Highlights From The Hard Shoulder

Dodgy box users could face legal action from Sky after the company obtained the names, addresses and bank details of 304 dodgy box users, but what does this mean for individuals?Joining Ciara to discuss is Eoin O’Dell, Associate Professor of Law in Trinity College Dublin.

The anticipation is building as Ireland are set to play against Czechia this evening in Prague for the World Cup play-offs.Shane Coleman is in Prague, and joins Ciara to give a sense of the excitement on the ground. Also joining to look ahead to the game is former Ireland International Footballer, Ray Houghton…

The Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor TD, has today published two reports on commercial sunbed use in Ireland with a view to ban commercial sunbed use as part of Ireland’s cancer prevention framework.Joining Ciara to discuss this is Prof Aoife Lally, Consultant Dermatologist in St Vincents University hospital and clinic Professor in UCD and Gillian Costell, who is living with terminal cancer due to sunbed use.

A non-adversarial compensation scheme for more than 200 CAMHS patients found to have been exposed to potential harm, following a review of the service in North Kerry, has been extended.Davin Godfrey, Leading Campaigner for the Victims of North Kerry CAMHS joins Ciara to discuss.

Lidl and Tesco and Aldi have announced new cuts in the price of their own-brand milk and butter range, with Lidl reducing the prices of 15 of their dairy products.While it might be good for customers and their pockets, many farmers say the cuts come at a time when farmers are seeing a major rise in input costs…Dennis Drennan is President of the ICMSA, and joins Ciara to discuss.

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 and Shane to discuss how to take the perfect selfie!

A Los Angeles jury has found Google and Meta liable for $3 million in damages today in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit…Terry Sheridan, Senior Director of News at WSHU Public Radio joins Shane to discuss.

The excitement is real ahead of tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier. Ireland are facing Czechia in Prague, and the Irish fans are arriving in their droves to hopefully witness a victory from the team.Henry McKean has joined them to get a sense of the buzz, and joins Ciara and Shane to discuss!

U.S. President Donald Trump has sent Iran a fifteen point peace plan which a senior official inside Iran has reportedly described as “excessive”. The peace plan was sent to Iran via Pakistan, and it was earlier unknown how widely it was shared within the country, which had previously claimed that the United States was “negotiating with itself”.So, what do we actually know about the plan and its possibilities for success? Patrick Wintour is Diplomatic Editor for The Guardian and joins X to discuss.

You’ll probably best know Ciara and Shane’s next guest from your TV screens, but next month he is returning to where it all started at the Five Lamps Arts Festival.Comedian, actor and writer Karl Spain joins to discuss!

Off The Ball’s John Duggan joined Ciara and Shane on The Hard Shoulder to review the week in sport and look ahead to the rest of the week's action…

Earlier, Ciara and Shane spoke with Doireann Ní Ghlacáin, Host of the How To Gael Podcast on their new six-part series of the podcast which tackles the question ‘How to Unite Ireland?’For more on this, Ciara is joined by Trevor Ringland, former unionist politician & former Irish rugby player.

The ESRI is today warning that higher energy prices as a result of war in the Middle East will push up inflation to an expected 3.2% this year. That outpaces last year’s rate of inflation of 2.2%. They have also pointed out that yesterday’s fuel excise duty reduction fails to target the less well off.Alan Barrett, Research Professor with the ESRI joins X to discuss their latest quarterly economic commentary.

Earlier this month a report from the ESRI found that we are “lagging considerably behind” our targets for decarbonising residential heat. Since then, we have also heard about the cumbersome nature of applying for grants to retrofit homes. So, is the current system fit for purpose? Or even worse, is it failing?Eamon Ryan, former Leader of the Green Party joins Ciara to discuss.

The new National Children's Hospital will not be substantially completed by the end of April, with BAM missing the 18th completion deadline…For more on this, Shane is joined by Catherine Ardagh, Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin South Central.

The How to Gael podcast has been driving conversations through and about the Irish language and they’ve just launched their (not contentious at all) ‘How To Unite Ireland?’ podcast.The six-part series features some big Irish names including Taoiseach Micheál Martin and GAA President Jarlath Burns.Joining Ciara and Shane to discuss the podcast is one of its hosts, Doireann Ní Ghlacáin.

It’s time now Our Ultimate Guide and as ever, our travel guide Fionn Davenport, Travel journalist and Lonely Planet author, joins me now in studio...Fionn joined Ciara and Shane to discuss Easter holidays and what to do with the kids in and around Dublin

Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards has said the upcoming Channel 5 drama about his downfall is "hardly likely to convey the reality of what happened".The two-part drama, Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards, which starts on tonight on Channel 5  Olivia Fahey, Entertainment Journalist & Creator of Press Play joined Ciara and Shane to discuss the drama.  

The Government will create an additional 42,000 beds for students over the next 9 years.Under the new “National Student Accommodation Strategy 2026 – 2035", the Government will use public-private partnerships and spare bedrooms in private homes to create the additional bedsThe Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is James Lawless, and he joined Shane and Ciara to discuss this aswell the Government's response to the rising cost of Fuel as a result of the Iran war.

Author Cathy Kelly discusses her new book The Island Retreat and places her favourite books on The Hard Shoulder’s Bookshelf !