The Hard Shoulder

Cabinet ministers have been raising concerns about Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien’s proposals for a major overhaul of Ireland’s planning laws. We heard overnight that things had been agreed, then we hear this morning that certain Green Ministers are concerned, and now the Taoiseach has this afternoon defended the proposed legislation. Craig Hughes is Political Correspondent with the Irish Daily...

Anton Savage was joined on The Hard Shoulder by Clare McKenna, presenter of Alive and Kicking on Newstalk, to discuss brain health...

Anton Savage was joined in studio by Fine Gael Senator, Regina Doherty, and Socialist Party TD for Cork North Central, Mick Barry. Continuing the series, ‘Common Ground’, they will debate some of the biggest, most divisive topics around. The series continued with a discussion around 'Should chuggers be banned?'...

From sleeping rough in the Phoenix Park to earning a masters degrees, Croatian brothers Allen and Jay Bobinac last week received a special SETU achievement award from Minister Simon Harris and Croatian Ambassador to Ireland Davor Vidis. Allen and Jay joined Anton Savage in studio to discuss their remarkable story...

Gerry Hutch’s barrister has accused Jonathan Dowdall of telling lies in court. The former Sinn Féin councillor is being cross-examined in Mr Hutch’s trial for the murder of David Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel in 2016. Paul Williams, Crime Journalist and Author of ‘The Monk - The life and times of Ireland's most enigmatic crime boss’ joined Anton Savage to discuss what happened in c...

Cabinet met this morning to approve a number of amendments that seek to recognise families that are created through international surrogacy. Anton Savage was joined by Cathy Wheatley, spokesperson for Irish Families Through Surrogacy...

The head of Dublin Bus will tell TDs and Senators later the 'vast, vast majority of services' operate on time and on schedule. However, Chief Executive Billy Hann will apologise to customers who have had a poor experience, when he appears before an Oireachtas committee this evening. Anton Savage was joined by Brian Caulfield, Associate Professor at the School Of Engineering, Trinity College Dublin...

With twelve days until Christmas, singer Brian Kennedy joined Anton Savage on The Hard Shoulder to discuss his gigs over the festive period and other Christmas traditions... Image: briankennedy.co.uk

With the weather warnings extended through the weekend Joanna Donnelly joined Anton Savage to discuss what’s in store for the next couple of days. Focus Ireland’s Mike Allen also joined Anton to discuss what can be done to assist the homeless sleeping rough during this cold spell...

Anton Savage was joined by award-winning author Colm Tóibín, to discuss his new book: ‘A Guest At The Feast’…

Jonathan Dowdall, a former co-accused of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, has begun giving evidence against him at the Regency Hotel murder trial. Paul Williams, Crime Journalist and Author of ‘The Monk - The life and times of Ireland's most enigmatic crime boss’ joined Anton Savage to discuss what happened in court today...

Rhiannon Adam is set to become the first Irish person in space. She is a photographic artist originally from Co. Cork, who now lives in Hackney in London. The trip, called dearMoon, is expected to take place next year 2023 aboard Starship, a rocket being developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Rhiannon joined Anton Savage on The Hard Shoulder to discuss...

Actor, Florence Pugh has recently opened up about the imposter syndrome she experienced on the set of the 2018 film King Lear. Aoife O’Brien, Founder of Happieratwork.ie and ImposterSyndrome.ie joined Anton Savage to discuss how imposter syndrome affects us and how to deal with it...

Labour Party Education Spokerperson Aodhán Ó Ríordáin says that the Irish requirement for teaching training is a barrier to a diverse workforce. Anton Savage was joined on The Hard Shoulder by Aodhán Ó Ríordáin TD and Simon Lewis, Principal at Carlow Educate Together to discuss...

There are reports that getting a taxi over the weekend was pretty much impossible in Dublin City. Demand has trebled in the last month. The taxi apps had very few cabs available. Some people had to walk home and others even booked into hotels to stay out of the cold. This is the first Christmas in 3 years that the office party is back because of Covid. Henry McKean met some of those in the industr...

Aisling Larkin TV Chef and mindful eating coach joined Kieran to take a closer look how to make the best Christmas stuffing for the festive season...

Kieran Cunningham, Chief Sports Writer with the Irish Daily Star joined Kieran Cuddihy on The Hard Shoulder to review the week in sport and look ahead to the weekend action...

Journalist Nicola Tallant joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss the latest on the Regency Hotel murder trial and also about ‘Crime World’, her podcast that will hit the stage of the 3Olympia theatre in April next year...

Jess Kelly, Newstalk's Technology Correspondent joined Kieran to discuss what she found out during her visit to Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Dublin...

House prices could drop by as much as 12% if housing output increases by 10,000 units a year. That is according to a new ESRI paper, which found that increasing output would not necessarily lead to significant wage inflation in the construction sector. Kieran was joined by Edgar Morgenroth, Professor of Economics at DCU and Aidan Regan, Associate professor in political economy in the School of Pol...

The FAI have today been fined €20,000 after the Republic of Ireland women’s team sang the Wolfe Tones’ ‘Celtic Symphony’ after the team qualified for the World Cup a few weeks ago. Wolfe Tones singer and songwriter Brian Warfield joined Kieran on the show to discuss…

Kieran was joined on The Hard Shoulder by Venkat Annasamy, President of the Non-Resident Tamil Indian Association and Julia Marciniak, Unite Union Activist to discuss what it is like not being in their home countries during the festive season...

The HSE and two US laboratories have admitted liability in the case of Irene Teap, who died after being diagnosed with Cervical Cancer. Her husband and campaigner Stephen took a High Court Action against Clinical Pathology Laboratories, MedLab Pathology and the HSE over her death in 2017. Stephen Teap joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss…

South Korea have decided to scrap their traditional method of counting ages in order to adopt the international standard. As a result, all citizens will become around 1 to 2 years younger. Kevin Cawley, Senior Lecturer in Korean Studies at UCC joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss...

Fáilte Ireland has warned that "significant increases" in the cost of hotel rooms are set to continue well into 2023. The head of the tourist body has written to providers, accusing them of causing reputational damage to the industry by charging sky-high prices. Kieran was joined by Chris O’Sullivan Fianna Fail TD and Micheal Lennon General Manager of the Westport Woods Hotel…