Highlights From Newstalk Breakfast

Yesterday saw the Pittsburgh Steelers claim victory at Ireland’s first NFL game, but on Friday night, their reserve quarterback Skylar Thompson was reportedly assaulted and robbed in Dublin city centre.  Gary Gannon, Social Democrats TD and the Party's Spokesperson for Justice, joined Ciara Kelly on the show.

Nature in Ireland is in a “very poor” state, with the country’s economic growth achieved at the expense of the environment, according to the latest State of Europe’s Environment report from the EU.  Professor John Sweeney, Emeritus Professor in the Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units at the department of geography at Maynooth University joined us on Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

Europe persevered in the Ryder Cup over the weekend in New York thanks to a crucial putt from Shane Lowry. But what caught the attention of so many wasn’t the golf… It was the behavior of some American fans who were hurling abuse at the players. Ciara Kelly was joined by Law Lecturer at the University of Galway Larry Donnelly.

A gunman opened fire inside a Michigan church during a Sunday service before apparently setting the building on fire. David Smith, Washington Bureau Chief of The Guardian joined us on the show with the latest on the case.

The first presidential debate will take place today on The Tonight Show at 10 pm. What can we expect to see?  Louise Burne, Political Correspondent with the Irish Examiner, joined us on Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

Gardaí are treating the death of a father and his five-year-old daughter in Finglas as a suspected murder-suicide, according to the Irish Times. However, the investigation is still at an early stage and postmortem examinations will decide the next steps.   Conor Gallagher, Crime Correspondent with the Irish Times joined Jonathan Healy with the latest on the investigation.

Dublin City is awash with the colours of the Minnesota Vikings and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will go head to head in Croke Park this weekend.  This is the first NFL game played in Dublin, and they are pulling out all the stops. With us to explain more is Michael McQuaid, founder of Pro-Football Ireland. 

One in four Dublin home sales are now landlords exiting the rental sector. That’s according to the latest residential market review from property advisors DNG, which also found the rate of price increase seen in the capital has moderated for a third successive quarter.  We discuss the findings with Marian Finnegan is CEO of Sherry Fitzgerald.

Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, better known by his stage name Mo Chara, is due back before Woolwich Crown Court today in relation to a charge under the Terrorism Act.   He is accused of allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed organisation, Hezbollah at a concert in the city in November 2024. Emily Keegan, Newstalk Reporter who is outside the court gave us an update.

Are we facing an overreaction epidemic? Ciara and Jonathan had an interesting discussion this morning.

Drones have attacked an aid flotilla in international waters off Greece as it tried to break Israel’s Gaza blockade, in what is seen as an escalation of Israeli efforts to stop it. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast was Sarah Clancy, Poet, Community Worker and civil society participant on the Global Sumud Flotilla. 

‘I believe we are facing an overreaction epidemic, and in order to address it we must first acknowledge that the problem isn’t our emotions—it’s how we deal with them.’    That’s according to Dr Marc Brackett, the Founding Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and author of “Dealing with Feeling”.  

Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O'Brien is meeting with the four main biggest energy suppliers today to discuss the impact of rising energy prices and what can be done to ease the burden on households.  David Kerr, Founder and CEO of Bonkers.ie discusses this further.

This year saw a 43 per cent increase in applications for Leaving Cert appeals compared to 2024. The results of the 2025 Leaving Certificate Appeals will be available from 11am this morning. For more on this we spoke to Brian Mooney, Guidance Counsellor, Irish Times Education Columnist. 

How important are financial matters when choosing a romantic partner?  All to chat with Mairead Loughman, Matchmaker at Love HQ Matchmaking.

The Government has been warned of the danger of overheating the economy with its planned €9.4 billion spending increase in the Budget next month by the Economic and Social Research Institute. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast was John Fitzgerald, Adjunct Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin.  

Joining Ciara in studio this morning was Independent Presidential Candidate, Catherine Connolly.

Tens of thousands of US visitors are travelling to Ireland this week for an NFL game in Croke Park on Sunday. The Pittsburgh Steelers are taking on the Minnesota Vikings in the first-ever regular season game in Ireland. Our reporter Josh Crosbie has been meeting with fans and those who play American football here at home.

There has  been a 24% increase in the number of drink driving offences caught in the first half of this year.  That’s according to new data from the Central Statistics Office.    So why is the message not ringing through to motorists, and what more needs to be done?   All to discuss with Meghann Scully, Freelance Journalist and Broadcaster.

We need to do more to protect clean air in towns, villages, and cities across Ireland. That’s the message from the Environmental Protection Agency as it publishes it’s latest Air Quality report  Speaking to Ciara this morning was Niamh Connolly, Senior Scientific Officer in the Environmental Monitoring and Surveillance Unit at the EPA.