Newstalk Breakfast

There were tears of emotion as 384 passengers arrived home from Dubai last night.  Emirates Flight EK 163 touched down at Dublin Airport at 10.45pm, and our reporter Henry McKean spoke to some of the passengers about what they experienced.

But what happens next for the thousands of other Irish citizens still stranded in the region? Anton asked Neale Richmond, Minister of State with responsibility for International Development and Diaspora and Fine Gael TD for Dublin Rathdown.

St Patrick’s Day is around the corner, and with that, you’ll probably see a lot more green. But some decorations for Paddy’s Day are less inspiring and more insulting, according to John Crotty, Historian and author of “The Irish Tricolour”.

A new report was published by the Catholic bishops that indicates despite all the social change and the money Ireland is still one of most religious countries in western Europe.  

But it also showed that among Irish 16- to 29-year-old 42 per cent said they had no religion. So are we really still a religious society or has our faith fallen by the way side?  Anton asked , Parish Priest in Fethard, County Tipperary Father Iggy O’Donovan.  

It’s time for "Did You See”. 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 Mary Hanafin Barrister and Former FF Minister.

As energy prices look set to rise sharply amid the war in Iran, Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers has played down the prospect of immediate cost-of-living supports, warning of an “extremely volatile, uncertain and unpredictable” situation and saying the Government won’t act in the short term. Should the Government move faster and introduce supports now or is it right to wait and assess how the crisis unfolds?  

To debate was Louise O’Reilly, Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Fingal West and Sinn Fein Spokesperson on Social Protection and John Connolly, Fianna Fail TD for Galway West. 

How close teachers are to the kids they teach varies significantly by the child’s social class. That’s according to new research published this morning by the ESRI. 

Research Professor at ESRI and Co-Author of the report Emer Smyth explained the findings with Anton.

The war in Iran has reached its sixth day, and the US Senate has backed Donald Trump's war powers, after an effort by Democrats to limit them fell short. It comes as Iran has launched a fresh round of missiles at Israel early on Thursday, according to the Israeli military and Tehran’s state media 

With get the latest with Iranian-American Journalist and Analyst Borzou Daragahi.

The government has confirmed that it will charter a flight to the Middle East to evacuate Irish citizens amid the intensifying conflict in the region. 

The charter flight will have capacity for 280 people and will be targeted at Irish citizens currently in the United Arab Emirates, particularly those who are non-resident and who are vulnerable and require assistance most urgently.   

Included among thousands of Irish stuck in the gulf are the couple John Keane and Eimear Kelly from Cork.

Three in five schools have unfilled vacancies due to recruitment and retention difficulties, while almost one-in-five have been forced to drop subjects because they can’t fill positions.  

That’s according to a new survey carried out in over 100 second level schools by the Principals and Deputy Principals’ Association of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland. Joining Anton on the show was Michael Gillespie is the General Secretary of the TUI.

The National Women’s Council are calling for both maternity and paternity benefits to be linked directly to income and expanded to cover at least the first year of a child’s life. 

They will be protesting outside Leinster House later today. Speaking to Anton this morning was Donal Swan, Women’s Economic Equality Co-ordinator, with the National Women’s Council.