The Hard Shoulder

For this week’s Tech Takeover, Jess Kelly, Newstalk’s Technology Correspondent joins Ciara to discuss a proposal for digital infrastructure to make the internet safer for young people, and what that would look like.

Dublin City Council is looking into the possibility of turning vacant retail premises around the city into staffed “concierge-type” public toilets.Claire Byrne, Green Party Councillor for Dublin South East Inner City joins Shane to discuss.

A major review of the North Kerry Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service has found there was a risk of moderate or major harm in respect of more than half of the cases on the service’s books in 2022.For more on this, Ciara is joined by Dr Kieran Moore, Medical Paediatric Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UCD & Davin Godfrey, Leading Campaigner for the Victims of North Kerry CAMHS.

Why men telling women to “smile” and “look happy” has nothing to do with happiness, and everything to do with control, so says Newstalk's own Simon Tierney  in a recently published article. But, is this something that is starting to die out, or is it as blatant as ever?Joining Shane to discuss is Saoirse Hanley, Features writer with The Irish Independent.

Directly-elected Mayor for Limerick, John Moran, has said some local councillors are being “hostile” towards him and have been acting on a strategy to make his role “unbearable”.His time as mayor so far has been described as divisive, and it all came to a head after a seven-hour meeting regarding the council’s corporate plan, which John Moran took ill and had to leave.Mayor for Limerick, John Moran, joins Ciara to discuss…

As cash continues to die, we wanted to see if it was possible to spend a day just paying in cash and a day just paying with a card or contactless?Henry McKean was put to the task, and joins Shane to discuss how he got on…

Every week for The Ultimate Guide on The Hard Shoulder, Fionn Davenport takes a closer look at some of the fantastic destinations to visit around the world.This week, as part of his 12 best cities in the world, Fionn joined Ciara and Shane to give the ultimate guide to Bangkok in Thailand!

AI has infiltrated many industries, and the music industry is no exception but how easy is it to identify an AI generated song?Joining Ciara to discuss is Dr. Martin Clancy, IRC Research Fellow at the Center for Digital Humanities, Trinity College Dublin.

Jesse Jackson, one of America’s most influential civil rights figures after the death of Martin Luther King Jr, has died at the age of eighty four. Mr Jackson was present on the day King was assassinated and also fought for the Democratic nomination for president twice, in 1984 and 1988.Larry Donnelly, Law Lecturer, University of Galway and Columnist with the Journal joins Ciara to look back on his life…Image: Reuters

A protest began on George’s Street in Dublin this evening outside The Hoxton Hotel as campaigners seek to voice their opposition to legal action taken against the neighbouring Yamamori Izakaya, which was spoken about on the programme yesterday.At the protest is Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, musician, protest organiser and People Before Profit member. He joins Shane to discuss.