The Hard Shoulder

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to meet with US President Donald Trump today following Trump’s meeting with Putin on Friday. Though the terms are unclear, Trump has maintained that “significant progress” has been made towards a Russia/Ukraine ceasefire.Joining Kieran to discuss is Michael Baskin, CEO of Ukrainian Crisis Centre Ireland, Scott Lucas, Professor & Political Analyst at the Clinton Institute at University College Dublin and later Nadia Dobrianska, Ukrainian Historian in Ireland and Larry Donnelly, Law Lecturer at the University of Galway and political columnist with The Journal.

If you were at either of the Oasis Croke Park gigs over the weekend you may have noticed the large amount of people with their phones in the air. Bob Dylan recently banned phones at his concerts and Sabrina Carpenter has said that she considered banning them.So, should we ban filming concerts on your phone to allow people to ‘live in the moment’?Joining Kieran to discuss is Journalist and Host of the ‘No Encore’ music podcast, Dave Hanratty.

Getting your kids to eat their food can already be tough, but the heat can make it more difficult. So, how can you deal with a lack of appetites?Joining Kieran for this week’s Kids Health Check with her advice is Louise Lennox Chef and Founder of Fussy Eating Kids.

The Department of Finance has published a document on tax, and a section has caught people’s attention. Currently, if you have solar panels and sell your excess energy back, you get a €400 tax exemption – but, this is set to be removed at the end of the year, with people needing to declare the income.Joining Kieran to discuss the situation is Darragh Cassidy, the Head of Communications at Bonkers.ie.

Former President Mary McAleese has criticized Pope Leo’s first 100 days in the papacy, saying it's been “too conservative”. She has questioned whether he is as committed to Pope Francis’ reforms – but, is 100 days too early to judge?Joining Kieran to discuss is David Quinn, Columnist with the Sunday Independent and Irish Catholic and Gina Menzies, a Theologian.

With more and more people living in rented accommodation across the country, a lot of people may not fully understand what rights they have as a tenant.Joining Kieran to discuss what issues some people are having at the moment, and how they could go about dealing with them is John Mark McCafferty, CEO of Threshold and Kevin O’Higgins, a practicing Solicitor and a former President of the Law Society of Ireland.

The ASTI has warned that if the planned reforms to the Leaving Certificate go ahead, they may go on strike with their over 20 thousand members. This issue stems from questions about facility quality and fears about generative AI.Joining Kieran to outline the issues, and explain their reasoning is the President of the ASTI and practical teacher Padraig Curley.

A video of a 19-year-old Australian male athlete breaking down in tears has gone viral on social media. The Australian, Archie Wilson, is playing college football in the U.S. state of Nebraska. After a match last week, he was asked by a reporter what it’s like to be away from his family and that’s when he broke down, missing his family.While most of the reaction was supportive and people felt for the young man living away from home, he also received negative comments questioning his masculinity.To discuss the stigma around men being vulnerable and crying, Kieran is joined by former Munster and Irish Rugby International and Mental Health Advocate, Alan Quinlan, Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Tara Logan Buckley, and Newstalk Reporter, Dylan Hand.

This week, Kieran Cuddihy was joined by the presenter of Weekend Breakfast on Today FM, Alison Curtis and Off the Ball’s Ger Gilroy to look back on the week that was, but with a few twists…

As party campaigns kick off, The Hard Shoulder’s series learning more about the history of the presidential office continues.Patrick Geoghegan, Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity’s Arts and Humanities Research Institute, and Presenter of Talking History joins Kieran to look back the candidates who received support from county council to become president of Ireland.