The Hard Shoulder

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.

Singer-Songwriter Tolü Makay joins Ciara and Shane for this week’s Thursday Interview!