Newstalk Breakfast

There isn’t a town or village in the country that has not been touched by derelict or vacant properties. Local Authorities are trying to bring new life back into some of these buildings while others are boarded up for years. Our reporter, Josh Crosbie has been taking a look at different schemes taking place and he joined Ciara in the studio.

Insolvency rates in the hospitality sector have increased by more than 200% in the first half of this year. This comes as the government is expected to increase the 9% VAT rate for the sector in September. With more on this Newstalk Breakfast spoke to Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland.

Waiting lists for Gaeltacht courses are growing as interest in speaking Irish surges. Julian De Spainn, General Secretary of Conradh Na Gaeillge spoke to Jonathan Healy this morning with more on this.

US Comedian Sarah Silverman is suing Chat GPT’s parent company, Open AI - and Facebook’s parent company Meta alleging that her copyright has been infringed in the training of the AI systems. For more on this, we spoke to Newstalk’s Technology Correspondent, Jess Kelly.

Youghal Greyhound Track , which was bailed out earlier this year, is attracting an average attendance of just three members of the public at its twice-weekly meets. The track, which has received more than €750,000 in funding since 2020, was days away from closure in April when it received a last-minute reprieve. John Carmody, Animal rights campaigner gave his reaction.

“Justice Minister Helen McEntee should focus on tackling crime and stop playing to the woke gallery” So wrote Fianna Fáil TD, Willie O’Dea on the issue of street crime and anti-social behaviour. Newstalk Breakfast spoke to Antoinette Cunningham, General Secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants & Inspectors, and asked did she agree with Willie?

The Tyre Extinguishers group targeting SUVs has warned that they now intend to target hybrid and electric vehicles, with the campaign set to be extended to counties outside of Dublin John Gibbons, Environmental Journalist, and Commentator gave his reaction to this.

Most people believe garden tools and machinery should not be started before 9am. That’s according to a new survey from the DIY chain Toolstation. So how early is too early to mow your lawn? Well, to tell us Monica Alvarez is a judge on RTÉ’s Dulux Supergarden.

The amount of money spent on the state pension annually has grown by 50 percent in the last decade. That’s according to new figures from the Department of Social Protection. Michael McMahon, Chair of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

Two participants in the Sligo Stages Rally have died following a crash at the motorsport race. Sorcha Crowley, Sligo Based Journalist, explained what we know about what happened.

Today France celebrates Bastille day - 233 years since the revolutionary storming of the prison at Bastille So, will the French community in Ireland be marking the occasion and just how are Franco-Irish relations anyway? Newstalk’s Sarah Madden reports.

Almost 1,300 participants from across Europe are heading toward Limerick this weekend for the 2023 European Ultimate Frisbee Championships Jessica Chambers plays for Ireland and will be defending her title. Jessica spoke to Ciara this morning.

Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt left the Oppenheimer premiere in London as the Screen Actors Guild announced strike action - marking the first time in 60 years that Hollywood Actors and writers are striking simultaneously Jeanne Wolf, Hollywood Journalist explained what's happening in Hollywood.

Ireland has already used 47% of its Carbon Budget for the period 2021-2025 in just the first two years. That’s according to a new report published by the Environmental Protection Agency this morning. Cara Augustenborg, Professor of Environmental Policy at University College Dublin & Member of the Climate Change Advisory Council gave her reaction to Ciara this morning.

Intolerant, nasty, grossly offensive – and 11,000 people laughed along – those were the words of Journalist, Barry Egan writing about Ricky Gervais at the 3Arena So, where is the line between funny and offensive – or does it exist? For more on this Ciara spoke to Comedian Steve Cummins, Comedian.

A blistering heatwave is spreading across the south of Europe with temperatures reaching as high as 45 degrees in areas of Spain and the Mediterranean. Joan Scales, Travel Writer and Broadcaster brought us an update on the temperatures across Europe.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said it “isn’t fair” that the majority of TV licence revenue goes to RTÉ and suggested that under a new model, more publishers will receive funding. Speaking to Ciara this morning was Lorcan Nyhan is Head of Training at The Communications Clinic and columnist with The Sunday Independent

Proposals to increase the price of alcohol are “out of touch with reality”, so says Drinks Ireland. To discuss Newstalk Breakfast spoke to Sheila Gilheany, Alcohol Action Ireland CEO.

Thirteen skulls stolen from a churchyard on Inishbofin Island are on their way back home after more than 130 years. Marie Coyne of the Inishbofin Heritage Museum explained who stole these skulls and why?

In a statement last night, Huw Edwards’ wife named him as the BBC presenter at the centre of the allegations of recent days. We get the latest from George Parker, Political Editor of the Financial Times.

Are we getting to grips with the housing crisis? We asked Darragh O’Brien Minister for Housing this morning on the show.

All Things Considered: Banning phones in schools. Is this a good or bad idea, well Shane and Ciara discussed this morning.

The Barbie-doll look has had a strong, even conformist, impact on how women are “supposed” to look” - That’s the view of journalist Mary Kenny who spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

The National Children's Hospital cost likely to pass €2bn amid tensions with contractor. A war of words has broken out over the level of progress on the build, with the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board claiming just 27 of 3,000 rooms have been deemed complete. Paul Davis is a Public Procurement Expert from DCU and explained the costings and budget relating to the Children's Hospital.

RTÉ faces the task of clarifying major contradictions between its own accounts and the statements of Ryan Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly at the upcoming appearance before the Public Accounts Committee today. Alan Dillon, Fine Gael TD for Mayo and member of the Public Accounts Committee spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning ahead of the meeting.