The Hard Shoulder

Cabinet today signed off on the Occupied Territories Bill, prohibiting goods from illegal settlements from entering the country. However, the opposition have criticized the Government, calling for services to be included in the Bill as well. Joining Ciara Doherty to discuss is Sinn Féin MEP for Dublin Lynn Boylan. Image: Reuters

As yesterday was the hottest day in May ever and the forecast shows the good weather continuing for a while longer, many are making every attempt to enjoy the sun. But, what rights do you have when working in the heat? Joining Ciara Doherty to discuss is Damian McCarthy, the Managing Director at HR company HR Buddy.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has said that children aged 10 and under should not consume slush ice drinks. These slushy drinks contain an EU-approved additive called Glycerol, that can cause headaches, nausea and vomiting in younger children. Ciara Doherty is joined to discuss this by Coru registered Dietician and Lecturer in Nutrition at SETU Waterford, Aoife Hearne...

A new autism assessment protocol has been announced by the Government, which will provide for the first time, a standardised autism assessment for children and adults right across the HSE. It is to be rolled out in the coming weeks, and will see a tiered approach to autism assessment, which aligns with evidence based research. Joining Ciara Doherty with details on this and what the new protocol me...

Met Éireann will feature a Show Garden at Bord Bia’s Bloom as part of a series of events to mark the national meteorological service’s 90th anniversary. For more on this, Ciara Doherty is joined by Aoife Kealy, Deputy Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann.

You have probably been seeing electrolytes in sports drinks and powders everywhere right now, from gyms to social media. How necessary are electrolytes, and should you be taking them? Joining Ciara Doherty to discuss is Shelly Gray, Today FM Presenter and Registered Dietitian.

A new study of 720 craft apprentices has found that a minority of apprentices would challenge sexist jokes and language. So, how much of a problem is this? Joining Ciara Doherty to discuss is Paddy Kavanagh, General Secretary of Connect Trade Union.

Writing in today’s Irish Times, Sadhbh O'Neill says there is little interrogation of public spending on car parking amid bike shelter angst. She writes about the astonishing amount of space in most urban areas given over to the publicly-subsidised storage of private cars. Henry has been looking into this in a very hot and sunny Cork, and joins Ciara Doherty to discuss.

Cork County Council has just adopted a motion for the Council to write to Minister of Education, Hildegarde Naughton, to mandate that the national anthem be taught in primary and secondary schools, and be sung before class. This comes as we approach the 100 year anniversary of Amhrán na bhFiann being made our official anthem… Joining Ciara Doherty to discuss this is Aontú Councillor Peter O’Donogh...

‘Gaza: Doctors Under Attack’ investigates deliberate Israeli military attacks on hospitals in Gaza. Ramita Navai, BAFTA award-winning documentary maker, joins Shane to discuss more. Image: Channel 4

A recent survey by insurance company Aviva has found that nearly 4 in 5 people admit to being distracted while driving, using mobile apps for maps and eating being the most cited distractions. But, how prevalent is this, and what does it mean for road safety? Joining Shane to discuss is Conor Faughnan, an Independent Motoring Expert at Car Zone.

For this week’s Kids Clinic, Shane is joined by Louise Lennox, Chef and Children’s Feeding Therapist from Fussy Eating Kids to discuss how you can realistically plan dinner for your family, especially when you have picky eaters.

A major rezoning plan for more than 7,000 potential new homes in south and west Dublin has moved a step closer, despite strong objections from a number of local politicians. In a report released this week, the Chief Executive of South Dublin County Council, Colm Ward, gave his seal of approval to the local authority to rezone 15 sites across the suburban outskirts of Dublin. One of the Councilors...

The Irish Monetary Fund has warned that AI could impact more than 40% of all jobs in Ireland and says the country should increase local property taxes, rein-in discount VAT rates like the 9% rate for restaurants and pull more lower paid workers into the tax net… Joining Shane to discuss this is Edgar Morgenroth, Professor of Economics at DCU Business School and Adrian Weckler, Technology Editor wi...

Earlier today, Photographer and Columnist Ruth Medjber spoke on the Moncrieff Show about how we are losing basic table manners in restaurants… Joining Shane to give their perspective is owner of Hugo’s Restaurant in Dublin, Gina Murphy.

Seán Kyne, Fine Gael TD who successfully took President Catherine Connolly’s seat in the Galway West by-election, joins Shane to discuss his victory.

Sinn Féin Councilor in South Dublin County Council, Niamh Fennell announced today that she has made the difficult decision to leave her councillor position to move to Australia. Niamh said that she is “one of those young people who doesn’t have a home to call her own, who’s faced with the pressure of the cost of living and whose hope of a future in Ireland is fading away”... Niamh joins Shane to d...

It has recently emerged that Dublin City Council spent over €500,000 last year cleaning up rubbish after bins were raided by people hoping to collect bottles for the Deposit Return scheme. But, how is it affecting the city? Joining Shane to discuss is Richard Guiney, the CEO of Dublin Town, and Cork City Councilor and former Lord Mayor and TD Dan Boyle.

This week, Ciara and Shane were joined by Off the Ball’s Cameron Hill and Saoirse Hanley, Features Writer with the Irish Independent to look back on the week that was, but with a few twists…

Emerging reports suggest that the Government plans to move ahead with the Occupied Territories Bill, a year after the Foreign Affairs Committee published its report on the Bill. This news has sparked controversy as it looks increasingly unlikely that services from companies operating in the occupied territories will be prohibited in the legislation, contrary to the Foreign Affairs Committee recomm...

Most of us have heard something along the lines of “stop doing that or ‘the man’ is going to get you” as a tool to put manners on children who were misbehaving. This tool doesn’t seem to be used nearly as much as it was through the 80s and 90s, but should we bring back ‘the man’ or ‘the woman’ threat - or is there a better alternative? Joining Shane and Ciara to give her insights is Mary McCarthy,...

To mark International Clinical Trials Day this May, Cancer Trials Ireland is set to Host “Let’s Talk Trials” discussing the importance of clinical trials for the advancement of medical research… Joining Ciara to discuss this is Prof. Seamus O’Reilly, Clinical Lead, Cancer Trials Ireland.

Off The Ball’s John Duggan joined Ciara and Shane on The Hard Shoulder to review the week in sport and look ahead to the rest of the weekend action...

The latest CSO figures show that fuel oil prices are at their highest level in five years. The figures show all energy fuels rose by over 32% in April in the wake of the conflict in the Middle East… Joining Ciara to discuss this is Professor Aoife Foley , Chair in Net Zero Infrastructure at the University of Manchester.

There have been many debates over the years as to whether teenagers should have part time jobs or not, but yesterday Amazon’s UK boss John Boumphrey said that "We have to stop blaming young people for being unemployed" adding that the education system was not "producing young people who are ready for work"... Joining Shane and Ciara to discuss this is Family Therapist and author Richard Hogan.