Newstalk Breakfast Highlights

Helen Coffey, Senior Features Writer with The Independent, joins Newstalk Breakfast to discuss why she compares ageing to grief — and how society treats growing older.Listen here.

Reva Viard, activist on board the Gaza-bound flotilla, joins Newstalk Breakfast to discuss the group's mission to challenge Israel's naval blockade.Listen here.

Deirdre Reynolds, Sunday World columnist, joins Newstalk Breakfast after her harasser — a convicted rapist — was sentenced to 11 years in prison.Listen here.

Norma Foley, Minister for Children, joins Newstalk Breakfast to outline plans for a new maximum fee cap on early learning and childcare services. Listen here.

NewsTalk Breakfast is joined by Elon Musk's father, Errol. As this escalating row between Elon and Donald Trump rolls on, is it all about the "Big Beautiful Bill" or is there more to it.Listen here.

Dee Molumby, pop culture and film expert, joins Newstalk Breakfast to talk about the newly released trailer and premiere date for Wicked: Part Two.Listen here.

Sorcha Edwards, Secretary General of Housing Europe, joins Newstalk Breakfast to outline ideas from the International Social Housing Festival underway in Dublin.Listen here.

David Smith, Washington Bureau Chief for The Guardian, joins Newstalk Breakfast to unpack the public feud between Donald Trump and Elon Musk.Listen here.

All things considered, is free speech under threat, or are we blowing the hate speech legislation out of proportion?Jonathan and Ciara discuss.Listen here.

Professor Donal O'Shea, Clinical Lead for Obesity at the HSE, joins the show to discuss new warnings for women using weight-loss drugs, after reports of unexpected pregnancies linked to reduced contraceptive effectiveness.Listen here to get the report breakdown.

Motoring Editor with the Sunday Independent, Geraldine Herbert, joins Newstalk Breakfast to assess whether 175 new fast chargers will be enough to support growing EV demand across the country.Listen here.

Eoin Ó Broin, Sinn Féin's Housing Spokesperson, joined Newstalk Breakfast to reveal figures showing it often costs more to house families in emergency accommodation than to buy them a home.Listen here.

Shane Scanlan, CEO of The Alliance Supporting Nursing Homes, joins Newstalk Breakfast following an RTÉ exposé of serious care concerns at homes run by Emeis Ireland (formerly Orpea).Get all the latest here.

Ian O'Doherty, Irish Independent columnist, joins Newstalk Breakfast to discuss growing pressure from US officials over Ireland's planned hate speech laws.Listen here.

Councillor Aileen Browne joins Newstalk Breakfast to explain her proposal to install free sunscreen dispensers in parks and public areas to promote skin cancer awareness.Listen here.

Martin Wall, Public Policy Correspondent with The Irish Times, joined Newstalk Breakfast to detail a report into waiting list issues and a toxic workplace culture at CHI, now referred to Gardaí.Listen here.

Saoirse Brady, Executive Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, joins Newstalk Breakfast to discuss the Government's plan to add 1,000 prison spaces and whether it addresses the core problems in our society.Listen here.

Inna Sovsun, Ukrainian MP, joins Ciara Kellyas she responds to Donald Trump's warning that Vladimir Putin will retaliate after drone attacks on Russian airbases.Listen here.

Sinead Tighe is a full-time carer to her teenage son and she joined Newstalk Breakfast to share the daily realities of caregiving and new research ahead of National Carers Week. Listen here.

Sky News correspondent Dan Whitehead joins the show from Portugal with the latest on the new search effort in the Madeleine McCann case.Listen here.

Minister for Education Helen McEntee joins Newstalk Breakfast as thousands of students begin their Leaving and Junior Certificate exams.Get all the conversation here.

Martin Wall, Public Policy Correspondent with The Irish Times, joins the show to discuss a new report revealing how a CHI consultant missed on-call hours for over three years, while earning large sums for weekend clinics to reduce waiting lists.Listen here.

Leona Macken joins Newstalk Breakfast after receiving a formal apology from the HSE over false-negative smear test results that led to a late-stage cervical cancer diagnosis.Listen here.

Professor in Psychiatry, Brendan Kelly of Trinity College Dublin joins Newstalk Breakfast to talk about how wealth gaps between friends can create stressListen here.

Conor Quinlan from the Environmental Protection Agency joins Newstalk Breakfast to explain Ireland's first national climate risk report and which areas are most vulnerable in the years ahead.Listen here.

Councillor with Independent Ireland, Michael Leainde joins Newstalk Breakfast with reaction to the deaths of Sunny Jacobs — who spent five years on death row in the US — and Galway man Kevin Kelly, in a Connemara house fire.Listen here.

All things considered, Ciara and Jonathan discuss the ongoing troubles with the CHI.Listen here.

A 70-year-old Irish woman has been arrested in the occupied West Bank and is detained in Israel, fighting a deportation order. Deirdre ‘D' Murphy is volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement an activist group helping Palestinian residents in the occupied West Bank. Mariam is another member of this group and joined NewsTalk Breakfast earlier to discuss.

Dr David A. Kessler, former US FDA Commissioner, joins Newstalk Breakfast to discuss his new book 'Diet, Drugs and Dopamine' — and what the popularity of Ozempic says about our relationship with food.Listen here.

All things considered, is the Leaving Cert too much to stress about? Jonathan and Ciara discuss.

Conor Skehan, Sunday Independent columnist, joins Newstalk Breakfast to discuss proposed reforms to the Land Development Agency that could speed up the delivery of housing across Ireland.Listen here.

Fintan Phelan, Mayor of Carlow, and Christy Galligan, former Garda Sergeant join Newstalk Breakfast as it's revealed that a man who fired shots in a local shopping centre was already on bail and facing 13 firearms-related charges.Listen here.

Prof Donnacha Ó Beacháin of DCU joins Newstalk Breakfast as Russia and Ukraine agree to swap 1,000 prisoners each.But any discussions on a ceasefiure deal remain far apartListen here.

Psychotherapist and author Stella O'Malley joins Newstalk Breakfast with advice for students and parents ahead of the first day of the 2025 Leaving Cert.Listen here.

Claire Dunne, CEO of the Irish Travel Agents Association, joins Newstalk Breakfast to discuss why European airlines are calling for relaxation on compensation rules for flight delays.Listen here.

Vincent McAvinney, London-based journalist, joins Newstalk Breakfast as German police prepare to launch a fresh search in Portugal in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.Listen here.

Parental intuition can predict child's serious illness before doctors. That's according to new research published in the journal Lancet Child and Adolescent Health. We discuss these findings with Monaghan Based GP Illona Duffy.

This weekend, Gardaí will board buses across Dublin as part of a commitment to improve safety on public transport, after anti-social incidents have more than doubled in the last five years. We discuss this and more with Blake Boland, Spokesperson for Dublin Bus.

Friday Riff: Gardai on buses is it needed? Ciara and Jonathan discussed this morning.

Festival season Kicks off our own Ciara Treacy talks all things festival for 2025.

The White House has said that Israel had accepted US President Donald Trump's proposal for a Gaza ceasefire, while discussions are continuing with Hamas. Joining us for more on this is Alistair Bunkall Sky News Middle East Correspondent.

Ireland will need specialised rehabilitation clinics and detox services to deal with phone addiction within the next five years. That's according to Professor Colin O'Gara, Addiction Psychiatrist at St John of Gods Hospital and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCD .