Labour TD Marie Sherlock wants vasectomies made free for all - and the Health Minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is considering it. But would Irish men actually go for it? Or would they rather leave responsibility for contraception to their partners? 

In this podcast, Ciara Doherty is joined by Dr John McCormick, specialist at Vasectomy Ireland, to tackle everything you thought you knew about vasectomies, from the level of pain involved to whether it really kills your sex drive (spoiler: it doesn’t). 

They talk recovery time, reversal myths, testosterone, Catholic guilt, and the part that pre-procedure manscaping plays in vasectomy hesitancy. Ciara plays a clip of Ivan Yates declaring his fear that “a slip of the snip could cause chaos down there” - a view that echoes the squeamishness and suspicion many Irish men still express when it comes to male contraception. 

And with breakthroughs in non-hormonal male contraceptive pills and implants now entering human trials, could we finally be seeing a shift in how male contraception is shared, understood, and delivered? 

📍For more on Dr John McCormick’s work, visit vasectomyireland.ie 

📩 Have thoughts or questions about male contraception? Share your story with Ciara at newstalkdaily@newstalk.com