation

home-owners livid that they are expected to pay levies that council's cannot collect from developers

Susan, Dorothy & Marie with their memories of adoptions from St Patrick's mother & baby home