The “extremely distressing” story of a young family who lived in a Louth car park for over a month after they “fell between the cracks” of two local authorities emerged this week.

The couple, originally from Latvia, and their two young children, had been sleeping in their car in a council‑owned car park after being unable to access emergency accommodation.

The couple first settled in Galway before their children were born. They moved east, hoping it would help them build a more secure future. He took a job in Drogheda, and they eventually found a rented home in Lusk, Co Dublin, and welcomed two children — a daughter, followed nearly two years later by a son.

But their stability began to unravel when their landlord, who accepted rent only in cash and referred to them merely as “guests”, told them they had to leave.

We heard all about this shocking story this morning on The Agenda.

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Louth Labour TD Ged Nash has said he is “apoplectic and outraged” at the decision not to include any Drogheda schools in the new DEIS Plus programme, despite seven schools across the county being selected.

Six additional primary schools in County Louth have been awarded DEIS Plus status, bringing the total number of schools included in the new scheme to seven. However, none of those schools are located in Drogheda.

The announcement forms part of a €48 million annual investment aimed at tackling educational disadvantage under the Government’s DEIS Strategy to 2035, due to be formally launched by Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton.

Deputy Nash joined us in-studio this morning on The Agenda to talk to us some more about this. 

We were also joined by Aine Carthy, who is the Principal of St Pauls NS in Drogheda and Sarah Bradley, who is the Principal of St Joseph’s CBS.

We also spoke to Deputy Nash about the D Hotel contract being renewed to continue as IPAS.

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We were joined on The Agenda this morning by local Fianna Fáil Councillor, Stephen McKee, who has strongly criticised the decision taken by the Department of Justice to renew the IPAS contract for the D Hotel so that it can continue to be used as an accommodation centre for people seeking international protection.

The contract for the use of the D Hotel in Drogheda as an IPAS centre, has reportedly been extended for a further 12 months.

The hotel has been an accommodation centre for asylum seekers since March of 2024.

We also spoke to Independent Councillor in Drogheda, Paddy McQuillan, who is outraged by this news and says this leaves Drogheda "very short of hotel space and hotel rooms".

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This morning on The Agenda we had our weekly edition of ‘The LMFM Roundtable’, where we were joined in-studio by 3 contributors to discuss and debate the big stories of the week.

This week we talked about the Government cutting taxes on both diesel and petrol - we asked if the Government are doing enough to tackle this issue.

We also discussed the D Hotel in Drogheda and whether it should remain as an IPAS Centre or be returned to its former use as a hotel….

And, a possible outright ban on sunbeds? Should there be a ban or would this push it underground and cause more problems?

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The escalating conflict in the Middle East risks a "large and lasting" deterioration in Ireland's economic and financial circumstances with consumer confidence now at a three-year low, economists have warned.

Surging energy prices have seen the latest Credit Union Consumer Sentiment Index record a reading of 56.7 in March, sharply down on the 65.2 figure for February and the lowest since March 2023.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Minister for Foreign Affairs & Meath-East Fine Gael TD Helen McEntee, who spoke to us about alll of this.

We asked the Minister if she belives Government are doing enough to address and tackle the cost of fuel in Ireland.

We also discussed school places, or lack tehreof, in Dunshaughlin, after local frustrated parents marched on The Dail yesterday in relation to this.

We also spoke about the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, as locals in the Meath-East area (particularly Ashbourne) say they are also affected by the noise from planes taking off and landing into Dublin Airport.

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Louth County Council’s arthritic approach to the development of Active Travel Infrastructure in Ireland’s Largest town must end, says Drogheda Cycling Group 

The group says that recent jumps in energy costs are affecting us all, but it need not be this way and that it’s worth taking time out to imagine an alternative.

Noel Hogan, Chairperson of the Drogheda Cycling Goup, joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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The Government should introduce an outright ban on the use of commercial sunbeds as there is “no safe level of exposure” to ultraviolet radiation, a report has recommended.

The Sunbed Working Group has formally called on the Government to ban the use of commercial sunbeds, saying existing modelling shows it would lead to a reduction in the number of deaths from skin cancer.

The recommendation by the Government-appointed working group to outright ban their use would require the Government to introduce new bespoke legislation to prevent people from using sunbeds in commercial premises or private homes, where the service is purchased.

However, the proposal would not ban their use by private individuals, or the purchase or hire of a sunbed for personal use.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Emma Rodahan, Founder & chairperson of the Sunbed council of Ireland, to get her thoughts on this.

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Gardaí this week confirmed that they are investigating graffiti painted on roads on the Louth-Meath border as incidents of criminal damage with a hate crime motivation.

Gardaí said they attended the scene of the incident which occurred between the evening of Monday, 23 March and the morning of Tuesday, 24 March.

This is the most recent case of antisemitic graffiti in the area, following another similar incident in December.

A local councillor in the area, Paddy Meade, has said this is the 11th such incident over several years.

The graffiti includes the word "Jew", the Star of David symbol and the word "rats".

Councillor Meade joined us in-studio this morning on The Agenda to talk to us some more about this.

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Female members of the All Party Oireachtas Life and Dignity Group have called on the Government to establish a dedicated taskforce to tackle what they describe as an “alarming increase” in coercive abortion cases in recent times.

The call follows a number of recent court cases in which men were jailed for violent attacks on their partners, with courts hearing that forcing women to take abortion pills formed a core element of the abuse. The lawmakers described this pattern as “deeply troubling” and said “the Government cannot continue to ignore the warning signs.”

The statement calling for the special taskforce was issued by Independent TD Carol Nolan, Independent Senator Sharon Keogan and Senator Sarah O’Reilly of Aontú. It follows the recent sentencing in Letterkenny Circuit Court of a man in his 20s to nine years in prison for coercing a woman to ingest abortion pills against her will, before locking her in a room and threatening violence if she did not comply. 

Meath-based Independent Senator, Sharon Keogan, joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this

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If you have been listening to The Agenda over the past number of weeks, you will have heard us following the story regarding the lack of school places in Dunshaughlin in County Meath. 

We have spoken to local politicians, local parents and local pre-school owners about how bad the situation is and how it is affecting both parents and children in the area.

It was announced last night that The Department of Education and Youth has sanctioned the opening of a second Junior Infants class at a primary school in Dunshaughlin.

One of the parents in the area, Aine McKenna (who have spoken to various times about the situation) received a call last night from Minister Helen McEntee in relation to this, but Aine says that still no real answers or solutions are being provided with many parents still being left without a place for their child.

Aine and other parents from the area will this morning go into Dublin city to march on the Dail in relation to this - they want solutions and they want them now.

Aine joined us on The Agenda this morning to give us an updateon the whole situation and to tell us about their protest.

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