The Niall Boylan Podcast (They Told Me To Shut Up)

BOYLAN & HOOK: NOT SUITABLE FOR BROADCAST
Niall Boylan and legendary broadcaster George Hook join forces once again for a lively, outspoken and unapologetic look at the biggest stories of the week. In this episode, they ask:
Is Climate Policy Just Another Excuse to Tax Us? Is Working for the State Like Winning the Lottery?
You Can Shove Your Tax Cuts Up Your Arse! Should Barney’s One Bite Cost Him His Life?
Are Criminal Solicitors Being Forced to Work for Free? and Will Electric Cars Really Stand the Test of Time? Expect strong opinions, sharp disagreements, humour and the kind of conversation that may not be suitable for broadcast.

In this episode, Niall talks to political commentator Nick Delehanty about whether employers should have the right to control what their staff post on social media.
Most people would accept that an employer can stop workers scrolling through Facebook, TikTok or X while they are being paid to work. But what happens when an employee posts something from a personal account, using their own phone and in their own time?
Workers have been disciplined and even dismissed over political opinions, controversial jokes and comments made outside the workplace. Adding “my views are my own” to a profile may offer little protection if an employer believes a post has damaged the company’s reputation or upset customers.
Employers argue that staff members are still associated with the company and that offensive or inflammatory posts can cause reputational and financial harm. Employees, however, may feel that their bosses should have no authority over their private lives or personal political opinions.
So, where should the line be drawn? Is protecting a company’s reputation more important than an employee’s freedom of expression, and should something posted at home be allowed to cost you your job?

In this episode, Niall talks to social commentator Karl Deeter about People Before Profit’s proposal for the Government to establish not-for-profit supermarkets to tackle food poverty.
The party is calling for a pilot scheme involving five discount stores across Ireland, following a similar proposal announced by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The stores would sell essential food items at prices reportedly around 30% below standard retail prices.
People Before Profit says the scheme could be funded through a new tax on the largest supermarket groups and fast-food chains. However, critics argue that these businesses could simply pass the additional cost on to customers through higher prices.
Would state-backed supermarkets genuinely reduce food poverty and force greater competition in the grocery market? Or would taxpayers end up subsidising low-cost shops that could be used by people who do not need financial assistance?
Niall and Karl debate whether the proposal is a practical response to rising food prices or another costly government intervention that could create more problems than it solves.

The “Save Europe Act” is a controversial citizens’ campaign launched by Dutch political commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek and Austrian activist Martin Sellner. It calls for a halt to inward migration from non-Western countries, tougher enforcement of Europe’s borders, faster deportations of people living illegally in Europe and an EU-wide policy of “remigration” for migrants considered unwilling or unable to integrate. The campaign also argues that individual European nations should have greater powers to preserve their cultural and national identity.
In this episode, Niall speaks to journalist John McGuirk of The Statement about the proposals and the growing political support behind them.
John does not agree with every aspect of the proposed act, but believes it raises questions that Europe’s political establishment can no longer simply dismiss. Has uncontrolled migration placed unsustainable pressure on housing, public services, social cohesion and national identity, or would the measures proposed under the Save Europe Act undermine basic individual rights?
They discuss calls for mass deportations or remigration, a complete halt to non-Western migration and stronger powers for EU member states to decide who enters their countries and under what conditions.
Are these measures now necessary to secure Europe’s borders and protect its national cultures, or does the Save Europe Act go too far? Where should the line be drawn between a country’s right to control immigration and the rights of individuals already living within its borders?
Do you support the Save Europe Act, oppose it completely, or believe Europe needs tougher immigration controls without adopting every proposal contained within it?

After more than a decade of grants, tax incentives, subsidised home chargers and investment in public charging infrastructure, has Ireland’s electric vehicle revolution actually delivered?
Since 2010, successive governments have spent hundreds of millions of euro encouraging motorists to abandon petrol and diesel. Buyers can currently receive a grant of up to €3,500 towards an eligible new electric car, while a recent €10 million scrappage scheme offered qualifying motorists total support of up to €8,500.
Yet the latest CSO snapshot shows that fully electric cars represented only 3.4% of Ireland’s private car fleet in 2025, up from 2.6% the previous year. That leaves more than 96% of cars on Irish roads still powered by something other than electricity.
There are signs that the market is beginning to accelerate. Almost one in four new private cars licensed during the first five months of 2026 was fully electric, with new EV registrations rising by 52% compared with the same period last year.
But new sales tell only part of the story. For many motorists, electric cars remain too expensive, especially when compared with affordable second-hand petrol and diesel vehicles. Drivers also continue to raise concerns about range, battery deterioration, depreciation, repair costs and the availability and speed of public chargers.
Home charging can make an EV cheaper to run, but that is not an option for everyone. Apartment dwellers, renters and people without a private driveway may be forced to depend on public charging, where prices can substantially reduce the savings compared with petrol or diesel.
There are also growing concerns about whether Ireland’s electricity grid and charging network are ready for hundreds of thousands of additional electric vehicles. Recent reports have highlighted pressure on parts of the grid and delays in delivering the infrastructure required for a much larger electric fleet.
In this episode, Niall opens the phone lines and asks listeners whether they have made the switch.
Do you own an electric car, and has it saved you money, or do you regret buying it? Are high purchase prices, limited range and slow or expensive public charging still putting you off?
Should taxpayers continue subsidising electric vehicles, or are the grants mainly benefiting people who could already afford to buy a new car?
With fully electric vehicles still accounting for such a small proportion of the national fleet, is Ireland’s electric car experiment beginning to work, or has it become an expensive failure that ordinary motorists simply do not trust?