The Hard Shoulder

Author Manchán Magan joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss his new book 'Wolf-Men and Water Hounds: The Myths, Monsters and Magic of Ireland'...

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said there will be a public inquiry into the State’s handling of the Covid 19 pandemic in order to “learn lessons” for the future.  For more on this Kieran was joined by Peadar Toibin, TD and Leader of Aontú and Kingston Mills, Professor of Experimental Immunology and Director at Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute... 

The CSO have released this year's migration figures for Ireland.   Some of the key takeaways is that Ireland’s population has grown by 2 percent with over 120,000 people coming to Ireland. Alongside that we saw that of Irish people leaving our shores and returning home, there is a net zero of Irish people leaving.   Kieran was joined by Alan Barrett, CEO of the ESRI... 

Should there be an inquiry into how we handled Covid in this country? Kieran was joined by Paul Moynagh, Head of the Department of Biology and Director of the Kathleen Lonsdale Institute for Human Health Research at Maynooth University and Michael McNamara, Independent TD for Clare, and the former Chair of Oireachtas Covid 19 Committee to discuss...

 Whenever you’re a spectator at a sporting event, it can hard to control your emotions and passion often gets in the way. Quite often, that can result in foul language or a rising temper, which can easily get out of hand. Behaving that way at a big game like Ireland vs South Africa is one thing, but are we forgetting to change our attitude towards our kids sporting games? Kieran was joined by jour...

It may be best known for embarrassing dance challenges, but Tiktok is fast becoming the information app of a new generation.  News is broken on twitter, journalists are filing on Instagram - but should we fear the tiktokification of news, or is social media creating a better-informed youth than ever before? Newstalk's Sarah Madden reports.

The Hard Shoulder was LIVE from The Bridge 1859 in Ballsbridge ahead of the Rugby World Cup clash between Ireland and South Africa. TV Chef and Mindful Eating Coach Aisling Larkin joined Kieran to discuss pub grub ahead of the big game tomorrow, joined on this occasion by none other than travel expert Fionn Davenport to discuss the sights to see and places to travel in South Africa...

The Hard Shoulder was LIVE from The Bridge 1859 in Ballsbridge ahead of the Rugby World Cup clash between Ireland and South Africa. BJ Botha, World Cup Winner with South Africa joined Kieran to preview the game... 

The Hard Shoulder was LIVE from The Bridge 1859 in Ballsbridge. Tonight celebrates Culture Night 2023 all around the country and Jo Mangan , Director of the Performance corporation and Willie White , Artistic Director, Dublin Theatre Festival joined Kieran to discuss...

Ryle Nugent, former Head of Sport at RTÉ and legendary commentator, joined Kieran Cuddihy LIVE in The Bridge 1859 in Ballsbridge to preview the Rugby World Cup clash between Ireland and South Africa...

The Hard Shoulder was LIVE from The Bridge 1859 in Ballsbridge ahead of the Rugby World Cup clash between Ireland and South Africa. Newstalk's Technology Correspondent Jess Kelly joined Kieran to discuss the presence of technology and AI in sport...

The Hard Shoulder was LIVE from The Bridge 1859 in Ballsbridge ahead of the Rugby World Cup clash between Ireland and South Africa. Henry McKean joined Kieran LIVE from Paris ahead of the game...

The Hard Shoulder was LIVE from The Bridge 1859 in Ballsbridge ahead of the Rugby World Cup clash between Ireland and South Africa. Kieran was joined by by two armchair rugby fans, Sinead Ryan, presenter of The Home Show on Newstalk and Ian O’Doherty columnist with the Irish Independent to preview that massive match tomorrow and to hear why the love the game...

Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk today, Eddie Wilson, CEO of Ryanair, was not happy with the DAA, after cancelling 17 routes and moving 19 more to alternative EU airports.  Kenny Jacobs, CEO of DAA joined Kieran to discuss...

Around 200 protesters held a demonstration outside Leinster House yesterday. Those in attendance beared signs and banners featuring anti-immigration slogans. Kieran was joined by Joe Brolly, co-host of the Free State Podcast to discuss...

 The final day of the National Ploughing Championships takes place in Ratheniska in Co Laois today and over the course of the past three days there have been a number of activities taking place, including a world record welly throw and brown bread competitions. But today, one event will answer the long burning question, who is Ireland’s favourite saint? Fr David Vard, parish priest in Stradbally,...

Kieran was joined on The Hard Shoulder by David Davin Power, former RTE Correspondent and Trade Unionist, Brendan Ogle to discuss yesterday's protests outside Leinster House...

How high should we build in Dublin? Yes the debate has been sparked again. Some say developments need to go up to increase housing stock others say it will ruin Dublin’s image. Newstalk reporter Josh Crosbie has been getting the pulse of the city.

Some 200 protesters held a demonstration bearing signs and banners featuring anti-immigration slogans outside Leinster House yesterday. Politicians, journalists and staff were verbally abused as they entered the parliament and those inside were advised by Gardaí to be careful when leaving. Kieran was joined on The Hard Shoulder by Razan Ibraheem, a journalist specialising in misinformation to...

What is the cost of contentment in each country? That’s what a recent study out of Harvard University focused on, finding the highest cost of happiness was in Iran at nearly €232,000 and the lowest was in Sierra Leone at just over 8 grand. Ireland was rudely left off the list of 173 countries, but our own reporter Sarah Madden has been looking into it for us instead.

The Dáil resumed following the summer break today. However, politicians, journalists and staff have been advised not to leave amidst protests that are happening outside Leinster House. Independent TD for Kerry Michael Healy Rae and Louise Burne, Political Correspondent with the Irish Daily Mirror joined Kieran to discuss...

Today marks 25 years since the establishment of TV3. To celebrate this and look back on the memories down the yers, Kieran was joined by Anna Daly, former presenter on TV3 and Virgin Media, former CEO David McRedmond and Aidan Cooney, former presenter on Ireland AM from 1999 until 2018, and now presenter of Q102 Breakfast...

A trans rights march took place at the weekend, and one of the images that caught some attention was the face of Vladimir Lenin on transgender flags.  Senator Michael McDowell has been writing about it in The Irish Times and he joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss...

Today is National Fitness Day in the UK and they’re encouraging everyone to get out and be active as much as possible. Do we need this same encouragement here? Particularly for young people, what are we doing to keep our kids fit? And what’s the difference between being fit and being physically active. Kieran was joined by Brendan O’Keefe, assistant professor of Physical Education in the Departmen...

As we have been hearing throughout the day, the proposed plans to the Leaving Cert examinations have been shelved.   One the cited reasons was the increased prevalence of GenAI, that’s your ChatGPTs, in examinations and school projects but how strong has the impact of AI been on education sector and is it too late to reverse the damage?  Kieran was joined by Michael Madden, Professo...