Sinn Féin spokesperson on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Matt Carthy TD, has said that it was deeply concerning that the gunman involved in the Fairgreen Shopping Centre shooting was on bail for very serious firearms charges.  

This morning on The Agenda Sinn Fein TD for Meath-East (and Deputy Carty’s party colleague) Darren O’Rourke, to get his views on this.

Deputy O’Rourke also spoke to us about fears over possible job cuts at Wellman International (who are a huge employer in the region) after it filed a petition with the High Court to place its operation in Mullagh, Co Cavan into examinership.

Local TD’s were briefed on this earlier this morning and we got all the latest on this.

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As we approach the summer, farm safety minister & Independent TD in Kerry Michael Healy-Rae has asked farmers and everyone visiting the countryside to take extra care.

This year to date, farming accounts for five of the eleven (45%) of confirmed workplace fatalities.

Minister Healy-Ray spoke to us this morning on The Agenda about this.

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A High Court judge has ordered the BBC to pay Gerry Adams €50,000 – half of his landmark €100,000 defamation award – while the corporation considers mounting an appeal.

Mr Justice Alexander Owens also told the broadcaster to immediately pay €250,000 to Mr Adams’ legal team.

He made the orders after the BBC sought a full stay on the payment of the award and Mr Adams’ legal costs, thought to be around €1.5m, while it contemplates an appeal.

Legal Affairs Correspondent at the Irish Independent, Shane Phelan, spoke to us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about this.

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Social media companies should ‘most definitely’ be brought before the Oireachtas Media Committee to discuss how they deal with disinformation on foot of claims made online in the wake of the shooting in Carlow over the weekend, a TD has said.

When the incident became public, some far-right actors pushed false information that the incident was carried out by a foreign national. Some social media users described the incident as a mass shooting with multiple victims wounded.

Micheál Carrigy, a Fine Gael TD who sits on the Oireachtas Media Committee, spoke to us on The Agenda this morning about this.

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Some adult victim-survivors of domestic abuse have described navigating Ireland’s family law system as ‘even worse than the abuse’, prompting fresh calls for urgent reforms.

The description is contained in groundbreaking new research which has found a system that causes ‘secondary victimisation’, with adult and child victim-survivors of domestic abuse being retraumatised during guardianship, custody, and access proceedings.

The research, commissioned by Women’s Aid and carried out by Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork, is the first national account of its kind.

CEO of Women’s Aid, Sarah Benson, spoke to us this morning on The Agenda about this

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This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Aontu TD for Meath-West Peadar Toibin, who is calling for the law to change in relation to how applications are made and processed for properties to be used as housing for people seeking international protection in Ireland.

Deputy Toibin branded the current process as "chaotic" and says that the system is being used for speculative purposes by businesspeople - claiming some people are even getting rich off the back of it.

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Gardaí have been urged to investigate an online forum where thousands of images of girls and women from across Ireland have been posted without their knowledge.

The pictures appear to have been taken from both the public and private social media accounts of those targeted, with some posted alongside sexual threats.

Investigative Journalist at the The Journal, Patricia Devlin, spoke to us on The Agenda this morning on this.

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Mum Debbie Adams has been waiting a year to address an inquiry into the prescribing of epilepsy medicine containing Valproate to pregnant women. 

Her daughters, aged 13 and 11, were diagnosed with Fetal Valproate Syndrome (FVS) in 2020. This came after years of diagnosis for individual symptoms.

Last June, an inquiry was launched into the prescribing of valproate, which can cause serious birth defects and development disorders. 

Families were told the inquiry would begin "within weeks" but there is still no sign of it starting.

Debbie spoke to us on The Agenda this morning about this.

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A mother has launched a campaign for new legislation — called ‘Francis’ Law’, named after her son — to end the automatic reduction of sentences during mitigation in rape cases.

Mitigation covers a range of factors — from pleas of guilty to the rehabilitation of the perpetrator — which can considerably cut the final term handed down.

Mother Georgina Tuohey recently had a third case of rape and/or sexual assault on three of her children finish in the criminal courts.

She was left outraged at the length of sentence given to her former partner, Brendan Cornally, in the last case, concerning her son Francis, who has special needs, and the overall term Cornally will serve for all three sentences.

Georgina spoke to us on The Agenda this morning about this.

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Take a deep breath: it’s less than 24 hours before Leaving Certificate English paper one lands on exam desks at 9.30am on Wednesday. If you are feeling anxious, you are not alone. 

It is normal for Leaving Cert students (and their parents) to feel stressed.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Guidance Counsellor and Education Columnist at The Irish Times, Brian Mooney, who gave us his “Leaving Cert Survival Guide” tips for both students and their parents.

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