Highlights From Newstalk Breakfast

Fine Gael Councillor, Danny Byrne has called for The Irish Hotels Federation to appear before an Oireachtas Committee to explain the massively inflated prices for hotel rooms in Dublin and he spoke to Ciara this morning on the show.

National Rifle Association – a powerful American gun lobbying group will hold its national conference in Texas today, just days after the deadliest mass school shooting in Texas history. What can we expect from the meeting? Nora Mishanec, Houston Chronicle Reporter spoke to Ciara to explain what the view is on the ground about the NRA conference.

The government announced an emergency response to the need for special education centres for vulnerable children yesterday. Many stakeholders have expressed concerns about the proposed framework. Adam Harris CEO of AsIAm joined Shane on the show this morning.

It has been quite a significant week for the city. An agreement has been reached by Cork City Council to buy the Port of Cork’s city-centre quays in what looks set to be one of the largest docklands regeneration schemes in Europe. Colm Kelleher, Lord Mayor of Cork join Ciara on the show with more details of the regeneration of the docklands.

Government policy published yesterday seeks to create better pathways between further education and higher education. Simon Harris, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Science of Ireland spoke to Newstalk Breakfast to discuss the policy.

An official inquiry into alleged gatherings at Downing Street and Whitehall during Covid-19 restrictions has said the "senior leadership" in Boris Johnson's government must "bear responsibility" for the culture which led to coronavirus lockdown rules being broken. The report by Sue Gray said the public would be "dismayed" by a series of breaches of coronavirus rules in No 10 and Westminster. For more on this Shane spoke to Adam Boulton, Political Commentator, Former Sky News Political Editor, and Contributor to Talk TV.

A Kerry mother, who has two weeks left to find a new home, says she has “no options” left due to the number of homes being used as short-term or holiday rentals. Lisa O’Shea spoke to Ciara about her situation to find a home.

Despite having access to grants for the past three years, local authorities have failed to install a single electric vehicle charger in a public place. So says Richard Bruton, Chairperson of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party. Shane O’Donohue, Editor with completecar.ie joined Shane this morning to discuss.

According to the latest ESRI report, more than half of renting households receive support for housing costs. The number of households accessing support schemes is now at 1 in 3, compared with 1 in 5 in the 90s. Fore more on these findings we hear the latest from Dr. Barra Roantree, Economist at the Economic and Social Research Institute.

Debate is raging across the American political classes on if the US needs stricter gun controls in the wake of the killing of 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school. Bob Mulholland Democratic Party Strategist based in California spoke to Ciara this morning on the show.

Nearly half of the Irish public does not trust the Government to be honest or to tell the truth. That’s according to a new study carried out by UCD. John McGuirk is the Editor of Gript Media and he looked into the findings with Ciara.

We are too modest about money and politeness is keeping us poor.That’s the view of US multi-millionaire Derek Moneyberg. But can the same be said for us here in Ireland? To discuss further Shane spoke to Caroline Reidy is the Managing Director of HR Suites.

The threat of a European-wide recession has been the key theme at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Speaking at Davos yesterday Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said a slowdown was likely but not a recession. For more on this Newstalk Breakfast spoke to John Fitzgerald Adjunct Professor in Economics at Trinty College Dublin.

19 children and two adults have died after a gunman opened fire at a primary school in West Texas. Police shot 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos after he opened fire at Robb elementary school in the city of Uvalde. Larry Donnelly Columnist with theJournal.ie and Law Lecturer in NUIG spoke Shane on the show this morning.

Gardaí may soon have the right to use facial recognition technology to tackle serious crimes. Justice Minister Helen McEntee plans to bring the legislation before the cabinet, but would such policing technology make Irish citizens more safe, or less? To discuss further Shane spoke to Pat Marry, Former Detective Inspector and Senior Investigating Officer, and author of “The Making of a Detective” and also Elizabeth Farries, Assistant Professor of Digital Policy at UCD join us on Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

The Seanad will today debate a Labour Bill aimed at ensuring interns are entitled to the minimum wage and speaking to Ciara with more on this was Labour Party Spokesperson for Employment Affairs, Marie Sherlock

A record 4,004 complaints have been made to the ombudsman about services provided by government departments, local authorities and the HSE. The complaints saw a 17% increase in 2020 which is the highest ever in its 38-year history. Recently appointed Ombudsman Ger Deering spoke to Newstalk Breakfast on these findings.

Nineteen young children and two adults have died in a shooting at a primary school in south Texas. Donna Provencher from the San Antonio Business Journal spoke to Newstalk Breakfast with more on this story from Texas.

Young Ukrainian refugees are sweeping the board at Irish Chess tournaments. Nine-year-old chess prodigy Dariy (Darrie) Kelbas and his mum Svitlana are one of the 30,000 Ukrainains escaping war to Ireland. Chess is something that reminds them of home. Henry McKean met Grandmaster Alexander Banurin living in Ireland over 30 years. Who is heading to the Olympiad 2022 in India (The Olympics of Chess), representing Ireland. Henry sent us this report.

Has your local park gone to the dogs... literally?  Journalist Mary McCarthy’s has a column in the Independent today. She wrote that her local park is full of dogs roaming off the lead, dog poo not being picked up, rugby ball’s being stolen by pups and the complete lack of enforcement by any wardens.  Mary spoke to Shane this morning. Listen and subscribe to Newstalk Breakfast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.     Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App.    You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by adding the Newstalk skill and asking: 'Alexa, play Newstalk'.