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

This week on Not Suitable For Broadcast, Niall Boylan is joined once again by his former producer AJ Walsh for a fast, funny and unapologetically opinionated look back at some of the biggest talking points of the week.
They ask whether the Government is genuinely expanding choice for women and families, or increasingly looking down on traditional marriage, motherhood and stay at home parenting. They also get into Ireland’s cash economy and ask the awkward question: if you knew your neighbour was taking cash in hand and not declaring it, would you report them?
Family loyalty comes under the microscope too. If a brother committed a violent assault or your child was caught dealing drugs, how far would you go to protect them before loyalty becomes enabling?
Niall and AJ also look at the cost of holidaying in Ireland and ask whether hotels, restaurants, attractions and car hire have simply become too expensive for tourists. Then things get even more heated as they debate whether householders should have stronger legal protection when confronting burglars inside their own homes, and whether offensive speech should ever become a criminal matter under hate speech laws.
There is some light relief when the clampers themselves get clamped in Dublin, before the lads turn their attention to an extraordinary 24 hours in the skies, with the eclipse grabbing all the headlines while six planets and the Perseid meteor shower were putting on their own show.
Politics, family, crime, free speech, tourism, hypocrisy and a bit of astronomy thrown in for good measure. It is another week of stories that are definitely Not Suitable For Broadcast.

On today’s show, Niall Boylan talks to podcaster Elaine Mullally about a family dilemma sent in by a listener who fears she and her husband are being taken advantage of by their own son.
Their 25-year-old son, his girlfriend and their two-year-old child moved into the family home so they could save for a place of their own. They pay no rent, and the grandparents regularly babysit while the young couple go out. But despite saying they are saving, the couple still enjoy regular takeaways, weekends away and nights out with friends, and they are now planning a week in Portugal this September.
When the listener’s husband suggested they needed to make more sacrifices if they were serious about buying a home, the couple became annoyed and told him it was none of his business how they spent their money.
Now he wants to give them three months’ notice to leave. His wife, however, is terrified that doing so could destroy their relationship with their son and, even worse, mean losing contact with the grandson she adores.
Niall and Elaine ask: Are these parents helping their son get on his feet, or are they simply funding his lifestyle? If you live rent-free with your parents to save for a home, do they have the right to question how you spend your money? And should the grandparents finally tell them to leave, even if it risks tearing the family apart?

In this episode, Niall Boylan speaks to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín about the rising cost of fuel and the Government’s plans to unwind reductions in excise duty from September.
Tóibín says the Government is on course to collect around €1.7 billion in VAT on fuel this year, approximately €238 million more than last year, while motorists are still struggling with the cost of living. He also warns that drivers could face a series of fuel price increases across September, October and November as tax measures change. Niall asks whether motorists are once again being treated as an easy source of revenue, whether the Government should postpone the increases, and how much more families and commuters can realistically absorb.
Later, Niall opens the phone lines on a very different and difficult question.
Ukrainians living in accommodation centres across Limerick and Clare have reportedly been given notice to leave, with some expected to find and pay for their own accommodation or fund their journey home. Those with exceptional circumstances may still qualify for additional support.
The discussion turns to younger Ukrainian men who may fear returning home because of the war and the possibility of being expected to fight. Niall asks listeners to put themselves in their shoes. If staying meant risking your life on the front line, would you remain and defend your country, or would you take your partner and children somewhere safe?
And if Ireland found itself at war tomorrow, and you had the choice between staying to fight or boarding a plane with your family and escaping to safety, what would you do?

Where should Ireland draw the line between free speech and hate speech?
In this episode, Niall talks to callers and Tomas O’Reilly, a Brussels based policy adviser and journalist whose work has previously appeared in Euronews and The European Conservative. Tomas currently works as a policy adviser in the European Parliament.
The discussion comes as a new official report highlighting racism and discrimination in Ireland reignites calls for tougher hate speech laws. The Irish Government previously dropped controversial proposed hate speech provisions following significant public and political opposition, but the debate is far from over.
Should freedom of speech protect opinions that many people consider deeply offensive, racist or discriminatory? Can words themselves cause enough harm to justify criminal prosecution? Is simply saying something offensive ever something that should make you a criminal? And, perhaps most importantly, who gets to decide what crosses the line?
Niall hears from callers with very different views on whether Ireland needs stronger protections against hate speech or whether expanding these laws could have a chilling effect on political debate, controversial opinions and freedom of expression.
Tomas also discusses his latest article for Gript, which examines a renewed push within the European Union to establish broader EU level rules covering online hate speech and hate crime.
Summary of Tomas O’Reilly’s Gript Article
Tomas reports that the European Commission is considering a new attempt to introduce EU wide minimum criminal rules covering online hate speech, after an earlier 2021 proposal stalled because it required unanimous agreement from member states. According to the article, Brussels is examining whether certain online hate offences could instead be dealt with under existing EU powers relating to crimes such as computer crime, potentially allowing measures to proceed through qualified majority voting rather than unanimity. The article also says Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan has expressed opposition to expanding the EU definition of hate crimes, while Ireland is separately facing infringement proceedings from the European Commission over whether its existing hate speech legislation sufficiently complies with EU requirements. The dispute could ultimately end up before the European Court of Justice.
Full piece available on gript media:

If you woke in the middle of the night and discovered a burglar inside your home, with your family asleep upstairs, how far should you be legally allowed to go to protect them?
In this episode, Niall talks to Councillor Gavin Pepper about the rights of homeowners to defend themselves, their families and their property when an intruder enters their home.
Last year, Ireland recorded 8,469 burglary and related offences, but behind every statistic is the frightening possibility of somebody finding a stranger inside their home in the middle of the night.
Irish law allows householders to use reasonable force to protect themselves, other people and their property, and there is no legal requirement to retreat from your own home. In some circumstances, the use of force can even result in the death of an intruder without automatically making the homeowner criminally liable.
But what exactly does reasonable force mean when you have only seconds to react and no idea whether the person who has broken into your home is armed or intends to hurt your family?
Niall and Gavin debate whether Irish homeowners already have sufficient protection under the law or whether Ireland should introduce stronger protections similar to the Castle Doctrine found in parts of the United States.
If somebody deliberately breaks into an occupied home in the middle of the night, should the homeowner be legally entitled to use whatever force they genuinely believe is necessary to protect themselves and their family? Or would giving householders greater protection risk allowing excessive or unnecessary violence?
Where would you draw the line between legitimate self defence and excessive force?