The Agenda

News that the Venezuelan-Russian tanker skirting Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has been seized by US forces will have led to a sigh of relief in the corridors of Leinster House. Aside from the awkward political issues that such an intervention taking place near Irish-controlled waters may have led to, there is the fact that a significant threat to Irish and European interests has been av...

The long-promised upgrade of Drogheda Bus Station is not likely to begin soon, with the National Transport Authority (NTA) confirming that it does not currently envisage any accessibility works proceeding this year and stating that responsibility for major improvements rests with Bus Éireann. The update was provided to Labour TD Ged Nash following a query made in December. In its response, the NTA...

Tiny kittens, unwanted puppies, lost rabbits, and roaming chickens were among the animals rehomed by Louth Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in the past year. The charity is bracing itself for the post-Christmas surge in unwanted pets with voluntary inspector Fiona Squibb saying that the demand for its services are the highest she’d ever seen. Fiona has also welcomed the recent gran...

A survey on the Hot School Meals Programme in Meath has now been launched by Fine Gael, which will ensure children continue to get the most nutritious and highest-quality meals possible. Senator Linda Nelson Murray said, “Fine Gael introduced the Hot School Meals Programme in Meath because we believe no child should be held back by hunger. This next phase is about refining and improving the progra...

Women’s Aid, a national organisation working to prevent and address the impact of domestic violence and abuse including coercive control in Ireland, will no longer maintain a presence on platform X from today. The organisation has watched the increased levels of unchecked hate, misogyny, racism and anti-LGBTI+ content on the platform with growing unease and concern. The current scandal which has s...

A Venezuelan man in Ireland has said his family is in “disbelief” that the country’s autocrat president, Nicolas Maduro, was captured by US forces after strikes on the capital Caracas. It came as the Irish Government issued a muted response to the extraordinary military action by one of its closest international partners, while an Irish energy industry source warned the crisis could lead to a spik...

The people of Drogheda “shouldn’t have to pay a daily price for national infrastructure,” councillors heard at the January meeting of Drogheda Borough District, where calls for the removal of the M1 Toll emerged. Councillor James Byrne submitted a motion calling on Louth County Council to engage with the Minister for Transport in a discussion on the future of the M1 Tolls “given their prolonged ne...

Motorists faced hour-long delays to exit the M1 Retail Park during the festive season, councillors heard at the January meeting of Drogheda Borough District. Calls for action were sounded as reports of severe traffic congestion over the last month emerged. Councillor Declan Power said the area was “choc-a-block” during the Christmas season. He called on the council to engage with the management te...

Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Niamh Smyth has requested a meeting with X over concerns that the artificial intelligence tool Grok is being used to create sexually explicit images of adults and children. Minister Smyth said that she has written directly to X and wants to discuss what steps it is taking to address the "disturbing" reports around Elon Musk's xAI chatbot, which has bee...

Property prices in Louth have risen by €15,000 in the last year, according to the latest MyHome Property Price Report.    The report for Q4 2025, in association with Bank of Ireland, shows that the median asking price for a property in the county is now €265,000. That means prices have risen by €5,000 over the quarter.       Asking prices for a 3-bed semi-detached house in the county ros...

Frequent breakdowns and delays in the Navan Town Bus service has seen a drop in the number of trips taken over the past year. Some 394,000 trips were taken on buses in Navan over the past twelve months, down by 21,000 on last year, according to figures provided to Cllr Eddie Fennessy by Meath County Council. The fall comes following years of increased numbers using the service, which had been much...

Midlands-North-West MEP Ciaran Mullooly has called on the Minister for Agriculture Martin Hayden to reject the so-called Mercosur “safety clause” proposals, describing them as wholly inadequate and completely unacceptable. The Minister for Agriculture Martin Hayden was asked to travel to Rome on Tuesday for urgent crucial discussions with his Italian counterpart ahead of another attempt by the Eur...

Donald Trump and his team are discussing “a range of options” to acquire Greenland, including using the US military, according to the White House.  In a statement, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region. It comes af...

Almost one in five Irish holidaymakers experienced issues with foreign holidays between May and August of last year – with some being left thousands of euro out of pocket. New research from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has found that people spend almost €2,500 on flights and accommodation, meaning it pays to check what their rights would be in the event they run into a...

US and Ukrainian officials will continue talks over security guarantees for Ukraine, both sides said, after meetings with Western allies yielded breakthroughs including a US-led monitoring mechanism and a European multinational force to be deployed after any ceasefire with Russia. Following the largest meeting yet of the 'Coalition of the Willing' in Paris, both European leaders and US envoys hail...

Irish authorities are being urged to take action against X after reports its AI tool, Grok, is being used to generate and disseminate sexually explicit images of children and women. X users have been able to avail of a new tool called “edit image” on Grok since late last month. Users are allowed to request modifications to images, with some using it to remove clothing from real people in the image...

A Louth councillor says local authority tenants in the county who want to buy their homes should be allowed avail of both a council home loan and the First Home Scheme. The Green Party's Marianne Butler has highlighted how Louth County Council issued over 30 home loans with a value of approximately €5.5 million in 2023, but the local government auditor has highlighted that the following year just...

Sinn Féin TD for Meath East, Darren O’Rourke, has today issued an urgent call for the Government and Uisce Éireann to immediately address the crippling water supply shortages affecting homes in Dunboyne. Teachta O'Rourke said: "The situation in Dunboyne is beyond a crisis point. It is a scandal. Families are forced to buy bottled water to maintain basic sanitation. Many have been unable to flush t...

The M50 that wraps around Dublin continues to be the motorway with the highest number of incidents, collisions and traffic levels in Ireland. Indeed, the seriousness of the situation is borne out by data as there were more crashes in the first 10 months of last year than in all of 2024. Everything from crashes and breakdowns to wandering pedestrians and animals has marked the M50 as a motorway of...

A Ralph Loren puffer jacket possibly helped to save a woman from worse injuries after she was knocked down by a car on an 'inadequate' pedestrian crossing. Deborah Keegan is now campaigning for improvements at the crossing in the centre of Ballivor, Co Meath, after her mother was thrown under a car. Her mother suffered a bad concussion, a broken collarbone, and a bruised jaw, as well as damage to...

A Louth TD has told how he has received hundreds of phone calls to his constituency office demanding a ban on fox hunting. Ged Nash said the controversial hunts should be outlawed and he doesn’t buy into the claims that farmers need them to protect their lands . However at the moment there is no majority in Leinster House to pass it and the proposal was defeated. But Deputy Nash dismissed long hel...

The Government has been warned that Ireland could end up contributing over €7 billion indirectly to massive defence spends in Europe through its EU contributions but will benefit little in return. A presentation was made to a number of government bodies, including the Department of Defence, warning how Ireland faces losing out in the coming years as Europe prioritises boosting defence spending. Th...

School children have a positive outlook when it comes to learning the Irish language and want to improve their language skills — but their needs are not being met. That’s according to a consultation done by Sealbhú, DCU’s research centre, in partnership with the Department of Education and Youth. It was carried out as part of the Policy for Irish-Medium Education and Action Plan for Irish in Engli...

A five-year biodiversity plan with 55 actions has been launched by Meath County Council to address “escalating environmental challenges” across the county while supporting sustainable development. The Meath Biodiversity Action Plan 2025–2030 was unveiled at Buvinda House in Navan and sets out how the local authority, working with communities and partner organisations, intends to protect, conserve...

Over the Christmas break Aontú leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín launched a fresh campaign against planned M50 toll increases, accusing the Government of “milking motorists dry” as charges are set to rise again from January 1st. The TD said Aontú members took their protest to the bridges of the M50, hanging banners to highlight what he described as an unfair and unnecessary toll on Ireland’s...