The Agenda

Sinn Féin Senator Maria McCormack has said we must urgently end the neglect of women with endometriosis and called for the government to support Sinn Féin’s Dáil motion seeking to improve access to endometriosis care for thousands of women affected across the state.  The motion which was debated earlier this week followed a series of public meetings hosted by Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McD...

The Department of Health has released the total number of notifications received last year for abortions carried out in Ireland. It reports there were 10,852 abortions in 2024 – the highest number on record since the law changed in 2019. For Louth, in 2024, there were 333 abortions, one of the highest ratios outside Dublin. There were 359 abortions in Meath in 2024 (the sixth highest number per co...

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Minister for Finance and Fine Gael TD Pascal Donohue, and we are going to be discussing major progress in the delivery of the National Broadband Plan.  The ambitious national project, aimed at connecting over one million people across rural Ireland, is now on track and within budget. We also discussed Trump's tariffs and the reality that Ireland is...

A 52-year-old man caught with over €9 million worth of drugs and over €1 million in cash has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Gardaí said Andrew Pender was at the top tier of a Dublin drugs dealing network. Pender, from Ely Green in Dublin, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering. A car and van with hidden electronic storage compartments and a stolen Gar...

The Chairman of the Drogheda Cycling group, Noel Hogan, says Louth County Council are “kicking the can down the road” on implementing plans to install active travel routes in the town and these delays are wasting taxpayer’s money due to increasing costs. His comments come as the government has today announced Phase 2 of their Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 plan which focuses on 12 actions which Mi...

A children’s sports summer camp scheduled to take place in Co Down has been cancelled after the local Orange lodge raised “significant concerns” over the inclusion of children from a GAA club. The camp was to be run by the North Down Cricket Club and Cricket Ireland has since said it is “dismayed and disappointed”. Kelly Armstrong from Alliance MLA spoke to us this morning on The Agenda about this...

The US Ambassador to Israel has criticised the Occupied Territories Bill, calling on Ireland to "sober up". The bill would prohibit trade between Ireland and Israel's illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It was scrutinised yesterday by the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and was introduced by Independent Senator Frances Black. Mike Huckabee described the bill as "so...

The European Commission is set to propose merging Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funding with other funds, in a radical overhaul of how farmers receive financial supports from the European Union budget. Draft documents of the proposals indicate that from the start of the next EU budgetary cycle in 2028, the commission plans to pool dedicated agricultural and rural financial supports into a singl...

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Journalist at the Irish Independent, John Downing, who wrote a piece this week titled: “How Trump is impacting Irish life in ways far beyond the threat of crippling tariffs”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This morning on The Agenda we were joined by Louth-based Senator Alison Comyn about the Annual Enterprise Ireland Report which went before Cabinet yesterday. We also discussed the issue of dangerous crossroads in Collon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A senator who shared her seven-week baby scan in the Seanad to highlight shortcomings in laws around miscarriage expressed disappointment that the Government has stalled on giving more rights to parents.   The Coalition said Nicole Ryan’s proposed bill – which would give parents who suffer a miscarriage the right to leave from work – will be brought back to the Oireachtas in a year’s time. Ms...

Plans to bring in health labels on drinks could be pushed back until 2029 instead of being announced next week. The planned introduction of the law next year would have made Ireland the first country in the world to insist on health warnings on bottles containing alcoholic drinks. Alcohol Action Ireland says postponing the decision is another instance of the Taoiseach and Health Minister turning t...

Homeless charities have expressed concerns over reports that local authorities could stop families who refuse multiple social housing offers from accessing emergency accommodation. The Irish Examiner reported this week that the government could give Ireland’s city and county councils the power to remove offers of homeless accommodation to those who repeatedly decline an offer of housing. It comes...

It is “not fine” for the government to be purely a commentator in the Covid 19 review, particularly when there are families in Dealgan House in Dundalk who still don’t know what happened to their loved ones, five years on, Louth TD Ruairí Ó Murchú has told the Dáil. The Sinn Féin TD was speaking during a debate about nursing homes, prompted by the recent Prime Time Investigates programme. The Lout...

RTÉ has got a “must try harder” mark on its report card on reforms in the wake of the Ryan Tubridy payments scandal. A report on the implementation of recommendations for changes at the national broadcaster shows nearly half of the reforms are “delayed”. The absence of implementation on reforms has caused fury in the Government, which has committed €725m in additional funding for RTÉ. This morning...

Sinn Féin TD for Meath East, Darren O'Rourke, says Meath Garda numbers are set to remain the lowest in Ireland as a Parliamentary Reply confirms that the government’s Garda recruitment numbers will be far below target this year.   Deputy O'Rourke was speaking following a response from the Minister for Justice which outlines that Garda recruitment numbers for 2025...

The heartbroken family of the late James Ryan - who was killed by his partner after she ‘forcefully’ pushed him - has slammed the two years and nine months sentence that was handed down saying "it’s not the justice he deserved.” Dublin Circuit Court heard last week that Olesja Hertova (49) of Hastings Lawn, Balbriggan, Co Dublin pleaded guilty to one count of the unlawful killing of Mr Ryan on Aug...

The Garda Representative Association has called for the training allowance to be doubled.  The Department of Justice had hoped to recruit 1,000 new members into An Garda Síochána.  However, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan told the Dáil last week he expects it will be only 600 to 650.  Garda Representative Association Assistant General Secretary Tara McManus says there are a “nu...

Ireland is struggling to be ready for the EU’s planned overhaul of the asylum system, according to a leading Irish human rights body. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has said it fears that the scale of changes – which are supposed to be implemented by next June – are simply not feasible for the government and will result in an asylum system “prone to legal challenge, administrative...

An “honest” belief that an alleged victim had consented to sex may no longer be a legal defence in rape cases if proposals being considered by the Government become law. The Department of Justice and the Office of the Attorney General are considering the proposal to significantly modify the State’s consent laws. The planned reform is at an advanced stage, has the backing of the Law Reform Commissi...

Nearly 1,900 inspections have been conducted on rental accommodations in Meath this year as part of ongoing efforts to uphold housing standards. As of the end of May 2025, a total of 1,872 inspections were carried out by Meath County Council. Of these, 589 were first-time inspections, with only 21 properties passing on their initial assessment. The remaining properties will be subject to follow-up...

Some residents in Ardee and nearby communities are facing water supply disruptions (some since as far back as Friday) following a mechanical fault at the Blakestown Reservoir and a separate burst on the network near the entrance to Sliabh Breagh on the N2. Local Fine Gael Councillor Dolores Minogue joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this. Hosted on Acast. See acast....

Tánaiste Simon Harris told the Cabinet this morning that threatened trade tariffs of 30% by the US could have a significant impact on the economy and potentially lead to job losses occurring quicker than anticipated.   Political Correspondent Sean Defoe spoke to us this morning on The Agenda to tell us more. We also spoke to Economist Austin Hughes to find out about this will affect Irish job...

More than 400 people have been refused entry at Irish ports in the past five years after trying to slip into the country undetected as stowaways. In contrast to the numbers of migrants arriving by small boats in the UK, the Department of Justice said there have been no “small boat” arrivals in Ireland over the past five years. Marine experts say this is due to the much longer distance from France...

Supermarkets have hit back at accusations of price gouging, insisting their prices are competitive and profit ­margins are low. It comes after new figures show ­grocery prices continue to rise, exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis for families. The Government last week rebuffed proposed Social Democrats legislation that would force major grocery retailers to reveal their profits in Ireland. Ther...