The Agenda

A Louth TD has urged the Government to establish a cross‑border Assessment of Need (AON) scheme to help reduce lengthy waiting times for children requiring early intervention services.Raising the issue in the Dáil this week, Deputy Butterly called on the Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality to consider a dedicated cross‑border pathway, similar to existing arrangements for dental and surgical treatments. Such a scheme, she said, would allow families to access timely assessments when domestic waiting lists become unmanageable.Deputy Butterly told the Dáil that demand for Assessments of Need has surged in recent years, driven by population growth and an increasing number of families seeking vital supports for their children.Deputy Butterly joined os on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more abbout this.

Andrew McGinley, whose three children were killed by their mother who was suffering from mental illness, has announced that the work of a charity established in their honour is coming to an end.Mr McGinley’s children – Conor (9), Darragh (7) and Carla (3) – were killed by their mother, Deirdre Morley, at their home in Newcastle, Co Dublin, on January 24, 2020, when she was suffering a psychotic and depressive episode.Ms Morley, a nurse, was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. Mr McGinley has since set up projects in his children’s names which reflect their personalities and aspirations.One of those, As Darragh Did, will formally wind up its operations.Andrew joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

A Drogheda councillor has warned that older people are avoiding walking in an area of the town at night, where public lighting is out of order.Labour's Pio Smith wants the local authority to meet the contractor as soon as possible.There are issues with accessing The Glen to carry out repairs due to ground flooding.Councillor Smith says it's unacceptable that several lights have not worked for weeks.Councillor Smith joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

Families in Meath supporting loved ones in severe mental health distress are being left “banging their heads against a brick wall” due to difficulties accessing care, a public meeting in Navan recently heard.This morning on The Agenda, Adrian spoke to **Niamh**, who bravely opened up about her struggle to secure care for her 24-year-old son, who has experienced severe mental health difficulties since 2019.Niamh bravely told us about how her sons erratic behaviour has the whole family living in fear and about how the system has failed them.

63 people have been deported from Ireland to South Africa on a charter flight this weekend, the Department of Justice has confirmed.The operation, carried out on Saturday evening, saw 54 adults and nine children deported. The children were part of family units.It’s the second charter removal operation this year and the eighth since such flights resumed in 2025.Titilayo Oluwakemi Oyekanmi and her three sons, Samuel, Joseph and Genesis, came to Ireland in late 2023 from South Africa. Their asylum application was rejected and a subsequent appeal was unsuccessful. The family received a deportation order in April 2025. The boys had been attending schools in Dublin, and were members of a number of local sports clubs.Glencullen-Sandyford Green Party Councillor Oisín O’Connor hit out at the Department’s “lack of compassion” in relation to the deportation of the Oyekanmi family, and Councillor O'Connor joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Meath couple Johnny and Victoria, who are currently stuck in Qatar as a result of airspace being closed due to the Iranian strikes. The couple only discovered that they were going to be stuck in Qatar while they were having lunch waiting for their flight to Dublin.Johnny and Victoria told LMFM about how they have heard bombs going off and have seen drones being shot down - they have no ida when they will be able to go home.Victoria also told us about they dont even have any access to their luggage.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee has called on the estimated 20,000 Irish citizens in Gulf states to shelter in place and avoid trying to leave via land routes amid ongoing instability.Multiple Gulf states have come under attack as Iran vowed to carry out its "most intense operation" ever in retaliation for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.The Minister said that a large number of Irish citizens, in particular in the UAE, have already registered with the department's citizen registration platform, and she encouraged others in the region to do the same.Minister McEntee joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to give us all the latest on this.

Something very new happende on The Agenda this morning. We had our first ever segment of ‘The LMFM Roundtable’, where we were joined in-studio by 4 contributors from different parts of Louth and Meath to discuss and debate the big stories of the week. This week we were joined by: Fine Gael Councillor in Ashbourne, Alan TobinIndependent Councillor in Navan, Alan LawesMayor of Drogheda & Labour Councillor, Michelle HallFianna Fail Councillor in Dundalk, Emma Coffey. We discussed the anti-social behaviour in Oriel Park last week, road safety after a Meath girl was tragically killed in a hit and run, and Monday marked 4 years since Russia invaded Ukraine.