The Hard Shoulder

It was announced today that the voting age is to be lowered to 16 in the UK by the next general election.16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote in all elections as part of changes, including easier voter registration and a crackdown on foreign interference.Recently, the National Youth Council of Ireland released a statement for the voting age to be lowered to 16 in Ireland. They believe that young people should have a greater say in decisions and actions that affect them and their community.To discuss this further, Kieran is joined by Political Commentator and former Sky News Political Editor and Bríd Smith, former People Before Profit TD.

How much do you know about money? Surveys suggest that Irish adults are more confident in their financial literacy than they should be.Financial Adviser Padraic Kissane joins Kieran to give advice on how to get back on track with spending and saving.

Life can be full of confusing things, but no need to worry! Every Wednesday, Simon Tierney will be showing you ‘How to do Stuff’ - bringing his best tips for those things you might not think about.This week, Simon joins Kieran after the string of good weather to discuss how you can mow your lawn perfectly!

The Dáil ends this week – so who are the biggest winners and losers of this Dáil term?Sarah McGuinness, Political Correspondent for the Irish Daily Mail and Ireland Editor for the Irish Independent, Fionnan Sheahan, join Kieran to discuss.

Whether it’s putting spare change away, finding the best deal or examining what subscriptions you really need, technology can be a great tool to help you save money.For this week’s Tech Takeover, Jess Kelly, Newstalk’s Technology Correspondent joins Kieran to give all of her money saving tech tips!

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, while congratulating Katie Taylor on her recent victory over Amanda Serrano, said that she would like to see a fight take place in Croke Park.Katie Taylor has been non-committal on her future so far, but if Croke Park became an option for a fight, would that mean we’ll see another one?Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn joins Kieran to discuss.

Recent abortion figures were covered on the show yesterday, which showed that the number of women who had abortions in Ireland last year rose to 10,852, which is the highest they’ve been since abortion was legalised in 2019.This has brought up questions surrounding contraception. In Ireland, women aged 17-34 can avail of the Free Contraception Scheme, which offers a range of contraceptive services such as prescriptions, GP consultations, and fitting/removal of long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs).So, if we have these services, why are abortions on the rise?To discuss this further, Kieran is joined by Saoirse Hanley, Personal Finance Journalist, Irish Independent and Life Magazine Columnist, Sunday Independent, Dr Máire Finn, GP with Centric Health and Eleanor Hayward, Health editor at The Times.

EU cash for farmers or the Common Agricultural Policy could reduce or change in the next EU budgetary cycle in 2028. But, what would this mean for Irish farmers who receive over €2 billion in payments. Will farmers be able to keep the lights on if the money dries up?Henry McKean has been out to a mart speaking to farmers, and joins Kieran to discuss.

A Co. Down cricket club has cancelled its plans to host a cross-community summer sports club after online criticism of its decision to include children who play GAA.Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong joins Kieran to discuss why a children’s sporting event became so contentious.

The HSE is not being given funding to tackle vaping or nicotine pouch addiction under current quit smoking programmes, despite a rise in people trying to quit e-cigarettes or nicotine pouches who had never smoked tobacco.Do we need to revisit this to tackle the issue?Joining Kieran to discuss is Professor Luke Clancy, Director General of the TobaccoFree Research Institute Ireland and Tom Gleeson, Trustee of the New Nicotine Alliance Ireland.