The Agenda

The Junior Minister for Sport says only the "idiots" responsible should be punished for damaging League of Ireland pitches.Charlie McConalogue disagreed with Sports Minister Patrick O'Donovan's suggestion of a collective punishment over the issue.It came after significant damage was done to the playing surface of Oriel Park in Dundalk following the throwing of flares at a recent game.Minister McConalogue says a blanket approach to something like this won't work.Minister McConalogue joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

Sinn Fein's hit out at the Government using the "guillotine" function to force through the International Protection Bill.The controversial asylum legislation made its way through the Dail last night in part due to significantly shortened debates.Opposition parties have criticised the lack of time for debate with eight hours last week in a single Dáil committee stage session and four hours last night.Deputy Matt Carthy says the Government's quick rejection of their "community impact assessment" amendment shows they're not listening to the concerns of the people.Deputy Carty joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

Protests took place at locations across the country yesterday to highlight the ongoing concerns of parents, schools and Special Needs Assistants following controversy over the last week around SNA allocations for schools.The demonstrations were called before the Government moved late Monday evening to reverse the planned changes. The Government last week paused a review and reallocation of SNAs for the coming school year after it caused concern and outrage among parents, teachers and SNAs.One of the locations where a protest took place was in Ashbourne, so I decided to go along and check it out. The protest was led by Sinn Fein Councillor Maria White, who is also a school principal at junior school which has 5 autism classes and 20 SNA’s.Councillor White joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us about how the protest went last night in Ashbourne, and about why it was so important to her to be a part of it.

A journalist who was mocked online for wearing ashes on his forehead on Ash Wednesday has described his critics as “bigots”.Last week, Fionnán Sheahan of the Irish Independent appeared on Virgin Media’s The Tonight Show. Of all the panellists, he was the only one wearing ashes on his forehead - something many viewers noticed at home. Fionnan says he had been surprised by the negativity directed at him afterwards. His issue isn’t so much with the reaction, because that's just the moron hurlers on the ditch on social media,” he said. What surprised him was the sane and sensible people saying, ‘Oh, but you should expect to be slagged off in a situation like that’.Fionnan joined us on The Agenad this morning to talk to us some more about this.

Fresh calls have been made for specialised training for Louth County Council housing staff dealing with victims of domestic violence who may be at risk of homelessness.The issue was raised at this month’s meeting of Louth County Council, where Councillor Sionnain McCann questioned what supports are available to tenants - whether in social housing or HAP-supported accommodation—who must flee their home due to domestic abuse.Councillor McCann said people escaping violent or abusive situations can find themselves in a difficult position when seeking help, as they are still technically considered housed and therefore may not qualify for homeless services.She asked whether training is available to ensure staff can appropriately support those who find themselves in such situations.Councillor McCann joind us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

We are joined in-studio on The Agend this morning by Labour Councillor in Drogheda, Pio Smith, who told us about an information and awareness event taking place in Drogheda tomorrow evening titled: "The Drug Trade and Its Impact on Drogheda”. Last month on The Agenda we heard about the involvement of very young children in drug activity in Drogheda, with reports that children as young as seven are being exploited by criminal networks.There are also growing fears locally that the violence associated with previous drug feuds in Drogheda could re-emerge. Community members in several housing estates have voiced anxiety that younger individuals are now being groomed to take on roles within organised drug activity.Councillor Smith told us more about this event, and also about how big a problem the drugs scene is in Drogheda at the moment and what could be done to clamp down on it.

Gardaí have found gang affiliation clothing and memorabilia as part of searches against the international Black Axe fraud and money laundering gang.The Black Axe gang operates as a mafia-style organisation which originated in Nigeria and has an estimated 30,000 members across dozens of countries worldwide, including having members here in Ireland.The homes of 11 senior gang members, also known as the Neo Black Movement (NBM), were raided.Security and Crime Editor of The Irish Times, Conor Lally, joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about this.

Today marks four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leading to the most devastating conventional conflict in Europe since World War II.From day one of the invasion, fierce Ukrainian resistance has kept Russia from achieving its goal of dismembering the Ukrainian state.We were joined on The Agenda this morning by a Ukrainian woman named Santa, who fled Ukraine 4 years ago when the war broke out and she says "Ireland is now by home".Santa told us about the day she fled Ukraine with her son, and told us about how things have been in Ireland for them both since.