Highlights from Newstalk Breakfast

Has the tide turned on how we view grey hair, or is there still a stigma attached to a head of silver locks? Speaking to Shane this morning was author and broadcaster Barbara Scully.

Seven out of ten primary schools have run at a deficit at some stage over the past 12 months according to a survey carried out by Catholic Primary School Management Association. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast this morning was Seamus Mulconry, General Secretary of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association.

Cigarette-style warnings should be placed on the packaging of ultra-processed foods. That’s the call from Gut Health Specialist Dr Annemarie Eustace-Ryan who spoke to Newstalk Breakfast.

Ireland experienced 1,100 excess deaths during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. That’s according to a new report published today by the Society of Actuaries in Ireland.  We get reaction to the findings by Linda Daly is a Spokesperson for the Society and a Senior Lecturer at University College Cork.

More than 80 people have now died on Irish roads so far this year, the worst record in a decade. We hear from Leo Leighio, Vice President of the Irish Road Victims Association.

Nigel Farage has announced he will stand as a candidate in next month's UK general election and will lead the Reform Party.  Is this likely to have an impact on the outcome?   Speaking to Shane this morning was Lauren McEvatt, Former UK Government Special Advisor.

Dublin City Council has missed a trick by not planning anything special to welcome Taylor Swift fans ahead of her three Aviva Stadium shows at the end of the month.  That’s according to Mannix Flynn, Independent Dublin City Councillor who told Ciara why this morning.

Love Island will be back on our screens on Monday.   The eleventh series of the hit dating show has no Irish contestants in its official line up. But this could all change when a hot new bombshell enters the villa.   Joining us this morning on the show was freelance presenter Meghann Scully, who was once considered for Love Island’s first ever season.

 Separate inquests in Cork yesterday found two Irish women died as a result of weight loss surgery abroad in Turkey in 2021 and 2022.   Yet medical tourism has grown in popularity despite these glaring risks. We spoke to Helen Heneghan, consultant bariatric surgeon and Professor of Surgery at St Vincent’s University Hospital.

 The first phase of a proof of concept for Body Worn Cameras for An Garda Síochána will take place today. We speak to An Taoiseach Simon Harris on this and more.

It will be all hands on deck for thousands of students across the country this bank holiday weekend, ahead of the Leaving and Junior Cert exams kicking off on Wednesday.  But are last-minute studiers better off forgoing sleep in favour of hitting the books? We speak to Tom Coleman is a health scientist and sleep coach. 

The first phase of a proof of concept for Body Worn Cameras for An Garda Síochána will take place today. It plans to deploy 600 cameras across the Dublin, Limerick and Waterford Divisions. Speaking to Ciara with reaction to this was Liam Herrick, Executive Director for the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.  

Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, has been found guilty on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records. We get the latest from David Smith, Washington Bureau Chief of The Guardian. 

Bord Bia Bloom kicks off today showcasing the best of Irish food, drinks and horticulture over the next five days It’s landscape architect David Gallagher’s third year designing a garden for the festival, and he joined us live from the Phoenix Park.

It’s estimated we waste about 750,000 tonnes of food each year in Ireland that's according to MyWaste who are urging consumers and businesses to use a brown bin, as National Food Waste Recycling Week is launched. We spoke to Tad Kirakowski , CEO of Voice Ireland. 

Independent TD for Kerry, Michael Healy Rae has accused the Road Safety Authority of spending more on one TV ad than Kerry receives annually for road schemes. Michael spoke to Ciara this morning to discuss further.  

The world has “gone PC mad with men subjected to a severe safety net” that's according to Danni Levy, Editor of lads’ magazine “Loaded” who spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

The completion date for the new National Children’s Hospital will be further delayed, the Public Accounts Committee will hear today. Ahead of the meeting Shane spoke to Brian Stanley, Sinn Fein TD and Chair of Public Accounts Committee.  

There are more than 1,400 schools now availing of the Hot School Meals Programme. Since the expansion of the scheme last month an additional 150,000 children are receiving a hot lunch. However, critics say there are big variations when it comes to the quality of the food. Our reporter, Josh Crosbie has been to visit one of the latest schools to join the Scheme, to hear how it’s working out.

The Joint Committee on Public Petitions will meet today to discuss the potential of creating a greenway on the closed railway from Sligo to Athenry.  Is this a good idea or should we be putting trains back on railway lines, rather than bikes? To discuss Shane was joined on the show by Cllr Marie Casserly, Independent Councillor and local election candidate for Sligo-Drumcliff and also Michael O’De...

Fierce street fighting and Israeli bombardment continue in Rafah a day after tanks rolled into the centre of the southern Gaza city sheltering hundreds of thousands of civilians. We speak to Alistair Bunkall, Sky’s Middle East News Correspondent.

Primary school children usually feel happy and safe, but their positive emotions about themselves tend to decrease as they get older, a new study has found. To explain more about this we heard from Leslie Shoemaker, Counselling Psychologist and lecturer in TU Dublin.

It is understood that Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will give the commitment today for 1,500 new beds to be introduced between 2025 and 2028. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast was Dr. Peadar Gilligan, Member of the Irish Medical Organisation Consultant Committee.

Israeli forces have reportedly reached the centre of the southern Gazan city of Rafah, and seized a strategically important area overlooking the nearby border with Egypt. We get the latest from Alistair Bunkall, Sky’s Middle East News Correspondent.

There’s nothing bad about being a boymum, despite how they’re portrayed on social media, women who have sons should not be treated as second class mothers. That’s the claim of New York Times writer and Author of Boy Mom, Ruth Whippman who spoke to Shane this morning.