The Hard Shoulder

It’s that time of year, the children are back at school which means the dreaded evenings helping with homework are back! But, is it a waste of time? And should we scrap it all together?Joining Kieran to discuss is Gemma Maher, Principal of Rathcoole Educate Together and parent of 2 and Mary McCarthy, Columnist for the Irish Independent.

As the summer draws to a close, how has the Irish tourism industry fared this year?To give a rundown, guest host Mandy Johnston is joined by Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, Chief Executive of the Irish Tourism Industry.

E-scooters are to be banned onboard public transport amid safety concerns from October, according to the National Transport Authority.What will this mean for e-scooter users and commuters in Ireland? Joining guest host Mandy Johnston to discuss is Jason Cullen, Chairperson of the Dublin Commuters group.

Irishman Alex Ryzhuk who went to Ukraine to fight in the war is still missing in action after reports on Thursday.Who is Alex? And what does he stand for?Ayman Al-Frihat of Combat War Footage joins guest host Mandy Johnston to discuss.Image: FinnHouse Films

More than 27,000 American tourists were in Dublin to watch the opening fixture of the US college football season on Saturday.But is this event set to become even bigger in the future?Neil Naughton, Co-Chairman of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic Series, joined Mandy Johnston to discuss.

For this week’s Kids Health Check, back to school chaos is set to kick back in, so we look at how you can best manage the cost of it all.CEO of Fair Stone & Founder of Ask Paul, Paul Merriman joins guest host Mandy Johnston to discuss.

Yesterday the controversial transport plan in Dublin went into action that blocked certain road usage around Dublin’s quays.How has the plan gone? And what will be the effects of this decision?Ger Hyland, Driver Operator and president of the Irish Road Hauliers Association and Brian Caulfield Professor in Transportation at the School of Engineering at Trinity College join guest host Mandy Johnston to discuss.

Apparently, we are living in an age of vanity, that’s according to JJ Clarke, Assistant Producer of the Irish Independent.Is that true? Has social media made us acutely aware of how we are perceived in the world?JJ Clarke as well as Alexandra Ryan, Founder of Goss.ie join Mandy Johnston to discuss.

Today saw the passing of former England Manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. Sven had a wide career from managing in Italy during the height of the Italian game and, of course, in England, managing the national team for 5 years.Football Journalist, John Brewin joins guest host Mandy Johnston to discuss.

The Gallagher brothers are set to let sleeping dogs lie and possibly reunite after posting cryptic teasers on their Twitter accounts.But, why did Oasis split in the first place? And how fraught were the tensions between Liam and Noel?Pat Carty, Music Journalist, joins guest host Mandy Johnston to discuss.