Highlights From Newstalk Breakfast

Damien Broderick, Men’s Lifestyle Influencer is encouraging his fellow Dubs to take a bit more pride in what they wear around the city He wants to encourage young men to make braver and more individual choices when it comes to what they wear. Damien joined us on the show.

Yesterday it was the price of a pint of Guinness which saw a hike but today An Post has announced the price of a stamp is also set to rise. From the first of February, a standard stamp will increase by 10c to €1.35, an 8% rise. David McRedmond, CEO of An Post spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

Some parts of Ireland saw just an 8% uptake in the second Covid booster. That’s according to new stats from the CSO up to the end of November which put the highest uptake at 33% in Rathfarnham-Templeogue. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast was Dr. Lucy Jessop Consultant in Public Health Medicine at the HSE’s National Immunisation Office.

An attempt by the Green Party’s two elected members on Cork County Council, to get support of their colleagues for a letter that would ask the Agriculture Minister, Charlie Mcconlogue to ban live hare coursing was met with an almost unanimous rejection this week. Cork Green Party Councillor Alan O’Connor, put forward the motion, which was dismissed by a large majority of council members including County Cork Fine Gael Councillor, Eileen Lynch. Both spoke to Newstalk Breakfast with more on this.

The Banshees of Inisherin dominated the Golden Globe awards with Colin Farrell winning Best Actor, Best Screenplay of a motion picture and Musical or Comedy Motion Picture Jeanne Wolf, Hollywood Journalist brought us all the details from the awards.

The Mandate Trade Union has today called for the abolition of the sub-minimum rates of the National Minimum Wage which the union says are discriminatory and disrespectful towards younger workers. The union’s Assistant General Secretary, Jonathan Hogan spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

Mask-wearing should be compulsory for January and February on public transport and in congregated settings according to Labour Party Health spokesman, Duncan Smith who spoke to Shane this morning. .

Over the weekend that a number of protests took place against asylum seekers being accommodated in hotels. For the third night in a row, a demonstration took place in Ballymun our reporter Josh Crosbie was there and he joined us in the studio to tell how what he observed.

The Alliance for Insurance Reform is calling on insurers to pass on the benefits of what they’re calling a dramatic reduction in claims to policyholders. We caught up with Peter Boland, Director of the Alliance for Insurance Reform.

Politicians have been told to consider carrying panic alarms and to vary the routes they travel as the Government assesses whether to pay for increased security measures. The advice comes in the wake of an incident involving Minister Anne Rabitte and Ciaran Cannon, Fine Gael TD last week. Martin Kenny, Sinn Fein TD for Sligo-Leitrim and Sinn Fein gave his view this morning on the show.

“Record 569 people on trolleys in Irish hospitals” , you might think that is a headline from 2023 but no you’d be wrong – That is actually a headline from the 5th of January 2011. Fast forward 12 years to last Tuesday when a new record was set – 931 was the new highest-ever figure reported by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. So is there any fix in sight for what has become Ireland’s annual trolley crisis? Dr. Brendan O’Shea Kildare GP and Assistant Professor in Public Health and Primary Care at Trinity College Dublin spoke to Shane this morning on the show.

“It’s time for a return to the forgotten tradition of ‘Long Christmas’ because January should be a time for geniality, cheerfulness, and gentle gluttony, not shivering abstinence made worse by a rigorous fitness regime” That’s the view of Journalist Melanie McDonagh who joined us on Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

The ozone layer over the Earth is on track to recover in the next four decades but it faces potential fresh threats from chemicals released by new technologies. Speaking to Shane was a Professor in Environmental Policy at University College Dublin and a member of the Climate Advisory Council, Cara Augustenborg.

The first cases of a new Covid-19 subvariant that is causing concern internationally have been detected in Ireland. Ciara spoke to the Professor of Immunology and Director of the Kathleen Lonsdale Institute for Human Health Research at Maynooth University, Paul Moynagh.

The 14th season of Room to Improve aired last night with our next guest making a welcome return to our screens! Dermot Bannon, Presenter of Room to Improve, what can we expect from this series?

Owners of e-bikes and e-scooters are being advised to stay below twenty-five kilometres an hour, or else they face paying tax and insurance. For more on this Newstalk Breakfast spoke to Conor Faughnan, Transport Commentator and Former Director of Consumer Affairs for AA Ireland.

The HSE needs to scale up its use of private beds to tackle the ongoing trolley crisis. That was the view of Minister of State Jack Chambers speaking yesterday. Dr. Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer with the HSE spoke to Newstalk Breakfast.

MetroLink will lay waste to chunks of the city centre but won’t integrate city transportation That is the view of Frank McDonald Author, Journalist and former Environment Editor of The Irish Times Frank McDonald joins us on Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

iews of Irish boys as young as seven being ‘conditioned’ by disgraced influencer Andrew Tate according to an article in The Sunday Times. But is there a way to un-do this learning? Danielle McKenna is the Project Manager of the Rialto Youth Project who spoke to Newstalk Breakfast.

Pinergy has become latest energy supplier to up its prices, as electricity is to rise by 18% from today. This comes despite a fall in wholesale energy prices – So what does this mean for your pocket in 2023? Ciara was joined this morning by Energy Economist at the ESRI, Muireann Lynch.