The Agenda

Aontú leader and Meath-West TD Peadar Tóibín has said that the government's handling of the crisis has been 'a fiasco'.He says they're going to come under fierce pressure in this week's motion of no confidence.Deputy Toibin joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

A business owner in Louth has said fellow fuel protesters “want to be heard” as disruption and delays on Irish motorways continued over the weekend.Shane Bowhan, who operates a small minibus company, said he was joining the demonstration because the rise in fuel prices is “just not viable”.HGV and tractor drivers have continued to impede journeys to express their discontent with the Government’s response to surging fuel prices as a result of the war in Iran.Protests that began as slow-moving convoys have escalated to include the blockading of fuel depots and the Whitegate oil refinery in Co Cork.Shane says that the Government needs to “step up and admit that there’s a problem”.Shane joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence & Meath-East Fianna Fail TD, Thomas Byrne, who gave us his reaction to Sinn Fein’s motion of no confidence in Government over their handling of the fuel protests.

Sinn Fein is to table a motion of no confidence in the government over its handling of the fuel protests.The party’s TDs and Senators met over the weekend to decide its next action, with party leader Mary Lou McDonald labelling the handling of the protests and wider fuel pressures as “disastrous”.Shortly after Sinn Féin’s statement, other opposition parties Social Democrats and Independent Ireland have said they will also vote no confidence in the Government.McDonald said that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents who support them have “lost the confidence of the public” and needed to be voted out.We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Sinn Fein TD for Meath-East, Darren O’Rourke, who is going to talk to us some more about this. We were also joined by Independent TD in Meath-East Gillian Toole, and by National Chairperson at the IBLA (Irish Beef & Lamb Association), Kieran Delaney, who spoke to us about the calls for Independent TDs to withdraw support so a general election can be called.

This morning on The Agenda we had our weekly edition of ‘The LMFM Roundtable’, where we were joined in-studio by 3 contributors to discuss and debate the big stories of the week.This week we discussed the fuel protests and asked if they support the protesters.We also discussed the ceasefire in Iran. Alos, calls for a clampdown on vape shops near schools in Ireland.

This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Meath agricultural contractor & fuel protester Christopher Duffy to find out about the meeting which is due to take place today between Government and protester organisations.We also found out what will happen if their demands are not met at the meetings today and what they will do next. Christopher told us that they won''t be standing down until they get what tey are asking for....

It’s day four of ongoing protests over the government’s response to rising fuel prices.Already this morning, there is a full road closure in place on the M50 northbound and southbound, with motorists warned to expect long delays.A number of public transport services in the capital have also been affected by road closures.Major roads (including motorways and Dublin’s O’Connell Street) have been blocked, fuel facilities have been blockaded and public transport has been disrupted since Tuesday, with dozens of forecourts (primarily in Munster) now completely out of fuel.We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Minister of State for Europe & Defence & Meath-East Fianna Fail TD and Meath-East Fianna Fail TD Thomas Byrne, who told us that if these protests don't end immediately the country will "close down". Minister Byrne is calling for these protests to end immediately before more damage is done.

This morning on The Agenda we were contacted by a listener named James, who was stuck in traffic in Dundalk on his way to Dunlin airport to catch a flight with his wife and 3 young children.James told us about how because of the protesrs he would most likely not get to go on the holiday that he has been working the past year to afford.

This morning on The Agenda we spoke to a Dundalk protester (and Independent Ireland rep) who spoke to us live from the convoy.He told us exactly what protesters want and what he wants to see happen, and what will happen if Government don't meet them to talk immediatley.