The Hard Shoulder

Chef  Kevin Dundon joined Shane and Ciara  to place his favourite book on The Hard Shoulder Bookshelf!

In the UK, Peter Mandelson has resigned from the House of Lords over the latest revelations about his relationship with  Jeffrey Epstein, while in the US, Former US president Bill Clinton and former Secretary State Hillary Clinton will testify in a congressional investigation  Joining Shane and Ciara was Terry Sheridan, News Director at WSHU radio  

Josh Crosbie, Newstalk reporter, joined Ciara and Shane from Kilkenny as in the wake of Storm Chandra, the town deals with the damage caused by excessive rain fall. He spoke to families and business effected by the flooding and what they would like to see happen in the future to protect their community from flooding.

“One thing the Government could do in 2026 that would improve the lives of young people would be to introduce driving lessons in secondary schools.” That’s a suggestion from the Letters page in The Irish Times over the weekend.  But how would that work? Should it be rolled out at the government level, and would driving schools be willing to partake in these modules?  Joining Shane and Ciara was Jim Carey, Success 4 You driving school and Michael Finn, Principal of Gorey Community School, who have trailed a driving program with their TY students.  

A new initiative by a south London pub aims to not only get people making real-life connections but also to practice their small talk skills.  The idea for these live events sparked from the development of the app called ‘The death of small talk’, which gives its users prompts of interesting questions to ask when in a social setting like a first date.  Joining Shane and Ciara was Glenn Edwards, founder of the Death of Small Talk app and Sam Chambers,   Early app founder and host of the app's live events.  

The National Emergency Coordination Group has warned that the risk of flooding across the east and southeast regions is "very high" in the coming days as further heavy rain is forecast.Ciara and Shane were joined by Rebecca Cantwell, Meteorologist with Met Eireann for the latest on the weather

Peter Mandelson is set to step down as a member of the House of Lords following the latest revelations about his relationship with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.Ciara and Shane were joined by Stephen Pound, Former Labour MP for Ealing North and former Northern Ireland Shadow Minister

“The State should not be absolved of its role in the public's mental health” that’s according to Paul Hosford, Acting Political Editor with The Irish Examiner.Paul spoke to Ciara and Shane about his own personal experience of dealing with Mental Health, how the state is not meeting the needs of many in providing mental health treatment and argues needs to do more.If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this interview - please contact Samaritans on their helpline: 116 123

Dublin City is being left ‘like a bomb’ site by bin scavengers searching for return bottles, according to the Chief Executive of Dublin City Council, Richard Shakespeare. Speaking on The Claire Byrne Show this morning, Mr Shakespeare said that the costs for this extra cleaning could be up to one million euro.  Larissa Nolan, Features Editor and Columnist with The Irish Mirror and Tad Kirakowski, CEO, of VOICE Ireland Joined Shane and Ciara to debate.

This week, Ciara Doherty was joined by the presenter of Weekend Breakfast on Alison Curtis Presenter, TodayFM Niamh O’Reilly Journalist to look back on the week that was, but with a few twists…