Newstalk Breakfast

Councillors in rural Ireland have said the practice of removing chimneys from houses should cease, particularly in the light of the electricity outages, a statement that has been echoed by Independent TD Danny Healy Rae.  Should we backtrack on getting rid of the chimney considering recent events? Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast John Sodeau, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at University College Cork and Michael McNamara, Independent MEP for Ireland South. 

This morning on the show, Ciara and Shane ask the question, are we equipped to resolve the housing crisis?

Ireland has seen its first ever 24-hour vending machine shop open in New Ross, County Wexford. E - Kiosk offers a convenient store shop but all from vending machines, like you would see in Japan. But will the community lose the interaction with a human? Henry McKean sent us this report.

There was a 63 per cent jump in Gardaí catching unaccompanied learner drivers in Cork between 2023 and 2024. Brenda Bolger is the owner of the Bolger School of Motoring and discuss this further with Ciara this morning.

Donald Trump signs an executive order banning trans women athletes from competing in female sports. To explain all was David Smith, Washington Bureau Chief of The Guardian. 

President Donald Trump has said the US will take over Gaza and make it the 'Riviera of the Middle East'. To discuss what was said at this press conference when President Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu we heard from David Smith, Washington Bureau Chief of The Guardian.  

"Rubiales messed up. What he did was wrong. But the persecution of him, which is still going on, is not the mark of a compassionate or a decent society."  Those are the words of John McGuirk, Editor of Gript Media who spoke to Ciara this morning.

Alcohol Action Ireland has said that the use of visible Guinness branding inside the Aviva stadium during Irelands Six Nations match undermined new watershed laws. Ciara spoke to Dr Sheila Gilheaney, CEO of Alcohol Action Ireland to discuss further.

An Post has announced the price of stamps will rise from the end of February to €1.65 the fifth increase in less than four years. To discuss this price increase was Managing Director of An Post’s Letters and Parcels Garrett Bridgemen. 

Police in Orebro, Sweden have said “about 10” people have been killed after “the worst mass shooting in the country’s history”. We get the latest on this mass shooting with Becky Waterton, Deputy Editor of the Local, an English-speaking newspaper in Sweden.