
"I want to save the swans from flying into a suspension bridge."
18 March 2022 - 11 minsIn Bray County Wicklow a new sustainable suspension bridge proposed for Bray Harbour has run into protests from locals who want to save the swans. The 100 swans who live on the River Dargle can't see suspension cables and fly straight into them causing their wings to be damaged or even death, as happens at the Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin. Henry McKean travelled to Bray and met locals who care about the welfare of the swans. With Swan conservationist Marcia Nicholson and Bray based vet Pete Wedderburn.

Tuesday Travel: Istanbul
Every week for Tuesday Travel on The Hard Shoulder, Fionn Davenport takes a closer look at some of the fantastic destinations to visit around the world. This week, Fionn joined Kieran to give him tips for a trip to Istanbul....
17 mins
27 September Finished

The Shona Project: 'If you do what you enjoy, you don't really work'
The Shine Festival is set to kick off this October with a range of events that aims to inspire young women across Ireland. The festival is run by The Shona Project: Empowering and Inspiring the girls of Ireland and will feature events and talks from speakers across many sectors including health, sport, politics and business. One of the speakers, Ellen Gunning, CEO of MetaComms joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss... Image: The Shona Project/Debbie Hickey.
8 mins
26 September Finished

Common Ground: Is the far left as bad as the far right?
Kieran Cuddihy was joined by Fine Gael Senator, Regina Doherty, and Socialist Party TD for Cork North Central, Mick Barry. Continuing the series, ‘Common Ground’, they will debate some of the biggest, most divisive topics around. The series continued with a debate on 'Is the far left as bad as the far right?'
12 mins
26 September Finished

Gino Kenny: New Zealand's assisted dying model is a good guideline
The Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying has been told today that twelve Irish people have travelled to Switzerland to die with Dignitas since 2003 Also, nearly 100 Irish people have become members of the group, which provides physician-supported accompanied suicide. This is almost double the rate it was two years ago. Gino Kenny, People Before Profit TD for Dublin Mid-West, and member of the Committee joined Kieran to discuss...
7 mins
26 September Finished

Bake Off Returns: 'I'm so looking forward to it' - 2021 winner Giuseppe Dell’Anno
Fans of the Great British Bake Off are counting down the hours to the start of season 14 of the show, which kicks off this evening. The show is always a massive success when it returns to our screens, but what is it actually like to be on the other side of the camera for a show like this? Kieran was joined by 2021 winner of the series, Giuseppe Dell’Anno to discuss...
5 mins
26 September Finished

Ronan Mullen: Joe Brolly’s commentary ‘isn’t acceptable in political debate’
The issue of assisted dying was back before an Oireachtas committee on the issue today. Dignitas which operates in Switzerland where the practice is legal was one of those before the committee today Dignitas member Silvan Luley told TDs this morning that its Irish membership grew from 57 to 80 between 2020 and last year, and that 13 people have travelled to Switzerland to end their lives since 2003, most recently in 2020. Independent Senator Ronan Mullen is on the committee and joined Kieran to discuss this along with comments made by Joe Brolly on The Hard Shoulder about the need for hate speech legislation …
14 mins
26 September Finished