The Hard Shoulder

Louise Bayliss, Spokesperson for Spark (single parents acting for the rights of kids) and Keith Walsh, Writer and Broadcaster joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss some newly released statistics that found Ireland ranks 2nd worst in the OECD for parental leave...

The Special Criminal Court has heard a former Sinn Féin councillor has implicated others in the Regency Hotel murder and is willing to testify at the upcoming trial. Jonathan Dowdall was also due to stand trial for the murder of David Byrne but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge last week and is now in protective custody. For more on this and the trial of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, Kieran was joined b...

In his latest column for the Irish Examiner, Bernard O’Shea has described journaling as one of the ‘best things he’s ever done’. What are the benefits?  And could we all do with doing a bit of journaling? Clinical psychologist Tara Logan Buckley joined Kieran to discuss the benefits of journaling...

Krissy Gibson, Ireland AM Baker & Owner of Take The Cake and Jackie Buckley, Owner of Jackie B’s Cafe in Wicklow Town joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss making the decision to close their businesses due to the rising cost of living...

UK Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced a u-turn on the 45p tax rate as part of the UK's mini-budget. It has now been decided that it won’t be abolished, after much uproar over it over the last 10 days. LBC presenter Shelagh Fogarty joined Kieran on the show to discuss...

We’re into October, and if you look around your estates, you may well see Hallo’ween decorations starting to go up. Is it too early to get into the Hallo’ween mood? Journalist Jen Hogan and Chairman of the Communications Clinic, Terry Prone joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss...

"Your call is important to us". How many of us have heard that on a loop recently? Newstalk's Sarah Madden has been looking into the increasing presence of on-hold music in our lives and she sent us this report.

Is Irish Public Transport accessible for all? Disability activists don’t think so. Access for all staged a demonstration at Clontarf Dart Station to draw attention to the lack of reliability and accessibility on Irish Public Transport - Newstalk's Sarah Madden went down to the protest and she sent us this report.

The term time traffic is back, and with it all those extra cars and carbon emissions we’re supposed to be reducing. However, one Dublin school is piloting a novel scheme to get families on two wheels instead of four – Newstalk’s Sarah Madden reports.

Ireland’s least curable cancers are set to double in the next 30 years. That’s the troubling statistic from Breakthrough Cancer Research who say research trials and treatments are the only way to achieve lifesaving results. In this report, Newstalk’s Sarah Madden speaks to the experts, the medics, the patients and their families to hear why research can make more survivors. You can find more infor...

Donal Fallon from the Three Castles Burning podcast, and regular contributor here on to On The Record, has released a book based of the podcast called 'Three Castles burning – A History of Dublin in Twelve Streets' Kieran and Donal take a look at two of the important ones, James Joyce Steet and Parnell Street East...

The budget measures will insulate most households from rising prices this winter. That’s according to the Director of the ESRI Alan Barrett, who joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss Budget 2023...

At an event at Áras an Uachtaráin yesterday to mark national breastfeeding week, Sabina Higgins yesterday called on the HSE to let new mothers spend a longer time in hospital learning how to breastfeed. In fact, she said that mothers sometimes get ‘thrown out too early’. Kieran was joined by Mary Brosnan, who is the Director of Midwifery at the National Maternity Hospital to discuss...

Sean Defoe, Newstalk's Political Correspondent joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder ahead of Fianna Fáíl's Ard Fheis beginning in the RDS tonight...

A US study from the National Assessment of Educational Progress has found the number of children who read for fun has declined from 35 per cent in 1987 to just 17 per cent now. You won’t be surprised to hear that the finger has been pointed squarely at the onset of social media and technology in modern life For more on this, Kieran was joined by author and presenter Meghann Scully and Calodagh McC...

Three former Irish rugby stars are to sue IRFU over alleged concussion injuries. Kieran was joined by Shane Phelan, Legal Affairs Editor, Irish Independent for an update on the allegations. He was joined alongside Ed Daly, Lecturer at Atlantic Technological University and Co-founder of the Irish Concussion Research Centre...

Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch has been returned to prison after being arrested by detectives early yesterday morning as part of an ongoing investigation into the Hutch crime group. Nicola Tallant, Investigations Editor, Sunday World joined Kieran to discuss the arrest, and the future of the Kinahan organised crime group...

Coolio, the American superstar rapper has died at the age of 59. He was a fan of Ireland, and on one of his trips to these shores, he made an appearance on the ‘Talking Bollox’ podcast and The Black Forge Inn in Crumlin. Kieran was joined by Calvin O’Brien, one half of the ‘Talking Bollox’ podcast and Liam Flynn, Manager of the Black Forge Inn to chat about their memories of Coolio...

Kieran was joined on The Hard Shoulder by Former Conservative MP, Matthew Paris to discuss the UK's mini-budget and the future of Prime Minister, Liz Truss..

Ireland is the third highest producer of cheese internationally, per capita. Kevin Ireland, Cheesemonger with Fallon & Byrne joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss and try out some Irish cheese..

The United Nations Secretary-General has called on Iran to refrain from using “unnecessary or disproportionate force” against protesters. It comes as 41 people have died in the country as unrest over a young woman’s death in police custody spread across the country. Kieran was joined by Nasrin Parvaz who spent time in custody in Iran...

The reaction has continued over the last 24 hours to the announcement of Budget 2023. One of the things we noticed was that the Universal Social Charge, once described by some as ‘Ireland’s Most Hated Tax’, is still there, with the band increasing in the latest Budget to salaries of just over €22,000. Should we still have a USC? Mick Barry, Socialist TD for Cork North Central, joins me now and eco...

The new Netflix movie ‘Blonde’ based on the life of Marilyn Monroe arrives today. The much anticipated biopic has been called highly controversial for its graphic descriptions of her sex life and her attempts to conceive. Simon Tierney joined Kieran to discuss Marilyn's 1956 visit to Ireland, when she had a layover in Shannon airport and her other Irish connections...

Former Sinn Fein Councillor, Jonathan Dowdall, has pleaded guilty to facilitating the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in Dublin in 2016. Paul Williams, crime correspondent from the Irish Independent joined Kieran to discuss Dowdall's involvement in the murder, and the future of the Kinahan organised crime group...

The EU has said leaks in two major gas pipelines from Russia to Europe were caused by sabotage. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline has not transported any gas since August when Russia closed it down.  Barry Andrews, Fianna Fáil MEP for Dublin, joined Kieran to discuss...