Highlights From Newstalk Breakfast

US president Donald Trump has denounced Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy as “a dictator without elections”  In a post on his truth social media platform, Trump called Zelensky a "modestly successful comedian" who had "talked the US into "spending $350 billion dollars, to go into a war that couldn't be won, that never had to start".  We get reaction to what President Trump has said with Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Misha Glenny, author and broadcaster, and the Rector of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna.

A ban on greyhound racing will come into force "as soon as practicably possible" in Wales .So, should Ireland follow suit? To debate this issue Shane was joined on the show by People Before Profit TD, Paul Murphy and Damian Matthews, who is Chairman of Irish Greyhound Owners and Breeders Federation.    

The government are set to bring forward stop and search legislation to tackle knife crime. To discuss this new legislation with Ciara was Alan Greene, a Reader in Constitutional Law and Human Rights at Birmingham Law School.

Labour TD for Dublin Southwest and Spokesperson on Climate, Environment Energy & Transport, Ciaran Ahern has called on the National Transport Authority to replace Dublin Airport Hopper buses as service ends due to ‘financial difficulty’ . Ciaran spoke to Ciara this morning.

The remains of four hostages seized by Hamas during the attack that ignited the war in Gaza are expected to be returned this morning. We hear from Lahav Harkov, Senior Political Correspondent at Jewish Insider.

Cabin-style homes in back gardens are set to be exempt from planning permission rules to try and ease the housing crisis under new Government plans. We asked Gavin Lawlor, Irish Planning Institute President and Director at Tom Phillips and Associates.  

Gen Z and millennials throw food away before its best before date. That is according to a new study from Harvard University.  We discuss this further with Angela Rutledge, Head of Public Engagement at Food Cloud.

Donald Trump has criticised Ukraine after President Zelensky expressed surprise at not being invited to Saudi talks on ending the war, blaming Ukraine for starting the conflict and suggesting they could have reached a deal sooner.  We get reaction to this with Ukrainian MP, Kira Rudyk.

“We need to take a stand and make misogyny a criminal offence”. That’s the view of Fergus Finlay, Irish Examiner Columnist and Former CEO of Barnardos who spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill brought a memo to cabinet yesterday regarding the situation for urgent and emergency care this month. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast this morning Minister MacNeill discussed how to alleviate the trolley numbers.

Cabin-style homes in back gardens are set to be exempt from planning permission rules to try and ease the housing crisis under new Government plans. Ciara and Shane discussed this morning. 

The ESRI has today released findings on ‘Sexual Health Literacy and Sexual Health Behaviours among Young Adults in Ireland’    Anne Nolan is a Research Professor with the ESRI outlined some of the findings. To go through these findings was Dr Aisling Loy, Consultant in Sexual health, Himerous Health and HIV at St James Hospital.

Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin South Central Catherine Ardagh has said that cancer survivors deserve to be treated fairly when accessing financial products such as mortgages, health insurance, and travel insurance. Catherine explained why to Shane this morning.

Donald Trump has criticised Ukraine after President Zelensky expressed surprise at not being invited to Saudi talks on ending the war, blaming Ukraine for starting the conflict and suggesting they could have reached a deal sooner.  For more on this Ciara was joined on the show by Donnacha Ó Beacháin, Professor of Politics at DCU and author of forthcoming book "Unfinished Empire: Russian Imperialism in Ukraine and the Near Abroad".

Dublin Airport has gone nine consecutive days without recording any sunshine, according to Met Éireann. So why has the weather been so grey of late? Alan O'Reilly of Carlow Weather filled us in. Also speaking to Newstalk Breakfast Leslie Shoemaker, Counselling Psychologist and Lecturer in TU Dublin on the effect has all this gloomy weather had on our mental states.

Builders of the New Children’s Hospital want an extra 853 million euro in construction costs, according to the Irish Independent. It looks like the final bill of 2.24 billion could be more than a 100 million higher than figures estimated last autumn. We asked where has this increase come from with Paul Davies, Public Procurement Expert from DCU.

Property Industry Ireland have submitted their white paper to Government, which includes key recommendations on to boost apartment delivery. David Howard, Director of Property Industry Ireland discussed the recommendations with Shane this morning on the show.

Has Irish neutrality passed its sell by date? Shane and Jonathan discussed and debated this morning on the show.

Senior American and Russian officials will hold talks in Saudi Arabia today on improving their ties and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, but Kyiv has not been invited to participate in the talks.  We discuss this and more with Bobby McDonagh, Former Irish Ambassador to the UK and EU. 

We should retrofit our streets in the interest of road safety. That’s the call from Dr. Catherine Conlon, Public Health Doctor and former director of human health and nutrition with safe food. Dr Conlon discussed this further with Shane this morning on the show.