The Hard Shoulder

Joining Shane to discuss Budget 2027 and its financial impact to you is Barra Roantree, Assistant Professor of Economics at Trinity College, Emma Howard, Senior Lecturer in Economics in TU Dublin and Daniel Murray, Policy Editor with the Business Post.

Joining Shane Coleman to give their reactions following the speeches delivered by Táinaiste Simon Harris and Minister Jack Chambers for Budget 2027 is Barra Roantree, Assistant Professor of Economics at Trinity College, Susan Hayes Culleton, Presenter of Taking Stock and Emma Howard, Senior Lecturer in Economics in TU Dublin and Ger Hyland, President of the Irish Road Haulage Association.

Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers delivers his speech outlining Budget 2027 from the Dáil Chamber.

Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris delivers his speech outlining Budget 2027 from inside the Dáil Chamber.

Seán Defoe, Newstalk’s Political Correspondent, joins Shane Coleman to give an overview of what we can expect from today’s announcements in Budget 2027 ahead of the speeches from Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris and Minister for Public Expenditure, Jack Chambers...

Neurodistinct (ND) conditions such as autism, ADHD and dyslexia are genetic and hereditary. In anonymous surveys of parents attending my “parenting exceptional children” courses, 79% say that they are or think they might be neurodivergent in some way, and 85% think the other parent might be.

So, should parents of neuro-divergent children be encouraged to embrace their own neurodiversity?

Joining Shane to discuss is Nessa Hill, a founding member and CEO of Neurodiversity Ireland.

For this week’s Kids Clinic, Ciara was joined by Ollwyn Moran, M.Ed. & Clinical Director at CogniClinic.ie to discuss loosening the reigns a bit and giving your child more independence!

The US has withdrawn all of its B1 bombers from RAF Fairford with no explanation. The UK military base was at the centre of a major incident on the 27th of September when police were alerted to three "suspicious vehicles" near the airbase.

Joining Ciara to discuss what this means for security and the US-UK relationship is Duncan Bullivant, CEO of the Henderson Risk Group.

Budget 2027, to be presented on October 6th, is due to involve a package of €8.5 billion, with €7 billion in additional spending and €1.5 billion in tax reductions.

The issue of cost-of-living is expected to be a key focus across the whole package.

Joining Shane to discuss this is Louise Burne, Political Correspondent for the Irish Examiner.

Most of us remember the days when individual seasons of TV would run from Autumn to Spring, with 20 plus episodes per year. This kind of TV allowed us to spend much more time with the characters and featured themed Christmas, Halloween and other holiday episodes.

We also were treated to so-called ‘filler’ or ‘bottle’ episodes where characters spend the entire time in one room, often speaking about one thing or even nothing at all. Nowadays, we’re lucky to get 8 hours’ worth of episodes per season and everything is much more tightly packed in.

With many of us going back to binge-watching older shows, is there an appetite for the return of this kind of TV? Do we even miss the ‘filler’?

Joining Ciara to discuss is Entertainment Journalist, Olivia Fahy.