The Hard Shoulder Highlights

Alison Curtis, presenter of Weekend Breakfast on Today FM, and Ger Gilroy from Off The Ball join Anton for the weekly Winners and Sinners.From How to Train your Dragon to all the concerts taking over Dublin parks. Listen here for all the Winners and Sinners action.

Adam Long, board director of the National LGBT Federation, joins The Hard Shoulder to reflect on Pride Week in Ireland, its relevance in 2025, and the dangers of Pride becoming tokenistic as commercial involvement grows.Listen here

Luca De Marzio, owner of Rosa Madre Italian restaurant in Dublin, joins The Hard Shoulder with his essential tips on what tools home cooks actually need — and which kitchen gadgets are more hype than help.Listen here.

Most primary schools break up today and summer is finally here. Henry McKean visited the boys from O’Connell Primary School in Dublin 1 and sent us this Summer Kidstalk. Get all the sounds of the last day of school, here.

Clare Daly, former MEP, joins The Hard Shoulder to share her strong opposition to Ireland’s involvement in the EU’s new €150 billion defence initiative.The bill looks to be a step in the direction away from Irish neutrality and something sure to come under much criticism in the Dáil.Listen here

To celebrate Lidl’s 25 years in Ireland, The Hard Shoulder hears from Newstalk reporter Sarah Madden, who asked shoppers about their weirdest and most wonderful middle aisle purchases. Conor Pope, consumer affairs correspondent with The Irish Times, and Hazel Chu, Green Party councillor, join to talk about how discount stores have changed the Irish retail landscape.Listen here

Mary McCarthy, columnist with the Irish Independent, joins The Hard Shoulder to discuss the rising trend of nicotine pouch use among young people. As these puches have seen such an explosion in popularity in the past few years, Mary is here to discuss why the rise in use by young people is quite disturbing.Listen here

Maria Walsh, Fine Gael MEP for Midlands North West, joins The Hard Shoulder from Hungary to explain why she’s travelling to attend Budapest’s now-banned Pride parade and what the law says about public LGBTQ+ expression in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary.Listen here

Grace Boland, Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal West, Sinead Ryan, consumer journalist and presenter of The Home Show, and Graeme McQueen, Media Relations Manager with the DAA, join Anton Savage for Kieran to explore why Ireland is lagging behind on contactless payments across buses, trains and the Luas — and what’s being done to change it.Listen here

Pharmacist Sheena Mitchell joins The Hard Shoulder with advice for allergy sufferers on how to manage hay fever and pollen season symptoms, especially as temperatures rise.Listen here to put your pollen woes to rest.