The Agenda

A top Venezuelan official declared that the country's government would stay unified behind President Nicolas Maduro, whose capture by the United States has sparked deep uncertainty about what is next for the oil-rich South American nation. Mr Maduro is in a New York detention centre awaiting a court appearance on drug charges. US President Donald Trump ordered his seizure from Venezuela yesterday...

Children are being “bombarded” online by so-called AI girlfriend porn apps, which are “grooming” boys to perpetrate sexual violence and girls to accept such behaviour. Irish children’s charities and pornography researchers say the only way to combat this growing problem is to “criminalise” porn company bosses. The call comes as the British government announced it was banning AI girlfriend and ‘nud...

Rural Ireland is being driven off the road by new punishing government imposed fuel taxes, transport charges and levies, with devastating consequences for small family run businesses across rural Ireland.  That is according to Irish Road Haulage Association President Ger Hyland, who has described the current government as being completely out of touch with cost pressures facing rural Ireland....

Louth County Council has condemned anti-Semitic graffiti that was daubed on two roads in Co Louth in recent days. The graffiti was painted on the R165 and L1260 near Ardee. The council's operations team investigated both locations, and arrangements are being made to remove the graffiti as quickly as possible. In a statement, Louth County Council said it strongly condemns the use of anti-Semitic la...

Gardaí are investigating an incident of criminal damage to a number of vehicles in a car park off Main Street, Duleek, Co Meath. At around 10.50pm on Friday, Gardaí and emergency services responded to reports of eight cars on fire at the car park to the rear of a premises. No injuries were reported. The scene has been sealed for a technical examination to be carried out. Gardaí are appealing to an...

The latest litter survey by business group Irish Business Against Litter ((IBAL) shows Dundalk and Drogheda slipping from clean to ‘moderately littered’, alongside Navan, in the ranking of 40 towns and cities. Sligo finished atop the IBAL table for the first time in a study which showed that city areas in particular cleaned up in 2025.  We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Irish...

Nina Carberry -Meath based fine Gael MEP Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Frances Haworth CEO of Meath Refuge & support Services Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Graeme MC Queen (Head of media Relations DAA) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A leading campaigner says 'we're doing nothing' to curb deaths on Irish roads. Already this year 1837 people have died in road collisions, more than in all of last year. Leo Leighio of the Irish Road Victims Association says there have been lots of promises to tackle road deaths, but nothing delivered, and Leo joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this. Hosted on Acast...

Ruairí Ó Murchú, Sinn Féin TD for Louth, has called for increased powers for local authorities to evict "chaotic" tenants. Deputy Ó Murchú told the Dáil he does not believe local authorities like Louth County Council, have the necessary powers to deal with tenants involved in "criminality and drug-dealing". He said approved housing bodies (AHBs) have greater levels of power in comparison to local...

Over 16% of homes in one County Louth housing estate are not registered with a refuse collection service, it emerged at the monthly meeting of Louth County Council. Councillor Ciaran Fisher highlighted a pilot project which has begun in Castleross, Dundalk. where it was identified that 16.5% of households in this area “do not have a kerbside waste collection.” The council’s Waste Enforcement Team...

EU leaders have pledged a €90bn loan for Ukraine to meet urgent financial needs, but failed to agree on the preferred option for securing that loan against Russia’s frozen assets in the bloc. After talks ended in the early hours of Friday, the president of the European Council, António Costa, told reporters: “We committed and we delivered.”  He said EU leaders had approved a decision to make...

An investigation is under way into a suspected arson attack which caused extensive damage to a pharmacy in Co Meath. Gardaí have confirmed they are investigating an alleged criminal damage incident in Oldcastle. The pharmacy is owned by Donna McQuaide, who has been running it for over 20 years. It is understood that an accelerant, believed to be petrol, was poured around the shop before being set...

The Government has rolled back on its plans to disband the Road Safety Authority (RSA), The Journal revealed this week. The announcement that the RSA would be disbanded and split into two separate organisations was made in late 2024 by then Minister of State with responsibility for road safety, James Lawless.  At the time, Lawless said it was a “binding” decision that was being made because t...

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence has said an immediate, coordinated, all-of-Government approach to AI is required. In its first interim report, the committee said this new approach should be led by the national AI Office, which is due to be up and running by August 2026. The committee held hearings in June, July, September, October and November, with members hearing eviden...

The bill to ban fox hunting in Ireland, proposed by People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger, has been defeated in the Dáil. The bill was defeated by a large majority. Twenty-four TDs voted to amend the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 to ban the hunting of a fox or foxes, and to provide for related matters - however, 124 TDs voted against. People Before Profit Solidarity TD Ruth Coppin...

Changes to the National Childcare Scheme will result in thousands of families receiving more subsidies. Children’s Minister Norma Foley launched the government’s new Action Plan on Childcare this morning, which sets out a pathway to getting to the election promise of setting childcare costs at €200 per month per child. She said she is confident the government will deliver on its €200 pledge within...

It's been confirmed that Louth County Council is asking the government to pay for one of the next phases of the Port Access and Northern Cross Route in Drogheda. Its Deputy Chief Executive, and Director of Services, Economic Delivery Thomas McEvoy told the local authority's monthly meeting that they will need State intervention. He was responding to Independent Councillor Paddy McQuillan who had s...

As the 50th anniversary of the Dundalk bombing approaches (tomorrow, December 19th), renewed attention is being drawn to the tragic event.  In the Dáil, Louth TD Deputy Erin McGreehan raised the issue with Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan in the Dail. The 1975 bombing, widely believed to have involved loyalist paramilitaries and elements within British security forces, remains officially...

Over 120 uniform gardaí have been issued with tasers to respond to an increase in violent attacks, particularly on gardaí. An average of 300 gardaí have been attacked each year for the past ten years. The tasers are being issued as part of a pilot programme in four designated stations in Dublin and Waterford. Tasers are less lethal force option weapons, which shoot an electrical current that tempo...

Ciaran Mullooly MEP has welcomed the move by the French and Italian Governments to defer the vote on the EU–Mercosur trade agreement, which had been scheduled to take place in Strasbourg this week. Following months of consultations with French and Italian MEPs on the significant dangers associated with the Mercosur trade agreement, a coalition of like-minded, anti-Mercosur countries has indicated...

Sinn Féin Councillor for Ardee, Pearse McGeough has called for new digital signage on the N2 in an effort to divert traffic away from Ardee and ease congestion.  Cllr McGeough has urged the council to install new signage on the N2, just north of Collon, to redirect traffic via the R169 Dunleer/Collon Road. Motorists would enter the northbound motorway before rejoining the N33 at junction 14.&...

A more fractious than usual environment is expected in Dáil Éireann today when People Before Profit-Solidarity Deputy Ruth Coppinger seeks support for her bill to ban fox hunting under the Animal Health and Welfare Act (2013). If passed, it would make fox hunting an illegal and unlawful activity in Ireland that would also extend to the snaring and trapping of foxes. Deputy Coppinger described fox...

Furious residents are set to appeal the decision to grant planning permission for five “monstrous” wind turbines in the Monasterboice/Kellystown area of County Louth. Louth County Council gave the go-ahead to energy developers EDF last week, but the project looks set to be delayed for at least a year or more while local householders take their fight to the new Planning Commission, An Coimisiún Ple...