Highlights From Newstalk Breakfast

“Your beautiful babies will grow up. Where does that leave you? - Remember to protect yourself, too, as your children will one day enter the big, bad world without needing to hold your hand.” Those are the words of a Journalist with the Irish Times and Mother of 7, Jen Hogan who joined us on the show this morning.

Extreme shortage of rental homes brings record increases in rent - that’s the warning from Daft.ie who have today released their latest report. For more on this, Ciara was joined by Conor Skehan, Sunday Independent Columnist, Former chair of the Housing Agency and Ronan Lyons is an Economist at Trinity College Dublin & author of The Daft.ie Report.

Procrastination against bodycams needs to stop” that’s according to former Assistant Commissioner Pat Leahy. His remarks come after Gardaí were viciously assaulted while responding to an incident in Ballyfermot on Monday morning. To debate this issue further Shane was joined on the show this morning by Pat Leahy, former Garda Assistant Commissioner, and Liam Herrick, Executive Director of The Irish Council for Civil Liberties.  

Late November is far too early to be celebrating Christmas. That’s according to Journalist and author Suzanne Harrington who spoke to Newstalk Breakfast.

The family of Nicola Furlong has shared their disgust at the release of her killer. American musician Richard Hinds strangled Nicola in a Tokyo hotel room in May 2012. She was 21 years of age. Nicola’s father Andrew Furlong spoke to Ciara this morning.

A new study published today shows that aside from keeping us connected, our smartphones are also keeping us awake. Deloitte has found that 51% of adults in Ireland wish they spent less time on their devices and 50% of us tend to stay awake later than planned because we’re on our phones. Newstalk’s Technology Correspondent, Jess Kelly brings us more on this.

49% of Irish adults indicated that they had been binge drinking at least once in the last 30 days. So found a new report from Drinkaware. Samantha Kelly is a Social Media Consultant and spoke to Newstalk Breakfast which her reaction to the findings of this report.

The UN COP27 climate summit drew praise for the creation of a "loss and damage" fund to help vulnerable countries but there was also anger over a failure to push further efforts on cutting emissions. Green Party Leader & Minister for Environment Eamon Ryan  joined Shane this morning.

Today is Equal Pay Day, highlighting the difference in pay between men and women in the country. Sonya Lennon, Founder of the WorkEqual campaign and told us more about it. Newstalk Breakfast spoke to Mary McCarthy a Columnist with the Irish Independent.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin will today attend the official sod-turning for Shanganagh, Ireland’s largest affordable housing scheme. Is enough being done to make housing more affordable in this country? For more on this Ciara was joined by Wayne Stanley Head of Policy and Communications at the Simon Communities of Ireland.

The UN nuclear energy watchdog has said the forces behind the shelling of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant are “playing with fire” after a series of explosions shook the facility yesterday. Suzanne Lynch, Chief Brussels correspondent with Politico Europe, talked us through what happened.

A major crackdown on motorists who drive under the influence of drink or drugs is planned for the roads this Christmas. This comes as new figures confirm intoxicated driving has increased by 17% in the first ten months of this year. Leo Leighio, a member of the Irish Road Victims Association spoke to Ciara this morning.

The Irish tourism business group ITIC has warned that the “over-reliance” on tourist accommodation to house people fleeing the war could result in supply for the sector being dramatically reduced Eoghan O’Mara Walsh the Chief Executive at Irish Tourism Industry Confederation spoke to Ciara this morning on the show.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has unveiled the Sport Ireland Campus Masterplan Vision The “ambitious” blueprint proposes a vision for the growth of the Sport Ireland Campus and it’s long-term development over the next 15-20 years. Dr. Una May, Chief Executive of Sport Ireland joined Shane this morning to explain the plans.

Inquiries have been pouring in at Donegal brand Triona Design as Sarah Jessica Parker has been spotted wearing their tweed coat during filming. So is Donegal tweed taking over the fashion world? Ceilia Holman Lee Irish model, fashion stylist, and television presenter give us her view.

Tomorrow is International men’s day! Diarmuid Lyng, Former Wexford Hurler, and owner of Wild retreat told Newstalk Breakfast what this day means to him.

Cop27 comes to an end this weekend but what exactly was achieved at the conference? Speaking to Shane this morning, Don Moore, Chair of the Energy and Climate Action Committee at the Irish Academy of Engineers and the former head of ESB International.

This week we have heard calls for inquiries into allegations of abuse within the Spiritans, Vincentians and now St Johns Ambulance. Senators want an immediate publication of a review into the handling of historical child sexual abuse at the charity. Regina Doherty, Fine Gael Senator spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council recently announced that the Sandycove Avenue West APC toilet facility will change from coin to contactless payment by the end of this month, sparking the ire of councillors. One such person is Lorraine Hall, Fine Gael councillor for Dún Laoghaire who outlined why she is against the plan. Also speaking to Ciara on this was Darragh Cassidy is Head of Communications at Bonkers.ie.

Should we close the Russian embassy after the country banned the Taoiseach and more than 50 other Irish officials? Neale Richmond is a Fine Gael TD spoke to Shane this morning.