The Agenda

Anti-bullying campaigner Jackie Fox has warned that the issue of online bullying is impacting younger teenagers, saying that both the victims of bullying and the bullies themselves are "getting younger".Ms Fox visits secondary schools across the country to tell the story of her daughter, Nicole 'Coco' Fox, who was relentlessly bullied both online and physically for a period of three years before she died by suicide in 2018.Ms Fox's subsequent campaigning prompted a landmark change to Irish law, leading to the introduction of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020.It is part of An Garda Síochána’s schools programme and the lesson provides a clear breakdown of the legislation.It criminalises the sharing of or the threatening to share intimate images without consent.Jackie joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about all of this.

A sweet shop can be “flipped” into a vape store “almost overnight,” a Louth councillor has warned, as concerns mount over the number of vaping retailers operating in town centres and close to schools.Councillor Robert Nash sounded a call for change to legislation at the latest meeting of Louth County Council, where he said “any corner shop” could be turned into a vape shop without the need for planning permission.Councillor Nash’s motion also sought stricter rules on shopfronts, calling for a ban on “bright neon signs, cartoon graphics and products aimed at children” on the exterior of vape stores. He also urged that shop windows be covered or limited to “neutral signage in line with tobacco product restrictions,” and that vaping products be kept out of view behind counters or in closed containers.Councillor Nash joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

‘Outdated rosters, equipment and resources’ need to be radically improved for cancer services in Louth, Dundalk TD Ruairí Ó Murchú has said.The Sinn Féin TD was speaking during his party’s recent motion in Leinster House on the need for a better cancer strategy to be developed.He said that many people have ‘harrowing stories to tell’ and while many attest that the system is ‘brilliant once you get in’, there is far too much slippage lately.He highlighted statistics from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda which ranks 16th out of the 25 hospitals providing chemotherapy with 17% of people not getting chemotherapy within the target timeframe of 15 working days. Deputy Ó Murchú joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this, and also about his calls for Gardaí to be given more power to deal with e-scooters, which “are being driven by children as young as eight”.

Motorists were warned to expect significant disruption to major roads today, as a protest took place over the price of fuel sought to slow traffic.The planned protest involved slow-moving convoys on the main roads leading to Dublin.The convoys, which began at around 8am, were organised by local activists who are protesting the price of diesel, petrol and home heating oil caused by the ongoing war in the Middle East.We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Paul McMahon from Tru-Cert Services on the M1 in Castlebellingham, who was out protesting as we spoke. We were also joined on the line now by Ger Hyland - President of the Irish Road Haulage Association, who is going to tell us about why they chose not to get involved in today's protest.

Families whose relatives died in nursing homes during the pandemic have criticised the Covid-19 Evaluation for continuing to ignore their experiences.While the evaluation held its first public session with expert advisers and academics on Wednesday, it has yet to confirm dates for meeting with families. These were expected to begin in February.Care Champions, the advocacy group representing dozens of families, pointed out the family meetings are to be in private anyway.“There is a jarring contrast between the live roundtable for professionals and the private forums for families,” Majella Beattie,Founder of the Care Champion group, said

On Monday on The Agenda, we spoke to Nuala Donland from Greyhound Action Ireland, who said that Greyhound racing could not survive in Ireland without State subsidy. Earlier this month, the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments both announced bans on greyhound racing. Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said the Government has no intention of doing likewise. However, the Greyhound Action Ireland spokesperson told us that cutting State funding would have a similar impact. Nuala told us about how she remains especially concerned about the welfare of the dogs, noting many of them sustain serious injuries every year from injuries sustained while racing, and Nuala joins us on the line now to talk to us some more about all of this.we were joined Chairman of the Irish Greyhounds Owners & Breeders Federation, Damien Matthews, who is a greyhound owner, trainer and breeder based in Newry - Damien felt that the interview with Nuala on Tuesday was a little one-sided and he is going to give us his thoughts on what was said now. 

A garda crackdown in north Louth on boy racers at the weekend which saw a number of cars seized near the border has been welcomed by Sinn Fein councillor Antoin Watters.Gardai from the Dundalk Roads Protection Unit put a policing operation in place after observing so-called boy racers “driving in a dangerous manner and placing the public at risk over the weekend along the border

We are joined on the programme now by Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora & Fine Gael TD, Neale Richmond, who is going to talk to us about the announcement yesterday that Ireland will provide a record €65m this year to respond to the war in Ukraine, providing humanitarian aid and long-term development for people.

The Government has totally rejected any suggestion of making Drogheda a city despite the increased population and thousands of new homes being built in the locality.Both Louth County Council and Meath County Council were totally opposed to any such move and were terrified of losing land or income.