The Hard Shoulder

It's time for ‘Henry's Front Bench', where Henry McKean meets an election candidate on a park bench and has a chat.Today, Henry is in Tipperary to talk with Independent TD, Mattie McGrath.

Off The Ball's Mick McCarthy joined Kieran Cuddihy on The Hard Shoulder to review the week in sport and look ahead to the weekend action…

The High Court has been found in favour of Nikita Hand and has awarded damages from Conor McGregor to her after finding that she was assaulted by the martial arts fighter in the Beacon Hotel.Dr. Elaine Byrnes from the School of Psychology at DCU and Noeline Blackwell, Human Rights Lawyer, Consultant and Online Safety Coordinator with the Children’s Rights Alliance join Kieran to discuss.

There are articles constantly reporting on the different ways we can improve the quality of our sleep. Taking magnesium supplements is supposedly one of the techniques we can adopt.Tom Coleman, Health Scientist and Sleep Coach, joins Kieran to discuss how exactly we can enhance the quality of our sleep.

You might have seen this on Twitter: an issue raised by Maia Dunphy around prepaid parking which led to her elderly father being forced to wait two hours for help…Writer and Broadcaster Maia Dunphy joins Kieran to discuss.

Galway chef, restaurateur and author, JP McMahon, is calling for the government to pay more attention to the food industry during their political campaigns. He believes the Irish food sector is at risk of being industrialised, and food should be added to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.JP joins Kieran to discuss.

The Kuhner Report on WRKO AM680 Radio in Boston is hosted by Jeffrey T. Kuhner, "Liberalism's Worst Nightmare," he is a conservative nationalist, who champions God, country and family.This week, Jeff joins Kieran to discuss President Biden giving the green light to Ukraine to launch American missiles at Russian targets - and what implications this could have to further conflict. Also, they discuss Matt Gaetz withdrawing from Trump’s bid for Attorney General.Image: Reuters

Exclusive figures shared with Newstalk have revealed that 12,722 children with additional needs have been waiting on HSE waitlists for more than six months for assessments…Joining Kieran to discuss is Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin and author of “Resilience: Lessons from Sir William Wilde on Life After Covid”, Brendan Kelly and Director of Neurodiversity Ireland, Nessa Hill.

In the lead up to the General Election, big debates are being held on the Hard Shoulder. Today: JusticeHow big of an issue is Justice for this election? And how can things be improved?Joining Kieran to debate is Helen McEntee, Minister for Justice and Fine Gael General Election candidate for Meath East, Jim O’Callaghan, Fianna Fáil’s Justice Spokesperson and General Election candidate for Dublin Bay South, Peadar Tóibín, Leader of Aontú and General Election candidate for Meath West and Daithí Doolan, Sinn Féin candidate for Dublin South Central.

Things are heating up as each constituency enters the final furlongs for the general election, but eyes will be on some constituencies as they might be able to give a good sense of the national picture.Newstalk’s Political Correspondent, Seán Defoe, joins Kieran to give us a sense of these bellwether consistencies…