Newstalk Breakfast

The first televised leaders' debate of the General Election campaign took place last night. How did the each party perform last night? We discuss with Johnny Fallon, Political Commentator and Strategy Director at Carr Communications and also Alison O’Connor, Journalist, Broadcaster, and Commentator.

Russia has warned that any use of long-range missiles to attack its territory would constitute a "radical change" in the war provoking an "appropriate and tangible" response.  It comes after Joe Biden lifted a ban on Ukraine striking inside Russia with long-range US missiles. We get the latest on this with Paul Rogers, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University .  

A new TV drama depicting the Troubles and the murder of Belfast woman and mother of 10, Jean McConville has been released on Disney+. Speaking to Shane this morning was Jean’s son, Michael McConville.

The one thing the majority of political parties can agree on is the introduction of bilingual packaging. Should Ireland introduce packaging that would see the Irish language included on products in Ireland? We discuss with Cian Ward, Advocate for Irish & English language bilingual Packaging.

30,000 secondary school teachers will stage a lunchtime protest today outside their respective schools, calling for delays to the redevelopment of the Leaving Cert. We speak to  Donal Cremin, President of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland.

A generational divide has emerged in Ireland’s health and wellbeing standards with more than half of younger adults considered in ‘poor health’. That’s according to the Irish Life 2024 Health of the Nation annual research report. We discuss the findings of the report with Dr Carol Rogan, Psychologist with Irish Life.

A Status Yellow ice warning has been issued for the whole country from 8pm this evening, while snow could accumulate overnight in some areas. We get the latest on what the cold snap could bring around the country with Mark Bowe, Meteorologist with Met Eireann.

Christmas is coming, which means many boys and girls may ask and receive some tech from Santa.   Cyber Safe Kids has put together a very useful guide for parents and guardians ahead of any tech arrivals and our Tech Correspondent, Jess Kelly joined us this morning with the details.

How could Robert Emmet Lighthizer, the man tipped to be Donald Trump’s Trade Tsar negatively impact the Irish economy? Cliff Taylor, Irish Times Columnist has been writing about this and discussed with Shane this morning on the show.

The ‘over-the-top commercialism’ of Christmas in Ireland means our festive markets just don’t measure up to ‘authentic’ European ones –so says travel expert and editor of Travel Extra, Eoghan Corry .    

‘There is huge pressure on parents and it’s ridiculous’ – so says a leading Irish skin expert on Irish tweens’ skincare regimes. We discuss this further with Prof Catriona Ryan, Consultant Dermatologist at the institute of Dermatologists .  

 Pledging to cut taxes by €7 billion, provide a €1,000 savings fund to every newborn baby and break up the Office of Public Works – they are just some of the promises made in the Fine Gael manifesto launched yesterday.   Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast was Paschal Donohue, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and candidate in Dublin Central constituency.

President Joe Biden’s administration is for the first time allowing Ukraine’s use of US-supplied long-range missiles in Russia. We speak to   Lesia Vasylenko, Ukrainian MP .

New obesity research published this week has shown that 23% weight loss, a 94% reduction in diabetes, and substantial quality of life gains are maintained after three years – if an obesity medication is continued.   Substantial health and quality of life gains are maintained after three years if an obesity medication is continued.  That’s according to new obesity research published...

One year on from the Dublin Riots, there needs to be a speedier response to dangerous public order offences.   That’s the view of Jim O’Callaghan, Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice & Fianna Fáil Election Candidate for Dublin Bay South .

Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch officially registered as a candidate to run in the general election in Dublin Central yesterday. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast on this was Nicola Tallant, Host of the Crime World Podcast .  

Childcare providers are sounding an alarm on electoral proposals with an open letter to party leaders. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast this morning was    Karen Clince, Founder and CEO of Tigers Childcare.

Reducing your texts to a flurry of abbreviations could have unintended consequences, according to researchers at the Journal of experimental Psychology. We discuss this with Dr Stephen Lucek, Assistant Professor in Linguistics in UCD .  

Today Fianna Fáil will launch their plan to tackle crime and keep communities safe. To discuss further Shane spoke to James Browne, Minister of State for International Law, Law Reform and Youth Justice at Dept of Justice and Fianna Fáil Election candidate for Wexford.

The head of a global nuclear energy watchdog asked Ireland to reconsider its ban on nuclear energy at Cop29, arguing the country needs a clean power supply. Should Ireland lift its ban on nuclear energy? We discuss with Denis Duff, energy engineer and co-founder of 18 for Zero and Neil McCann, environmental activist and barrister by profession.  

More than 4,600 teachers are estimated to be working abroad, according to the Irish Times while Ireland deals with a staffing crisis in schools .  Michael Gillespie, General Secretary of the Teacher’s Union of Ireland is proposing better financial incentives could bring them back. Michael spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

Mark Duffy, a Fine Gael election candidate in county Mayo has said the portrait of President Joe Biden, in Ballina town centre is causing ‘a pronounced issue’ among the town’s general population due to the United States’ ties with Israel.  Newstalk Breakfast spoke to Ann De Burca, Chair of the Mayo Branch of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign .  

Support for Independent candidates has jumped in the first opinion poll of the general election campaign, but Fine Gael retains a clear lead over its party rivals that’s according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll.     We discuss the findings with Pat Leahy, Political Editor of The Irish Times.

The Republican Party has won a majority in the US House of Representatives, US television networks have projected, completing their clean sweep of Congress which will hand President-elect Donald Trump vast legislative power. We discuss all with Larry Donnelly, Director of the Kennedy Summer School and Law Lecturer at the University of Galway. 

Black Friday is just around the corner, and manic consumerism can start to creep in. So, how can we avoid wasting money?  We ask Darragh Cassidy, Head of Communications with Bonkers.ie.