Highlights From Newstalk Breakfast

Gardaí investigating the suspected murder of Fiona Pender conducted a search in Laois overnight in a bid to find her remains. Gearoid Keegan, Deputy Editor of the Tullamore Tribune.

ISME have called for a ‘reset’ of national minimum wage in pre-budget submission. To discuss this further Ciara spoke to ISME Chair and Centra Owner in Sligo, Finbar Filan.

Kinahan cartel boss Sean McGovern is on his way back to Ireland from Dubai to face charges for murder and gangland crime. Mick O’Toole, Crime and Defence Editor with The Irish Daily Star and The Irish Mirror brings us the latest on this story.

A federal trade court on Wednesday blocked Donald Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs on imports under an emergency-powers law. We discuss further with David Smith, Washington Bureau Chief with The Guardian .

Ireland is now projected to fall far short of its 2030 targets – that’s according to the latest Environmental Protection Agency report. We discuss the findings with Dr Eimear Cotter, Director at the Office of evidence and Assessment at the EPA.

Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan took to his feet in the Dáil yesterday to offer a public apology to the family of Shane O’Farrell, who was killed in a hit-and-run in 2011. We spoke to Shane's mother Lucia O’Farrell. 

Taking husbands surname any issue with it? Shane and Ciara discussed this morning.

Cocaine is the main drug of concern in 40% of all treatment cases, according to the latest data from the Health Research Board with the number of women receiving treatment for cocaine use soaring by 426% since 2017.    Jo-hanna Ivers, Professor in Addiction at the School of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin discussed these findings with Ciara this morning. 

The Trump administration has ordered US embassies to stop scheduling interview for student visas, including the J1, as it considers stricter vetting of applicants' social-media profiles.   To get the latest on this Ciara spoke to David Smith, Washington Bureau Chief, The Guardian.  

A 53-year-old man remains in police custody suspected of attempted murder and drug driving after a car ploughed into a crowd of fans celebrating Liverpool's Premier League title win.  Graham Wettone, Retired Metropolitan police with 30 years of experience and author spoke to Newstalk Breakfast with more on it.

A New ESRI report projects that public acute hospitals will need to increase inpatient bed capacity by at least 40 per cent by 2040. We discuss the findings with Dr Aoife Brick, Senior Research Officer, ESRI. 

Animal protection groups will mount a demo outside the Dail later today in support of the first ever attempt to have fox hunting banned in Ireland.   Ruth Coppinger TD will move the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025 which seeks to amend existing law under which fox hunting is permitted. We get reaction to this with Aideen Yourell, Spokesperson for the Irish Council Against Blood Sports and Michael Healy-Rae, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Independent TD for Kerry. 

Minister for Housing, James Browne will bring forward measures to Cabinet today aimed at extending planning permissions for housing developments by up to three years.  We speak to Gavin Lawlor, President of Irish Planning Institute.

Today, Tánaiste Simon Harris will ask the Cabinet to approve the drafting of the general scheme of a bill to prohibit the importation of goods from illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  To discuss further along with Ciara was Barry Ward, Fine Gael TD for Dun Laoighaire and Senior Counsel and Mairead Farrell, Sinn Fein TD. 

Four children were among about 50 people injured in a "horror" incident after a car hit pedestrians during Liverpool's Premier League victory parade, with one child seriously hurt.We get the latest on the incident with Kevin Jewel Security Consultant  Liverpool Correspondent with ESPN and also Dan Ogunshakin, BBC journalist who was there as a fan. 

The US, Britain, France and Germany will lift all remaining range restrictions on the weapons they have given Ukraine, allowing it to defend itself with “long-range fire”, according to German chancellor Friedrich Merz.We discuss further with Sean Bell, Former Fighter Pilot, Military Analyst and Co-Host of the Red Matrix Podcast. 

“Say No to Brown Bin Intruders". That’s the call from MyWaste.ie this National Food Waste Recycling Week.  Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast was Pauline McDonogh, Resource Efficiency Officer at MyWaste.ie.

Four children were among about 50 people injured in a "horror" incident after a car hit pedestrians during Liverpool's Premier League victory parade, with one child seriously hurt. We spoke to Nathan Murphy from Off the Ball, who was in Liverpool yesterday evening. 

Shane and Ciara discuss the alarming and disturbing numbers that Women's Aid received record 32,144 contacts in 2024.Listen here for all the discussion.

The Young Scientist and Technology exhibition has a new sponsor, with a very personal connection. Newstalk's Technology Correspondent Jess Kelly brought us all the details.