The Hard Shoulder

Many homes and businesses have been left devastated as flooding and adverse weather conditions look set to continue impacting a number of counties. To get all the latest, Ciara Doherty was joined by Forecaster with Met Eireann, Andrew Doran-Sherlock, Deputy Corporate Communications Manager with Iarnrod Eireann, Jane Cregan, and Independent Cllr on Wicklow County Council, Jackser Owens.

Life can be full of confusing things, but no need to worry! Every Wednesday, Simon Tierney will be showing you ‘How to do Stuff’ - bringing his best tips for those things you might not think about. This week, Simon joins Ciara to discuss how you can take more risks in life and reap the rewards.

In today's economic climate many houses require two people are in the financial position where both need to work, but if both are out of the house, does that put a pressure on working parents to juggle home and professional life? To discuss it, Ciara was joined  by Niamh Maher, commercial creative director of The Journal.  Who is on maternity leave but is struggling to find childcare to...

From March 1st, VHI will be increasing their health insurance prices by on average three per cent. This is the third time the company has hiked prices within the last year.   The health insurer says it’s down to the cost of delivering health care nowadays with an ageing population, the introduction of new drugs and other factors as well. But where does this leave people now and what should th...

This year, students with additional needs will get an extra 10 minutes in their Leaving and Junior Cert exams.   This impacts around 30,000 students in schools across the country and it’s part of an interim initiative to help those with visual or physical impairments such as dyslexia.   But is 10 minutes actually enough and does it seem fair?   Ciara Doherty spoke to student Sive O’...

Ciara Doherty was joined by Actor and Writer, Mark O’Halloran, who stars in RTE’s newest drama These Sacred Vows, which kicks off this Sunday night on RTE One at 9:30pm.

The Taoiseach will make a formal apology in the Dail to survivors of industrial and reform schools, a move that follows decades of  campaigning by those who suffered abuse in state run institutions   The apology comes after a deal was reached between the Government and four hunger strikers who had been protesting outside Leinster House for over 50 days, having survived on coffee and wate...

 For this week’s Tech Takeover, Jess Kelly, Newstalk’s Technology Correspondent joins Ciara Doherty to discuss Tech workers are striking…   Joint accounts on Revolut   Get on the rewatches… Ted Lasso, and Line of Duty.

Last week we reported on Stillorgan Village Shopping Centre introducing paid parking. Which upset shoppers and tenants. So this week we decided to see how other cities and surrounding areas are coping with parking. So we sent Henry McKean to Cork to report.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has revealed Irelands tipping habits in a newly released survey. The findings showed that 2 in 3 people believe that tipping is becoming less voluntary, often prompted to tip on the machine when paying, with 3 in 4 saying that would like to see businesses make it easier to opt out of tipping.   Ciara Doherty was joined by business owne...

Joining Ciara Doherty to discuss the risks more rain could bring after the damage Storm Chandra caused was  Cathal Nolan, of The Weather Channel and Shane O’Connor, of Slaney Search and Rescue Team and Mary Bourke Professor In, Geography at Trinity College Dublin

Every week for The Ultimate Guide on The Hard Shoulder, Fionn Davenport takes a closer look at some of the fantastic destinations to visit around the world. This week, as part of his 12 best cities in the world, Fionn joined Ciara Doherty to give the ultimate guide to Berlin in Germany!

A top US immigration official is expected to leave the US city of Minneapolis amid the death of It's as US President Donald Trump may be trying to defuse tensions in the area, as he also sent his border czar Tom Homan into the city. Fionnuala Ni Aoláin is professor of Law with the University of Minnesota and concurrently Professor of Law with Queens University Belfast. She joined Ciara Doherty to...

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, and to coincide with it, the government has announced funding of €100,000 towards holocaust education in secondary schools. To discuss the importance of this, Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Yoni Wieder, joined Ciara Doherty to explain the importance of educating young people in Ireland about the holocaust.

Earlier today, the government approved legislation to change the current rental system. To talk through some of these changes and how they’ll impact landlords and tenants. Joining Ciara was National Advocacy Manager with Threshold, Ann-Marie O’Reilly.

Muireann O’Connell Ireland AM presenter joined Ciara Doherty to place her favourite book on The Hard Shoulder Bookshelf!

There are movie stars abound at the Dublin International Film Festival this year. Paul Rudd, Colin Farrell, Bill Nighy, Maisie Williams and Nick Jonas to name a few, will be in Dublin to attend the premier of their films and walk the red carpet at this year’s festival. To talk us through it all Ciara Doherty was joined by Grainne Humphrys is Executive Festival Director of Dublin International Film...

Today the Minister for Public Expenditure and Infrastructure, along with the Minister for Finance, launched a new Government service to accelerate major Government capital investment projects This will aim to cut back major unfractured back by 12 months. Projects like the GPO redevelopment and the National Concert Hall in Dublin are likely to be among the first projects to see the benefit of this....

Leaf blowers, gym music and church bells were among the sources of noise complaints in Dublin last year, with 30% of those surveyed complaining about noise from construction work. As urban areas across Ireland continue to expand, should we consider ways to tackle noise pollution now? Are things like curfews in built up areas an option?   Joining Ciara Doherty to discuss was Esther McCarty, Co...

Henry McKean, Newstalk Reporter, visited communities today who have experienced flooding brought by  Storm Chandra. He joined Ciara Doherty to talk through it.

A top US immigration official is expected to leave the US city of Minneapolis. It's as US President Donald Trump may be trying to defuse tensions in the area, as he also sent his border czar Tom Homan into the city. But what has the reality been on the ground? Lewis Goodall, who is presenter with The NewsAgents, and Sunday with Lewis Goodall on LBC,  talked to  Ciara Doherty on what it h...

Major disruption through today as Storm Chandra has hit the country with wind and rain. Enniscorthy has been particularly affected and is still recovering. Sinead Casey is Head of Roads & Transportation at Wexford County Council, and Conor Swaine, who is the owner of BTwenty7 on The Quays in Enniscorthy joined Ciara Doherty to discuss

The EU has hit Elon Musk's X with an investigation over AI chatbot Grok's generation of sexualised deepfake images of women and minors. It is the latest step of an international backlash against the tool. To explain, Ciara is joined by Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher.

Joining Ciara is Trócaire's CEO, Sean Farrell, who returned from The West Bank on Thursday and visited a number of communities across the West Bank to hear of their situation and the challenges they are currently encountering… Image: Reuters

In a tweet, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan confirmed that Gardaí deported 33 Polish and Lithuanian nationals from Ireland, under the Free Movement Directive. In total, 31 men were deported along with two women. They were made up of 17 Polish nationals who were deported to Warsaw and a further 16 Lithuanian citizens who were deported to Vilnius. Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan confirmed that...