Waterford Whispers author on the biggest news of 2026

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. Ever feel like you're being pushed or pulled in more directions than you can even begin to process? When life demands more than you can give at work, in your relationship or at home, Talkspace can help. Talkspace provides convenient online access to therapy, psychiatry and mental health support. Just answer a few questions online and Talkspace will match you with a licensed provider in less than two days, with some even offering same day appointments. Chat with a therapist over live video, audio or messaging so you can get mental health support that fits your lifestyle and schedule. No taking time off work, no commuting to an office and no waiting room. Just support that meets you right where you are. Best of all, Talkspace is covered by most major insurance plans with an average copay of $15.

Get space when you need it with Talkspace. And now you can get $80 off your first month with promo code Space80 when you go to talkspace.com. Get $80 off your first month with promo code Space80 at talkspace.com. That's talkspace.com.

SPEAKER_2 (1:00)

The Hard Shoulder with Ciara Kelly and Shane Coleman on News Talk with Kia.

Shane Coleman (1:08)

Colm Williamson, author of Waterford Whispers News. Good afternoon. Hey, how are you?

SPEAKER_1 (1:13)

How are you doing?

Shane Coleman (1:14)

I'm good. Thanks indeed for talking to us. And congratulations on Waterford Whispers News 2026 I have it here in my hand. It is a brilliant read. Tell us a bit about it.

Colm Williamson (1:24)

Oh, yeah, it's our annual. It's our 13th book since we've started. We started in 2009 So it's 50-50 new stuff and old stuff from the year.

It's a good kind of read back of the year. You know, events, current events and politics, lifestyle, that kind of thing.

Shane Coleman (1:49)

It's reeling in the years with a kind of a tongue firmly in the cheek.

Colm Williamson (1:54)

That's a good way of putting it. Yeah, brilliant. Yeah, exactly.

Shane Coleman (1:59)

I have to say I spent a couple of hours over the last few days kind of reading through it, and I was getting some very odd looks in the office because I just kept breaking out in laughter every couple of minutes.

It's really well done. I am like some of the issues, obviously, you don't shy away from any of the issues. I'm looking at one here in relation to the fuel prices. I love it. Corkman runs out of petrol, driving around looking for petrol station that isn't out of fuel.

Colm Williamson (2:27)

Well, that was a big one, I suppose. That was a big thing, as you all know. The stories do well. There's myself and Carl. Carl is my co-writer.

It's 50-50, Carl and me, so I couldn't do it without him. Yeah, so they do well, yeah.

Shane Coleman (2:48)

Are you kind of news junkies? Are you always watching the news and then looking for that kind of edgy angle?

Colm Williamson (2:53)

Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, it's every morning you get up and look at the news, so it's, yeah, a bit of a chore sometimes, you know? The news can be a bit repetitive, so it's sometimes hard to come up with new stuff, but we're still here after 17 years.

Shane Coleman (3:09)

Yeah, well, and I want to come back to that, the origins of it in a little bit, but just again, some of the stories, I mean, there's the big news stories of the year, like what happened in the Middle East. I love your take on that. Airports overwhelmed by Dubai influencers filming emotional return home videos.

The humour is quite edgy, and you're not afraid to kind of poke fun at people?

Colm Williamson (3:38)

No, no, we've never really kind of backed down on subjects.

We cover mostly everything, really. We try not to shy away from the big issues. Yeah, it can get us into trouble sometimes, but that's part of the fun.

Shane Coleman (3:55)

Have you landed in serious trouble at times?

Colm Williamson (3:58)

Yeah, I've got plenty of, I could probably fill the wall behind me with legal letters, like cease and desist and that kind of thing, but we've got threatened by previous owner of Newstalk before Dennis O'Brien. Was he owner? Maybe he wasn't. But yeah, we've had our moments, I suppose.

Shane Coleman (4:18)

Do you ever get any sort of kickback politically? I mean, you don't shy away from, say, the housing issue. I'm looking at one of the headlines here. Artemis II crew shared student flat in Dublin to prepare for cramped moon mission.

Colm Williamson (4:32)