The Agenda

Gardaí this week confirmed that they are investigating graffiti painted on roads on the Louth-Meath border as incidents of criminal damage with a hate crime motivation.Gardaí said they attended the scene of the incident which occurred between the evening of Monday, 23 March and the morning of Tuesday, 24 March.This is the most recent case of antisemitic graffiti in the area, following another similar incident in December.A local councillor in the area, Paddy Meade, has said this is the 11th such incident over several years.The graffiti includes the word "Jew", the Star of David symbol and the word "rats".Councillor Meade joined us in-studio this morning on The Agenda to talk to us some more about this.

Female members of the All Party Oireachtas Life and Dignity Group have called on the Government to establish a dedicated taskforce to tackle what they describe as an “alarming increase” in coercive abortion cases in recent times.The call follows a number of recent court cases in which men were jailed for violent attacks on their partners, with courts hearing that forcing women to take abortion pills formed a core element of the abuse. The lawmakers described this pattern as “deeply troubling” and said “the Government cannot continue to ignore the warning signs.”The statement calling for the special taskforce was issued by Independent TD Carol Nolan, Independent Senator Sharon Keogan and Senator Sarah O’Reilly of Aontú. It follows the recent sentencing in Letterkenny Circuit Court of a man in his 20s to nine years in prison for coercing a woman to ingest abortion pills against her will, before locking her in a room and threatening violence if she did not comply. Meath-based Independent Senator, Sharon Keogan, joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this

If you have been listening to The Agenda over the past number of weeks, you will have heard us following the story regarding the lack of school places in Dunshaughlin in County Meath. We have spoken to local politicians, local parents and local pre-school owners about how bad the situation is and how it is affecting both parents and children in the area.It was announced last night that The Department of Education and Youth has sanctioned the opening of a second Junior Infants class at a primary school in Dunshaughlin.One of the parents in the area, Aine McKenna (who have spoken to various times about the situation) received a call last night from Minister Helen McEntee in relation to this, but Aine says that still no real answers or solutions are being provided with many parents still being left without a place for their child.Aine and other parents from the area will this morning go into Dublin city to march on the Dail in relation to this - they want solutions and they want them now.Aine joined us on The Agenda this morning to give us an updateon the whole situation and to tell us about their protest.

With tens of thousands of flights cancelled and the cost of jet fuel soaring, what impact is the conflict in the Middle East having on Irish holidaymakers?Irish Independent Travel Editor Pol Ó Conghaile this week contacted Irish travel agents to see how we are rethinking trips to and through the Middle East, what the alternatives are, and where prices are rising.Pol joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about all of this.

Dodgy-box end users face legal action from Sky for the first time, the broadcaster has told the High Court.Sky has obtained the names, addresses and bank details of 304 dodgy-box subscribers from a court case against a distributor of the services.It says that it intends to use the information “to take legal actions against the resellers and some of the end users”.Legal proceedings have already started against two of the 12 resellers, Sky says.Tech Editor at The Irish Independent, Adrian Weckler, is on the line with us now to tell us more about this.

Louth County Council is to write to the Department of Justice and the D hotel in a bid to establish the future plans for the premises.The Drogheda hotel has been an accommodation centre for asylum seekers since March of 2024.This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Labour TD for Louth, Ged Nash, to get the latest on all of this.We also spoke to Deputy Nash about his calls for Government to to immediately introduce a 10% reduction in public transport fares and expand access to working from home.Deputy Nash said that while the temporary cuts to excise duty are welcome in a crisis, they do not go far enough to permanently reduce costs for workers.

Yesterday on the show we spoke to two mums, Aine and Helena, from Dunshaughlin,  who told us about how they are still unable to secure a junior infants place for their child in the Dunshaughlin.The huge growth in population in Dunshaughlin in recent years which has seen many young families move into new housing developments in the area has led to a shortage of primary school places.During the broadcast we received a message from another mother from Dunshaughlin named Sara, who is also a parent with no school place for her child in September. Sara told us that she has been forced to accept a place for her child in a school outside the area, but the logistics of it would make life very difficult for her, and Sara joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about this.We were also joined by Caitlín Kennedy, who is the owner of Naíonra Na Ríthe in Dunshaughlin, and she tols us about how she sees first-hand the knock-on effects this is having on local children in Dunshaughlin.

The average rent in new tenancies in Louth now stands at €1451 per month, with an increase in eviction notices across the State of 41% between October to December compared to the same period in 2024, it has been revealed.The standardised average rent in existing tenancies in Louth for the third quarter of 2025 was €1,230, an increase of 2.5% year on year, according to the latest RTB Directors Report.Sinn Féin TD for Louth, Ruairí Ó Murchú said the eviction notices were ‘extremely worrying’ and ‘reflect what is being brought to my constituency office in Dundalk’.He said that the figures ‘confirm the risk to renters’ that Sinn Féin and other opposition parties had warned the government about ahead of the adoption of new rental market rules that came into effect on March 1.Deputy Ó Murchú joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.