Newstalk Breakfast

If you’re tired of the tedium and expense of buying gifts for all your adult friends, you should opt instead for homemade Christmas gifts this year! That’s the view of Suzanne Harrington, Journalist and author who spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

It’s been a long-mooted idea – the introduction of a Universal Basic Income – a non means-tested welfare payment for every adult in the state. But how would such a scheme work and more importantly how much would it cost? Well the ESRI have studied just that and Dr Paul Redmond, Senior Research Officer with the ESRI who is behind the research spoke to Ciara this morning.

The January 6th Committee has referred Former President, Donald Trump for Criminal Prosecution to the Justice Department. The committee has accused Trump of inciting the January 6th Insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of an act of Congress. Larry Donnelly, Boston Lawyer and Law Lecturer at the University of Galway

Turkeys across Ireland can breath a sigh of relief this year. The traditional festive fowl is being replaced on many families' Christmas menus with everything from salmon to steaks. Newstalk's Sarah Madden reports.

Do good table manners matter on Christmas Day? And what’s the best way to celebrate the world’s favourite holiday. To discuss the dos and don'ts of the big day was Brenda Hyland Beirne, Founder and Managing Director of The Irish School of Etiquette

An Irish Times survey finds most of the 50 private schools in Ireland increased fees by between 5 and 15 per cent this year. Carl O’Brien Education Editor of The Irish Times joined Ciara to shed some light on what’s going on.

Marc Benioff, the billionaire CEO behind Salesforce and Slack has laid into new employees hired during the pandemic - warning that they are less productive. Mary Connaughton, Director of the professional body in Ireland for HR CIPD spoke to Newstalk Breakfast with more on this.

This past weekend marked the end of Micheál Martin’s tenure as Taoiseach, and the return of Leo Varadkar to the role. I’m joined by Eamon Ryan, Green Party Leader & Minister for Transport, Climate, Environment & Communications

We are just 6 sleeps from the big day but is it going to be a “White One” this Christmas? Michelle Dillon Met Eireann Forecaster looks ahead at the weather for the big day.

New research from Ibec has revealed the full scale of Ireland’s energy affordability crisis and the group are calling on the government to strengthen business supports. Speaking to Shane was Conor Minogue is Ibec’s Senior Executive for Infrastructure, Energy, and Climate Policy.

aoiseach and Fine Gael leader, Leo Varadkar revealed his cabinet on Saturday with no changes in ministerial personnel. He was elected Taoiseach following Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin’s resignation on Saturday morning. Donnchadh O Laoghaire, Sinn Féin TD for Cork South Central and Education Spokesperson gave Ciara his reaction to the ne Cabinet.

The Danes hold hands and sing around the Christmas tree, the Germans exchange gifts on Christmas eve. Many countries have their own festive traditions and Ukraine is much the same. Sarah Madden has visited refugees preparing for Pіздво despite the war at home, and she sent us this report.

Today marks the final full day as Taoiseach for Mícheál Martin as he gets set to hand the reigns over to Leo Varadkar tomorrow for the next two and a half years. So what is Mícheál’s legacy and what is the scale of the challenge in front of Leo? Ivan Yates Former Fine Gael Minister and broadcaster discusses.

Emergency Department Congestion is a symptom of a wider system imbalance and is not caused by nor fixable within Emergency Departments themselves. That’s according to a new HSE update on their Winter plan. Damien McCallion is Chief Operations Officer with the HSE and spoke to Ciara this morning.

This day last month, Irish Independent Columnist Ian O'Doherty told us why he had no interest in following the Qatar World Cup. But did he stick to his boycott? We find out !!!

We recently discussed a damning report published by HIQA, which highlighted the dismal conditions in emergency departments around the country. It found lengthy wait times in several institutions, including one instance of a patient waiting 116 hours on a trolley. This shocking figure didn’t come as a surprise to Elaine Galvin –who spent 60 hours in A&E last month and she told us her experience.

Tom Phillips, Managing Director of Tom Phillips and Associates, and an Associate Professor of Town Planning in UCD.

The Toy Show The Musical - “A cynical, arrogant money-grab by an organisation that appears to have forgotten its primary purpose.” Those are the words of Independent Columnist Pat Stacey who spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

Bitterly cold night last night with some areas reaching as low as – 11 Degrees A status Orange weather warning remains in place tonight and is expected to extend to even more counties. For more on this Newstalk Breakfast spoke to Michelle Dillon from MET Eireann.

An Irish soldier has been killed and a second seriously injured in a serious incident in Lebanon. They were among 8 Irish personnel travelling in a convoy of armoured vehicles which came under attack. Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Simon Coveney spoke to Newstak Breakfast this morning on this sad news.

Have you come across the term “sharenting” before? It’s when parents share vast amounts of information about their children online, and it’s become ever-prominent in our social media-obsessed world. Emma Manley is a mother and fashion designer who has decided not to share photos of your kids and explained why to Ciara.

A bill is being introduced in the Dail calling for a minimum 10-month prison sentence for stealing a family pet. For more on this, Shane was joined on the show by Aontu leader, Peader Toibin who has been instrumental in introducing this bill.

Ireland’s economic growth is set to continue to slow down in 2023. The threat of recession to trading partners, the cost-of-living crisis and interest rate hikes are the main reasons behind the slowdown according to a new report from the ESRI. One of those behind the report is Dr Conor O’Toole, Associate Research Professor with the ESRI and Dr O'Toole spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

Yes, it’s cold, but it’s December – so let’s put a freeze on infantilising the public over the weather Temperatures have plummeted to below freezing this week and we’re all giving out. . Complaining about the weather might be a national pastime here in Ireland but our very own Sinead Ryan believes it's time to put up, shut up and accept seasonality.

There has been a drop in disadvantaged students going to college while on the other hand school leavers from fee paying schools and affluent areas dominate high points university courses. The results have been published in The Irish Times Feeder Schools 2022. Brian Mooney, Guidance counsellor and education columnist discussed the findings of this report.