The Agenda

The parents of a 14-year-old girl killed in the Creeslough explosion say they're 'hurt' by the Minister for Justice’s refusal to meet with them - and they just want answers. Tragic Letterkenny teen Leona Harper was one of 10 people killed when an Applegreen station collapsed amid a massive explosion which occurred in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on October 7, 2022. This week Minister fo...

Louth is set to have at least five designated Community Support Centres to act as emergency hubs during prolonged or severe weather events, power outages, or other local emergencies. At a recent meeting of Louth County Council, Green Party councillor Marianne Butler said the centres will play an “incredibly important” role as severe weather events become more frequent. The meeting heard these venu...

A Government charge of €800 for a seat on a charter flight from the Middle East has been described as “a shakedown, not an evacuation”. The Government said it is bearing a “portion of the cost” for the Oman evacuation charter flight, but failed to answer questions about the scale of the contribution. The press release from Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee announcing the evacuation flight on...

Meath County Council has called on the Minister for Agriculture to suspend the employment of the chairperson of Bord Bia Larry Mullen “with immediate effect.  A notice of motion to that effect was tabled at Monday’s monthly meeting of the council by Aontú Councillor Dave Boyne.  Councillor Boyne said the call was being made “due to that person’s conflictual behaviour”. “That person is su...

An advocacy group has warned residents and visitors in the United Arab Emirates that posting, reposting, or commenting online about the ongoing regional conflict could expose them to prosecution under the country’s cybercrime laws. Detained in Dubai said the legislation was broadly framed and could be “enforced rapidly”, particularly during periods of heightened regional tension. Penalties for bre...

The Government will charter a flight from Oman in the coming days for Irish people to return from the Middle East, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee has said. The flight will accommodate 280 people. The most vulnerable people are being identified among 2,000 people who have contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs crisis management centre and who requested help leaving the Middle East....

A Louth TD has urged the Government to establish a cross‑border Assessment of Need (AON) scheme to help reduce lengthy waiting times for children requiring early intervention services. Raising the issue in the Dáil this week, Deputy Butterly called on the Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality to consider a dedicated cross‑border pathway, similar to existing arran...

Andrew McGinley, whose three children were killed by their mother who was suffering from mental illness, has announced that the work of a charity established in their honour is coming to an end. Mr McGinley’s children – Conor (9), Darragh (7) and Carla (3) – were killed by their mother, Deirdre Morley, at their home in Newcastle, Co Dublin, on January 24, 2020, when she was suffering a psychotic a...

A Drogheda councillor has warned that older people are avoiding walking in an area of the town at night, where public lighting is out of order. Labour's Pio Smith wants the local authority to meet the contractor as soon as possible. There are issues with accessing The Glen to carry out repairs due to ground flooding. Councillor Smith says it's unacceptable that several lights have not worked for w...

Families in Meath supporting loved ones in severe mental health distress are being left “banging their heads against a brick wall” due to difficulties accessing care, a public meeting in Navan recently heard. This morning on The Agenda, Adrian spoke to **Niamh**, who bravely opened up about her struggle to secure care for her 24-year-old son, who has experienced severe mental health difficulties s...

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63 people have been deported from Ireland to South Africa on a charter flight this weekend, the Department of Justice has confirmed. The operation, carried out on Saturday evening, saw 54 adults and nine children deported. The children were part of family units. It’s the second charter removal operation this year and the eighth since such flights resumed in 2025. Titilayo Oluwakemi Oyekanmi and he...

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Meath couple Johnny and Victoria, who are currently stuck in Qatar as a result of airspace being closed due to the Iranian strikes.  The couple only discovered that they were going to be stuck in Qatar while they were having lunch waiting for their flight to Dublin. Johnny and Victoria told LMFM about how they have heard bombs going off and have se...

Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee has called on the estimated 20,000 Irish citizens in Gulf states to shelter in place and avoid trying to leave via land routes amid ongoing instability. Multiple Gulf states have come under attack as Iran vowed to carry out its "most intense operation" ever in retaliation for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Minister said that a l...

Something very new happende on The Agenda this morning. We had our first ever segment of ‘The LMFM Roundtable’, where we were joined in-studio by 4 contributors from different parts of Louth and Meath to discuss and debate the big stories of the week. This week we were joined by: Fine Gael Councillor in Ashbourne, Alan Tobin Independent Councillor in Navan, Alan Lawes Mayor of Drogheda & Labou...

RTÉ has reiterated that it will broadcast football matches involving Israel, despite calls for a Eurovision-style boycott. Sinéad Gibney, the Social Democrats sports spokesperson, wrote to the broadcaster asking them not to support Israel’s “sportswashing endeavours” ahead of the country’s Nations League match with Ireland in October. “Last year, RTÉ took a laudable stance in response to Israel’s...

Louth County Council have said it will not provide attic conversions to alleviate overcrowded social housing units.  It comes after Sinn Féin councillor for Dundalk/Carlingford Fiona Mhic Concoille tabled a motion at the February meeting of Louth County Council for the local authority to examine the feasibility of converting attics in council-owned houses.  Councillor Mhic Conchoille sai...

The Independent Disciplinary Committee announced the sanctions last night, which includes a ban on Drogheda supporters for their next four away games. Drogheda United Football Club have been handed a hefty punishment, arising out of the disorder seen at Oriel Park in Dundalk this day last week.  Flares were thrown from the away end onto the newly laid surface in Dundalk, with significant dama...

The Junior Minister for Sport says only the "idiots" responsible should be punished for damaging League of Ireland pitches. Charlie McConalogue disagreed with Sports Minister Patrick O'Donovan's suggestion of a collective punishment over the issue. It came after significant damage was done to the playing surface of Oriel Park in Dundalk following the throwing of flares at a recent game. Minister M...

Sinn Fein's hit out at the Government using the "guillotine" function to force through the International Protection Bill. The controversial asylum legislation made its way through the Dail last night in part due to significantly shortened debates. Opposition parties have criticised the lack of time for debate with eight hours last week in a single Dáil committee stage session and four hours last n...

Labour TD Ged Nash has warned that Louth is "in the firing line" of delayed installation of flood defences.  The Louth TD told the Dáil that rainfall events that were once one-in-a-century, are now becoming much more frequent.  He warned that there is "huge strain on already stressed infrastructure, road networks and flood defences".  "The severity of the storms and the impacts we a...

Protests took place at locations across the country yesterday to highlight the ongoing concerns of parents, schools and Special Needs Assistants following controversy over the last week around SNA allocations for schools. The demonstrations were called before the Government moved late Monday evening to reverse the planned changes. The Government last week paused a review and reallocation of SNAs f...

A journalist who was mocked online for wearing ashes on his forehead on Ash Wednesday has described his critics as “bigots”. Last week, Fionnán Sheahan of the Irish Independent appeared on Virgin Media ’s The Tonight Show . Of all the panellists, he was the only one wearing ashes on his forehead - something many viewers noticed at home.  Fionnan says he had been surprised by the negativity di...

Fresh calls have been made for specialised training for Louth County Council housing staff dealing with victims of domestic violence who may be at risk of homelessness. The issue was raised at this month’s meeting of Louth County Council, where Councillor Sionnain McCann questioned what supports are available to tenants - whether in social housing or HAP-supported accommodation—who must flee their...

We are joined in-studio on The Agend this morning by Labour Councillor in Drogheda, Pio Smith, who told us about an information and awareness event taking place in Drogheda tomorrow evening titled: "The Drug Trade and Its Impact on Drogheda”.  Last month on The Agenda we heard about the involvement of very young children in drug activity in Drogheda, with reports that children as young as sev...