The Agenda

Plans for a new train station in North Drogheda have been talked about for years—but according to Labour TD Ged Nash, the project still hasn’t even cleared its first real hurdle. He described the proposed station as “nobody’s child,” warning that no single authority has taken responsibility for moving it forward. Despite growing demand in the area and repeated calls for action, the crucial first s...

There is ‘nothing but emergency care’ for people with disabilities whose families are no longer able to look after them, Louth TD and Sinn Féin disability spokesperson Ruairí Ó Murchú has said.   The Louth TD was speaking during a Disability Matters Committee hearing this morning that heard from a number of representatives of families who have children and adult children with disabilities and...

The UK parliament has approved legislation that will ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying tobacco. When the bill is written into law next week, people born on or after 1 January 2009 will be prohibited from purchasing tobacco products. This will also give ministers new powers to regulate tobacco and other nicotine products (including vapes), including their flavours and packaging. M...

Louth County Council has been urged to break down the number of its tenants in rent arrears - to separate those who don't pay, from those who have been told they owe money following a review of their circumstances. Sinn Féin councillor Kevin Meenan made the call at the local authority's monthly meeting. He thinks a lot of the money owed is down to the length of time reviews are taking, which can s...

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The State’s national security watchdog has warned that Islamist terrorism is a “significant cause of concern”, citing the risk of attacks in Ireland or plots being co-ordinated here against neighbouring countries. In his first report as Independent Examiner of Security Legislation, former Court of Appeal president George Birmingham said such attacks had taken place in recent years and that the thr...

The cost of upgrading a critical section of the R132 in Dundalk, an “accident blackspot” at Haggardstown, could double if Louth County Council does not move quickly to progress the scheme, councillors have warned. The concerns were raised at a meeting of Dundalk Municipal District as the local authority presented plans for the R132 Xerox–Greengates ActiveTravel scheme and sought Part 8 planning ap...

Peter Whelan , The Aontú representative for the laytown bettystown electoral area has voiced his concerns about the upcoming  two day concerts events in July in slane castle.  Peter,who farms just on the outskirts of Slane, and is himself directly affected by tightened restrictions, is echoing the concerns of many residents, sporting clubs and businesses in the village and surroundings.&...

Releasing birds of prey to stop seagulls tormenting the public and tearing open bins has been suggested for a Dublin town. It comes as a hospital in Galway warned the public of aggressive gulls in the vicinity of the clinic. Frank McNamara, Fine Gael Councillor for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, said it is a constant problem in his area. We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Frank Fahy, Fine Gael...

Access Education Louth launched its campaign group on Wednesday 15 April with Niamh Maher of Healy Law who spoke about helping parents who still need a school place, secondary or primary, for their child with special educational needs.   Access Education Louth said it campaigns on adequately resourced school places for children with additional needs, supporting the special needs assistants ca...

Residents in Ashbourne are raising serious concerns about a rise in anti-social behaviour, with reports that vulnerable members of the community are being directly targeted. Some pregnant women say they are now afraid to leave their homes due to intimidation and threats from groups of youths.  There have also been disturbing accounts of racial abuse directed at local shop workers and the situ...

The annual delegate conference for rank and file gardaí will hear an emergency motion to call for action against threats made to members during the recent fuel protests.  The Garda Representative Association (GRA) will meet in Westport, Co Mayo this week to discuss a range of topics.  It is understood that representatives from across the country have raised the issue with gardaí in the s...

More than 40 adults living in emergency accommodation in Co Meath are currently in employment. Figures released by Meath County Council show that 44 adults in emergency accommodation have reported being in work. The data was provided in response to a question from Independent councillor Alan Lawes at the April meeting of Meath County Council, where he sought clarity on how many people in emergency...

The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris has said government responses to the energy crisis must be "fiscally responsible" amid warnings from the IMF about growing global indebtedness and the risk of higher public spending to offset rising fuel costs. Tánaiste Harris was signatory to a joint letter issued in Washington by 11 finance ministers in which they said they were "committed to ma...

This morning on The Agenda we had our weekly edition of ‘The LMFM Roundtable’, where we will be joined in-studio by 3 contributors to discuss and debate the big stories of the week.  This week we discussed the ongoing protests in relation to the fuel crisis, confidence in the Government as they survive another motion of no confidence this week, racism against healthcare workers in Ireland, an...

Over the past month on The Agenda we have been covering the massive problem parents in Dunshaughlin are having over a lack of school places for their children.  The issue of school places in Dunshaughlin remains “unresolved” for a number of families, despite progress in securing additional capacity at one local school, a Meath TD has said. Sinn Féin TD, Darren O'Rourke, said the situation has...

Concerns were raised this week over how a motion relating to Ireland’s military neutrality was handled at a meeting of Meath County Council. Aontú councillor Emer Tóibín criticised what she described as a “deliberate attempt to shut down democratic debate” during the April meeting of the local authority. The councillor had brought forward a motion calling on the council to reaffirm its support for...

The rising cost of living and its impact on workers will be discussed at a meeting between unions, business groups and Government leaders. The Taoiseach will chair the Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF) which will also be attended by the Tánaiste, Minister for Public Expenditure, Minister for Enterprise, and Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment. They will hold talks with representat...

Today on The Agenda we heard from an LMFM listener who is urging people to protest at the homes of politicans in order to get them to listen to the people - she says the recent protests didnt work so it is time to go their homes. We also spoke to Fianna Fail TD Malcolm Byrne, who said that going to the homes of politicans is "crossing a line" and "should never happen". Deputy Byrne also told us ab...

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Deputy News Editor at The Irish Times and writer of the Unthinkable philosophy column, Joe Humphries, who wrote a piece this week titled:  “We need an adult debate on free speech but some people will be offended” In his piece, Joe wrote:  “Cancel culture is on the wane – so Google data tells us. Reports of people being “cancelled” shot up...

The sad plight of more than 10 homeless people a month who die, often alone and in a public place, is revealed in a new report. The tragic toll of 124 homeless deaths in 2022, highlighted in a Health Research Board report, shows while the number of fatalities in people of no fixed abode is down from 133 in 2021, they have risen by 31pc since 2019. In 2022, men accounted for 81pc of the deaths, wit...

Dunshaughlin Councillor Fionnan Blake has said that knowing the words and the history of the Irish national anthem is important for everybody who sings it. Meath County Council will write to the Minister of Education calling on the Department to make it mandatory for the Irish National Anthem to be taught in primary schools. The motion was brought forward by Councillor Blake calling on the words a...

A new poll has revealed that eight in 10 people want Government to ban advertisements of junk food by social media influencers. The survey by the Irish Heart Foundation, carried out by Ipsos B&A, asked a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults by phone for their input. A total of 79pc of respondents backed the measure to prevent children being exposed to messaging endorsing foods high...

Micheál Martin’s leadership of Fianna Fáil is facing renewed threats, with a group of TDs approaching senior ministers to discuss a change at the top. Backbenchers have said it is past time for “waiting around” for a challenger to make their move, and that they will seek to build support for a change. There had been a hardening of the position of the “middle-ground” TDs who are neither loyal suppo...

Fuel prices, protests, and growing pressure on businesses — it’s been a turbulent week across Ireland, with road blockades and demonstrations highlighting just how strongly people are feeling about the rising cost of fuel, driven in part by ongoing tensions in the Middle East. But beyond the disruption on our roads, there are wider knock-on effects beginning to take hold — particularly in industri...