The Agenda

As we approach the summer, farm safety minister & Independent TD in Kerry Michael Healy-Rae has asked farmers and everyone visiting the countryside to take extra care. This year to date, farming accounts for five of the eleven (45%) of confirmed workplace fatalities. Minister Healy-Ray spoke to us this morning on The Agenda about this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...

A High Court judge has ordered the BBC to pay Gerry Adams €50,000 – half of his landmark €100,000 defamation award – while the corporation considers mounting an appeal. Mr Justice Alexander Owens also told the broadcaster to immediately pay €250,000 to Mr Adams’ legal team. He made the orders after the BBC sought a full stay on the payment of the award and Mr Adams’ legal costs, thought to be arou...

Social media companies should ‘most definitely’ be brought before the Oireachtas Media Committee to discuss how they deal with disinformation on foot of claims made online in the wake of the shooting in Carlow over the weekend, a TD has said. When the incident became public, some far-right actors pushed false information that the incident was carried out by a foreign national. Some social media us...

Some adult victim-survivors of domestic abuse have described navigating Ireland’s family law system as ‘even worse than the abuse’, prompting fresh calls for urgent reforms. The description is contained in groundbreaking new research which has found a system that causes ‘secondary victimisation’, with adult and child victim-survivors of domestic abuse being retraumatised during guardianship, custo...

This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Aontu TD for Meath-West Peadar Toibin, who is calling for the law to change in relation to how applications are made and processed for properties to be used as housing for people seeking international protection in Ireland. Deputy Toibin branded the current process as "chaotic" and says that the system is being used for speculative purposes by businesspe...

Gardaí have been urged to investigate an online forum where thousands of images of girls and women from across Ireland have been posted without their knowledge. The pictures appear to have been taken from both the public and private social media accounts of those targeted, with some posted alongside sexual threats. Investigative Journalist at the The Journal, Patricia Devlin, spoke to us on The Ag...

Mum Debbie Adams has been waiting a year to address an inquiry into the prescribing of epilepsy medicine containing Valproate to pregnant women.  Her daughters, aged 13 and 11, were diagnosed with Fetal Valproate Syndrome (FVS) in 2020. This came after years of diagnosis for individual symptoms. Last June, an inquiry was launched into the prescribing of valproate, which can cause serious birt...

A mother has launched a campaign for new legislation — called ‘Francis’ Law’, named after her son — to end the automatic reduction of sentences during mitigation in rape cases. Mitigation covers a range of factors — from pleas of guilty to the rehabilitation of the perpetrator — which can considerably cut the final term handed down. Mother Georgina Tuohey recently had a third case of rape and/or s...

Take a deep breath: it’s less than 24 hours before Leaving Certificate English paper one lands on exam desks at 9.30am on Wednesday. If you are feeling anxious, you are not alone.  It is normal for Leaving Cert students (and their parents) to feel stressed. We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Guidance Counsellor and Education Columnist at The Irish Times, Brian Mooney, who gave us hi...

A current defence strategy in defamation cases — which has yet to succeed — is to be strengthened under proposals from Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan. A law lecturer in Trinity College Dublin said no defence under Section 26 of the Defamation Act 2009 — which allows publishers to argue publication was fair and reasonable and in the public interest — has ever succeeded in this country. Eoin O’Del...

This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Meath-based Independent Senator, Sharon Keogan, who says that plans to house migrants at Thornton Hall and build a prison "haven't disappeared”.  Senator Keogan took to social media after receiving a letter from Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, and this morning on The Agenda she gave us all the latest on this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Efforts must be made at the Department of Defence to ensure that the father of Dundalk soldier Michael McNeela can receive the army pension given to his late wife in recognition of their son’s death, Louth TD Ruairí Ó Murchú has said. We spoke to Deputy Ó Murchú on The Agenda this morning about this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There is an epidemic of sexual viol­ence in Ireland, and people across the country are reaching out for support in numbers never seen before. This is the reality behind the huge increase in demand for frontline services provided by Dublin Rape Crisis Centre last year. This morning on The Agenda we spoke to CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Rachel Murrough, who has a piece in the Irish Independ...

There is a €20,000 reward available for information that leads to the conviction of the person or people who organised a nearly fatal attack on a postman in 2008.  Robert Delaney is a father of two and at the time was living with his partner in an apartment in Tallaght. He was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, his dad Terry says, however Robert’s life changed forever when one day when he came acr...

Petrol and diesel prices fell this month as the cost of a barrel of crude oil has been collapsing on world markets. Experts said the fall in prices at the pump would be greater if there were not so many taxes and levies on petrol and diesel, and CEO of lobby group, Fuels for Ireland, Kevin McPartland spoke to us on The Agenda this morning about this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

There's a call to prohibit unruly behaviour on flights in this country. The trade union Fórsa says over 30 incidents of disruptive passenger behaviour at Dublin Airport already in 2025. This amounts to an almost 80 per cent increase compared to the whole of last year. Fórsa’s National Secretary, Katie Morgan says staff shouldn't have to deal with rowdy passengers, and Katie spoke to us on The Agen...

The Public Accounts Committee has recalled Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) and the Health Service Executive (HSE) to appear before it amid “growing concerns” about what its chairman claims is an “omission of vital information” during a recent appearance. Sinn Féin TD John Brady, who is also Chairman of the committee, spoke to us on The Agenda this morning about this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...

People are being urged to quit smoking in order to save money on life and mortgage protection insurance. Those who smoke and who hope to apply for a mortgage will pay twice the amount in mortgage protection than non-smokers. This study was carried out by B onkers.ie, and Daragh Cassidy from Bonkers.ie spoke to us on The Agenda this morning about this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...

The Electoral Commission is calling on the government to waive the fees associated with applying for a postal vote because of a disability or illness. The Commission, which was established in 2023 to oversee all elections has pointed out “continued failings” around the accessibility of voting. Under existing rules, anyone who is voting by registered postal vote due to a medical condition can...

Meath County Council has ruled that the use of an industrial unit in a Trim business park as an accommodation centre for international protection applicants would not be exempted development and would therefore require planning permission. This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Social Democrats Councillor in Trim, Ronan Moore, to get his reaction to this and to find out what the reaction has been...

This morning on The Agenda we were joined by Alan Grimes, who is one of the people involved in organising the upcoming conference in Kells on the rise of the far right. Alan said they made the decision to organise the festival this year that shines a light on Far Right activity and the serious dangers it poses to our communities.  He also said that this does not mean they believe the immigrat...

We were joined on the The Agenda this morning by Columnist at the Irish Independent, Ian O’Doherty, who has written this week about trigger warnings and the overuse of them in today’s society. Ian told us that undoubtedly the worst development of the last decade has been the rise of the dreaded “sensitivity reader”, and Ian is on the line with us now to talk to us some more about this and about ju...

Immediate action should be taken to suspend the surgeons involved in the hip surgery audit report, an opposition TD has said. People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy said surgeons made the choice to operate on children and, in some cases, it may have been unnecessary. This is where the focus must be, he said, calling for those involved to be “at the very least” suspended from carrying out f...

The number of women in Ireland seeking treatment for cocaine addiction has soared by more than 400%. The latest Health Research Board (HRB) figures show that there has been a 426% rise in the number of women presenting for treatment over the last eight years. This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Consultant Psychiatrist specialising in addiction medicine, Professor Colin O'Gara, to find out more...

Meath Women’s refugee has said that the lack of housing and transport in the county is a “huge impediment” to survivors of domestic violence, as they prepare to host Go Purple Day 2025 to tackle the stigma surrounding domestic abuse. This morning on The Agenda we spoke to CEO Frances Haworth about this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.