The Agenda

An obesity expert is urging parents to buy only one easter egg for each child.Professor Donal O’Shea, who is HSE’s clinical lead on obesity, has warned that it was “a flawed narrative” if parents think it is okay to indulge for one day.He has also said in the past that such an attitude was flawed because the food and drinks industry wanted to increase the daily consumption of ultra-processed foods and used occasions such as Halloween, Christmas and Easter to promote them.Professor O’Shea joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

A mum whose unborn child died when she was injured in a car collision said it was almost more traumatic discovering no one was legally accountable for her son’s death.Speaking outside Leinster House, Saoirse Alyward said: “Jax was a four pound baby, he had to have a post-mortem, I had to bury him, my 11-year-old daughter was at his graveside, yet the law says he doesn’t exist."In January 2024, the mother was rushed to Wexford General Hospital after being injured in a three-vehicle collision on the main Wexford/ Rosslare road. Saoirse was 31 weeks pregnant and had to have an emergency c-section, but when she woke up she was told her son Jax was stillborn.Saoirse joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

The lack of bus services in Ashbourne is leaving residents "stranded”, a Meath councillor has said.At the March meeting of the Ashbourne Municipal District, Sinn Féin councillor Helen Meyer called on Meath County Council to contact the National Transport Authority (NTA) to discuss plans for increasing bus services in the town.In response, Meath County Council said its role is limited to assisting the NTA with infrastructure such as bus stops, while the operational aspects of bus services remain the responsibility of the NTA and bus operators.Speaking afterwards, Cllr Meyer said she “strongly disagrees” with the idea that the council’s “only responsibility is to assist in providing bus services”.Councillor Meyer joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this. 

Tenants in some housing estates across Louth are being "held to ransom" by antisocial behaviour. Labour councillor Pio Smith told the March meeting of Louth County Council that the issue is leaving residents unable to "live in peace in their own homes". It comes as Louth County Council has launched its new tenant engagement strategy to tackle antisocial behaviour across the county. We heard more about all of this on The Agenda this morning.

Drogheda is to be used in a new pilot scheme whereby the Gardaí will notify schools within 24 hours if they attend a domestic violence incident at the home of one of their pupils.Called Operation Encompass, the idea is that the child concerned will receive the help and support they need.It will allow teachers and school staff to understand what a child has experienced and to offer immediate and compassionate support on the following school day.The announcement of the new Drogheda pilot scheme was made at a cross‑border meeting attended by the Gardaí, the PSNI, school leaders, education partners and officials from both jurisdictions.Louth Fine Gael TD Paula Butterly joined us in-studio this morning on The Agenda to tell us more about this.

A local mother has described a “terrifying” incident on Athboy Main Road in Co Meath in which she and her young children narrowly avoided being hit by a speeding car.Ally McDermott says the moment was “the scariest thing” to have ever happened to her.She had been crossing the road with her twin daughters, aged two and a half, when a car travelling above the speed limit drove through a red light.She said another pedestrian had already pressed the button at the crossing and, when she heard the beeping signal, she began to cross with her daughters, holding one child on each side.She said that when she reached the footpath, she stood still, “completely shocked”.Ally joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about this shocking incident.

Greyhound racing could not survive in Ireland without State subsidy, a group calling for an end to the practice has argued. Earlier this month, the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments both announced bans on greyhound racing. Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said the Government has no intention of doing likewise. However, Greyhound Action Ireland spokesperson Nuala Donlon says cutting State funding would have a similar impact. Nuala says that she remains especially concerned about the welfare of the dogs, noting many of them sustain serious injuries every year from injuries sustained while racing.Nuala joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

Israel's military has launched an investigation into separate incidents that killed three UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medics were killed in Israeli strikes.We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Sinn Fein TD for Louth, Ruairi Ó Murchú, who over the past number of weeks has been speaking with family members and friends of Irish troops in Lebanon, who are very concerned about the welfare and safety of their loved ones in Lebanon as tensions in the Middle East rise. There are currently 379 Irish troops serving in Lebanon, with many being from Dundalk.