Podcasts

'I was finding it extremely difficult to cope'

Parentline is a helpline for parents, staffed by trained volunteers, which has been running for over 30 years. Almost a fifth of the calls they received last year related to aggression in children and teens, which sometimes involved the physcial abuse of parents. Other common queries relate to new babies but CEO, Rita O'Reilly, says they're getting an increasing number of calls from grandparents. The recession led to a rise in the number of households with three generations living under one roof. There are also grandparents who have assumed the role, formally or informally, of the primary carer. But what is it like for the people who work at Parentline and what are the human stories behind the 3,000 calls they deal with every year. Newstalk reporter, Aideen Finngean, has visited their call centre on North Brunswick Street in Dublin to find out.   see more