Highlights From Newstalk Breakfast

Waterford is under a Status Orange rain warning with further warning to kicking in in Dublin while 9 other counties across the country are under a yellow warning There are particular concerns for Wicklow, following a week of heavy rain and flooding, about further devastation to communities. Reporting from Wicklow was Newstalk’s Chief Reporter Barry Whyte.

Now it’s time for “Between the Lines”, where we take a closer look at some of the stories you may have missed in the news this morning. Joining Anton this morning was Journalist and Broadcaster Flor McCarthy.

“A neighbourhood is not a car park”, according to David Healy, Green Party Councillor for Howth-Malahide, who has a new vision for housing and car spaces. Anton asked David what he is proposing.

Both primary and post-primary schools are struggling to find teachers for both long-term and short-term positions – with Dublin and other urban areas the worst hit. So how can the Government increase supply?  Anton asked Kieran Christie, ASTI General Secretary.

Last night, TDs debated the Government’s latest Residential Tenancies Bill, which will see rents capped at two per cent annually for all homes except new apartments.   But will this new bill actually help solve the rental crisis, or will it in fact cause greater issues for Ireland’s housing supply? All to discuss with Colm Lauder, Founding Partner at Lauder Teacher and Contributor with the Business Post.

A Status Orange Rain Warning is in place for Waterford with a further orange warning kicking in in Dublin and Wicklow from 12pm Eight other counties are also under a Status Yellow Rain warning after weeks of heavy rain and flooding. Anton get the latest on the weather warning with Gerry Murphy, Meteorologist at Met Eireann. 

Schools will have to tell parents the amount of money they generate from voluntary contributions, and how they are spent, according to new rules to be introduced by the Government. We get reaction to this from Paul Crone, Director of the National Association of Principals and Deputies.

About 30 IFA members are continuing a sit-down protest inside Bord Bia’s Dublin offices, escalating their campaign for the removal of chair Larry Murrin.  We heard from Francie Gorman, President of the Irish Farmers Association. 

Having your home or premises flood is one of your worst nightmares and for so many families and business owners around the country that is exactly what they are dealing with this morning.   When this happens one of the first people on the scene is Kevin Kelly at Irish Fire and Flood restoration.

Plans to implement a ban on the use of scramblers in public places are expected to go before Cabinet this morning. Speaking to Anton this morning was Sean Canney Junior Minister of Transport & Independent TD for Galway East. 

The Oireachtas Media Committee is meeting today to discuss the regulation of online platforms, with senior figures from Meta, Google and TikTok due to appear.  Social media platform X has refused the invitation Joining Anton was someone who was once at the heart of Meta, Arturo Béjar, the company’s former Director of Engineering for Protect and Care, who has since become a whistleblower. 

Today, peace talks are set to take place in Abu Dhabi between the US, Ukraine and Russia in the hopes to bring an end to the war in Ukraine after nearly three years. We get the latest on this with Emmanuelle Chaze, Ukraine Correspondent for France 24.

Now it’s time for “Between the Lines”, where we take a closer look at some of the stories you may have missed in the news this morning. Joining Anton this morning was Sinéad O’Carroll, Editor of the Journal.ie. 

Tusla is opposing a proposed new law that would remove parental rights from people who kill their partner, arguing that a child’s best interests may still be served by maintaining a connection with their birth parents, even if the parent who remains is responsible for the death of the other.Internal emails show that the agency was disappointed that the Department of Justice ignored its objections to Valerie’s Law, which would remove automatic guardianship rights from those convicted and in some cases suspected of killing the other parent of their child.Valerie’s law is named after, of course, Valerie French, and her brother David spoke to Anton this morning.

Junk food ads aimed at children should be banned. That’s one of a number of calls made by members of the public in conversations hosted by Safefood Ireland last year. This comes as Safe Food is today launching a new exhibition called an ‘Appetite for Change’, to start a dialogue on healthy eating in Ireland and to tell us more about this is Anna Taylor Executive Director, The Food Foundation.

Metropolitan Police has launched a criminal investigation into Peter Mandelson following claims he passed market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein. It comes after the Cabinet Office referred material to police after reviewing Epstein file documents that suggest he forwarded internal government information to Epstein when he was business secretary in 2009.For the latest on this Anton spoke to Political Commentator Adam Boulton.

Last night might have been weather warning-free, but we’re not yet free from heavy rain and flooding. The extremely wet conditions in recent weeks could be replaced by freezing weather and snow by the middle of February, according to some longer-term predictions. Here to tell us more was Alan O’Reilly from Carlow Weather.

68-year-old retired prison officer Paudie Maloney has had quite a year! After becoming a household name after his memorable run on The Traitors Ireland, he has now taken his talents to the ballroom on RTÉ’s Dancing with the Stars. Paudie spoke to Anton about life after The Traitors.

The bottle Re-turn scheme has kick-started a craze of “bin scavenging” across Dublin leaving the city like a bomb site according to Richard Shakespeare, the chief executive of Dublin City Council. For more on this Anton was joined on the show by Nial Ring Ind Councillor for Dublin North Inner City.

Queen's University Belfast is to remove the name of former US Senator George Mitchell - one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement - from a peace centre following the emergence of new information contained in the Jeffrey Epstein files.Anton discusses this and more with Vinny McAvinney, Broadcaster and Journalist and Gina London, Former CNN White House Correspondent and Sunday Independent Columnist.