The Agenda

A mother unable to secure a junior infants place for their child in the Dunshaughlin area told a meeting filled with parents in a similar position “we need solutions and we need them now.”The public meeting was for worried parents who have so far been unable to secure a junior infants place for their child for the coming school year took place on Thursday night (5th March) in the Parish Hall in Dunshaughlin. This was organised by local parents Aine McKenna, Lucia Onofri, and Ciara McCormac who invited all parents, guardians, and community members affected to attend.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, something parents say should have been foreseen and planned for.At the start of the meeting, Aine McKenna said “we need solutions and we need them now”.Aine joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this, and we werev also joined by another local mother named Rainia, who is also having the same issue and also attended the public meeting.

Dublin Zoo has said it is "disappointed" at some of the online discourse surrounding an advertising campaign for the zoo's All-Things-Irish Takeover next week.On Thursday, Dublin Zoo launched its 'mams go free' offer for Mother's Day to help families celebrate moms around the country, offering a complimentary adult ticket when a full paying adult or child ticket is purchased online next Sunday.As part of the launch campaign, Dublin Zoo recruited Irish social media star and TV presenter James Patrice as the ambassador for the takeover, who donned his well-known Malahide Mammy character, which the zoo has said is rooted in "humour and fun".Despite a mostly positive reaction to the campaign, there has been a backlash across social media from some politicians and members of the public, who slammed the campaign, including Independent Ireland TD Ken O'Flynn and Senator Sharon Keogan, taking umbrage with the use of the 'Malahide Mammy' character for the light-hearted campaign.Deputy O’Flynn joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

Ireland could soon be plunged into a cost-of-living crisis as severe as that seen after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, experts have warned.Hauliers are now preparing for possible protests across the country in the coming days, as fuel prices continue to soar due to the war in the Middle East.The hauliers warned that “they would close down Dublin until the politicians listened” — and said supermarket prices will inevitably rise in the coming days, with supply disrupted.“Every tax increased upon us ends up as an increased cost on the supermarket shelves,” Ger Hyland, president of the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), has said. Mr Hyland said it was the view of an IRHA meeting on Saturday that the fallout from spiralling energy prices due to the Middle East war will be “worse than 2022”. He said protests could be held within “a matter of days”.Ger joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

This morning on The Agenda had our second segment of ‘The LMFM Roundtable’, where we were joined in-studio by 3 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 Dundalk, John ReillyAontu Councillor in Navan, Emer ToibinFianna Fail Councillor in Dundalk, Shane McGuinnessThis morning we discussed:Taoiseach says 'no excuse' for price gouging as minister requests probe into gouging - we discussed price of diesel/petrol and flights home from Middle East. Is it time for the media to stop reporting on Enoch Burke and his family? One judge has branded them a "circus".Working from home - should an employee have the right to choose? Do you believe it makes employees more or less productive?

On Monday’s show we were joined by Meath couple, Johnny and Victoria, who told us about how they were stuck in Qatar as a result of airspace being closed due to the Iranian strikes - left without luggage and unsure of when they would get to go home.Victoria told LMFM about how they have heard bombs going off and have seen drones being shot down.We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Victoria, who gave us an update on their situation and tell us about how things are looking now - she said it's getting very scary. 

Sinn Féin TD for Meath East, Darren O'Rourke, has introduced two new pieces of legislation in the Dáil today to prevent energy companies from price-gouging and to end Ireland’s energy rip off for good.The Bills, the Electricity Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2026 and the Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Standing Charges) Bill 2026, are co-sponsored by Sinn Féin Deputies Darren O’Rourke, Pa Daly, Louis O’Hara and Réada Cronin.Deputy O'Rourke joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

A Government minister has rejected claims that the fare of €800 per person for a chartered flight out of Dubai amid the Middle East crisis was "a shakedown".Minister of State with responsibility for international development and the diaspora Neale Richmond said he was disappointed by the claim, which Senator Patricia Stephenson made - we spoke to Senator Stephenson yesterday on the programme.The United Arab Emirates city and other countries in the Middle East have witnessed bombings in the days following the conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran.Minister Richmond said officials in the region and at the crisis consular centre have worked very hard to arrange for 300 Irish citizens to board a plane tomorrow from Muscat to Dublin to complement another Emirates commercial flight last night.Minister Richmond joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

Drogheda councillors are calling for the creation of a dedicated West Street forum to drive the revival of the town’s main street.The proposal was raised at the March meeting of the Drogheda Borough District, where Councillor Ejiro O’Hare Stratton said that establishing formal structures such as a ‘West Street Committee’ to guide the regeneration was now “imperative.”"We really need a West Street committee, a joint partnership with everyone affected. The council needs to sit down and look at how we solve this problem,” said Cllr. O’Hare Stratton.She said there had been “a lot of negative feedback on social media” about West Street, adding that a “call to action” was needed to resolve the challenges facing the street.Councillor O’Hare Stratton joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about this