Tiny kittens, unwanted puppies, lost rabbits, and roaming chickens were among the animals rehomed by Louth Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in the past year.

The charity is bracing itself for the post-Christmas surge in unwanted pets with voluntary inspector Fiona Squibb saying that the demand for its services are the highest she’d ever seen.

Fiona has also welcomed the recent grant of €50,350 which was announced by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Marin Heydon T.D, before Christmas, which she says “will assist us in providing care for the animals in need.”.

Fiona joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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A survey on the Hot School Meals Programme in Meath has now been launched by Fine Gael, which will ensure children continue to get the most nutritious and highest-quality meals possible.

Senator Linda Nelson Murray said, “Fine Gael introduced the Hot School Meals Programme in Meath because we believe no child should be held back by hunger. This next phase is about refining and improving the programme so it continues to support children’s health and education.”

The survey will give parents, guardians, teachers and meal providers a direct opportunity to shape the next stage of the scheme. The online survy launched today and is asking all parents and teachers to participate in the online survey to ensure the next stage of hot school meals is even more successful. 

The survey will also look at issues such as food waste, the suitability of centrally cooked meals versus on-site preparation, and whether parents feel the current menus accommodate allergies or plain eating habits. Participants will also be invited to offer suggestions for improving the programme.

Senator Nelson Murray joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about this and about parents can get involved.

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Women’s Aid, a national organisation working to prevent and address the impact of domestic violence and abuse including coercive control in Ireland, will no longer maintain a presence on platform X from today.

The organisation has watched the increased levels of unchecked hate, misogyny, racism and anti-LGBTI+ content on the platform with growing unease and concern. The current scandal which has seen the creation and sharing of AI deepfakes, non-consensual intimate imagery, and production of child sexual abuse material by X’s own AI Grok, in breach of the platforms own guidelines and regulations is a tipping point.

The organisation has said that this online violence against women and children – especially girls – has often devastating real life impacts and we no longer view it as appropriate to use such a platform to share our work.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by CEO of Women’s Aid, Sarah Benson, who told us more about why they organisation will no longer be using X.

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A Venezuelan man in Ireland has said his family is in “disbelief” that the country’s autocrat president, Nicolas Maduro, was captured by US forces after strikes on the capital Caracas.

It came as the Irish Government issued a muted response to the extraordinary military action by one of its closest international partners, while an Irish energy industry source warned the crisis could lead to a spike in fuel prices.

“It was definitely a huge surprise,” said Reinaldo Istanboulie (30) from Caracas, who has been living in Dublin for seven years.

While some Venezuelans around the world decried the US action, many others who live abroad were celebrating yesterday, and Mr Istanboulie shared their relief.

He said the “lightning strike” quickness of the attack has left his family back home in disbelief. The mounting tensions between his country and the US forced him to decide against returning home for Christmas.

Reinaldo joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us about all of this.

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The people of Drogheda “shouldn’t have to pay a daily price for national infrastructure,” councillors heard at the January meeting of Drogheda Borough District, where calls for the removal of the M1 Toll emerged.

Councillor James Byrne submitted a motion calling on Louth County Council to engage with the Minister for Transport in a discussion on the future of the M1 Tolls “given their prolonged negative impact on Drogheda from an economic and social perspective, with the intention of pushing for their removal.”

He told the council meeting: “I firmly believe that the location of the tolls is having a detrimental impact on the economic and social fabric of the town.”

Councillor Byrne joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

We also discussed councillor Byrnes calls for a tougher approach towards waste collection firms to ensure that abandoned bins are collected.

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Motorists faced hour-long delays to exit the M1 Retail Park during the festive season, councillors heard at the January meeting of Drogheda Borough District.

Calls for action were sounded as reports of severe traffic congestion over the last month emerged.

Councillor Declan Power said the area was “choc-a-block” during the Christmas season.

He called on the council to engage with the management team at the park to find solutions to the traffic issues.

Mark Johnston, Senior Engineer, Louth County Council, said the local authority had been in communication with management at the retail park.

Councillor Power joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Niamh Smyth has requested a meeting with X over concerns that the artificial intelligence tool Grok is being used to create sexually explicit images of adults and children.

Minister Smyth said that she has written directly to X and wants to discuss what steps it is taking to address the "disturbing" reports around Elon Musk's xAI chatbot, which has been incorporated into the platform.

Media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, said that it was engaging with the European Commission over concerns that Grok is responding to user prompts asking it to remove the clothing from images of people, including minors, to further post them on X.

She said that she has also requested updates from Coimisiún na Meán and the Office of the Attorney General, adding that the "serious offence" should be tackled from both a legal and a regulatory perspective.

Minister Smyth joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us in more detail about this.

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Property prices in Louth have risen by €15,000 in the last year, according to the latest MyHome Property Price Report.   

The report for Q4 2025, in association with Bank of Ireland, shows that the median asking price for a property in the county is now €265,000. That means prices have risen by €5,000 over the quarter.      

Asking prices for a 3-bed semi-detached house in the county rose by €16,000 in the last year to €275,000. This means prices rose by €5,000 over the quarter.      

In Meath, property prices have risen by €25,000 in the last year, according to the report.

The report shows that the median asking price for a property in the county is now €325,000. That means prices have stayed steady over the quarter.   

Managing Director at MyHome, Joanne Geary, joined us on The Agneda this morning to tell us more about the latest MyHome report and its findings.

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Frequent breakdowns and delays in the Navan Town Bus service has seen a drop in the number of trips taken over the past year.

Some 394,000 trips were taken on buses in Navan over the past twelve months, down by 21,000 on last year, according to figures provided to Cllr Eddie Fennessy by Meath County Council.

The fall comes following years of increased numbers using the service, which had been much improved in recent years.

Aontu Councillor in Navan, Emer Toibin, joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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Midlands-North-West MEP Ciaran Mullooly has called on the Minister for Agriculture Martin Hayden to reject the so-called Mercosur “safety clause” proposals, describing them as wholly inadequate and completely unacceptable.

The Minister for Agriculture Martin Hayden was asked to travel to Rome on Tuesday for urgent crucial discussions with his Italian counterpart ahead of another attempt by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to force a vote on the controversial EU Mercosur trade deal.

The Independent Ireland MEP said he has spoken in the last 24 hours to farming representative groups in Italy and around Europe and commented that, the new proposals do nothing to address the severe income losses Irish beef farmers and their European counterparts will suffer if the Mercosur trade agreement is signed off by the Irish Minister for Agriculture at EU level on Wednesday.

Ciaran joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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