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The Hard Shoulder

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The Hard Shoulder Podcast with Ciara Kelly and Shane Colman is your essential drivetime companion—bringing fresh perspective and energy to your drive home.

CONVERSATION THAT COUNTS | Ireland’s national independent talk station for news, sport, analysis and entertainment

Listen to Newstalk at http://newstalk.com/listenlive | Download the GoLoud app now, the new home for Newstalk

4988 Episodes
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The Irish Farmers Association have ended their sit-in protest at the Bord Bia offices in Dublin. This is after the board agreed to an independent, expert-led governance review into its operations, where Chair of the board Larry Murrin will not be involved.Francie Gorman, President of the Irish Farmers' Association joins Ciara to discuss.
It’s normal to lose 50 to 150 hairs per day. That may seem like a lot, but most people have about 100,000 hairs on their heads at any given time. So, when should you start to worry?Joining Shane to discuss is Trua Trichologist, Sarah Cummins…
On Friday it was reported that the University of Galway was proposing to discontinue and replace its general arts course due to an international downward trend in its popularity. However, the college later on Friday emphasized that they were not cutting the course, but just looking at reimagining them.Despite the many quips that may be made about arts courses, do they still have an important place in colleges? Broadcaster Muireann O’Connell joins Ciara to discuss.
Kids Clinic: Glasses

Kids Clinic: Glasses

2026-03-0206:17

For this week’s Kids Clinic, Ciara and Shane are joined by Dr Arthur Cummings, Consultant Eye Surgeon at the Wellington Eye Clinic and Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Beacon Hospital to discuss the common eye conditions that affect kids, and how to know if they might need an eye test.
If you commute into Dublin every morning, it’s impossible to ignore the growing levels of congestion and traffic across the city.Commutes are taking longer and making workers late as they spend hours frustrated on buses moving at a snail's pace, and tomorrow cabinet is set to discuss a variety of plans to address traffic and congestion around the country, including congestion charges in the city.Joining Ciara to discuss this is Green Party Councillor in Dublin City Council, Janet Horner.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Minister for Defence and Fine Gael TD Meath East Helen McEntee joins Shane to discuss the situation in the Middle East, and what Irish people stranded and living there should do.
New research from Flyefit has found women are leaving the gym and giving up their routine at a much higher rate than men, with the top three reasons cited being intimidation, loss of interest and lack of motivation.For more on this, Ciara is joined by Nathalie Lennon, Personal Trainer & Content Creator.
Over recent days we have seen the government roll back on reforms to reductions in SNAs in schools around the country. Parents had been left angered and concerned as some schools received letters informing them that their SNA numbers would be cut from September.Fianna Fáil TD Catherine Ardagh has written in the Independent today about her experience as the mother of a non-verbal autistic child and she said she is “very disappointed in [her] own Government”...Shane is joined by Deputy Ardagh to discuss.
New research has found that Gen Z value sustainable habits in dating as much as they value good looks. Research carried out by Too Good To Go, an anti-food waste app found 70% of daters looked for an interest in sustainability in a long-term partner.Joining Ciara and Shane to give her opinion on the matter is Freelance Journalist Kate Henshaw.
Iran's retaliatory strikes have so far targeted 500 sites linked to the US and Israel in the Middle East, Iran's Revolutionary Guards has said.For more on this, Ciara is joined by Dr Siavush Randjbar-Daemi, Senior Lecturer in Modern Middle Eastern History at University of St Andrews in Scotland.Also joining to discuss is Kevin McPartland, CEO of Fuels for Ireland.Image: Reuters
Winners and Sinners

Winners and Sinners

2026-02-2733:56

This week, Ciara and Shane were joined by Saoirse Hanley, Features Writer with Irish independent and Ger Gilroy from Off The Ball to look back on the week that was, but with a few twists…
Yesterday on the programme, we spoke to the manager of The Temple Bar Pub in Dublin’s Temple bar, Tom Cleary, in relation to the controversial statue of Saint Patrick that the pub had erected on the side of its building.As you may be aware at this stage, that statue has now been removed and we have a short statement from Dublin City Council on that matter saying they became aware of the installation yesterday morning: “Following discussions between our Planning Enforcement Section and the owner of the premises he agreed to remove it by lunchtime today. The structure has been removed, as was agreed.”Aoife Carry, Art Director for the St Patrick’s Festival, joins Shane to discuss.
Off The Ball Senior Producer Mick McCarthy joined Ciara and Shane on The Hard Shoulder to review the week in sport and look ahead to the weekend action…
Former US President Bill Clinton will face questions from a Congressional panel on Friday on his well-documented links to Jeffrey Epstein, as Democrats seek to shift focus onto Donald Trump’s own ties to the convicted sex offender.Terry Sheridan, News Director at WSHU Radio joins Shane with the latest information.
From the grimy sponge sitting at the side of your sink to the pillow you rest your head on every night, there are lots of household items you probably should be replacing a lot more than you think, but just how often should they be replaced?Dr Amalia Scannell is a Microbiologist at the UCD Institute of Food and Health and joins Ciara to tell us just how often they should be replaced…
To the UK now where the Green Party has swept to victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election, snatching what was one of Labour’s safest seats and delivering a major blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.So, what will this mean for the party, and does it raise questions about how long Prime Minister Keir Starmer will continue as leader?Joining Shane to discuss this is Stephen Pound, former Labour MP for Ealing North and former Northern Ireland shadow minister.
Mice spotted ‘scurrying along skirtings’ in the canteen, a ladybird infestation in a TD’s office and seagull troubles are among pest-control issues in Leinster House…Joining Ciara with the story is Darragh McDonagh, Freelance Journalist.
Almost 320,000 households were unable to pay their electricity bills in full last December, marking a sharp year-on-year increase and pushing arrears to record levels, but why are costs so high?For more on this, Shane is joined by Muireann Lynch, Senior Research Officer with the ESRI.
Sarina Bellissimo, Broadcaster and Presenter of the Bellissimo Files Podcast and David O’Callaghan from the Here and Back Again podcast joined Ciara and Shane on The Hard Shoulder to review the latest TV and movie releases…
The Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien has said he would rather invest the money that could be spent on train catering carts on new transport lines, querying Irish Rail's stated cost of around €2 million for bringing back the tea trolley on the Belfast and Cork lines after Covid.Should the tea trolley be rolled out across the country once again?Joining Shane to discuss this is Newstalk’s own Shane Beatty and Barry Kenny, Corporate Communications Manager with Irish Rail.
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Comments (2)

Peter Kidd

Very informative

Feb 29th
Reply

Noel O Sullivan

Pa daly to win

Jan 30th
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