The Hard Shoulder

This week in our Kid's Health Check, Dr Suzanne Crowe, Consultant in Paediatric Intensive Care at Crumlin Children’s Hospital joined Jonathan to chat about what to do when your child has croup.

Activist group Teachers for Palestine announced on social media a two week campaign between 29th of April to the 10th of May in order to bring awareness to events in Gaza. Alan Shatter has raised concerns about teaching kids in schools about the war in Gaza on X earlier today.Speaking with Kieran about the topic is Ian O’Doherty, columnist with the Irish Independent and Conall O’Dufaigh, member of the Teachers for Palestine Campaign.Image: Teachers for Palestine

The GRA annual conference kicks off this evening but Justice Minister, Helen McEntee will not be in attendance along with Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris.  Will Fine Gael be able to keep up their reputation of ‘the law and order party’ if they won't face rank and file Gardai? That's the question from Kieran’s guest: crime journalist, Paul Williams.

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s catch-up on the day's news. Today, Kieran was joined by David Hall, CEO of iCare Housing and CEO of Lifeline Services, and Niam O’Reilly, freelance journalist.

The annual Ireland: Gateway to Europe trip to the US is underway.Now in its 12th year, it comprises an annual trade mission of 50 business leaders and Irish media to key cities across North America – this year, it’s Atlanta, Austin and Boston and Kieran Cuddihy has travelled along with them.Today Kieran is in Boston and joined by Adie McGennis, Executive Chairman of Sigmar Recruitment and one of the founders of Ireland Gateway to Europe and Matt Mohan, Group Executive Chairman of The FKM Group and another founder of Ireland Gateway to Europe.

Three different Irish people now living in Boston joined Kieran on the show to talk about why they left Ireland and how they're faring abroad.They are: musician Colm O'Brien, Tom Cahill, owner of the Chieftan Pub and Robbie Croft, Games Development Personnel for Boston GAA.

Taylor Swift’s latest album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ was released in the early hours of this morning. She sent Swifties into a frenzy when she announced 15 extra tracks...Here to review the album is Boston’s Greatest Swifte, Emily Bresnahan! 

Kieran has escaped the makeshift studio in Boston Massachusetts to check out Legal Sea Foods' Harborside location, after being told so many times to try a buttery lobster roll. He talks to CEO Matt King about the business.Jess Kelly also joins him to overcome her fear of seafood, hopefully.

The annual Ireland: Gateway to Europe trip to the US is underway.Now in its 12th year, it comprises an annual trade mission of 50 business leaders and Irish media to key cities across North America – this year, it’s Atlanta, Austin and Boston and Kieran Cuddihy has travelled along with them.Today Kieran is in Boston and joined by Robert Mac Giolla Phadraig, CEO of Skillstack and Director of Ireland Gateway to Europe, as well as Claire Kelly, Head of Growth and Partnerships with Sigmar Recruitment.

The Boston Duck tour will feel very familiar for everyone in Dublin! And it's one of the most recommended things to do.Joining Kieran to talk about the attraction is Boston Duck Tours' Director of Marketing & Sales Tom Vigna.

The Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, also known as NOAH, is a non profit community development organisation that aims to provide affordable housing in Boston. Kieran is joined by the Executive Director of NOAH, Philip Giffee. 

Many Irish who left the shores of the island found themselves here in Boston.  One such man was Sligo man Tom Stenson who founded the Eire Pub in 1963, an Irish pub which has hosted many well-known Irish faces and politicians.   Tom’s son, John Stenson the owner of Eire Pub, joins Kieran to discuss the history of the establishment.

The Hard Shoulder is live in Boston which has the largest Brain Bank in the world.  Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center researches the long-term consequences of repetitive brain trauma in athletes.  Joining Kieran is Daniel Daneshvar, Chief of Brain Rehabilitation in Harvard Medical School to discuss.

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s catch-up on the day's news. Today, Kieran was joined in Boston by Gayla Cawley, City Hall reporter for the Boston Herald and Jess Kelly, Newstalk’s Technology Correspondent and presenter of Tech Talk.

The annual Ireland: Gateway to Europe trip to the US is underway.Now in its 12th year, it comprises an annual trade mission of 50 business leaders and Irish media to key cities across North America – this year, it’s Atlanta, Austin and Boston and Kieran Cuddihy has travelled along with them.Today Kieran is in Boston and joined by Audrey Carney, Director with The HR Company, Angela O’Grady, Co-Founder and Operations Director with The HR Company and Connor Heaney, Managing Director - EMEA with EXC.

The Dropkick Murphys will be playing live at The Iveagh Gardens in Dublin on the 7th of July  Now, we couldn’t come all the way to Boston and not feature the band Dropkick Murphys! So, Kieran is delighted to be joined by Ken Casey, singer and bassist with Dropkick Murphys.

The annual Ireland: Gateway to Europe trip to the US is underway.Now in its 12th year, it comprises an annual trade mission of 50 business leaders and Irish media to key cities across North America – this year, it’s Atlanta, Austin and Boston and Kieran Cuddihy has travelled along with them.Today Kieran is joined by Dublin GAA legend and now Director of Development with DCU's Educational Trust.

More and more Americans are finding themselves in financial debt when needing to avail of healthcare procedures.  This has resulted in many questions being raised around medical care in the US and if more needs to be done to improve the accessibility and affordability of health care.  Mardge Cohen from the Physicians for a National Health Program, joins Kieran to discuss.

The annual Ireland: Gateway to Europe trip to the US is underway.Now in its 12th year, it comprises an annual trade mission of 50 business leaders and Irish media to key cities across North America – this year, it’s Atlanta, Austin and Boston and Kieran Cuddihy has travelled along with them.Today Kieran is joined by three very impressive people, and all for very different reasons.  Tony Ward works with Fighting Blindness to promote the rights of people with disabilities around the world. Rob Kearney is an Irish rugby great and here representing Elkstone Partners, and Dr Caroline McGroary is a lecturer in accounting at Dublin City University and Princess Nourah University and is here building links with universities. 

It would be remiss of us during our time here in the US not to speak with some members of the indigenous community.  Many of the issues facing these communities from language loss and identity from colonisation will be felt for many back home with our own history.  Amy Bruton, Bluemel Award-winning Native American Storyteller and Dr. Aaron Pyle from the Indigenous Cultures Institute joined Kieran in the Texas studio.

Kieran has escaped the studio for a bit in Austin Texas to experience its famous barbeque! He talks to Matt from Terry Black’s BBQ to talk about the process. Kieran is also joined by Newstalk’s Jess Kelly and producer Peadar to try as much as possible!Image: @terryblacks_bbq on Instagram

Jess Kelly, Newstalk Technology Correspondent joined Kieran in Austin for the Tech Takeover. This week Jess looked at the Marcos Cervantes, who is a real-life Q, just like in James Bond as well as eSIMs, and how they can make travelling less of a hassle.

Now we are here in Austin with Ireland Gateway to Europe – today the group has been hearing from many of the multinationals here in Austin who also have a presence in Ireland. One of those companies at the event is NFP, which is a leading global provider of benefits, insurance and wealth management services. Ed O'Malley, Head of Insurance Brokerage and Consulting, NFP joins Kieran to discuss.

Fox news in Austin has reported several anti-Semitic incidents on University of Texas campus over the weekend. This comes after concerns that anti-Semitism is on the rise after Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th. Joining Kieran is Mariette Hummel, Co-Founder of ATX Kind, a group of Jewish mothers working against anti-Semitism in Austin.

We’ve been comparing Texas to Ireland a lot here on this trip but how does the housing market compare to that here in Austin?  Joining Kieran is Housing Reporter with NPR in Austin, Audrey McGlinchey. 

It is setting up to be a bumper here for elections in Ireland but it is the same story here in the US with Trump and Biden set to battle it out for the US Presidency in November.  What are some of the issues which will play the most important part in this coming election cycle and what roadblocks lie ahead for the candidates? Kieran is joined by Niall Swan, an Irish Democrat in Austin, to discuss.

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s catch-up on the day's news. Today, Kieran was joined by Bethany Harbaugh, owner of Twisted Texas Tours  and Jess Kelly, Newstalk’s Technology Correspondent and presenter of Tech Talk.

It’s time for our Ultimate Guide and as ever, our travel guide Fionn Davenport, Travel journalist and Lonely Planet author, joins Kieran to look through the Lone Star State.

Gun control is a fiery issue here in the United States, with some citizens reluctant to give up their arms due to their constitutional rights.  However for one mother who lost her son to a gun tragedy, raising education around gun safety and storage is much more important.   Leesa Ross, Founder of Lock Arms for Life, joins Kieran to discuss.

Kieran is joined by more Irish living in Austin, Stephen Devine, Customer Success Manager for Crushing Tigers, originally from Mullingar and Corkman Noel O'Mahony, Dell Global Account Manager in Broadcom.

The annual Ireland: Gateway to Europe trip to the US is underway.Now in its 12th year, it comprises an annual trade mission of 50 business leaders and Irish media to key cities across North America – this year, it’s Atlanta, Austin and Boston and Kieran Cuddihy has travelled along with them.Two of the people behind the initiative, Adie McGennis, Chairman of Sigmar Recruitment and Robert MacGiolla Phádraig, founder of the Talent Summit and CEO of SkillStack, talk to Kieran.

Every night, 1.5 million bats come out from under Congress bridge in Austin, Texas. Kieran is there with Newstalk’s Jess Kelly to witness the spectacle and also talk to a few locals about the city.Image: Austin City Guide

A topic of contention here in the US, and particularly here in Texas is Abortion  In 2022 Roe Vs Wade was overturned making abortion illegal again...  Joining Kieran to discuss the change since and the topic of abortion is Communications Director for Texas Alliance for Life, Amy O’Donnell.

As you may know there is a strong Irish community in Austin and it even has close ties to the city of Limerick...  Joining Kieran are some Irish expats in Austin: CEO and co-founder of Crushing Tigers, Pat Doab and Marketing Manager in Dell Technologies, Sarah Perry. 

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s catch-up on the day's news. Today, Kieran was joined in Austin, Texas by Renzo Downey, Political Reporter with the Texas Tribune and Jess Kelly, Newstalk’s Technology Correspondent and presenter of Tech Talk.

While conversations around recruitment and retention in the Gardaí rage on at home, issues around police shortages in Austin are also an issue; with officers' numbers dwindling as the role is no longer as attractive as it once was.  Michael Bullock, President of the Austin Police Association joins Kieran to discuss.

Donald Trump made history today by being the first former president to go to trial over an alleged crime.  Trump is in court today over allegations that he falsified business records around hush money paid to adult film actor Stormy Daniels.  Anthony Zurcher, BBC North American Correspondent joins Jonathan to discuss. 

The Transport Research Arena is taking place in the RDS this week, where experts will discuss the future of travel and what more we could be doing in Ireland. To speak more on the topic is EY’s Global Transport Leader, Tony Canavan, who joins Jonathan.

To encourage football fans to ‘talk more’ with one another, Three Ireland have reached out to former Republic of Ireland captain, former Chelsea footballer and pundit, Andy Townsend to talk about the importance of speaking out when it comes to mental health.  The campaign is called #TalkMoreThanFootball and Andy joins Jonathan to discuss.Image credit: Jonesy702 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86533444

This week in our Kid's Health Check, Dr Suzanne Crowe, Consultant in Paediatric Intensive Care at Crumlin Children’s Hospital joined Jonathan to chat about safe sleeping for babies.

Earlier today, Henry McKean chatted to Newstalk Breakfast about the nationwide issue of potholes. And continuing from that conversation, Jonathan is joined by the Director of Service Stop LTD in North County Dublin, David Corbally, to chat about the damages and costs that can be incurred through hitting potholes.

On Saturday, Iran launched an attack on Israel, escalating conflict in the Middle East and leaving the world waiting for how Tel Aviv will respond to the attacks. Joining Jonathan with the latest is President of the U.S. / Middle East Project and Former Israeli Peace Negotiator, Daniel Levy & Middle East Correspondent for The Economist, Greg Carlstrom. 

A new study found that children who live near green spaces have less anxiety and emotional issues.  How important are green spaces to communities, and why do we need more of them?Joanna Fortune, Clinical Psychotherapist At the Solamh Clinic and Tom Magee, Liberty Saints Rugby Club President join Jonathan to discuss.

A further 900 schools have now been approved as a part of the Hot Meals programme.  With over 2000 schools now eligible to apply to this extension, it will see over 150,000 benefits from the programme. Heather Humphreys, Minister for Social Protection joins Jonathan to discuss.

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s catch-up on the day's news. Today, guest host Jonathan Healy was joined by Brian Mahon, Political Correspondent with the Irish Daily Mail and Sinead Ryan, Consumer Columnist with the Irish Independent and the Presenter of The Home Show at Newstalk.

Every week Kieran Cuddihy will be joined by writer and broadcaster, Keith Walsh and the presenter of Weekend Breakfast on Today FM, Alison Curtis to look back on the week that was, but with a few twists..

Aisling Larkin, Mindful Eating Coach and TV Chef joined Kieran today to chat about alliums and Three Cornered Leeks…

How important is laughter to our general health and wellbeing? Kieran was joined by Dr Sabina Brennan , Chartered Psychologist and Neuroscientist to discuss...

It is almost one year since Gerard ‘The Monk’ Hutch walked free from the Special Criminal Court after being acquitted of murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel.  Next Wednesday marks the anniversary of Gerard Hutch’s acquittal and Paul Williams, Crime Journalist with the Irish Independent joined Kieran to discuss…

Off The Ball's Ger Gilroy joined Kieran Cuddihy on The Hard Shoulder to review the week in sport and look ahead to the weekend action…