Highlights From Newstalk Breakfast

Thousands of Donegal and Kerry fans will be descending upon Dublin this Sunday for the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final and those in their cars will be paying a toll on the motorway. Should toll fees be scrapped? We asked Michael Healy Rae, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Independent TD for Kerry.  

From Amble packing the 3 arena, to Kingfishr selling out a headline US tour - Irish trad and folk music is having a serious revival at home and abroad.   But what’s behind the resurgence of interest in Gaelic culture and how can we all get involved?    Newstalk’s Sarah madden reports: 

Ghislaine Maxwell met a top justice department official yesterday as pressure grows on the Trump administration to release files linked to the disgraced financier, Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking network. We get the latest on this with David Smith, Washington Bureau Chief with The Guardian. 

Weight tax for SUVs now on the table for Budget 2026 as strategy papers offer a glimpse at potential measures. While the tax strategy group marks inconsistencies  inconsistency in greenhouse gas taxes. All to discuss with Charlie Weston, Personal Finances Editor with the Independent.  

Gwen Loughman Freelance writer and self-confessed serial self-talker, who says chatting to herself and sometimes to flowers and shopping trolleys brings her calm, clarity, and a surprising amount of joy.

Staff at AIB have slammed a decision requiring them to work in person at least three days a week, the tightest among Irish retail banks. They have described it as “a solution to a problem that didn’t exist” and “something this serious that affects staff lives”.  For more on this we were joined by John O’Connell, General Secretary of the Financial Services Union. 

Negotiators from the European Union are moving towards accepting US import tariffs of 15 per cent as the price of a deal in ongoing trade talks with Washington. Here to discuss is Dan Mulhall, Former Ambassador of Ireland to the United States. 

Despite the massive growth of the industry, the regulatory framework for aesthetic medicine has been left untouched for nearly two decades. We discuss this further with Dr Sean Fitzpatrick, President of the Irish College of Aesthetic Medicine. 

Return to the office! Is it reasonable for employers to ask their staff to come into the office? An interesting discussion with Shane and Jonathan this morning.

Investigations are ongoing into a potentially “extensive outbreak” of listeriosis in Ireland after one person has died with a confirmed case of the disease.  The Food Safety Authority has recalled 140 ready-made meals from Irish stores over concerns of the presence of Listeria.  To explain more about the bacteria was Alan Reilly, Adjunct professor at the Institute of Food and Health in UCD and former chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.

A commitment given by the last government to spend €2 billion on retrofitting residential homes by the year 2030 is now under review by Minister for Environment and Energy Darragh O'Brien.  Speaking to Jonathan this morning was Ossian Smyth, Green Party Spokesperson for Energy.

Investigations are ongoing into a potentially ‘extensive outbreak’ of listeriosis following the death of one adult with a confirmed case.  The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has recalled 140 ready-made meals from supermarkets across Ireland over concerns of the presence of Listeria.  We get the latest on this story with Muiris O’Cearbhaill who is a journalist with the Journal.ie.

One of the strongest earthquakes in modern history has triggered evacuations in Japan, Hawaii and some parts of the US west coast amid triggers widespread tsunami warnings across the Pacific coastlines. Dr Athena Masson, Meteorologist and Natural Hazard Specialist joined us on Newstalk Breakfast.

 More than 100 aid and rights groups on have today called for governments to take action as hunger spreads in Gaza. They are demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the lifting of all restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid.  Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast was Stephen Bowen, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland.

You’d have to be living under a rock to have missed the video and subsequent fallout of a pair now known as ‘the Coldplay Couple’. But in the fallout, should we ask ourselves; have we finally gone too far in exposing more about this couple? All to discuss with Columnist with The Irish Independent, Simon Bourke.

Drinking water in private supplies is becoming worse quality than public water supplies. That’s according to a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency.   We discuss the findings with Noel Byrne, Programme Manager of the Drinking Water and Waste Water Enforcement Team with the EPA. 

An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin joined Newstalk Breakfast this morning ahead of the Cabinet summer break. Joining Shane to discuss Metrolink, budget and the National Development Plan and more.

Black Sabbath frontman and heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne has died at the age of 76, after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2019. Jeanne Wolf, Hollywood journalist who interviewed Ozzy told us what he was like?  

Tour guides at a site of the Battle of the Boyne are not allowed to wear green and orange, according to an email regarding dress code seen by the Irish Independent.   Shane get reaction from Dr Ruth Dudley Edwards, Historian, Commentator and Author of the Faithful Tribe.

The Government has warned that the 9.4-billion-euro Budget for 2026 could be affected by a “deterioration in the tariff landscape”.  However, the summer economic statement is silent on how exactly things might change if there is a big shock. Jonathan discusses this further with Dr Barra Roantree, Assistant Professor of Economics at Trinity College.