The Hard Shoulder

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his party have amplified allegations that the country’s Arab-led parties had “stolen” the election, with final results expected to confirm his bloc has lost its majority in parliament.  Bel Trew, Chief International Affairs Correspondent with The Irish Independent and Paul Kearns, Journalist based in Tel Aviv both joined Ciara on the show to discu...

The Social Democrats today launched a Bill to establish a public register of data centres in Ireland, to include information about their locations, carbon emissions, energy requirements and water usage. Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore joined Shane on the show to discuss.

U2 have announced details of the European leg of their Greatest Show on Earth Tour! John Caddell, Deputy Managing Editor of Today FM joined us on The Hard Shoulder this evening with the details.

RTÉ Director General, Kevin Bakhurst joined Shane Coleman on The Hard Shoulder this evening.

The Department of Finance’s 2026 Consumer Sentiment Banking Survey has found that 21% of respondents had used AI to obtain information or advice about financial products and services.   Robert Whelan Managing Director of Rockwell Financial Services and Ciara O'Brien Business and Tech journalist with the Irish Times joined Ciara Kelly on the show to discuss.

The number of new homes completed in Ireland has risen by 10.6 per cent so far this year. James Browne, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage joined Shane on the show to discuss.

Leinster House is a place of routine and repetition. Strict timetables and rules govern life inside and how much airtime deputies and senators get in their chambers. But outside on Kildare St, anyone can have their say at any time. Hundreds of protests take place outside the building's gates every year, with demonstrators airing their opinions on a wide variety of subjects. Bairbre Holmes spent la...

Life can be full of confusing things, but no need to worry! Every Wednesday, Simon Tierney will be showing you ‘How to do Stuff’ - bringing his best tips for those things you might not think about. This week, Simon joins Ciara and Shane to discuss how to properly go trick or treating!

The Government has today approved the drafting of legislation to increase An Post’s Statutory Borrowing Limit, from its current level of just under €75m to €620m. This is the first such increase since it was established in 1984.   Joining Shane to discuss why is Charlie McConalogue, Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media with special responsi...

For this week’s Tech Takeover, Jess Kelly, Newstalk’s Technology Correspondent, joins Ciara who exactly Anthropic are as a company as they prepare to go public...

Off The Ball’s John Duggan joined Ciara and Shane on The Hard Shoulder to review the week in sport and look ahead to the weekend’s action…

Benjamin Netanyahu won the support of an unexpectedly clear majority of Israeli Jews in an election billed as a major turning point in his ‌nation’s history, apparently ensuring he will survive as Prime Minister at least in a caretaker role. Joining Ciara to discuss this Dr Eitan Tzelgov, author and Associate Professor in Politics at the University of East Anglia.

Sinn Féin has proposed increasing standard residency to eight years and the implementation of basic language competency, as an alternative to the Government’s proposals on citizenship. Joining me now is Matt Carthy, Sinn Fein's Spokesperson on Justice, Home Affairs, and Migration.

The local government in Spain have confirmed at least 64 people have been killed and dozens seriously injured in a high-speed train crash south of the Spanish capital, Madrid. This comes after another train crash on the same line killed 46 people in January of this year. Exact details of what happened this morning are still unknown, although it's believed that a controller in Madrid may have given...

Dr Marie Cassidy, former State Pathologist, is part of ‘Dr Marie Cassidy Investigates Ireland’s Last Witch Trial’, a new documentary exploring the 1711 trial of eight women accused of witchcraft, which premieres on RTÉ One tomorrow. She joins Shane to discuss… Image: RTÉ

Rolling Stone has named this century’s 200 greatest rock songs with two Irish bands making the cut: U2's Beautiful Day comes in at number 22, while Fontaines D.C.’s Starburster takes 61st place. However, there is still plenty to fuel an argument over the playlist. Joining Shane to weigh in is Claire Beck, DJ and Today FM Presenter.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office reveal that eight in ten households are located within two kilometres of a bus stop while almost seven in ten are near a high frequency bus service. Joining Ciara to discuss this is Adrian Kavanagh, Geography Lecturer at Maynooth University and Brian Caulfield, Professor in the School of Engineering at Trinity College Dublin.

When it comes to our diet, we seem to be constantly bombarded with evolving nutritional advice, from new fads and trends to ultra-processed foods and superfoods. How do we cut through the noise and know who or what to believe? Professor Christopher Gardner of St Stanford University has been researching nutrition for over 30 years and has written a new book ‘Food Sense’ which he says gives “straigh...

Book lovers flocked to Chapters Bookstore in Dublin last night for a sold-out midnight release party for the latest edition of the global phenomenon 'romantasy' series, ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’. Newstalk's Ciara Treacy joined in on the festivities to find out why this beloved series was worthy of a late-night launch party...

The richest 0.1% of the world’s population produces more greenhouse gas emissions than the poorest 44% combined, according to a new report from Oxfam. Joining Shane to discuss this is Sadhbh O’Neill, Climate and Environmental Researcher.

Kelly Earley, columnist at The Journal and co-host of podcast ‘For Tech's Sake’, like many of us thought she had a fair understanding of what epilepsy was; that is until she was recently diagnosed with it. Since then, Kelly has discovered the hidden symptoms and daily challenges that come with the condition. She joins Shane to discuss…

Lindsey Fitzharris, American author and Medical Historian joins Shane to place her favourite book on the Hard Shoulder Bookshelf!

There are 777 admitted patients without a bed in hospitals around the country, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. Today's figure marks the second highest number of patients waiting for a hospital bed on a given day this year. Joining Shane to discuss this is Tony Fitzpatrick, Director of Professional Services and Industrial Relations with the INMO.

Retailers across Ireland have been reminded by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to clearly display prices for paper bags. The CCPC has written to retailers around the country to remind them they must display prices for paper bags and similar products in line with consumer law. For more on this, Shane is joined by Conor Pope, Irish Times Consumer Affairs Correspondent.

Millions of Israelis are heading to the polls today to vote in a pivotal election. For the first time since the October 7th attacks, voters are choosing a government in the shadow of the Gaza war, a conflict that has reshaped the country's politics, security priorities and international standing. For more on all of this, Shane is joined by Bel Trew, Chief International Correspondent with The Indep...