The Hard Shoulder

Joining Shane was Darragh O’Brien, Minister for Transport, Climate, Energy and the Environment on the Government's plans to scrap the contentious 32 million annual passenger cap at Dublin Airport following approval by Cabinet today.

At the turn of the century, there were 522 active nightclubs across the country; as of our last count, there are only 83.There has been much debate recently whether we should try and revive the humble nightclub, or whether they have become a vestigial organ in Irish society =Joining Shane to discuss this is Lifestyle columnist with the Irish Examiner and Trinity student, Jane Cowen, Journalist at DMG media, Becca Fisher and CEO of Temple Bar and Spokesperson for Dublin Business Alliance, Martin Harte

Today is safter internet day and according to Cyber Safe Kids, more than half of children are at risk from online contact with strangers. In this major study, over 3,300 children and 1,700 parents were surveyed nationwide. And 25% of parents say they “do not understand” the games & apps their child uses. Henry McKean had a conversation with 6th class in The Harold School in Glasthule, Dublin, about online safety. He sent us this report.Also joining Shane to chat through this year's aim of making young kids ‘AI aware’ is Dónal Mulligan from DCU School of Communications and host of ‘Enough about AI’ podcast

France is set to send letters toa ll 29-year-old citizens, as a reminder to ‘have a baby while you can.’  The move is part of the government’s 16-point plan to increase fertility rates. The letter will be sent to men and women and will remind them  that fertility is a shared responsibility between both sexes.    So, should the Irish government follow suit? Are we doing enough to incentivise having children here?  Joining Shane was David Quinn, head of the Iona Institute and Newstalk's Own Hugh Keenan

She is well known for her role as the iconic Rovers Return landlady Liz McDonald, and now, has joined the cast of Fair City as Lilly, the long-lost mother of Gwen Connolly Shane was joined by Beverely to talk about starting in Fair City, having been known for so long from Coronation street.

Shane was joined by pulitizer winning Photographer, Deanne Fitzmaurice on the launch of her book of photographs, ‘On Dublin: Reflections on the Irish Capital’ in conjunction with The Little Museum of Dublin.   Shane also spoke to her work as a war photographer, and of course the powerful portrayal of Saleh, a young Iraqi war victim was the Pulitzer Prize winning photography in 2005.

Nial Ring, Former Lord Mayor of Dublin and City Councillor joined Shane ahead of a meeting calling for ‘immediate’ action on pedestrian street safety in Dublin city centre following last week's fatal Dublin bus crash.

A new trend of asking ChatGPT to make a caricature based on you has gone viral, but the more sinister side of things is that it is based on the data AI has on you. How worried should we be?  Joining Shane to explain was Ciara O'Brien, Irish Times business and technology journalist.  

Calls have intensified for the British Prime Minister, Kier Starmer to resign amid the fallout from the revelations contained in the Epstein files. With the Leader of the Scottish labour party Anas Sarwar, calling for him to step down.Kier Starmer apologized for believing Peter Mandelson’s “lies” and his decision to appoint him to the role of Britain’s ambassador to the US,Joining Shane with the latest news from the Epstein Files and the fallout it having in British Politics was  London based Journalist, Vincent McAviney

From fillings to falling out, what can we do to improve our children’s dental hygiene?Well, to discuss this, Shane was joined  chair of the gp committee of the Irish dental association, and a dentist at kiwi dental in Carlow, Caroline Roberts