The Hard Shoulder Highlights

Off The Ball's Mick McCarthy joined Kieran Cuddihy on The Hard Shoulder to review the week in sport and look ahead to the weekend action…Image: Reuters

The Government is to review the nutritional value of thousands of hot meals that are being provided to school children around the country.The meals scheme is already provided in more than 2,000 primary schools and Social Protection Minister Dara Calleary has said that will expand it by a further 713 to reach 475,000 children and 2,850 schools.The Minister joins Kieran to discuss.

From packed carriages to dirty seats, taking public transport can be a challenging experience, but it is increased by the annoyance of passengers not using headphones – which is the thoughts of Broadcaster, Writer and Guardian Columnist Adrian Chiles.He joins Kieran to discuss!

Cases of Measles are on the rise globally, and anecdotal evidence from early childhood providers here would suggest that far fewer parents are vaccinating their children.With reports of a suspected case of measles in a Dublin creche this week, creche owners are calling on the Government to offer better guidance and policy on how to deal with this…Joining Kieran to discuss is Elaine Dunne from the Federation of Early Childhood Providers Professor Luke O’Neill, Immunologist at Trinity College...

An IBEC conference heard this week how parental leave for male employees can be a career killer!A recent ESRI study showed that only half of father's avail of paternity leave, and only a quarter of men take parent’s leave compared with two-thirds of mothers.Newstalk’s Simon Tierney joins Kieran to discuss why more don’t avail of parental leave…

Keeping your room tidy and making the bed everyday are the main life skills parents want their children to learn before they move out of home.Half of parents say putting away and hanging up clothes, being able to do a grocery shop on a budget, and starting a savings account are the next most important life lessons.Henry McKean has been out investigating, and joins Kieran to discuss.

A new campaign by FraudSMART has revealed that €17 million has been lost by SMEs through email-related scams in the last two years.And in a world of tariffs, where businesses are more aware than ever of their bottom line, what impact does this have?Tommy Bowe, former Irish rugby international and entrepreneur and Niamh Davenport, Head of Financial Crime at FraudSMART join guest host Emmet Oliver to discuss.

61,000 students will sit the Leaving Cert this year, but there are concerns that the class of 2025 will be at a disadvantage when it comes to the CAO process.This is because around 15,000 students from the previous three years will also apply to the CAO, and these students will have benefitted from the grade inflation introduced during Covid.Among those expressing concern is Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. She joins guest host Emmet Oliver to discuss. Also joining later to give their perspective is Paul Crone Director at the National Association of Principals and Deputies and MJ Quill Vice-President of the Union of Students in Ireland.

Mark Mellett, former Head of the Defence Forces joins guest host Emmet Oliver for this week’s Thursday Interview!

The warm weather has the Irish rocking their summer wardrobes from sunny shades to the cool shorts, with many making the journey to the office in such attire, but is that appropriate for the workplace?Laura Jordan, Image Consultant from Stylesavvy.ie and Cathal O’Sullivan, from 98fm join guest host Emmet Oliver to discuss.