The Hard Shoulder

At our beaches and along our waterways you may be well familiar with the yellow boxes holding lifebuoys. What you may not be familiar with is the people across the country who ensure that each and every lifebuoy remains up to standard, and is replaced after any vandalism, which can unfortunately be a regular occurrence…Fergal Wyckham is a ring buoy inspector with Water Safety Ireland, and joins Shane to explain the work and what they encounter as part of it.

President Catherine Connolly has said recent attacks in the Middle East are “deliberate assaults on international law”.President Connolly made these remarks in a statement which marked International Women’s Day. Her comments have concerned some in Government that it might affect the Taoiseach visit to the White House for St Patrick's Day…Joining Ciara for more on this is John Lee, Group Political Editor with the Irish Daily Mail.

Housing Minister James Browne has confirmed that the Government will soon relax planning regulations to allow more people to build one-off homes in rural areas.For more on this, Shane is joined by Carol Tallon of the Property District…

“There seem to be potholes on every road and ones that were there before have grown – it’s a bit of a disaster.”Those are the words of Daniel Pender, Fianna Fáíl County Councillor & Cathaoirleach of Muinebheag, Carlow on the state of the roads following Storm Chandra.He joins Ciara to discuss, as well as Conor Faughnan, Independent Motoring Expert for Carzone.

This week, Ciara and Shane were joined by the presenter of Weekend Breakfast on Today FM, Alison Curtis and Off the Ball’s Ger Gilroy to look back on the week that was, but with a few twists…

“This International Women’s Day, I want to propose that we stop telling women they don’t look their age. We hand out this observation like it’s a medal, when it’s actually toxic.”So says Irish Independent Columnist, Mary McCarthy, who joins Ciara and Shane to discuss.

Minister Peter Burke today issued a statement regarding the increased abuse retail workers have been experiencing in recent days following the increase in fuel prices. In his statement he said, “I want to make it clear that this behaviour is unacceptable, and no one should take their frustration out on any retail worker.”Have you noticed an increase in abuse?Joining Ciara to discuss this is Jim Fuery, Assistant General Secretary of Mandate.

How can you tell if you have gum disease? And if you do, how can it be treated?Dentist Dr Bronagh Keane 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…

Last night was reported to be the heaviest night of bombardments in the capital Tehran, with the Israeli Defence Forces also carrying out a wave of strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut.Joining Shane with the latest updates is William Christou, Journalist in Beirut writing for The Guardian.