The Agenda

Banning flavoured vapes is the measure “most likely” to make them less attractive to young people, minister of state Jennifer Murnane O'Connor has told the Oireachtas health committee. New laws will see a ban on flavoured vapes and limits on the colours used in packaging among a raft of measures to try to curb the sharp rise in consumption among younger people.  Tobacco-flavour or ‘unflavoure...

Third-level institutions and the Higher Education Authority (HEA) will be asked to appear before an Oireachtas committee next month to face questions on how they are tackling sexual violence and harassment. TDs and senators want to engage with third-level institutions and the ­domestic, sexual and gender-based violence agency Cuan to examine how the issues are dealt with across the sector. Hosted...

A leading domestic violence charity is calling on the Government to amend Irish domestic violence legislation to explicitly recognise pet abuse as a form of coercive control within abusive relationships.  Sonas Domestic Violence Charity says frontline services regularly encounter situations where pets are threatened, harmed or used to intimidate and psychologically control women and children...

Residents in Slane village have warned that they are prepared to stage peaceful protests unless organisers of the famous summer concert agree to introduce a €5 per ticket community levy. The funds would be used to invest in the community for various projects, funding the tidy towns group, the annual St Patrick’s Day parade, and community centre upgrades Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for m...

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by journalist Terri Prone, who wrote a piece in The Irish Examiner yesterday titled, “It’s frightening to see how clever the far-right reaction to the picking of the Dublin Rose is”. Dublin Rose Suad Mooge this week said that she is "shocked but not surprised" at comments on social media by people saying she "is not Irish". Suad won the Dublin Rose title l...

Parents in Dunshaughlin say they’re being left with no choice but to bring their campaign for more gaelscoil places to the Dáil, yet again. This follows a parents' meeting held in the Pastoral Centre in Dunshaughlin last Tuesday and is prompted by the lack of response from the Education Minister Hildegarde Naughton to their appeals for extra places to be provided in Gaelscoil na Ríthe.  Famil...

The Labour Party has said a staff member is spending 40pc of their time “blocking racist abuse” directed at Galway West by-election candidate Helen Ogbu on Facebook, as the party criticised Meta’s “hands-off” approach. A party spokeswoman said that it is employing a member of staff to help Ms Ogbu with digital media on her campaign. The party said 40pc of the work of the staff member is “blocking...

A Louth TD has introduced a bill to the Dáil which seeks to give Drogheda city status.   Sinn Féin TD Joanna Byrne presented the Local Government (Cities) Bill 2026 as part of the first stage of the legislative process. The bill would see the Local Electoral Area of Drogheda Urban officially renamed as the Municipal District of Drogheda City. It also seeks to amend the Local Government Act 20...

Paramedics have begun a 24-hour strike, as the HSE have warned of potential delays.  Workers for the National Ambulance Services, including emergency medical technicians, paramedics, advanced paramedics, paramedic specialists and paramedic supervisors, will strike from 8am today until 8am tomorrow.  Last month, Unite and Siptu members voted in favour of industrial action due to what they...

A medical doctor and aesthetics practitioner says the lack of legislation around injectable aesthetics is “a glaring public safety failure”. Cork man Stephen Creedon and his sister Niamh, who holds a PhD in chemistry, have come together to develop an online directory of registered aesthetic practitioners, following an RTÉ Investigates probe into the sale and offering of Botox-type products illegal...

May is Motorcycle Awareness Month, a time dedicated to highlighting road safety for motorcyclists and reminding all road users to take extra care and share the road responsibly. With the brighter evenings and better weather bringing more bikes onto Irish roads, it’s an important conversation to have. Statistics from the Road Safety Authority show that motorcyclists remain among the most vulnerable...

The Minister for Justice said he is considering a scheme which would offer payments to Ukrainian refugees who return to their home country.   Jim O’Callaghan was responding to a report in The Sunday Times, which said Ukrainians who fled to Ireland because of the war would receive the money after they have arrived back in Ukraine. More than 125,700 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Ireland si...

Ambulance workers who are members of trade unions Unite and Siptu are to begin work-to-rule action today in a row over pay. National Ambulance Service (NAS) paramedics will also undertake a 24-hour stoppage tomorrow, with its unions saying further industrial action is planned if a dispute with the HSE is not resolved. Last month, members voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action over wha...

Two Irish people who had been on board a cruise ship hit by hantavirus returned home on Sunday on an Air Corps plane that landed at Baldonnel military airbase in Dublin just after 9pm. Ann Lane, a former personal assistant to former president Mary Robinson who lives in Dublin, and her friend were accompanied by Health Service Executive (HSE) medics on the flight from Tenerife. The Department of He...

This morning on The Agenda we discsussed the growing debate around the cost of digital devices in Irish schools.  Sinn Féin’s TD for Meath-East and Education spokesperson, Darren O’Rourke, has criticised the Government’s approach to technology in classrooms, saying parents are being left with huge bills for compulsory iPads and tablets. According to Deputy O’Rourke, some families are being as...

Legislation to introduce ‘Valerie's Law’ went before Cabinet yesterday - a move described by Valerie French’s brother as “one more step towards child protection”. The legislation is named after Valerie French (41), who was murdered by her husband, James Kilroy, in Castlebar, Co Mayo, in 2019. The couple have three children. Under the law, killers who take the life of their child’s other parent wil...

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation are holding their Annual Delegate Conference in the Fairways Hotel in Dundalk today.   Over 50 motions will be debated on safe staffing, cost-of-living, burnout, assaults. Emergency motions will be debated on cost-of-living measures.  The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, will address delegates, and Minister MacNeill joined us on T...

Airports should be banned from serving alcohol to passengers before early morning flights, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has said. He said the measure would reduce the number of passengers who were disruptive on board aircraft. Mr O’Leary said Ryanair was being forced to divert an average of nearly one flight every day because of bad behaviour on board, up from one a week a decade ago. In an interv...

A Dundalk mother of a 12-year-old boy with autism fears that he will be left without a school place when the new school year commences in September. Alexandra is battling to find a suitable place for her elder son Tristan who will finish primary school at the end of June. Tristan, who is non-verbal, currently attends the autism unit at St Nicholas National School, where he receives the support he...

There is growing expectation in the Irish and British governments that King Charles will visit Ireland as early as next year. While no firm arrangements are yet in place, there has been significant informal contact on the issue, according to several people with knowledge of the subject who spoke on condition of anonymity. President Catherine Connolly will travel to Britain later this month, where...

While the Irish far-right movement was small it borrows from the MAGA movement in the United States or ‘Raise Your Colours’ in the UK. David Gilbert, Reporter at WIRED, believes that there is no doubt that the Irish flag has been co-opted by the Irish far-right movement. Former World Health Organisation Executive Director Dr Mike Ryan says the Irish flag has been “hijacked” by what he describes as...

Social Justice Ireland has published its latest national social monitor pointing to crises in youth housing and health along with challenges brought on by AI. Susanne Rogers, Research and Policy Analyst for the social justice think tank said: “Ireland has structures that provide a strong foundation for the inclusion of young people in policymaking. One area the publication highlighted included you...

Homes and businesses face rising food and electricity bills as energy prices increase on the back of the Middle East conflict, says the latest assessment of the Irish economy. The economy on both sides of the Border will grow this year, but uncertainty created by the US-Israel-Iran conflict increases risks, according to the EY Economic Eye Spring Forecast. Petrol, diesel and home heating oil price...

A very brave woman who has previously shared her battle with severe endometriosis here on The Agenda says she is now at “breaking point” and is pleading for urgent help. Amie Berns says her condition has deteriorated to the extent that she is living in constant, excruciating pain and is now effectively housebound. She is reliant on a catheter due to complications affecting her bladder, and describ...

According to property records a residential house in Stamullen, County Meath, which the local community has been informed is to be used to accommodate applicants for International Protection, is owned by the Minister for Justice. The Minister does not own the house as a personal asset but on behalf of the Department of Justice. The house in question, in the Forgehill estate, Stamullen, was purchas...