The Agenda

This week more than 20,000 students from over 200 schools across Ireland took part in #Gaeilge24, a national challenge that encourages young people to speak only Irish for 24 hours - at home, at school, in shops, at sports clubs, and with friends. Now in its thirteenth year, Gaeilge24 continues to grow as one of the most dynamic school events in th...

Market rents in the year to September have risen by 4.3%, according to the latest rental report by Daft.ie. In the third quarter of this year market rents went up by an average of 1.7%, the 18th consecutive quarter of rising rents. This means they are now one third higher than their pre-Covid levels, and two thirds higher than their Celtic Tiger peak in late 2007. Author of the report, Ronan Lyons...

We need to treat catfishing with the seriousness it deserves according to a Fianna Fail Senator. Fiona O’Loughlin has renewed her call for the swift passage of her Bill that would make catfishing a standalone criminal offence. It would also provide legal recourse for victims whose identities have been stolen by giving them the right to access data from dating apps or social media platforms. Senato...

On 11 November 2025, President Catherine Connolly was inaugurated as President of Ireland. President Catherine Connolly is the 10th President of Ireland. She was elected with 914,143 votes. This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Political Correspondent Sean Defoe, who told us all about the inauguration and how it all went. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú has called on the Irish Prison Service to end temporary release for violent criminals.  The MEP criticised prison authorities for releasing prisoners with charge sheets for violent crimes such as attempted murder and other violent offences.  Cynthia described figures provided to her by Irish prison authorities as truly shocking. The table below highli...

Councillors in Meath have withdrawn a motion in relation to the rezoning of land in the county. The motion was a proposal that calls on the local authority to begin a variation of the County Development Plan 2021–2027 to reinstate lands previously de-zoned or restricted until after 2027.  The issue was debated at a Special Council meeting in Navan yesterday. Social Democrats councillor Ronan...

People with disabilities are heading into the winter months 1,400 euro worse off than last year. That's according to the Irish Wheelchair Association which says its members need a Government backed Emergency Payment. It's calling for the public to contact their local representatives to highlight how Budget 2026 left many in danger of energy and food poverty. IWA's National Advocacy ManagerJoan Car...

Meath Women’s Refuge & Support Services has today (10th November) launched its annual Christmas Appeal, asking the community in Meath to support women and children affected by domestic violence across the county.    Frances Haworth, CEO, Meath Women’s Refuge & Support Services, says: “Each Christmas, we ask the community in Meath to show solidarity with women and children experie...

How will Ireland fix its rental crisis? Everyone knows the situation is out of control, with spiralling costs and a chronic shortage of supply. But what isn’t acknowledged very frequently is that Ireland has no clear goal it’s working towards to make the situation better. For example – do we want rent prices to fall? If so, by how much? And over what time frame? Or – is the aim just to slow rent i...

President-Elect Catherine Connolly will be inaugurated as the 10th President of Ireland in a ceremony today. Less than a month after Connolly’s landslide win in the Presidential election she will be succeeding Michael D Higgins after his 14-year term as Uachtarán na hÉireann ends. Today’s ceremony will be the 14th inauguration since Douglas Hyde, the first President of Ireland, was elected 80 year...

A new generation of scams featuring AI celebrity endorsements is duping people out of thousands of euro. Banks are concerned at the rise of high-tech scams targeting people’s investment or retirement hopes. Awareness campaign FraudSmart, which is led by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), is today issuing a fresh warning to consumers, particularly those aged 50 or older. Meanwhile, t...

Louth Fianna Fáil TD Erin McGreehan has welcomed new measures introduced last week that will enable builders to develop new wastewater treatment facilities in collaboration with Uisce Éireann for smaller housing developments of up to 40 homes. Deputy McGreehan said that “this move will help unshackle home delivery from unnecessary delays in rural areas.” She added that this move by Minister Browne...

Fancy a seat on a ‘chatty bench?’ A new initiative aimed at combatting loneliness could be on the way to Drogheda, following calls from a local councillor. Currently being piloted in Fingal, the benches feature special signage to let people know they can sit and have a chat with strangers if they are feeling lonely. Now, a Drogheda councillor has called on Louth County Council to introduce the ini...

A Meath councillor has called on the Government and the HSE to reinstate funding for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems for people living with cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, warning that the withdrawal of supports is putting patients’ health at risk. At this month’s meeting of Meath County Council, Fine Gael Councillor Sarah Reilly proposed that the local authority write to the Ministe...

The parents of Harvey Sherratt (9) who suffered while waiting for scoliosis surgery want a “full, independent inquiry” into Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) following a whistleblower’s claims that CHI removed their son from its active spinal surgery waiting list after it wrongly determined he was a “palliative” patient. Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane has suggested modelling the inquiry on the 2018 Sc...

A ‘real conversation’ is needed about the prevalence of drugs and the impact they are having on society, Louth TD Ruairí Ó Murchú has said. Speaking in the Dáil last week, the Sinn Féin deputy said the that while it is welcome that some people are coming around to ‘the health-led, trauma-led, harm reduction methodology required for dealing with drug addiction, that we accept it is based on poverty...

A Fianna Fáil MEP has demanded a €5 levy on Shein fashion packages, citing human rights and environmental concerns.  The Chinese fashion line sells cheap clothing to millions around the world but critics claim it is immoral to buy from the company.  Dublin MEP Barry Andrew notes Shien is under investigation for “any number of infractions” Mr Andrews that this all adds up to “unfair compe...

A compulsory housing order for all poultry and captive birds comes into effect today following recent bird flu outbreaks. Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon said the order has been introduced in a bid to protect non-infected birds from the risk of avian influenza after two cases of the disease were found in the Republic. On Tuesday, it was confirmed by the Department of Agriculture that a second o...

Health services, banks, utilities and Government services have a legal responsibility to support at-risk adults with their communication and decision-making. 46 per cent of respondents either didn’t understand or didn’t know this, in Safeguarding Ireland's Red C research. It's reminding people they have legal protections under an Assisted Decision-making Act to ensure their important decisions abo...

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Crime Editor at the Irish Sun, Stephen Breen, who is going to talk to us about his new podcast chronicling the serial fraudster, Amy McAuley (who lived in Meath for some time).  ‘Unravelling Amy’ will tell, over two parts, the story of Amy and the trail of deceit that followed her as she scammed a mental health charity, among many other individuals...

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Independent Senator, Gerard Craughwell, who is calling for a Garda investigation to be launched into the tracker mortgage scandal.  In a letter to his colleagues, Senator Craughwell wrote: “Thanks to the National public service Broadcaster RTE last night viewers got a glimpse into the Tracker Mortgage scandal. From what we saw it is probable that t...

Gardaí are investigating a criminal incident after the home of an Independent councillor in Meath was attacked — just days after he intervened to stop a group of youths lighting an illegal bonfire in Johnstown, Navan. Councillor Alan Lawes, who has been vocal about anti-social behaviour in the area, said a brick was thrown through the front window of his home shortly after 10pm on Wednesday night....

Earlier in the programme we heard about a new policy and a plan which has been announced to strengthen the teaching, learning and use of Irish language in schools. We spoke to General Secretary of Conradh na Gaeilge, Julian de Spáinn, who said it's welcome, but more needs to be done to tackle the decline of the language. Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee unveiled the policy for Irish-...

We were joined on The Agendaa this morning by Aontú Councillor in Navan, Emer Tóibín, who says that delays for the much needed regeneration scheme for Navan will hit tax payers in the pocket Councillor Toibin said: “The government announced €7.66 million in funding to redevelop the Flowerhill area in Navan under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) in 2019, but little progress has be...

Fine Gael Councillor Sharon Tolan has today welcomed a formal commitment from the National Transport Authority (NTA) to initiate a feasibility study into the provision of a new train station for Bettystown. The announcement follows ongoing engagement and representations made by Cllr. Tolan on the urgent need to improve public transport infrastructure for the rapidly growing coastal town, and was s...