The UK parliament has approved legislation that will ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying tobacco.

When the bill is written into law next week, people born on or after 1 January 2009 will be prohibited from purchasing tobacco products.

This will also give ministers new powers to regulate tobacco and other nicotine products (including vapes), including their flavours and packaging.

Ministers have said the new law will hopefully create a “smoke-free generation”.

The UK isn’t the only country to push for a generational smoking ban – the Maldives became the first to introduce the measure last year.

This got us thinking about whether a similar measure of this kind should be considered elsewhere, including Ireland.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Luke Clancy, General of the TFRI (Tobacco Free Research Institute Ireland), to get his thoughts on this.

We also found out how listeners feel about this and whether this should be brought into Ireland too

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Louth County Council has been urged to break down the number of its tenants in rent arrears - to separate those who don't pay, from those who have been told they owe money following a review of their circumstances.

Sinn Féin councillor Kevin Meenan made the call at the local authority's monthly meeting.

He thinks a lot of the money owed is down to the length of time reviews are taking, which can see some tenants who pay their rent being left with rent arrears overnight.

Last month 1,440 tenant accounts owed Louth County Council a total of €3,963.967 

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

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The State’s national security watchdog has warned that Islamist terrorism is a “significant cause of concern”, citing the risk of attacks in Ireland or plots being co-ordinated here against neighbouring countries.

In his first report as Independent Examiner of Security Legislation, former Court of Appeal president George Birmingham said such attacks had taken place in recent years and that the threat of lone actors also required consideration.

In his foreword, he said Ireland’s security framework had been shaped largely during a period when the primary ­focus was on the IRA, but warned that the threat landscape had since broadened significantly. While dissident republican activity remained “a real concern”, he said the range of risks facing the State today was “far broader”. 

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Security Correspondent at The Irish Examiner, Cormac O’Keeffe, who is going to tell us more about this. 

We were also joined by former Irish Army soldier & defence analyst, Declan Power, who spoke to us in more detail about how vulnerable we really are here in Ireland to an attack like this and what can be done to tighten security up in case something like this did ever happen.

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The cost of upgrading a critical section of the R132 in Dundalk, an “accident blackspot” at Haggardstown, could double if Louth County Council does not move quickly to progress the scheme, councillors have warned.

The concerns were raised at a meeting of Dundalk Municipal District as the local authority presented plans for the R132 Xerox–Greengates ActiveTravel scheme and sought Part 8 planning approval to proceed.

However, councillors cautioned that reduced funding for Active Travel projects from the National Transport Authority (NTA) could leave the wider 2.8km scheme stalled indefinitely.

Members were told that one element of the project — upgrades at Sexton’s junction on the Dublin Road — is more likely to proceed, as it is being funded through Louth County Council’s own capital programme.

Local Green Party Councillor Marianne Butler said it was hoped that works at Sexton’s junction could be advanced even if the remainder of the Xerox–Greengates scheme is put on hold due to funding constraints.

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

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Peter Whelan , The Aontú representative for the laytown bettystown electoral area has voiced his concerns about the upcoming  two day concerts events in July in slane castle. 

Peter,who farms just on the outskirts of Slane, and is himself directly affected by tightened restrictions, is echoing the concerns of many residents, sporting clubs and businesses in the village and surroundings. 

Peter was made aware of a meeting recently in Slane village which was purported to be a consultation process between the promoters of the two concerts and the residents and business owners. He said that he, along with others, heard about this meeting a few hours before it was to happen - they saw it on social media. 

There is a further meeting this Thursday 23rd April in slane where MCD and others will meet Peter and many residents where they can voice our concerns.

Peter joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more

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Releasing birds of prey to stop seagulls tormenting the public and tearing open bins has been suggested for a Dublin town.

It comes as a hospital in Galway warned the public of aggressive gulls in the vicinity of the clinic.

Frank McNamara, Fine Gael Councillor for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, said it is a constant problem in his area.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Frank Fahy, Fine Gael Councillor in Galway, who is also calling for urgent action to be taken to deal with the issue of seagulls, which is an issue all across the country.

Councillor Fahy told us that gulls are a “major problem”, describing them as “extremely noisy” during the nesting season, and Councillor Fahy is on the line with us now to talk to us some more about this.

We were also joined by Independent Councillor in Drogheda, Kevin Callan, who has previously called for falcons to be released in a bid to control the local seagull population in Drogheda.

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Access Education Louth launched its campaign group on Wednesday 15 April with Niamh Maher of Healy Law who spoke about helping parents who still need a school place, secondary or primary, for their child with special educational needs. 

Access Education Louth said it campaigns on adequately resourced school places for children with additional needs, supporting the special needs assistants campaign (Save Our SNAs), and for every child in the state to receive the education they deserve.

According to the latest announcement regarding special school places in secondary level, there are no new places for Louth. Access Education Louth said it welcomes all new school places announced, but many won’t be ready for September in time for the new school year and added that there is a distinct lack for children with moderate intellectual disability. 

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Access Education Louth group organisers Syd Delz and Alexandra Jedrzejewska, who told us more about all of this.

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Residents in Ashbourne are raising serious concerns about a rise in anti-social behaviour, with reports that vulnerable members of the community are being directly targeted. Some pregnant women say they are now afraid to leave their homes due to intimidation and threats from groups of youths. 

There have also been disturbing accounts of racial abuse directed at local shop workers and the situation has sparked anger and concern among locals, who are calling for stronger action to restore safety and accountability in the area.

To tell us more, we were joined on The Agenda this morning by Fine Gael Councillor Alan Tobin, who recently met with the residents of the Killegland apartments, where a lot of the anti-social behaviour is taking place.

Councillor Tobin told us all about this.

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The annual delegate conference for rank and file gardaí will hear an emergency motion to call for action against threats made to members during the recent fuel protests. 

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) will meet in Westport, Co Mayo this week to discuss a range of topics. 

It is understood that representatives from across the country have raised the issue with gardaí in the south east requesting a discussion on the topic. 

Last week The Journal reported that gardaí had launched investigations into multiple incidents of so-called doxxing, where the personal details of a targeted person, such as their address, are released online.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Dundalk native Brendan O’Connor from the GRA, who spoke to us in more detail about this.

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