The Hard Shoulder

It was a great night for the Irish at the Oscars with Cillian Murphy taking home the Best Actor award for his role in Oppenheimer   There was success for Element Pictures too picking up 4 Oscars for Poor Things, including Emma Stone picking up the Best Actress gong. Kieran was joined by Jim Sheridan, Irish film director, Natalie Britton, Actress and Actor Paul Meade to discuss...

Students in Transition Year are set to receive new lessons in empathy under plans for a redeveloped transition year.   How important is the skill of empathy and why is it key that young people start developing active compassion at a young age? Kieran was joined by Colum McCann Irish Author and Founder of Narrative 4 and Prof Pat Dolan, Unesco Chairman in Children, Youth and Civic Engagem...

The referendum on the family and care amendments ended with the highest ever 'No' vote on Saturday.  The care amendment was rejected by 74 percent of the voters, while the family amendment was rejected by 68 percent.  Turnout results were mixed across the country by the time the polls closed at 10pm on Friday. Should voting be mandatory in Ireland? Kieran was joined by Mick Cli...

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s daily catch-up on the day's news.  Today, Kieran was joined by David Hall, CEO of iCare Housing and CEO of Lifeline Serivces and Becca Fisher, Journalist with Extra.ie    Henry McKean, Newstalk Reporter also joined the conversation LIVE from LA after last night's Oscars Ceremony....

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day New research from Irish Life finds that women are less confident than men when it comes to making financial decisions with 1 in 3 women not confident at all in making financial decisions.  To advise those who may have apprehensions about financial planning, Kieran was joined by Laura Duffy, Certified Financial Planner from Irish Life  

Sarina Bellissimo and Sue Murphy joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to review the latest TV and movie releases..

As it is election year in the US, every Thursday here on the Hard Shoulder we are going to get the latest from the campaign trail.  Kieran was joined by Jeff Kuhner, Host of The Kuhner Report on WRKO AM680 Radio in Boston... 

With it being World Book Day, children will be celebrating the joy and magic that reading brings But what about children who struggle or may be reluctant to read? Are there ways and methods of helping them enjoy reading the same as everyone else? To give advice Kieran was joined by Lorraine Levis  Author ‘Once Upon a Reader: Raising Your Children with a Love of Books’ and Head of Sales f...

A special Oireachtas committee has said that legislation should be introduced to allow for assisted dying. Although the recommendation states that any legislation should have limitations. The person must be diagnosed with a disease, illness or medical condition which is incurable and irreversible, advanced, progressive and will cause death and that death will occur within six months. Kieran was jo...

Kieran was joined by Minster for Darragh O'Brien to discuss the row between government and opposition on the delay to the Planning and Development Bill, Housing figures and whether we are seeing any improvement in the housing crisis. And ahead of the referendum tomorrow the minister outlined his position on the family and care amendments.

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s daily catch up on the day's news.  Today, Kiearan was joined by Sarah McGuinness, Assistant News Editor for the Business Post and Michael Kelly,    Journalist and Former Editor of the Irish Catholic.

Newstalk's own, Simon Tierney joined Kieran Cuddihy for the series 'The Shopping Trolley Hotline'. The series will give listeners pause when they’re filling their trolleys, to consider their options. This week Simon brought a selection of Relishes to test.

This is The Soapbox. Today, Kieran Cuddihy was Jillian Brennan , CEO of Humanist Association of Ireland, to discuss and debate the legitimacy of secular schooling in Ireland.

With the public going to the polls on Friday to vote on the coming referendum. Does the public understand what they are voting for and on? There was a sense of confusion and indifference in the air around the referendum. Newstalk reporter, Bella Finn took to the streets of Dublin to get a sense of the public's attitudes towards the referendum

Jess Kelly, Newstalk Technology Correspondent joined Kieran for the Tech Takeover. This week Jess looked some of the most notorious times tech has failed live up to expectations.

With the Deposit Return Scheme around now for a month. And with many struggling to adapt to the scheme and some initial problems with it. Kieran was joined by Ciaran Foley, CEO of Return,   to talk through and debate some of the issues and concerns around it.

The drop in drink driving has been replaced by drivers on drugs, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said. We wanted to find out how commonplace it is, and how the Garda are dealing with the increase in Drug Driving. Henry McKean met motorists and spent time with the Gardai Road Policing Unit.

It has been over a month since the deposit return scheme was introduced. With teething problems and many questioning the legitimacy of the scheme. How do other countries deal with and manage similar deposit schemes? Joining Kieran to give insight into what it is in other countries was Philip O’Connor Freelance Journalist in Sweden and Paul Krantz, Journalist with ‘The Local’ in Germany &...

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s daily catch-up on the day's news.  Today, Kieran was joined by Kevin Doyle,  Group Head of News at Mediahuis and Niamh Maher, Commercial Creative Director with Journal Media.

This is The Soapbox. Today, Kieran Cuddihy was joined by Shane Ross, former Minister for Transport and columnist with Sunday Independent to discuss how RTÉ wins back the public trust...

Author Sam Blake joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss some of her favourite books...

RTÉ should come under the remit of the Controller and Auditor General – that's according to a new report from the Public Accounts Committee.  The report has also called for any deal that would see a member of staff receive a lump sum over 150 thousand euro for their departure from the organisation to be made public.  Verona Murphy, Independent TD for Wexford and a member of the Public Ac...

A new private members bill is being put forward by Fine Gael Senator John McGahon which put into law tiered refunds based on how delayed your train will be.   As purposed you will see a 25 percent refund if the train is delayed by 20 minutes, 50 percent if it’s above 40 minutes and a full refund after an hour.   Barry Kenny, Corporate Communications Manager and Mark Gleeson, Ra...

Paschal Donohoe , Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss an increase in retirement age for uniformed officers and also the ongoing crisis at RTÉ...

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s daily catch up on the day's news.  Today, Kieran was joined by Jack Horgan Jones, Political Correspondent with the Irish Times and Sinead Ryan, Consumer Columnist with the Irish Independent and the Presenter of The Home Show here at Newstalk...