Highlights From The Hard Shoulder

It looks like that to have children, you soon enough you won’t have to go through conception, childbirth, nappies, or any of the usual things associated with having a child. A new trend of virtual children, or Tamagotchi children, have been predicted by one expert to become commonplace in the next 50 years. Jess Kelly, Newstalk’s Technology joined Anton to explain where they come from and how they work.

A second case of monkeypox was confirmed in Ireland in the last 24 hours. The HSE has said that public health teams are carrying out contact tracing for both cases. Cillian de Gascún is director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory and he joined Anton to explain the virus and what is being done to contain the spread.

The scene's over the weekend of people standing in queues that stretched far outside the terminal have thrown a spotlight onto Dublin Airport and how it is run. Timmy Dooley Fianna Fail senator and member of the Oireachtas Transport committee joined Anton to discuss if making profits has been put ahead of making sure basic operations are running smoothly.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA, the Animal Rights groups in the UK have called on LEGO to rebrand their ‘farmyard’ sets to ‘animal sanctuaries’ because they are misleading children about the 'horror and cruelty' of the farming industry. Sascha Camilli, is the Senior PR Coordinator with PETA UK and she joined argue why she thinks a rebrand is the right thing to do.

More than 1 in 10 travellers die by suicide. And they feel nothing is being done to help their community. So today they protested outside the Dail to call for more action by Government. Maggie McDonagh, Member of the National Traveller Mental Health Network, joined Anton to talk about the issues facing the community.

There has been a call from Sinn Fein for the Government to make more targeted efforts to alleviate the cost of living crisis for those on low incomes. The announcement comes amid rising costs of food and groceries, which have seen bills rise again for households. It would deliver a payment of €100-200 to provide crucial support for people hit by spiralling costs. Edgar Morgenroth, who is professor of economics at DCU and Claire Kerrane, who is the social protection spokesperson for Sinn Fein joined Anton to discuss what the impact of this bonus would be.

Brianna Parkins, who is Fact Checker with thejournal.ie, spoke to Anton about how she was unable to get a taxi on her way out over the weekend, and had to ask her boyfriend to walk her to a gig. She was joined by Dublin City Councillor for the Green Party, Janet Horner to discuss how a lack of taxis can impact on how safe women feel travelling home late at night.

Research from AsIAm has indicated that almost 270 children do not have appropriate places available to them for the new school year. Campaign groups are calling for the rights of these children to be upheld. Miriam Kenny is Chairperson of Involve Autism, and special needs teacher Audrey, joined Anton to discuss the lack of educational supports and the impact it can have on children.

Dublin Airport has "sincerely apologised" after passengers experienced massive queues for check-in, bag drop and security screening today, with a number of people missing scheduled flights as a result. Kieran O’Driscoll, Chair of the Oireachtas Transport Committee spoke to Anton about what can be done to address the on going problems facing the airport and Gary O’Hanlon who travels through Dublin Airport regularly, spoke about how long delays are not the only issue that needs to be dealt with.

Long delays at Dublin Airport over the weekend have left many concerned about what the situation might look like over the upcoming bank holiday weekend. Ralph Curry Missed his flight yesterday, he joined Anton Savage and Jerry Brennan From SIPTU who represents workers at the Airport to discuss some of the reasons behind the extreme disruption.

Plans by the Government to impose a so-called “latte levy” of at least 20 cent on disposable paper coffee cups are facing a campaign of resistance from those in the industry. The levy is set to be 20 cent but the potential is there in the Circular Economy Bill to raise it to €1 if a lower levy has little effect. Martin McCaffrey, Owner of Dash Coffee Container in The Phoenix Park and Sadhbh O’Neill, Lecturer in Climate Policy and Environmental Politics at DCU joined Anton to discuss how useful a latte levy would be.

Summer holidays are fast approaching, which presents problems for some parents. What are we supposed to do with children for two or three months? It can be quite expensive if you have more than one kid to entertain. Mary McCarthy Columnist with the Independent joined Kieran on the show. Listen and subscribe to The Hard Shoulder on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and 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'.

TV Chef, Mindful Eating Coach and Wellness Advocate, Aisling Larkin joined Kieran to discuss how to make that perfect picnic. Listen and subscribe to The Hard Shoulder on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and 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'.

Freedom of Information figures released to Newstalk show the health service spent 363,000 euro on debt collectors in the first ten months of last year. They show that the HSE paid the agencies a total of €931,000 in the 22 months between January 2020 and October last year. Gino Kenny, People Before Profit TD for Dublin Mid-West and Party Health Spokesperson joined Kieran on the show. Listen and subscribe to The Hard Shoulder on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and 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'.

Fine Gael Councillor Derek Byrne this morning called for the Irish Hotels Federation to appear before an Oireachtas Committee to explain the inflated prices of hotel rooms in Dublin.  Denyse Campbell, President of the Irish Hotels Federation joined Kieran to discuss hotel price inflation. Listen and subscribe to The Hard Shoulder on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and 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'.

Ollie Gorman in Laois and Amelia joined Kieran on Bruce Springsteen ticket woes and issues they faced while trying to purchase tickets using the Bank of Ireland App. Listen and subscribe to The Hard Shoulder on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and 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'.

The National Rifle Association is pressing ahead with its annual convention today, with the likes of Donald Trump set to attend. The event will be held in Texas just four hours from the site of the school shooting. Sarah Elliott, spokeswoman for Republicans Overseas UK joined Kieran to discuss what happened this week. Listen and subscribe to The Hard Shoulder on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and 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'.

Kate Brennan Harding DJ and Broadcaster joined Kieran to discuss if Ireland is gay-friendly and her experiences in society. Listen and subscribe to The Hard Shoulder on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and 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'.

An elderly man was on a hospital bed for 5 days in University Hospital Galway In Ireland. The man is 74 years old.  What does that say about the Irish healthcare system? How did we get here? Elaine joined Kieran on the show to explain her father's story. Listen and subscribe to The Hard Shoulder on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and 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'.

On this evenings Hard Shoulder Kieran spoke to listener Brian, who was in touch with the show after being upset by the way his daughters teacher spoke to her about the Texas school shooting. Brian described his daughters concern as she relayed what the teacher had said to her parents and how he worried some of her innocence had been taken from her.   Listen and subscribe to The Hard Shoulder on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and 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'.