The Agenda

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Sinn Fein TD for Louth, Ruairi O Murchu, who spoke to us about his concerns over the lack of sonographers in Louth County Hospital in Dundalk after the retirement of the clinical specialist sonographer in the hospital.  Deputy O Murchu says the position was advertised in the summer and there were a number of applications, but there has been no prog...

A new policy and a plan to strengthen the teaching, learning and use of Irish language in schools has been announced. Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee unveiled the policy for Irish-medium education and an action plan for Irish in English-medium schools on the shared campus of Gaelscoil Bhrian Bóroimhe and Swords Educate Together National School. A department spokesperson said the act...

Dundalk's hierarchy are asking for patience as the club's shareholders Chris Clinton and John Temple have entered into mediation discussions regarding the club’s future. The club has had a turbulent week with issues surrounding the aforementioned Temple and also the reports yesterday of manager Ciaran Kilduff leaving the set up after winning the title last week. The club released a statement this...

Public transport workers have claimed that antisocial and abusive behaviour has increased across the network. A survey by Siptu of over 200 members at Irish Rail, Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland, Luas and Aircoach also reveals employee concern about progress on a government commitment to set up a dedicated transport police force. A total of 94pc of staff said antisocial and abusive behav...

Learner drivers who have had their permits for four years will have to take a driving test before they can renew it again.  Minister of State with responsibility for Road Safety Seán Canney signed the legislation yesterday in an effort to discourage learners from holding permits without ever sitting a test.  Minister Sean Canney joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some mor...

A second bird flu outbreak in a commercial turkey flock has been confirmed in Co Meath.  It comes a day after the Department of Agriculture confirmed that an outbreak had occurred in a commercial turkey flock in Co Carlow. Restriction zones have been put in place around both holdings to protect other flocks from the outbreaks. This comprises a 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone....

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Justice this week, calling for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised to 14.  In 2018, 14-year-old school girl Ana Kriegel was murdered in an abandoned home in Lucan, County Dublin.  The following year, two children, known only as Boy A and Boy B, were convicted of her murder. One was also convicte...

New laws to overhaul international protection will come to the Dáil early next year, the justice minister has said. Jim O’Callaghan earlier this year got Cabinet approval for drafting of the International Protection Bill 2025. This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne, who says that “Ireland is not full, it’s full of crap from this government”. Hosted on Acast. See aca...

Peader Tobin Aontu Leader Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Larry Donnelly - Law Lecturer at the university of Galway and Political Columist with the Journal Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nigel Sweetman - IFA Poultry Chair Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patricia Devlin - Investigation Journalist at the Journal investigates Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike Bray - FF Cnlr . Kells Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brian Killoran - Coordinator at The Ukraine Civil Society Forum Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alison O'Reilly - Reporter at The Irish Examiner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pornography showing women being choked is set to become illegal under new proposed rules. A review recently found that images depicting women being strangled are rife on websites - seeing the act become a sexual norm. As part of a crackdown on violent pornography, the possession and publication of images showing choking will now be criminalised, the Government has said. In legal terms, watching po...

Sinn Féin TD for Meath East, Darren O’Rourke, has expressed significant disappointment at confirmation from Iarnród Éireann that the application for the crucial Railway Order for the Navan Rail line has been delayed by a year. Speaking following an exchange with the CEO of Iarnród Éireann at the Oireachtas Transport Committee, Deputy O’Rourke said: "The confirmation from Mary Considine, CEO of Iar...

Former Kilkenny hurling great DJ Carey has been jailed for an effective 5 1⁄2 years for inducing 22 people to give him about €400,000 to fund treatment for cancer that he did not have. Judge Martin Nolan said he “could not imagine a more reprehensible fraud than to tell people you have cancer and extort money on that basis”. Probably the only other one on that level would be to deceive very elderl...

A vet has urged the Government to introduce harsher sentences for pet theft, in order to better reflect the “emotional damage” of having a pet stolen.  Pet theft is considered a serious crime by Gardaí and conviction can lead to a prison sentence of up to 10 years in prison.  However, the law typically considers a pet as similar to any other object stolen from its owner.  Pete Wedde...

Social housing tenants will be offered up to €1000 to move house in a new “rightsizing” policy set to be implemented by Louth County Council. The details of a new Draft Housing Allocation Scheme were presented to councillors at their recent monthly meeting. Director of Service, Ger Murphy said the council had devised a new allocation scheme in a bid to balance the needs of applicants, while also r...

Labour’s Health Spokesperson Marie Sherlock TD has announced that the Labour Party will use its Private Members’ Time in the Dáil this week to call for the decriminalisation of drug users and for the creation of a compassionate, health-led drugs policy in Ireland. Deputy Sherlock said the Government has failed to deliver on its promise of a health-led approach, and that criminalising, shaming and...

Erroneous reports about the cause of a fire at a property in Drogheda housing international protection applicants had the effect of downplaying the severity of the incident, according to a group representing asylum seekers. The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (Masi) said the idea that the fire was sparked by fireworks made it seem it was the result of a Hallowe’en prank gone wrong, rather th...

Four former industrial home survivors who have been on hunger strike outside the Dáil for 43 days have met with the Taoiseach but are continuing to refuse food as fears grow for their health. Describing the two-hour meeting as "constructive", the group refused Micheál Martin's call to end their hunger strike in advance of talks with a negotiator — saying they fear "broken promises". Maurice Patton...

It has been revealed that an accelerant was used to deliberately start a fire at asylum seeker accommodation in Drogheda, Co Louth, on Halloween night. Four children and an adult had to be rescued from the top floor of the building on George’s Street on Friday night, while 23 others were relocated to alternative accommodation. Some of the rescued children, including a 20-day-old and a 17-month-old...

Labour’s Finance spokesperson Ged Nash TD has said plans by PTSB to sell the bank should proceed with “absolute caution”. Deputy Nash said: “The only guiding principle FF and FG appears to have on the banks in which the State has held shares, is to put them back into full private ownership at the earliest opportunity. “The announcement by PTSB today is the logical conclusion of that policy. Labour...