The Agenda

A Louth councillor says local authority tenants in the county who want to buy their homes should be allowed avail of both a council home loan and the First Home Scheme.The Green Party's Marianne Butler has highlighted how Louth County Council issued over 30 home loans with a value of approximately €5.5 million in 2023, but the local government auditor has highlighted that the following year just 14 new loans were issued. She thinks tenants should be allowed to combine the loan with the First Home Scheme.Councillor Butler joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

Sinn Féin TD for Meath East, Darren O’Rourke, has today issued an urgent call for the Government and Uisce Éireann to immediately address the crippling water supply shortages affecting homes in Dunboyne.Teachta O'Rourke said:"The situation in Dunboyne is beyond a crisis point. It is a scandal. Families are forced to buy bottled water to maintain basic sanitation. Many have been unable to flush toilets regularly or use washing machines and dishwashers over the entire Christmas period. This is not a minor inconvenience, it is a profound failure that is impacting people’s hygiene, health, and basic dignity. I have been contacted by constituents in Kilbreena and Millfarm and estates on the Summerhill Road. I am sure there are others too. This lack of basic service is simply unacceptable in this day and age”. Deputy O’Rourke joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

The M50 that wraps around Dublin continues to be the motorway with the highest number of incidents, collisions and traffic levels in Ireland.Indeed, the seriousness of the situation is borne out by data as there were more crashes in the first 10 months of last year than in all of 2024.Everything from crashes and breakdowns to wandering pedestrians and animals has marked the M50 as a motorway of mayhem, often with multiple incidents daily.There were 682 crashes on the motorway from January 1 to October 31 last compared to 676 in all of 2024.Transport expert & CEO of the Board of the Royal Irish Automobile Club, Conor Faughnan, joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

A Ralph Loren puffer jacket possibly helped to save a woman from worse injuries after she was knocked down by a car on an 'inadequate' pedestrian crossing.Deborah Keegan is now campaigning for improvements at the crossing in the centre of Ballivor, Co Meath, after her mother was thrown under a car.Her mother suffered a bad concussion, a broken collarbone, and a bruised jaw, as well as damage to her hip and knee after the incident, which occurred just after 5pm on December 9th.However ,the goose-feathered jacket and a parked car probably saved her mother from worse injuries, said Deborah, who wants Meath Co Council to install better lighting and a raised pedestrian crossing.Since the accident, Deborah has been approached by a number of people who claim to have had near misses on the crossing and Deborah has started a petition for Meath Co Council to install improvements.Deborah joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about this shocking incident.

A Louth TD has told how he has received hundreds of phone calls to his constituency office demanding a ban on fox hunting.Ged Nash said the controversial hunts should be outlawed and he doesn’t buy into the claims that farmers need them to protect their lands .However at the moment there is no majority in Leinster House to pass it and the proposal was defeated.But Deputy Nash dismissed long held arguments that the fox hunting issue is all about rural Ireland versus urban Ireland .The Louth Hunt is also extremely active in the county and holds weekly fox hunting meets through the Winter months.But Deputy Nash does not regard it as a sport and is completely against it. He feels it is a moral question.Deputy Nash joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

The Government has been warned that Ireland could end up contributing over €7 billion indirectly to massive defence spends in Europe through its EU contributions but will benefit little in return.A presentation was made to a number of government bodies, including the Department of Defence, warning how Ireland faces losing out in the coming years as Europe prioritises boosting defence spending.The warning comes as work continues in negotiating the EU’s next budget – the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) – which will cover the years 2028 to 2034.Behind the scenes across Government, and contained in a briefing document, there are gathering concerns that the EU budget will force Ireland to indirectly fund EU defence all the while losing out in money in real terms because of a change in agriculture funding.Irish former independent politician and retired soldier Cathal Berry joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

School children have a positive outlook when it comes to learning the Irish language and want to improve their language skills — but their needs are not being met.That’s according to a consultation done by Sealbhú, DCU’s research centre, in partnership with the Department of Education and Youth.It was carried out as part of the Policy for Irish-Medium Education and Action Plan for Irish in English-Medium Schools, which was published in November.Two reports were prepared by Dr Aisling Ní Dhiorbháin and Dr Patrick Burke with recommendations for the government. Over 200 school students were surveyed in various focus groups at primary school, junior cycle in post-primary and senior cycle in post-primary levels.Associate Professor at the School of Language Literacy and Early Childhood Education in DCU, Dr Aisling Ní Dhiorbháin, joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

A five-year biodiversity plan with 55 actions has been launched by Meath County Council to address “escalating environmental challenges” across the county while supporting sustainable development.The Meath Biodiversity Action Plan 2025–2030 was unveiled at Buvinda House in Navan and sets out how the local authority, working with communities and partner organisations, intends to protect, conserve and promote biodiversity in the face of environmental pressures, including climate change.Organised under five broad strategic objectives, the plan is designed to operate alongside the County Meath Climate Action Plan, providing what the council describes as “a roadmap” for action at local level.Councillor Wayne Harding, Cathaoirleach of Meath County Council, thanked everyone who engaged in the preparation of the Biodiversity Action Plan, and he joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

Over the Christmas break Aontú leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín launched a fresh campaign against planned M50 toll increases, accusing the Government of “milking motorists dry” as charges are set to rise again from January 1st.The TD said Aontú members took their protest to the bridges of the M50, hanging banners to highlight what he described as an unfair and unnecessary toll on Ireland’s busiest road.Calling the M50 “the country’s main artery”, Deputy Tóibín said the road is virtually unavoidable for tens of thousands of workers. Around 160,000 drivers use it daily, he said, many of them already struggling with soaring living costs.Since 2008, the Government has collected an estimated €2.2 billion in M50 toll revenue — a figure Deputy Tóibín described as “eye-watering”. He said the bridges on the route were originally built for £58 million and that the private company behind the project recouped its costs within just one year of tolling.Deputy Toibin joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.