The Agenda

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Sinn Fein TD for Louth, Ruairi Ó Murchú, who says he is concerned by the lack of infrastructure in Dundalk, particularly in Dundalk South, to deal with heavy rainfall. Deputy Ó Murchú’s concerns come following heavy rainfall in Louth yesterday during the status orange weather warning, and he spoke to us in more detail about this on the programme. ...

Meath will look to play their 2026 Allianz Division 2 football league games in Croke Park in anticipation of Páirc Tailteann being closed for redevelopment later this year. After 10 years of planning, the redevelopment of the Navan venue got a green light from the GAA’s infrastructure and finance committees last week to go to tender and that process is now under way. Chair of Meath GAA, Jason Plun...

The newly elected Cathaoirleach of Meath County Council, Wayne Harding, has expressed his gratitude following his election recently, outlining his intention to visit communities across the county and championing key infrastructure projects during his year-long term. Wayne joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about what his plans and priorities are for during his time as Cathaoirlea...

After months of lobbying by MEP Maria Walsh, the European Commission has reversed its decision to remove a key EU equality law and will reinstate it as a 2025 policy priority.    MEP Walsh is the lead negotiator for the EPP, the European Parliament’s largest political group, on the Horizontal Anti-Discrimination Directive. Following a decision by the European Commission to withdraw the D...

Louth County Council is to write to the Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan to ensure a young group of Palestinian boxers don't miss out on a planned trip to Ireland. Sinn Féin Cllr Eric Donovan, a former international boxer, highlighted the issue at the local authority's monthly meeting after GAA Palestine was unable to overcome visa difficulties to bring a group of children from Gaza to play GA...

The Legal Aid Board told the Department of Justice it was running €1.3m over budget as it dealt with a vast increase in cases involving asylum seekers. In a series of letters, the board’s senior management said it was struggling with “staff retention issues and low morale” due to its workload. A letter in February said despite an increase in its allocation, it was running at least €1m over budget...

People living in areas of socio-economic disadvantage are “less positive” about immigration, though no link to a shortage of housing and healthcare was identified within those communities, a new ESRI report says. The study examined a period of increased immigration to Ireland from 2011 to 2022. It found Irish people living in disadvantaged communities had “more negative attitudes” towards immigrat...

Ryanair has said it is considering increasing the commission it pays to staff who identify oversized bags at boarding gates as it works to “eliminate the scourge” caused by a “tiny number of passengers who don’t abide by” its rules. This weekend it emerged that the airline pays bonuses to staff who identify passengers who are required to check in bags deemed too large for the cabins. Lead travel w...

New online safety rules come into force from today which will require video-sharing platforms to have effective age verification systems in place. Social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X will be legally obliged to protect users from harmful content under the Online Safety Code. Companies will face fines for breaches of up to €20 million or 10% of a platform's annual turnover,...

A couple in Kerry who handed over €93,000 to a man to carry out works on their roof that were not needed – and ultimately not carried out – told the courts they lost their pension and lifesavings from the scam which has left them feeling ‘vulnerable’ and ‘gullible’.   Sinead Kellher from The Kerryman joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us all about this.  Hosted on Acast. See ac...

Concern has been voiced about the impact of a Government scheme for housing refugees from Ukraine on the private rental sector as new figures show the number of private properties being used has increased by 17% since the start of the year. A record number of over 21,800 dwellings are currently being used to accommodate Ukrainian refugees under the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) scheme, a...

The Irish Road Haulage Association has accused the Road Safety Authority of massaging the driver testing figures by moving testers from articulated truck, bus and truck testing to car testing in order to reduce wait times for car driving tests – whilst waiting times for commercial driving tests increase exponentially.  They made their claims in separate letters to both Ministers Darragh O’Bri...

Three sisters who were sexually abused by their brother are pleading with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to appeal the leniency of his eight year prison term.   Last week former priest Richard Brennan (64), was sentenced to a 'global' term of nine years with the final year suspended after pleading guilty to six counts of rape against his sisters Paula Fay and Catherine Wrightstone...

Coalition leaders and senior ministers will meet this morning to sign off on the €100bn revised National Development Plan. The blueprint for infrastructure spending will be announced tomorrow along with the Summer Economic Statement. Political Correspondent Sean Defoe spoke to us this morning on The Agenda to tell us more about this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The presence of HGVs has become more prevalent on the inner town streets of Kells since the last time he raised the issue some time ago, the Cathaoirleach of Kells Municipal District Councillor Sean Drew told a meeting of the MD this week.  The county council was spending big money on the repair and maintenance of the streets and these heavy vehicles were damaging kerbing, he said.  He w...

The long-awaited safety upgrade at the busy Proudstown Road in Navan has been delayed due to funding shortfalls, councillors heard at the July meeting of the Navan District. Councillor Yemi Adenuga sought clarity on the status of the planned works at the Circle K junction on the Proudstown Road (Aisling Place x R162), which underwent a five-week public consultation in 2023. Yemi spoke to us this m...

Minister of State with special responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions, and Insurance, Robert Troy, TD, has, yesterday, introduced ‘Right to be Forgotten’ legislation as a Government Bill to the Dáil.   Minister Troy spoke to us this morning on The Agenda to tell us more about this Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Aontu leader and Meath-West TD Peadar Toibin, who called out the Government yesterday in the Dail over their inaction on all of their promises and the fact that he says they have done “nothing of substance” since the election.    Speaking in the Dail, Deputy Toibin also called out their “poor attendance” and branded them a “stay at home Govern...

The Health Research Board has said the availability of cocaine has led to an increase in hospitalisations and overdoses.   There are warnings of the potential for further increases in use and harm after new research showed the number of cocaine seizures grew from 566 in 2003 to more than 4,000 in 2023.   Addiction Specialist Dr Garrett McGovern spoke to us this morning on The Agenda abou...

Cleaning up dog waste is the full legal responsibility of the dog owner, Meath County Council has stated, in response to a motion from a local councillor calling for dog waste bag dispensers to be installed around Athboy town. At the July meeting of the Kells Municipal District, Councillor Mike Bray asked the council to consider providing dispensers at selected locations to help tackle persistent...

The excavation of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home comes “too late” for some families, an alliance representing survivors has said.  Between 1925 and 1961, the County Galway home was run by Bon Secours Sisters, looking after young, mostly unmarried, mothers and their young children.  In 2017, an investigation confirmed there were "significant quantities of human remains" buried within the g...

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by James Sexton, who has been lobbying politicians seeking change in the law in relation to inheritance tax and what he believes is discrimination against people who are childless. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Restrictions on the number of overnight take-offs at Dublin Airport have been lifted, after proposals to limit flights to fewer than 36 flights per night were rejected by An Coimisúin Pleánala. An average of 95 planes can now take off and land at night at Dublin Airport, after operator DAA sought to remove restrictions which limited how many flights could use the runways. We were joined on The Age...

The number of households behind on their energy bills has soared by 86,000 in the year to April, figures obtained by the Irish Independent have confirmed. The energy regulator has been accused of holding back the arrears figures after the release of the data for March and April was delayed for a number of months. March figures should have been issued in May. But the Commission for the Regulation o...

The Government may consider a new bespoke permission system to allow Ukrainian refugees to remain in Ireland once the EU’s temporary protection directive expires in 2027. Discussions on the future of how the State deals with Ukrainian refugees are under way within Government, with a raft of options being considered, including the international protection system. However, sources have indicated Ukr...