The Agenda

The new national drugs strategy must “explicitly recognise” the connection between the harms caused by drugs and the poverty, inequality and violence in certain communities, a family organisation has said.Family Addiction Recovery Ireland (FARI) said the draft National Drugs Strategy 2026-2029 — which has been put out for public consultation — “excluded” those communities and those families most affected by drugs and the drugs trade.We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Aileen Malone from the National Steering Committee at FARI (Family Addiction Recovery Ireland) -her own daughter also went through addiction.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Journalist Paul Williams who wrote a piece in the Irish Independent this week titled: “Scrutiny of garda staffing resources shows changing landscape of policing in Ireland”.Paul told us about how garda resources are being stretched to the limit as the force tries to cater for new crime trends and offences and about how allocating finite personnel resources is probably one of the toughest challenges faced by force management.

There are delays to public transport in Dublin city and fuel depots in Galway and Limerick have been blocked as fuel price protests cause a second day of disruption around the country.Multiple vehicles were left overnight on roads in Dublin city centre and protests were set to resume this morning, including possible road blocks to Dublin Airport and the Port Tunnel, gardaí said.A third day of protest over fuel prices has also been announced for tomorrow.This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Sonny Byod from The 'People of Ireland Against Fuel Prices Protest' group who told us that tomorrow's protest will be even bigger and louder.We also spoke to Meath farmer Christopher Duffy, who is irate at the situation, and he told us about how the people of Ireland have had enough wont be standing for this any longer!

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