The Hard Shoulder

Every week for The Ultimate Guide on The Hard Shoulder, we take a closer look at some of the fantastic destinations to visit around the world.

This week, Eoghan Corry, Editor of Air and Travel Magazine, joined Ciara and Shane to give his ultimate guide to getting the best deals on air travel!

The search is on for Ireland's next big boyband, potentially bigger than Boyzone or Westlife. Brian McFadden has brought together the people behind One Direction and the Sugerbabes.

Henry McKean sat down with Brian McFadden, and sent us this interview.

If you think you have what it takes,  and you are between 17 and 19 years of age check out Brian McFadden's instagram page or eu.castitreach.com.

More than 300,000 public sector workers including nurses, doctors, teachers and civil servants, will engage in a 24-hour strike tomorrow over delays in agreeing a new public sector pay deal.

Joining me now to discuss this is Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin Mid-West, Shane Moynihan.

Google is planning to spend up to $5 million into a new project in Ireland to develop better ways of predicting severe storms, flash flooding and other extreme weather events here.

The plan will see 560 weather stations installed in schools across the country, with artificial intelligence being used to analyse the data.

Ciara O’Brien, Technology Correspondent with The Irish Times has the story, and she joins Shane to discuss.

Today FM DJ Claire Beck joins Ciara to place her favourite book on the Hard Shoulder Bookshelf!

Excessive spending on online raffles for houses, cars, hol­i­days and cash can be a red flag in loan applic­a­tions, affect­ing how much fin­ance firms are pre­pared to lend. This information comes at a time when online con­tests for massive prizes have been grow­ing in popularity.

But, what should you know about how it affects your risk of loan applications?

Joining Shane to discuss is Padraic Kissane, Financial Advisor.

Gardaí have launched a murder investigation after a house fire in Waterford city claimed the lives of two adults and two children.

Newstalk’s Chief Reporter Barry Whyte is in the area today, and joins Shane to discuss what we know so far…

PrepayPower has announced it is freezing electricity and gas prices for customers this winter.

The move will mean the energy provider's roughly 200,000 customers will be guaranteed to see no price increases until March 2027 at the earliest.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office last week showed the prices for energy products, which include electricity, gas and other fuels, jumped by 15.3% in the year to September.

Joining Ciara to discuss this is Lisa Ryan, Professor in Energy Economics at the UCD School of Economics.

“Vogue Williams is right, can we please stop telling new parents to enjoy every single minute? Maybe it’s time we gave exhausted parents a break, they don’t need constant reminders that “the days are long, but the years are short”...

So says Niamh O’Reilly, Freelance Writer and Journalist in The Journal. She joins Ciara to discuss.

The Government has described tomorrow’s planned strike action as “difficult to justify”, warning of disruption to essential public services.

More than 300,000 public sector workers are expected to take part, affecting schools, hospitals and services across the country.

Unions have hit back at Minister Jack Chambers, saying he “brought nothing new” to the table to avert the strike.

For the latest developments, Shane is joined by Mary Regan, Political Editor with the Irish Independent.