Newstalk Breakfast

60 per cent of Adults in Ireland Overweight or Obese, while more than 7 in 10 of us say they’ve put off even trying to lose weight. That’s according to a new survey commissioned by Slimming World.  We discuss the findings with Helen Heneghan, Consultant Bariatric Surgeon and Professor of Surgery at St Vincent’s Hospital and University College Dublin.

A yellow weather warning for low temperatures is in place until 11am this morning as Met Éireann forecast sub-zero temperatures and “very disruptive and impactful” weather conditions over the weekend.   We spoke to Alan O’Reilly from Carlow Weather, Aoibhinn Twomey, Communications Manager with The Road Safety Authority and also Aubrey McCarthy, Chairman of Tiglin Homeless Services. 

A new resource has been created to provide guidance to schools, teachers and parents on how to address the impact of online masculinity influencers like Andrew Tate   Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast was Dr Darragh McCashin Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at DCU, Chair of The Observatory Anti-Bullying Centre and created this guide.

Babies born in 2025 will be the first people in “Generation Beta”, replacing Generation Alpha – but why do we have all these labels for generations and are they actually relevant? To discuss further we heard from Counselling Psychologist and Lecturer in TU Dublin Leslie Shoemaker.

In New Orleans, the FBI have said they now believe Shamsud-Din Jabbar acted alone in a terror attack that killed at least 15 people on New Year’s Eve. We get the latest on this with Harriet Alexander, US-based Journalist.

Along with all the other resolutions people make in the New Year, many people will be deciding to do Dry January and avoid all alcohol.    But like other resolutions, do people sometimes put too much pressure on themselves to complete Dry January?   We discuss this with Saoirse Hanley, Columnist with the Irish Independent.

15 people have been killed and at least 35 injured after car ploughed into a crowd on Bourbon street in New Orleans on New Years eve. The FBI have identified the suspect as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, whom they believe did not act alone.   We get the latest from New Orleans with Kristine Froeba New Orleans based Journalist and also Trey Monahan from Molly’s at the Market in the French Quarter.  

Housing prices nationally rose by an average of 9% during 2024, that’s according to the latest Daft.ie House Price Report released today. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast on the report findings are Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin and Author of the report .     

Many secondary schools have been struggling to fill teaching positions with hundreds of vacant posts in subjects such as maths and Irish. This is according to an unpublished draft study by the Department of Education obtained by the Irish Times under Freedom of Information. We discuss this further with Paul Crone, Director of the National Association of Principals and Deputies. 

In 2025, Businesses in Dublin’s south inner city will face fines for leaving plastic bin bags on the street for collection as part of a ban on the bags introduced in September.   However, just 30 per cent of businesses have changed from bin bags to wheelie bins or larger refuse bins so far. We heard from Ian Redmond is the Operator of Ohana Tiki Bar on Harcourt Street and Co-Owner of Hyde.

Yesterday Milan introduced a total ban on smoking outdoors in the city – and those caught lighting up on city streets or crowded could be fined up to €240.   Now the question is, should Ireland follow in Milan’s footsteps and ban outdoor smoking?  One person who thinks so is Professor Luke Clancy, Director General of the Tobacco Free Research Institute Ireland. 

15 people have been killed and at least 35 injured after car ploughed into a crowd on Bourbon street in New Orleans on New Years eve. We get the latest on this with US based journalist Harriet Alexander .

We cross to Dublin airport to hear from those arriving home for Christmas with Josh Crosbie, Newstalk Reporter .

Tomorrow marks the shortest day of the year and with that comes the Winter Solstice at Newgrange. We spoke to Anthony Murphy, Mythical Ireland founder and author about what people can expect.

While mo re than half of UK grandparents help with childcare, not all of them feel appreciated. Is it fair to rely on grandparents for childcare and how should we show our appreciation to them?  Jen Hogan, Journalist and Irish Times Columnist joins me now to discuss this.  

As thousands of people take to Irish roads this weekend to make the journey home for Christmas An Garda Síochána in conjunction with the Road Safety Authority are launching their final National Slow Down day today.   Chief Superintendent Jane Humphries from the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau  

A 32-year-old woman found dead in Gorey has been named locally as Paula Lawlor  Gardaí believe she was the victim of an assault in a house in Baile Eoghain in Gorey.  Shane and Ciara were joined by Independent Councillor for Gorey-Kilmuckridge, Nicky Boland...  

New figures from The Road Safety authority show that nearly 100 people have  been involved in crashes during their driving test since 2023.   Dominic Brophy Director of the Professional Driving Instructors Association  joined the show to discuss.

The 34th Dáil sat for the first time since the General Election on Wednesday morning, as government formation talks remain ongoing   Michael Healy Rae, Independent TD for Kerry  joined the show earlier to discuss... 

Celebrities like Demi Moore and Trinny are setting unrealistic expectations of how people should look in their 60s.  So says freelance journalist and author Kate Mulvey  

The State of the Nation Children’s Report has found that in 2022, 78.5% of children aged 10–17 reported being happy with their lives, representing  A significant decrease from 88.2% in 2018.  For more on this Shane and Ciara were joined by Dr Patricia Byrne, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychologist.  

The HSE is preparing for a surge in flu illnesses as almost 2000 cases of Covid-19, RSV and influenza have been notified in the past week.   But how do you know when to take your child to the GP?   Dr Brendan O’ Shea, Kildare GP, Medical Director at K Doc and Asst. Prof Primary Care at Trinity College joined Shane and Ciara this morning.

Fine Gael Councillor Emma Blain has been appointed Dublin’s new Lord Mayor following outgoing mayor James Geoghegan’s election to the Dáil.     She joined the show this morning.

Israel is right to cut ties with Ireland – that’s the view of Brendan O’Neill, Chief political writer at Spiked  and he joined the show this morning.

The average price of a home in Dublin is now over €600,000, according to the Central Statistics Office.   The headline figure is 12 times the average full-time salary in the State which is about €50,000  Carol Tallan, CEO of the Property District  joined the show this morning to discuss.