The Hard Shoulder

Tom Dunne, Newstalk presenter and frontman of Something Happens, joins The Hard Shoulder to tell the story of Thin Lizzy.From their origins to their legacy in music, and why Phil Lynott’s voice still echoes across generations.Listen here

James Fernandez McCabe, of Irish descent, is due to play Wimbledon tomorrow.  His father, Patrick McCabe emigrated from Walkinstown to Sydney in the 1980s.  There, he taught his son to play tennis through youtube videos, launching his career which has now brought them to the prestigious tournament.   Patrick and James join The Hard Shoulder now to share their story. 

Eamon Ryan, former Green Party leader, joins Jonathan Healy to discuss Ireland’s missed climate goals, accountability in government, and what he believes needs to happen next to start hitting those climate goals.Listen here.

Amanullah de Sondy, former umpire and UCC academic, joins The Hard Shoulder to discuss the life and times of a tennis umpire,Listen here to hear about the abolishment of line judges, the prospects for this year and the changes in refereeing the game.

Parenting coach Aoife Lee from ParentSupport.ie joins Jonathan for this week's Kids Clnic.This week, it's sharing tips on maintaining structure for children over the school holidays — and how to avoid chaos without killing the fun.Listen here

Joe Lynam, Newstalk Business Editor, and reporter Jess Woodlock join The Hard Shoulder to explain why nearly 200 staff are facing compulsory redundancies at Intel Ireland.Although a huge hit for the Irish economy, it may describe more accurately the state of affairs within Intel and an apparent failure to adapt to newer technologies.Listen here

Peter Cardwell, TalkTV presenter, and human rights campaigner Colm O’Gorman join The Hard Shoulder to react to the BBC’s decision not to cut away from Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance, which contained comments the broadcaster later called “utterly unacceptable.”Vylan is now being investigated by UK Police.But Jonathan asks the question; has this distracted us from what's really happening in Gaza?Listen here.

Barry Kenny, Head of Corporate Communications for Iarnród Éireann and Rosslare Europort, and Eoghan Corry, travel journalist and editor of TravelExtra, join Jonathan Healy to discuss the rather suprising news of Stenaline withdrawing its Rosslare to Cherbourg ferry service from the end of September this year.Listen here for all the latest.

Colm Burke, Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central, joins The Hard Shoulder after being appointed as the first-ever official spokesperson for Cork. He explains the purpose of the new role and how he aims to address some of Cork's biggest concerns in city and county.Listen here.

Ana Rosa Butler, Spain-based writer, and Paola Arriaza Flynn, Vatican correspondent for EWTN Media, join Jonathan to describe life in parts of Europe experiencing extreme temperatures and how different regions are adapting to the latest brutal heatwave.Temperatures in Spain have even reached as high as 46 degrees celsius.Listen here.

NewsTalk's own Josh Crosbie brings reactions from drivers in Cork, while Meghan Scully, freelance journalist and broadcaster, and Shane O’Donoghue, editor of CompleteCar.ie, join The Hard Shoulder to discuss why seatbelt compliance is still an issue, how it seems to have risen again and why it varies by county.Listen here

Alison Curtis, presenter of Weekend Breakfast on Today FM, and Ger Gilroy from Off The Ball join Anton for the weekly Winners and Sinners.From How to Train your Dragon to all the concerts taking over Dublin parks. Listen here for all the Winners and Sinners action.

Adam Long, board director of the National LGBT Federation, joins The Hard Shoulder to reflect on Pride Week in Ireland, its relevance in 2025, and the dangers of Pride becoming tokenistic as commercial involvement grows.Listen here

Luca De Marzio, owner of Rosa Madre Italian restaurant in Dublin, joins The Hard Shoulder with his essential tips on what tools home cooks actually need — and which kitchen gadgets are more hype than help.Listen here.

Most primary schools break up today and summer is finally here. Henry McKean visited the boys from O’Connell Primary School in Dublin 1 and sent us this Summer Kidstalk. Get all the sounds of the last day of school, here.

Clare Daly, former MEP, joins The Hard Shoulder to share her strong opposition to Ireland’s involvement in the EU’s new €150 billion defence initiative.The bill looks to be a step in the direction away from Irish neutrality and something sure to come under much criticism in the Dáil.Listen here

To celebrate Lidl’s 25 years in Ireland, The Hard Shoulder hears from Newstalk reporter Sarah Madden, who asked shoppers about their weirdest and most wonderful middle aisle purchases. Conor Pope, consumer affairs correspondent with The Irish Times, and Hazel Chu, Green Party councillor, join to talk about how discount stores have changed the Irish retail landscape.Listen here

Maria Walsh, Fine Gael MEP for Midlands North West, joins The Hard Shoulder from Hungary to explain why she’s travelling to attend Budapest’s now-banned Pride parade and what the law says about public LGBTQ+ expression in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary.Listen here

Mary McCarthy, columnist with the Irish Independent, joins The Hard Shoulder to discuss the rising trend of nicotine pouch use among young people. As these puches have seen such an explosion in popularity in the past few years, Mary is here to discuss why the rise in use by young people is quite disturbing.Listen here

Grace Boland, Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal West, Sinead Ryan, consumer journalist and presenter of The Home Show, and Graeme McQueen, Media Relations Manager with the DAA, join Anton Savage for Kieran to explore why Ireland is lagging behind on contactless payments across buses, trains and the Luas — and what’s being done to change it.Listen here

Pharmacist Sheena Mitchell joins The Hard Shoulder with advice for allergy sufferers on how to manage hay fever and pollen season symptoms, especially as temperatures rise.Listen here to put your pollen woes to rest.

Jonathan Healy is joined by John Fardy, host of Screentime, and entertainment journalist Sarina Bellissimo to preview the weekend’s best film and streaming picks — from hidden gems to blockbuster releases.Listen here

Architect and conservationist, Roisin Murphy, and UCD history professor, Conor Mulvagh join The Hard Shoulder to discuss why so many of Ireland’s heritage buildings are deteriorating.This comes after a viscious row erupted in the Dáil between Simon Harris and Sinn Féin on plans to redevelop the GPO.Listen here to hear if these plans will be positive, or yet another failure in the state acknowledging the past and present.

Comedian Jason Byrne joins The Hard Shoulder for the Thursday Interview this week.Get all the latest from Jason's career, his early life doing gigs in England and what's coming next.Listen to it all here.

Sean Defoe, Newstalk’s Political Correspondent, joins The Hard Shoulder to break down the latest in the race for Áras an Uachtaráin - or lackthereof - and to analyse a fiery exchange in the Dáil involving Tánaiste Simon Harris.Listen here for all the lates.

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon attempts to break the barrier of the women’s four-minute mile this evening in Paris. She is already the world-record holder in the mile and the 1500m, but she now has her sights set on being the first woman to run the four-minute mile.  Sonia O’Sullivan, World Champion and Irish Olympian joins Jonathan to discuss what a milestone it will be for a woman to break the four-minute-mile.Listen to all the conversation here.

Thomas Gould, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, and Cllr. Joe Kavanagh, former Lord Mayor of Cork, join The Hard Shoulder to respond to growing anger over Cork’s road conditions.According to figures released to NewsTalk, Cork ranks the highest in number of pothole related complaints to local council.Listen here for all the latest.

Broadcaster Jennifer Zamparelli joins Jonathan Healy to talk about stepping into the iconic role of narrator in the new stage production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the Bórd Gáis— and how she’s putting her own spin on the cult classic.Listen here

Barra Roantree, Director of the Masters in Economic Policy at Trinity College Dublin, joins The Hard Shoulder to discuss ESRI’s latest economic outlook — including fears about a construction slowdown and rising costs related to US foreign policy moves.Where will the next economic crash come, or what form might it take?Listen here for more.

According to new figures released to NewsTalk, there has been a 92% increase in pothole complaints to local councils.NewsTalk's own, Josh Crosbie has been asking motorists how badly affected their areas are.Listen here.

NewsTalk's Josh Crosbie hit the streets to ask parents their views on allowing kids to see their drinking habits.For discussion,June Shannon, medical journalist and mother, and Dr Malie Coyne, clinical psychologist and author, join Jonathan Healy on whether this sets a harmful example.Listen here

New research has found that more than 500 bird species, including the puffin and the European turtle dove, could vanish within the next century. Can it be stopped?Joining guest host Jonathan Healy to discuss is Niall Hatch of Bird Watch Ireland.

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 guest host Jonathan Healy to discuss how to pack a suitcase!

The Irish Postmasters' Union is calling on the Government to invest €15 million per year over the next five years to prevent a decline in post offices.It’s one of a number of issues brought up today at the Oireachtas Arts and Community Committee in relation to the future of our postal service.David McRedmond, CEO of An Post, was there, and joins Jonathan Healy to discuss.

With technology rapidly advancing, and artificial intelligence becoming more and more intelligent, should we be concerned about AI replicating us after death? Would we want our loved ones to talk to artificial models of us after we pass? Or is that something that we should be able to opt out of, like in our wills?Newstalk's Technology Correspondent Jess Kelly joins guest host Jonathan Healy to discuss.

|reland has the third lowest childhood vaccine coverage among high-income nations globally.It also has the sixth lowest coverage among the countries on the European continent and the second lowest among western European nations.Why is this the case?To answer this and discuss further, guest host Jonathan Healy is joined by Professor of Experimental Immunology at Trinity College Dublin, Kingston Mills.

Women’s Aid recorded their highest number of calls ever in 2024, the organisation has confirmed in its annual report.Last year, the organisation was contacted 32,144 times - a figure 12% higher than the one in 2023 - of which 24,396 were made through the National Freephone Helpline.For more on this, guest host Jonathan Healy is joined by CEO of Women’s Aid, Sarah Benson. And later, Trina O’Connor, Criminologist and Pat Marry, former Detective join to discuss how well the Gardaí are trained for domestic violence calls.(Women’s Aid 24 Hour National Freephone Helpline: 1800 341 900)

First published in 1774, the classic nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock has been given a trigger warning over 250 years since it was originally published.This comes after a theatre production of the kids’ classic Three Little Pigs was criticised for placing a similar trigger warning on its content.This begs the question, are we taking this trigger-happy approach to content warnings on children’s literature a step too far?Joining guest host Jonathan Healy to discuss this is Columnist with The Irish Daily Mail and Sunday Independent, Brenda Power.

UNICEF has warned that, with the world’s attention averted elsewhere, the situation in Gaza is hitting “rock bottom.”Famine conditions in the territory worsen as aid continues to be blocked, with hospital resources unable to accommodate the number of children being admitted for acute malnutrition.Over 500 people have been killed since last month, and almost 3,800 injured at Gazan aid sites, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.Executive Director of UNICEF, Peter Power, joins guest host Jonathan Healy to discuss.

Irish farmers have welcomed plans by the European Parliament to restrict “cynical” vegetarian and vegan food producers from using words such as sausage and burger to sell their products.Henry McKean has been getting thoughts from the public, and joins guest host Jonathan Healy to discuss.

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, Fionn joined guest host Jonathan to give his travel tips for the windy city of Chicago!

The Government last week authorised the purchase of the CityWest hotel in Saggart, Co Dublin, to become a state-owned International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centre for asylum-seekers.According to Eoin O’Malley, Associate Professor of Politics at DCU, the CityWest hotel can be described as “a monument to Irish policy failure”.Eoin joins Jonathan Healy to discuss.

Comedian and actress Catherine Lynch joins guest host Jonathan Healy to place her favourite book on The Hard Shoulder Bookshelf!

Today, Sinn Féin brought a Private Member’s Bill on extending voting rights to Irish Citizens outside the state for the Presidential Election.This has been hotly debated for years, with the Constitutional Convention first recommending this extension in 2013.Sinn Féin Senator Conor Murphy joins guest host Jonathan Healy to discuss.

An agreement has been reached between the HSE and health unions on the introduction of an extended working day and week. This agreement is an attempt to free up beds, and have extended care to patients outside of 9 to 5 office hours.The agreement would see staff such as consultants, social workers, therapists and administrative staff rostered over seven days, as opposed to five.To discuss this, guest host Jonathan Healy is joined by Kevin Figgis, Divisional Head of SIPTU Health Division and Matthew Sadlier, Consultant Psychiatrist and Chair of the IMO’s Consultants Committee.

Today is the first of a two-day summit of NATO members, being held in the Hague.The summit has one main item on the agenda: defense spending. The aim is to increase spending to 5% of member’s GDP by 2035, in line with President Trump’s demands.Shona Murray, Europe Correspondent with Euronews joins guest host Jonathan Healy to discuss.Image: Reuters

Two explosions were heard in the Iranian capital on Tuesday, the judiciary news outlet Mizan and the Shargh newspaper reported, after U.S. President Donald Trump called on Israel not to bomb Iran following a ceasefire reached early on Tuesday.What’s next? And what might Iran do?Ali Ansari is the Founding Director of the Institute of Iranian Studies at St Andrews University and joins guest host Jonathan Healy to discuss.

From a favourite mug to the one spot on the couch you won’t let anyone else sit, what are the small, seemingly trivial things that bring you joy? Joining guest host Jonathan Healy to discuss is Comedian Julie Jay and Joe McGuken, Writer, actor and Producer.

The Dublin City Taskforce has been given the go-ahead by government in a bid to clean up the capital.A number of measures are set to be introduced over a 10-year plan. These include revitalising O’Connell Street, turning the GPO into a cultural destination and bringing derelict buildings back into use.Newstalk reporter, Josh Crosbie has been following the developments today and has spoken with those who are working, living and visiting Dublin.

Last Thursday, Cork Airport was announced as this year's Air Council International Best Airport in Europe award winner.This is the third time the airport has won this prestigious award.Joining guest host Jonathan Healy to discuss the achievement, and why Cork Airport continues to receive it is Airport Chief Executive, Niall McCarthy.