Newstalk Breakfast

Health staff have been told to make themselves available for weekend work over the next two or three weeks, as overcrowding issues continue in hospitals across the country. Speaking to Shane was Stephen Mulvany, HSE Interim Chief Executive Officer.

Road space will be reallocated to cyclists across the southeast of Dublin city, with measures including the removal of bus lanes in Ranelagh and car parking at Merrion Square, under new Dublin City Council “active travel” plans. For more on this Newstalk Breakfast spoke to Associate Professor School of Engineering at Trinity College, Brian Caulfield.

Separating children with additional educational needs from mainstream classes is "setting them up for a fall". That’s the view of Anne Marie Ford, Principal of Scoil Naomh Colmcille in Togher, Co Louth who spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

A Lebanese military court has pressed charges against seven people allegedly involved in the attack on Irish peacekeepers in South Lebanon which killed Private Seán Rooney and seriously injured Trooper Shane Kearney. Joining Ciara from Lebanon was journalist Hannah McCarthy

First Dates Ireland is back on our screens tomorrow evening, with a host of new singletons set to take to the restaurant in the hope of finding romance. Alice Marr First Dates waitress spoke to Shane this morning on the return of the show.

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath confirmed that the government is considering extending inflation supports to homes and businesses after State finances recorded a €5 billion surplus for 2022 Seamus Coffey is the Former Chair of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Lecturer in Economics at UCC discussed this further.

Yesterday, 838 patients were waiting on trolleys across the country in our emergency departments, the second-highest figure ever recorded after Tuesday’s figure of 931 It comes as Health Minister Stephen Donnelly says the crisis is “likely” to get worse while also calling for consultants to work weekends. For reaction, we spoke to Mick Molloy a Consultant in emergency medicine and disaster medicin...

Cristiano Ronaldo should speak about human rights issues in Saudi Arabia after his big-money move to the country. So says Amnesty International, who released a statement saying the football star’s signing is part of a wider pattern of sports washing in the oil-rich country. Irish Independent Columnist Frank Coughlan spoke to Newstalk Breakfast to discuss this further.

The Workplace Bullying Institute in the UK has found that women are bullied up to 80 percent of the time by other women in the workplace, while other studies have shown that women who report to women experience a greater frequency of bullying So much so, the term has been coined as “Queen bee syndrome” But how common is it here in Ireland? To discuss Caroline Reidy, HR and Employment Law Expert fr...

Ireland should give serious consideration to the potential role for nuclear energy to help achieve our ambition for a net-zero power system. So said Eirgrid chief executive Mark Foley yesterday. William Reville an Emeritus professor of biochemistry at UCC spoke to Ciara this morning.

An estimated 60,000 people are expected to attend the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square later this morning. One of these attendees is Bree Dail, Rome Correspondent with The Daily Wire who joined us live from Rome this morning.

Cork County Council veterinary officers are calling for dog insurance to be made compulsory, due to the worrying rise in dog attacks on humans and livestock. North Cork Fianna Fail, Bernard Moynihan joined Ciara on the show this morning.

Europe has been experiencing a major heatwave to start the year which have seen a number of January temperature records broken. Cities from Berlin to Warsaw have experienced their warmest-ever start to the month. Cara Augustenborg is a Professor of Environmental Policy at University College Dublin and a member of the Climate Advisory council and spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning,

Last night, Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly described the overcrowding crisis in Irish hospitals as a "perfect storm" of flu, RSV, Covid and the normal pressures facing hospitals His comments come as a record 931 admitted patients were left waiting for hospital beds across the country yesterday Ciara spoke to Dr Lisa Cunningham, Consultant in Emergency medicine in Mayo University Hospital, a...

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the introduction of minimum unit pricing for alcohol in Ireland. The measure aims to reduce the sale of very strong alcohol products at very low prices and is one part of many measures introduced through the Public Health Alcohol Act 2018 – but what needs to be done to ensure successful implementation? Speaking to Ciara this morning was Sheila Gilheany, CEO...

From this week, cigarette manufacturers are being charged for the cost of cleaning up cigarette butt litter. But should tobacco companies pay the volunteers who pick up cigarette butts? Harriet Donnelly runs the charity Flossie and the Beach Cleaners and spoke to Ciara with more on this.

House prices in 2022 rose by over 6% - that’s according to the latest Daft.ie Sales Report. Galway City had the biggest rise at 8% while Dublin rose by 5%. Ronan Lyons, Economist at Trinity College Dublin & author of The Daft.ie Report and spoke to Ciara with more insight into the findings.

Gardaí have made four further arrests in their investigation into a violent incident in a direct provision centre in Killarney on Sunday night, bringing the total number arrested to six. For more on this, Ciara was joined by Niall O’Callaghan, local councillor and hotelier

atholic bishops have expressed concern over the ability of Catholic primary schools to remain true to their ethos following the removal of the so-called “baptism barrier”. Almost 90% of primary schools are currently under Catholic patronage, while about 5% have a multi-denominational ethos. Alan Whelan, President of the Catholic Secondary Schools parents association outlined what these concerns ar...

The killing of Brazilian woman Bruna Fonseca in Cork over the weekend brings to 11 the number of women who have been killed in Ireland since the death of Ashling Murphy a year ago Is Ireland doing enough to combat violence against women? Margaret Martin, Chair of the National Women’s Council and formerly the Director of Women’s Aid spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

Medics have said the overcrowding situation in Irish hospitals will get worse this month before it gets better. The public has been urged to wear masks and get flu jabs or Covid boosters to help to protect overcrowded hospital wards with high volumes of patients suffering from severe flu and Covid-19. Damien McCallion, Chief Operations Officer with the HSE

Leinster rugby issued an apology immediately after the controversial Wolfe Tones song “Celtic Symphony” was played at the RDS after their win over Connacht on Sunday. But should they have had to do so? Brian Warfield is the Lead songwriter for the Wolf Tones spoke to Ciara this morning,

Fifty years ago, in January 1973, Ireland formally joined the European Economic Community, which today is the European Union. But what is our legacy in the EU, and should we remain there for another half-century? Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast Former Senior Irish Diplomat Ray Bassett.

Minister for Environment, Eamon Ryan has backed plans for a 30% cut to school car journeys, responding to proposals in the latest Climate Action Plan. He says the target will be met through providing better bus services and active travel options rather than blaming motorists Sadhbh O’Neill, Researcher in Climate Policy spoke to Shane this morning.

We are just 2 sleeps to Christmas Day but all eyes will be on the skies tomorrow to see if Santa can make his arrival. Laura Downey is an Air Traffic Controller with the Irish Aviation Authority working out of Dublin Airport and she joined us on the show this monring.