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Pornography showing women being choked is set to become illegal under new proposed rules.

A review recently found that images depicting women being strangled are rife on websites - seeing the act become a sexual norm.

As part of a crackdown on violent pornography, the possession and publication of images showing choking will now be criminalised, the Government has said.

In legal terms, watching pornography that includes strangulation counts as possession of the material.

Non-fatal strangulation is already an offence under UK law, but it is not legal to show online.

CEO of Women’s Aid, Sarah Benson, joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about the dangers of strangulation porn and whether Womens Aid would like to see them same law introduced here in Ireland.

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Sinn Féin TD for Meath East, Darren O’Rourke, has expressed significant disappointment at confirmation from Iarnród Éireann that the application for the crucial Railway Order for the Navan Rail line has been delayed by a year.

Speaking following an exchange with the CEO of Iarnród Éireann at the Oireachtas Transport Committee, Deputy O’Rourke said:

"The confirmation from Mary Considine, CEO of Iarnród Éireann, that the Railway Order for the Navan Rail line will now be submitted by the end of 2027, and not in 2026 as previously committed, is a setback for the project and for the people of Meath. It is very disappointing.

"Just 21 months ago, in January 2024, the Oireachtas Committee was given a clear timeline that the Railway Order would be submitted in the calendar year 2026. This slippage is deeply frustrating and undermines public confidence.

Deputy O’Rourke joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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Former Kilkenny hurling great DJ Carey has been jailed for an effective 5 1⁄2 years for inducing 22 people to give him about €400,000 to fund treatment for cancer that he did not have.

Judge Martin Nolan said he “could not imagine a more reprehensible fraud than to tell people you have cancer and extort money on that basis”.

Probably the only other one on that level would be to deceive very elderly people, the judge told the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Journalist at The Irish Sun, Michael Doyle, joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us all about this.

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A vet has urged the Government to introduce harsher sentences for pet theft, in order to better reflect the “emotional damage” of having a pet stolen. 

Pet theft is considered a serious crime by Gardaí and conviction can lead to a prison sentence of up to 10 years in prison. 

However, the law typically considers a pet as similar to any other object stolen from its owner. 

Pete Wedderburn argues that pets need to be recognised by the law as “living beings or members of the family”.

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

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Social housing tenants will be offered up to €1000 to move house in a new “rightsizing” policy set to be implemented by Louth County Council.

The details of a new Draft Housing Allocation Scheme were presented to councillors at their recent monthly meeting.

Director of Service, Ger Murphy said the council had devised a new allocation scheme in a bid to balance the needs of applicants, while also remaining fair to existing tenants and the wider community.

He explained that while a national policy on rightsizing was expected at some point, Louth County Council had opted to include it in the new allocation scheme.

Councillor Kevin Meenan endorsed the draft scheme, saying it had been discussed at length by the Strategic Policy Committee.

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

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Labour’s Health Spokesperson Marie Sherlock TD has announced that the Labour Party will use its Private Members’ Time in the Dáil this week to call for the decriminalisation of drug users and for the creation of a compassionate, health-led drugs policy in Ireland.

Deputy Sherlock said the Government has failed to deliver on its promise of a health-led approach, and that criminalising, shaming and stigmatising people in addiction has created a broken system that punishes rather than supports.

Deputy Sherlock joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us about this.

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Erroneous reports about the cause of a fire at a property in Drogheda housing international protection applicants had the effect of downplaying the severity of the incident, according to a group representing asylum seekers.

The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (Masi) said the idea that the fire was sparked by fireworks made it seem it was the result of a Hallowe’en prank gone wrong, rather than a deliberately dangerous act.

It led to genuine confusion among people, with some believing it may have been the result of children putting fireworks in letterboxes given last Friday was 31 October.

MASI co-ordinator &  co-founder and South African former asylum seeker Lucky Khambule (Cam-bool-ah) joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us about this.

Lucky also met with and spoke to some of the residents of the IPAS centre which was attacked on Friday night, and he told us about this too.

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Four former industrial home survivors who have been on hunger strike outside the Dáil for 43 days have met with the Taoiseach but are continuing to refuse food as fears grow for their health.

Describing the two-hour meeting as "constructive", the group refused Micheál Martin's call to end their hunger strike in advance of talks with a negotiator — saying they fear "broken promises".

Maurice Patton O’Connell, aged 57, from Caherciveen, Co Kerry; Mary Donovan, originally from Kerry but living in Tipperary; Miriam Moriarty Owens, also from Kerry, and Mary Dunleavy Greene all spent time in industrial schools and say they have been failed by the State for the past 26 years.

Maurice Patton O’Connell joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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