The Hard Shoulder

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties is appearing before the Oireachtas Committee on Justice today, calling for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised to 14, but what is the appropriate age for people to have full responsibility for their actions?Joining Seán Defoe to discuss is Child Welfare Consultant, Kieran McGrath.

The Halloween decorations are down for another year, but straight up are the Christmas decorations. Is the Christmas season too long and too commercialised?Newstalk’s Henry McKean has been out asking the public, and joins Seán to share what he’s heard.

Recent protests in Citywest and the suspected arson attack at an IPAS center in Drogheda calls into question our approach to tackling these violent protests. While there is a heavy focus on how they are policed, should there be a shift to identifying what draws people to extreme protests?Joining Ciara to discuss is Keire Murphy, Senior Policy Officer with the ESRI, who had this piece in the Irish Independent.

Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against his former co-star Blake Lively has officially been closed by a judge.It’s after it was ruled that the actor and director missed the deadline that had been set to pursue his claim.Journalist Harriet Alexander joins Ciara Doherty to give the latest updates.Image: Britannica

For this week’s Kids Health Check, Richard Hogan, Family Psychotherapist, Clinical Director of Therapy Institute and author of ‘Home is Where the Start Is’ joins Ciara Doherty to discuss how much privacy you should give your child, both at home and with their phone.

The Government is considering charging rent for IPAS centre residents who are in full-time employment.Ministers are meeting to discuss signing off on the proposals.It comes as the Government seems to be hardening its stance on immigration; it also follows an attack on an IPAS centre in Drogheda in the last couple of days.Joining Ciara Doherty to discuss is Nick Henderson, Chief Executive of the Irish Refugee Council and Independent MEP, Michael McNamara.

The CSO has said that a record number of babies were born to women aged 45 years and over in 2023.The average age of a mother giving birth is 33.2, up from 32.2 ten years previously, with those giving birthdays over 40 increasing by 25%.Maeve Eogan is an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Rotunda, and joins Ciara Doherty to discuss.

Laura O’Connell, who survived a prolonged period of harassment, says that home security systems, including CCTV, should be provided by the State for stalking survivors.She joins Ciara Doherty to discuss further.

Malcolm Byrne is Fianna Fáil TD for Wicklow-Wexford and has written in the Irish times today about the Fianna Fáil party, questioning where the Party has gone so wrong. He argues it was the Party that got things done, and is questioning its focus…He joins Ciara Doherty to discuss.

A Christmas Market that was proposed for Limerick City has been cancelled, that is despite plans being made throughout the year to open the market.To discuss this, Ciara Doherty is joined by the Mayor of Limerick, John Moran.