 Ireland. Adrienne Devane knew Anna and the girls well. When we got the news late on Tuesday evening and filtered around, it just caused an illness in the village. Supports had been set up today with grief councillors, with the schools and the clubs, for all parents, teachers and friends. The villagers asleep, my calling and the weather condition growing and the masses being fed. The 100% redress party has announced another local election candidate. Joy Baird will contest June's elections for the party in the Bunkrana electoral area. She has been a defective concrete block campaigner for over seven years and is one of the co-finders of the redress focus groups. Miss Baird says while the defective block crisis will be top of her agenda, she also wants to tackle other issues that matter. The Justice Minister says there's a lot of misinformation circulating about the government's hate speech legislation. It aims to update our laws to be in line with the social media age. Some opponents of the new laws claim it's part of a woke agenda, while others feel it shouldn't be a priority for the government. Helen McEntee says she's open to changes if they are warranted. There will be amendments to this legislation. I will insofar as I can address the concerns that people have raised, but there's a lot of misinformation. I've not brought forward one piece of legislation and I've brought almost 20 now, where I haven't accepted or brought forward amendments. A car has been seized in Donegal after the driver was suspected of having a fraudulent driving license and insurance disc. On Tuesday, while on patrol, the letter Kenny Rhodes Policing Unit were alerted to a vehicle having no insurance. The car was subsequently stopped and the documents inspected and it emerged they were fraudulent. Items were seized along with the car. Guardians say investigations are continuing. They're warning motorists to never drive without insurance and to leave the creation of official documents to the correct relevant bodies. Finally, for weather, call today with eye breaks of rain, heavy at times and falling as sleet and snow in places. Rain will become patchier this evening with dry spells developing. Highest temperatures of 4 to 6 degrees. That's all from Highland Radio News for now. We'll be back with news again at 10 o'clock. Until then, good morning. This bank holiday weekend, it really could be... That's right. There's one bank holiday millionaire guaranteed in the Lotto Plus raffle. A millionaire? That would certainly put a bit of... It's your long weekend. So play Lotto with Plus this Saturday for your chance to become Ireland's newest millionaire. The National Lotto. This bank holiday weekend, it could be you. Play responsibly. Play for fun. The county's number one talk show, the 9 till noon show on Highland Radio. And you're very welcome to the 9 till noon show this morning. Donald Kavanaugh with you on the show until 12 noon today. It is a Thursday but we're going to have our Friday panel this morning because there's no 9 till noon show tomorrow joined by three very formidable people who will introduce you to them in just a moment. Don't forget, of course, we want to hear your views and your perspectives on the issues of the day. You can text or WhatsApp us on 086-60-25000. You can call us 07491-25000, 003537491-25000 if you are outside of the dialing area. And Shannon and Donna Marie taking your calls. Donna Marie producing as well this morning. It's going to be a very busy day and we'll be making somebody very happy a little later on in the program when we make a phone call and have a draw in studio. More on that and on. We'll also be introducing you to some of the finalists in the Community Hero Initiative and we'll have Sean in the studio with us to discuss that, all that to come. But as I said, before we do anything else, we will introduce you to our Friday panel this morning. We're joined this morning on Zoom by Lether Kenny councillor and the Fina Fall whip on Donegal County Council, councillor Kieran Brogan. We're joined by Gronja Hines who is a member of Lether Kenny Active Retirement and we're joined by broadcaster and journalist Mary Hart. A very good morning to all of you this morning. Good morning. Mary, I'm going to start with you because obviously over the past week or so, the big story of the day has been the ascendancy of Simon Harris to the leadership of Finnegueuil and he will be officially confirmed as Tishook later, not later this month, early next month on Tuesday week which is April 9th. He was effectively coronated. There was no competition. There was no other challengers to the Finnegueuil leadership. They brought it forward a day. He was named on Sunday and it's all systems go. I mean, when I started in this job back in 1990, the name Hart was absolutely synonymous with Finnegueuil in this county and you obviously would have grown up given your own family history, you know, very much in at the centre of Finnegueuil in Donegal. Is Simon Harris and the Finnegueuil of today the same Finnegueuil that you would remember from your growing up? I don't think so, but it's a difficult question to answer. You're correct. My father was a Finnegueuil TD for 37 years and I was 8 when he went into politics. So, you know, I was immersed in, I suppose, the Finnegueuil politics, but then I would often study politics in the University myself, so I deviated in all directions myself. I would look at Simon Harris, I think that quote, I think Fentanyl 2, Simon Harris is risen without trace, another case of survival of the smoothest. I think that's one of the best descriptions because to be quite honest, I know absolutely nothing about Simon Harris. And even when I went looking to find something, you know, startling about him, I couldn't find it. So, it is not easy. You know, I know my father way down the years when there would have been these huge battles for the leadership of Finnegueuil, you know, way back when Gareth Fitzgerald was challenging Liam Cosgrave and, you know, when also, I think it was Declan Costlow was challenging. You know, there was this extreme kind of, you know, splits where you had the conservative Finnegueuil and you had the more modernist Fitzgerald and the new kind of just society policies and all of that. I can't see any of that in Simon Harris. That's not to say he won't make a good leader or he won't make a good tisha. That's yet to be seen. But I do think Finnegueuil kind of would appear to have lost their way, but I don't know what way they were heading. And it's just the Senate politics of today. I think people are not following party trends, but they're absolutely following independence. And that basically to me says people are looking for what they want personally and not what they see as the best thing for a country as a whole. It's interesting. He does have the reputation of being the TikTok t-shirt. He's more in tune with social media than they say any other politician in the country. And Oliver Callan reminds us of that mercilessly on every episode of Callan's Cakes. But by the same token, it was interesting that when he spoke at that Finnegueuil Convention on Sunday last, he was referencing law and order. He seemed to be very much referencing the old standards, referencing the old ideals and trying to reclaim and go back to basics in terms of values. Yeah, I think, you know, the way this happened, this is only my own personal kind of, you know, suspicion. Absolutely. I would not speak up half of anybody. But I think they, you know, after the referendum, and I absolutely think the Irish people voted because they didn't know what it was about. And they just said, oh, I have no idea what this is about. And it was nothing to do with, I don't like Finnegueuil or I don't like Fina Fall or I don't like Labour. I really do think that's what it was. And, you know, you should give the electorate the intelligence, you know, to be able to make that judgment call. But I think, you know, that Simon Harris, you know, I think what you've just said there, you know, the law and order aspect, I think there was an awful lot of underhand things going on that we don't know about and that Leo's decision to step out wasn't made one morning. You just woke up and said, no, I'm gone. He has seen this coming down the track. And I think what he has seen coming down the track is, you know, the knives are out from some other wing of the party against him for his liberalism. So, you know, and I think Phil Hogan's involvement in all of this would tell you, you know, I mean, Phil Hogan was very much, you know, part of the older Finnegueuil elements. That's my belief. And I think that's what really has happened that, you know, there was a purge going on in the background and Leo Radke was not going to be ousted. He was going to take the way out and he was probably going to go anyway. You know, it means, I think, but he's young. So, you know, I mean, Leo Radke, and I think personally, I think Leo Radke was doing a great job in my view, you know, under difficult circumstances. And I don't think that Simon Harris is going to lift Finnegueuil into some wonderful place. I have to be honest, I'm not exactly sure that Simon Harris is going to be much differently of Radke. So if this was a push to try and get someone different at the head of the party, I'm not sure Simon Harris is the sentencing is going to achieve that. Ciaran Brogan, I want to turn to you because obviously, as a Finnefall councillor, you're not in Finnegueuil, but your party is in government with them. So you have an alliance with, we obviously have the pact locally as well. But nationally, your two parties are working together. Watching the way things are happening at the moment, what's your take on the ascendancy of Simon Harris? This time two weeks, if someone said who'd be t-shirt on April 9th, you wouldn't have said Simon Harris? I don't think so. But I suppose they almost say that politics is a time and a judgment. And I suppose this is a great example of that, how things can change very quickly. I think it's been a huge journey for Simon Harris himself. He's been in cabinet for some time. He has a lot of cabinet experience. And we all know that the portfolio of health, a lot of the time, sometimes can be a pass to the top job. And he's been through that through a difficult time during COVID. And nevertheless, I think there's enough a lot happening for him personally at the moment and taking over leader of any group and or any organization, let it be a football manager or whatever, bringing people with you is huge to that. And I think having that element of trust will be huge at the beginning. And then having a team around him as well. Hard to know how that's going to fall. And it's not a call for me to make. But I mean, there's a huge amount of work for him to undertake at the minute. And then you have the program for government that's there now with the two leaders in Mehill Martin, the Tannisja and the name in Ryan as well. There seems to have been a good level of trust and understanding with the three leaders over the since the formation of this government to be fair. So he probably will fit in well to that the fact that he's been at the cabinet table with them for some time. So I suppose the challenge may be his own party more than the other leaders at this point in time. And I suppose every party wants to put their own stamp in government. But the program for government is there at the moment. And I suppose that's what they're going to work through. Does this potentially put Mehill Martin in a stronger position? Because in terms of the public perception, at least Mehill Martin is now going to be very much regarded as the senior figure in the government. I mean, the wider public is going to look at Mehill Martin perhaps as the person they trust. Simon Harris says the new boy that's going to have to earn it. Well, I think in fairness to Mehill Martin, Mehill Martin has excelled over the last number of years and he's seen to be, in my opinion, and you would say I would say that anyway, but he seems to be somebody that has been, I suppose, described as the elder statesman doing the right thing by the people at all times. And I think he has come across very well, not just in her own country, but throughout the world as a responsible leader. But I think he'll do the right thing by Simon Harris as well. I think he, you know, he'll do the right thing by the country. And he'll want to work closely with him, as well, even Ryan as well. But I think Mary touched on something a moment ago about how politics has changed. And I think that it's probably become very much about the individual themselves, as opposed to when Paddy Hart would have been there, or people in the past that would have stayed through the rough and tumble of politics and there was good days and bad days. And I think if you watch closely what has happened, the Fingale party over the last number of years, that a lot of people who lost the top jobs have decided just to, for the want of a better word, put the fiddle in the bag and walk away. So there has to be some reason as to what's that happening. Is it because, and you know, we heard Cairn Kennan's statement and everybody heard it about how politics has changed and the abuse that people are taking in politics. And I suppose that's something that people has to look at going forward as well. I don't believe that you're going to have the same long time level of service that you would have had from politics and our ministers going forward. So it's a big task for Simon Harris. But nevertheless, he has had the cabinet experience. He has been in Letter Kenny and in the Northwest. He's familiar with it. He's done very well. He's overseen what would have been the ITs to the university status. And he was there in January, yeah. Seems to have loads, loads of energy. But again, it's back to the team and it's back to the thrust and loyalty around him. And I think if they can, I suppose, continue to build that trust and get the team around him. But the biggest challenge he'll have over the next number of days is deciding who to give the jobs to. And sometimes getting back to the point he made earlier, that has become too much about who gets a job and who doesn't. And then some of them decide they're not happy because they didn't get a job. They get into destructive mode. So I think instead of the ship at the early stage, I think he'll do fine. But with regards to the party perspective, I do think that he will have that there'll be a fair level of respect cross-party to want to do the right thing by the contrary at this time. Gronje Hines as a lobbyist and someone who obviously is fighting a corner for the people you represent in active retirement, but not actively yourself involved in party politics per se. What's your take on this? Is this a matter of meeting you, boss, same as the old boss, or do you think there is change of it? Well, I think there's a lot of change. And I don't agree really with Mary, who really feels that maybe he isn't up to the job, or he isn't representing Fingale as it really is. I think if I was... I didn't say that. I just... Well, I think in fairness, she said she would give him a chance. Yes. Okay. Mary, sorry. If I was interviewing Simon, for example, for the job of T-shirt guy, would be looking, first of all, at his qualifications in politics. He started very young. He was idealistic. He worked very hard. He was ambitious. And he rose to great heights really for his age. And I see him as a sort of a bridge between the old and the new Fingale. The fact that he is computer savvy is very, very important. And this goes down very well with younger people. And some of the younger people I've spoken to really think he is a good guy. They think he's ambitious. They think he's very... I think I myself am very interested in the education that was my role. And I'm delighted about the 80 years. I think that has really given a great boost to younger people. They can stay at home with his grandparents who want to send their children to third level. And I really admire him for his attitude to apprenticeships. I have a long, long thought that this is a very important thing for young people. Everybody is not academic. Academics isn't the big deal and end all of everything. And I think that he's given this to younger people that there is another way to make a living. There is another way to do what you want to do and what you're skilled at. So I admire him greatly for that. And I saw his passion over the fact that the tricolor was over Mr. McCauley's caravan. So I know he is a patriot. I know he is a Republican, but a peaceful Republican. So I admire all those things about him. He's dynamic. He's young. I think he would make a very good job. And I think really politics is the art of compromise. And I feel that he is really would be good at that. He's a very nice personality. I met him quite a few years ago and I spoke to him about the order of people, what we want and what we didn't want. And he was attentive. He wasn't looking around the room trying to pass. You know, he's ticked the box. He's talked to the chair of the Age Friendly Alliance. And he was interested. And he really did communicate. He's a very good communicator. Did anything practical come of that conversation? I'm also from a friendly household. And I do think that he will, you know, take up the banner on law and order, on fairness and justice. And I do have a lot of faith in him. Do you think this could be the difference between the current government returning to power after the next election in some form, or a Shane Feinleit government coming into power after the next election? Because the polls at the moment are interesting. We haven't seen a huge jump in the most recent polls following the announcement that Simon Harris was going to take over. But do you think this is going to increase the chances the government has of getting back in? Because, I mean, at the moment, very few people would give the government any chance at all. Well, I think it could be a lot to do with the communications, what people understand about the policies of Feinleit and Shane Feinleit. Both have very good policies. They're very good people in both parties. And the people will have to decide who they think will be more efficient at implementing the policies. Political experience is very important in the government. And I think that Simon also gets on very well with other leaders. And I think if Shane Feinleit were in, and he was I'm not sure whether they would work together. But I don't see any problem in that. I think that he does think of the good of the country. And he has been very, very active in his policies. Can I go back to you briefly, Mary Hart, if I may, because one of the interesting things, obviously, is going to be how he gets on with the First Minister and Deputy First Minister at Stormland, how he gets on with Rishi Sunak, and with Chris Heaton Harris and those involved in Westminster as well. Now, as someone who spent many, many years working with the BBC and someone who knows the Northern Ireland political scene, very, very well indeed. How do you think Simon Harris is going to get on as a new Taoiseach in that space? Because we know Lee Overadker maybe made a few missteps with some of his comments here and there and wasn't perhaps the best loved of Taoiseach, particularly among the units. Yeah, I mean, I think it's important to, and I know Glen, you mentioned, experience in politics is extremely important, which it is, but there are those who are born to be very good politicians and those that really are never going to make a great job at it. I do think the comment that Simon Harris was born when me, Hall Martin, was just elected to the Dall. So, you know, there's a massive gap in terms of experience there, and I have said, I have looked to see amazing things that he has done, but he has had a meteoric rise, and that could all be done to just being in the right place at the right time. And I know that's how politics works internally and externally. He will be very, very heavily dependent on advisors. And, you know, we all know that the further away from the border, the less knowledgeable you are about the do's and don'ts of Northern Ireland politics and the footwork that has to be done. I do think he'll listen. I think that's the kind of person that he is, and I do think he will make a good shot at negotiating because at the end of the day, whether, you know, what side of the political divide that you might find yourself on or have decided you're going to be, Sinn Féin are a major player now, both North and South, and they will be. They're not going to go away. And I do think it is important that, you know, everybody works together for the betterment of the country, not for an individual party politics and finding. And I do know, I mean, the days are gone where you have one strong party like Fina Forward in power for almost 40 years, you know, leading governments and, you know, other parties just could never break that mould. Having coalition governments has to be the way forward and coalition doesn't mean that you're going to have to, you know, give and take both sides. I mean, that's not to say Sinn Féin's going to have its way all the time. And likewise, neither will the parties that they may share power with. And I think Simon Harris going into Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a very, very messy place now, whether we think, yes, there's peace, but there's peace at a price. And that peace has come with an economy that's collapsed entirely. You know, the number of industrialists that would look at Northern Ireland to go and set up, you know, a massive computer company, or, you know, you'll never have the Facebooks and the Googles that are in Dublin and Belfast. They just don't look at it that way. And, you know, it's a difficult situation and Brexit has absolutely pushed right back. I think we were moving along nicely as a cross-border, you know, from every direction, you know, economically and politically. And then Brexit just tumbled everything down and it's a big job of work to bring that North-South cooperation back again. Ciaran Brogan, you'll be very shortly going, I mean, you're probably on the campaign train already, let's be honest about it, but I mean, local elections coming up in June, a busy couple of weeks and months for you in terms of trying to get your place back at the council chamber in Lyford. Do you think this is going to make any difference to the forthcoming campaign, or has it come too late to really have any impact on the local campaigning? Well, just before I get into answering the question of the local campaign and Donald, I think it's important Mary talks about Brexit and how maybe Northern Ireland's somewhat negative. I would have to disagree with her and far from me to praise a funnigale leader or a Taoiseach, but you would have to acknowledge that Leo Radger, when he was there as Taoiseach and indeed Simon Covenay as Minister for Foreign Affairs, I think the Irish government's handling of the whole Brexit situation over the last number of years was exceptional. It was top class and you know, it would have been a phrase that we all would have used over the years that the people from Dublin or Cork are so much disconnected from the Northern region and they don't understand it. But I would have to give credit for astute the stance that the Irish government has taken and stayed with it, stayed with it throughout the journey through different British prime ministers over the years was the right decision for Ireland as a whole. And I think there was dead fast in that position. And I think the point that's been missed by Brexit is that Northern Ireland economies actually doing better now than it ever was doing before. The development of the Northwest City region which we're part of here in the Northwest in the letter Kinney, Derry, Joint Gateway, a first working very close together in the Nogall County Council, Derry and Surban Council to, I suppose, bring together the critical mask of the region, the shared island funding, 46 million that has gone into the Austro University in McGee, the investment in Alton Galvin Hospital. Now, the recently announcement of the A5 and, you know, unfairness to the outgoant Hitchock Lee over at Cairn. And I know that our own minister, Charlie McConville, was very much a part of this. But I mean, when they announced the funding for the A5, it was very much part of the story that even in the news that it was going to letter Kinney. So for a long time, we may have been forgotten, but we've been front and center in the Northwest. And I would have to acknowledge that. And I mean, all the figures will show that the investment in Northern Ireland has increased to, you know, maybe two or three-fold. And I mean, big companies have invested in Belfast and Derry. And we see Fundthrough, who are now in Lerner Kinney as well. And they would say when they carried out the assessment that they don't, that the talent is in the Northwest and they commend the Derry-Nogall relationship. So I think we're in a much better place than we sometimes we give ourselves credit for. And I think a lot of good companies are in the Northwest. And I think we have an exciting time. And I mean, Northern Ireland now is one of the best places in the world to invest. I really don't take care on where you're getting that information from, because I don't see it. The vast majority of people are, you know, on civil service jobs, high on employment, and you look at the Republic full employment. Maybe if you'd allow me to finish, Mary. I've attended many as chairman of the Economic Development Strategic Policy Committee and Derry-Nogall County Council. I've been at many meetings with business people, not only in Ireland, but I mean another in London and in Boston. And I've listened to the companies for a stand and they couldn't speak highly enough of the relationship we have and the work we're doing. And I commend people. I like the ATU and the Ulster University and all the good things that's happening. And all you have to do is talk to the local companies and they'll tell you about this huge success story. So sometimes we beat ourselves up too much. I think we have a good story to tell. And the fact that any company common now to the region has the advantage of the British market or the European market. That's unequaled anywhere. So I think we have an exciting time ahead and hopefully now with the commitment to the A5 and education is definitely a game changer. And I just had, in my opinion, has been the game changer in our northern six counties as well. It's how we change things going forward. So I think we need to focus on the opportunities that's available for us. And I think that that will bring us a long way. And maybe the biggest challenge perhaps is to get that to filter right down because it may very well be that the companies are happy and that certain people are happy, but is that filtering down into the bog side? Is it filtering down into the Kregen? Is it filtering down into the wider population because the experience in the Kregen is not necessarily going to be the same experience of those involved in business and those attending economic development. I mean, you just take a look. At my view, and I've worked in Northern Ireland for almost 30 years, and the Republic has moved towards Europe all the time has depended and has been a huge player in the European affairs for that reason. The Republic has rocketed ahead in terms of, I mean, we have, we're the second wealthiest per head of population country in Europe. We have full employment at the moment. Now, that doesn't mean to say that those that are on the margins of poverty are not benefiting from that. They're not. But that's another different work that has got to be dealt with and building more houses has got to be dealt with. When you look in Northern Ireland and you do not see the same vibrancy there and I know the A5 and I've gone on that road to university through the 70s. I've worked in Dublin. I've come back up and down. It is the worst road and it's even worse now. And I don't see that A5 from what I'm told from people who are at the high end of the negotiating from the civil service aspect, they said the amount of people that are now putting legal challenges into that it's going to delay it by another 10 years. Just because it's said it's going to happen, then the people who own the land are not going to let it happen. And that's unfortunately an issue that has been there is because there was a huge amount of money paid out to when they were developing the road to Enes Skilland and the value of land has dropped and as far as they want the same amount of money. And that's the issue. It's the problem with the A5 is people who own the land will not give it up. Well, hopefully in terms of the A5 we've had a number of public inquiries. We've had a number of courts. The point presumably will come where the reasons or the justifications for challenges will be addressed and exhausted. And hopefully we will see movement on the A5 sooner rather than later. Gronja, I want to bring you in here because I'm conscious that you're somewhat on the sidelines and I don't want that to happen. Again, from the point of view of someone who's observing this debate and I'm sure Gronja you're the sort of person that loves debate like this. What's your take on this issue of the North-South relationship particularly in the context of a new T-shirt and where Simon Harris is going to fit in and what impact Simon Harris is going to have on cross-border relations? Well, I think there's a very good situation at the moment in Northern Ireland where we have two ladies at the top and they seem to be very sensible in their issues and their outlooks. And I am one of the few people who probably I worked on the Falls Road as a teacher and I also worked in a Protestant school in Bangor probably one of the few people who have worked in both areas. And I have a need I really do think that the people of Northern Ireland are very stoical and they're very practical and pragmatic and I found in both there are so many things they have in common and I think that's what we really need to look at and I think the business community in the north is realising how well the South have done as Mary says and how we have through our compromises and our business people developed our country and I really feel that the people of the North of Ireland have that power to do the same and I have great faith in them maybe I'm an optimist but I do feel that there's so much in common between both communities and I think if that is emphasised and worked on the worst thing I think ever happened when the Great Friday Agreement was finished that they didn't insist that all schools were mixed I have worked in as I said in the Protestant Catholic Schools and I found that that was a really basis I remember talking to a woman who had six children she lived in Bangor the only grammar school that she could go to was the Saint Dominic's in the Falls Road which was a long bus journey and they really couldn't afford it she ended up sending her to an intermediate school where the academic achievement was very low and her child was very bright and now I really felt that all the schools should be I think that's something if they worked on where they had the schools Protestant and Catholic mix everybody going to the one school even in the South here I don't really agree with the system of Gale Schools and national schools I think that should be all national schools I don't see why we should divide the community by some people going to one type of school and one to another and I think that is something that I would love the Department of Education to work on and I do trust the Northern Ireland people they're very good hardworking people and they will find a solution yeah thanks indeed for that Grania it's 27 minutes to 10 we're going to take a short break back after these it's the last week of Foy and Company's Big Spring Sale in Bally Buffet and Letter Kenny huge reductions on Scatterbox cushions and Scatterbox wallers also win rugs and selected furniture in both stores and online at foys.ie call in store before Foy's Big Spring Sale ends in Bally Buffet and Letter Kenny Hello I'm David Foley Medical Herbalist Are you suffering with stress anxiety and insomnia? Then after Irish Botanical Peace and Cam a traditional herbal remedy Irish Botanical Peace and Cam has a naturally relaxing effect ideal for stress, insomnia, jet lag and pre-exam anxiety call us in a natural way Letter Kenny Shopping Centre for more information Weather grinds farmers to a halt for more in your Irish farmers journal His Paul Mooney with feed costs still rising and silage running short an emergency meeting of the National Father Committee is planned record prices for Spring Lamb exports continue to drive weanling mark trade incoming T-shirt Simon Harris sets out a stall for farmers we profile a new state-of-the-art dairy setup in Mayo and how to claim up to 40,000 euros in retrofitting grants all inside the Irish farmers journal you cannot afford to miss it Are you struggling with ill-fitting dentures? Are you tired of avoiding the steak menu and going straight to the softer options? Blue Poppy's special implant-assisted dentures can help restore your full bite sensation Call today for a free consultation with Doctors Ehor and Amit Blue Poppy's new implant team and explore our attractive payment plans Find contact details for our Letter Kenny and Donegal town practices at bluepoppedental.com on business matters this week I'll be looking at the expansion of credit unions with many now offering mortgages and also looking at the growth of digital payments and whether we are heading towards a cashless society so join me Chris Ashmore after these six o'clock news on Sunday business matters in association with the ATU Donegal Faculty of Business now is the time to realise your potential by enrolling on the part-time degree in business only three years with just one evening per week on campus open up your future by contacting the faculty office on 9186206 or visit atu.ie today This Easter bank holiday spruce up your home with incredible deals at easy living furniture with cracking deals such as all sofas reduced all dining reduced all bedroom reduced all mattresses reduced and if that's not enough all our garden furniture is reduced to an extra 10% off this weekend only Don't miss out Visit Easy Living Furniture Present Link Retail Park or online at easylivingfurniture.co.uk Kia is now making it easier to go green offering 0% finance on the all new Kia Nero with an impressive 460 kilometer range on a single charge the Nero ensures you can go to distance without compromise Visit imotors.ie today and avail of this limited offer Thinking of changing your floors? 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Florid have a large selection of solid semi-solid and laminate click vinyl wood flooring together with a fantastic choice of parquet herringbone flooring all at incredible value Don't delay Call Florid today on 087 161 7008 Express perform bat out of hell in all its entirety and other hits Tickets on sale this Thursday 10 a.m from Mount Erigal Hotel Reception and ticketmaster.ie Celebrating Meatloaf endorsed by Jim Steinman and Meatloaf presented by Joe Gallagher Entertainment This is the 90 Lune Show on Highland Radio it's the Friday panel on a Thursday with Donald and we're joined on the panel by Grania Heinz a member of Letter Kenny Active Retirement Councillor Ciaran Brogan Letter Kenny Milford M.D. Fianna Fáil representative and Mary Hart broadcaster and journalist just a couple of your comments before we go any further what about the cervical check scandal and the overspend on the children's hospital that Simon Harris oversaw instead of giving him a pat on the back we should be calling for a general election the government's been nothing but a disaster for the Irish people as was stated by Mihal Martin when he said the country wouldn't be best served by a Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil government then he did what every other politician does and went back on his word Callers as I said I'd never vote for Sinn Féin but after seeing what's happening in the country since 2005 they'll have my vote Fianna Fáil and Fianna Fáil are a joke it's time people stood up against these two parties who aren't interested in anything outside Dublin Callers said I think it's probably to be expected that Mary Hart would say that the overwhelming rejection of both referendum wasn't a protest against the government it's a prime example of how out of touch people are with the people of the country I understand I understood exactly what I was voting for and I voted no no what about when Simon Harris was Minister for Health when the cervical cancer scandal hit now the caller says the immigration policy doesn't make sense in my opinion people are coming here instead of to the likes of Spain or France because they get better money why can't we have border control like they have in Australia and a number of people pointing out that it took 15 counts for Simon Harris to get in and and that means he should not be anywhere near the top job let's let's go back and we're going to talk another issue really which in a sense is an issue that Simon Harris is going to have to look at as the head of government and it's the issue of the cost of living and specifically the latest announcement that there's to be a rise in the price of a pint nationwide last year 51 pubs closed their doors can anything be done to lighten the load and it just so happens that last evening the cabinet went another step towards introducing auto enrollment for pensions and indeed restauranters, fitness and others are claiming that's going to be another nail in the coffin for many businesses in the service industry because of the extra cost it's going to impose I'm going to go to you first councillor Kieran Brogan both as a political representative and someone who has some experience of the service industry as well yourself in terms of the the latest rises are they going to put licensed premises restaurants and others under more pressure there's absolutely no doubt about that donal that's been a very very challenging time for business people over the course of the last four years and I think that some people the bigger companies if you like have seen this as an opportunity and a number of years ago Heineken would have introduced maybe last year they introduced a price increase at the time and Diagio come out and they said that they wouldn't be increasing their prices but believe it or not they've increased it twice since and I think this has become a huge problem I think there's a huge disconnect from the challenges the reality of what's happening in the ground by some of the bigger companies I mean a recent figure that I heard recently that has become in the last number of years the cost of business has gone up 34% I mean you can put that down to energy prices you can put down to insurance you can put it down to the increase in prices and I think to be honest far too much control in the bigger companies are I suppose if you like been taken by too few but what's happening you see it in supermarket business as well and I think that that's not good too much power and control and I think you know with respect to the unfortunate situation the war in Ukraine and stuff we've seen that but unfortunately what has happened is I think some of the bigger companies are seeing this as an opportunity to increase their profits and I think we need to look at the model of business because it's become it's becoming very very challenging I would call on the drinks companies to step back from the prices and indeed to maybe take a hit in the margin that they're getting and have been getting for some time and try and allow the smaller businesses to survive because this is exactly going to take people away from the on-trade and it's only promoting the off-trade and it's going to put people into their houses and stuff and we've seen a huge change in the trends indeed the night clubs are effectively really been struggling over the last number of years as is due to some of the rural pubs as well but businesses across the board have become very challenged over the last number of years and I think we need to look at the benefit of businesses and creating jobs sustainable jobs long-term jobs and opportunities for many people and I think we need to try and work through that but the big companies need to maybe it's something that the competition authority needs to have a look at I think for far too long they have been looking closely at it because it's just not good enough to come along whenever you decide somebody at the very higher end decides to press a button that could make a huge suffering to people's businesses and livelihood Mary Hart from your point of view you live in Ruffo it's a town that will depend a lot on tourism will depend on visitors and will depend on the services industry license premises and so on something like this that puts license premises under pressure that that's not going to be good news for an area like Ruffo that's so dependent on that sector I don't think I wouldn't tend to agree that it would depend on that sector would depend perhaps is the wrong word but there would be a large proportion of custom yeah I mean my view and I at the risk of sounding you know old I think it's terrible state of affairs that were vexed about a few pens being put on drink or alcohol when we look at people in tents on the streets and people who are living in hotels who should have a home the drinks industry and the publicans have had their day they've had a great time in the past why we should be in a terrible you know situation that oh it's terrible the pubs are closing why are we why is that a terrible thing when our A&E at weekends are jam packed with people who are out of their heads with alcohol you take a trip down that or Kenny main street at midnight at a weekend and it's scary to say the least and the courts are filled with people who's wouldn't be there but for having consumed far too much alcohol so I do think we need to seriously look at this attitude that we have that Ireland is all about pubs and all about drinking Guinness and all about where the Irish where the the pubs are the part of our culture they're not a part of our culture at all and I think personally we should be looking at the much more serious issues in our within our communities at the moment people who are on the bread line and again going back to you know we do have a good country we do have a lot of money and we do have a good solid base from which to work from we're just not getting some of those things put together and you know we need to build more houses absolutely the government has and local authorities and I have to flag up one thing that it bothers me big time is that for a year and a half there's a housing estate sitting brand new and full empty at state-of-the-art state-of-the-art housing and I don't know what what Donegal County council are doing about that but those houses have been fenced up for a year and a half and I've not been able to get an answer to that so you know it's two for us to be talking about the price of a pint going up by a few pence I think is an absence that's my view That's fair enough I'm not sure the pubs that are closing are the pubs that are causing the problems in terms of the courts and the AME and so on and so forth Gronya Hines have you a perspective on this? Yes I do indeed I agree with everything Mary has said I really feel there are far too many pubs for a start and I know in the olden days one pub educated a whole family the family worked in it and they did very well as Mary said they had a great run at it and Diagea and Heineken are there not other you could educate, be cared are there other companies that produce drinks that perhaps you could switch your business to I don't know and I think putting it up by nine cents is not okay that does that mean the public is put it up by double that so therefore they never take a hit so the companies don't take a hit the public is not taking a hit the only people who are taking a hit are the punters and I just don't think it's that important I am horrified that they might have drank that young people consume and the way they behave when they've consumed the drink and I think this idea of pubs being our culture is crazy I don't agree with that either I am absolutely horrified at the idea of nightclubs working till 6am in the morning the problems that it will cause the staff that have to go there and work over that which is not healthy to work overnight if you can avoid it I know nurses and other people have to do it but the aggressiveness that comes from certain times after two o'clock in the morning is amazing and it's really not a good model for our children to be thinking that pubs are more important than housing or homeless people let's concentrate on that when you're in a business you have to take the hits if I'm working say I'm working privately and I lose my customers I have to take that hit why should they be supported more than normal people who are trying to struggle with the low wages I know that pubs and restaurant businesses didn't pay their people properly for many years and the rise in the minimum wage and the fact that they have to pay now for their pensions etc is obviously hitting them big I know it's a big thing for them but it is a right thing to be done and I really don't have much sympathy for them it's 12 minutes to 10 we'll take a short break Sheena Noel Design formerly the fabric centre Letter Kenny is now open in Bonkrana with the beautiful new studio ready to welcome you with the vast fabric and wallpaper library we deliver beautiful curtains roman blinds and upholstery motorized blind specialists we have the inspiration to finish your home contact us on 0833781871 or check out our social media and website SheenaNoelDesign.com for more Are you worried about trees on your property? Northwest Forestry Services Bully Buffet are fully insured and have over 40 years experience in dangerous tree removal tree felling surgery and stump grinding for peace of mind call Northwest Forest Services Bully Buffet for no obligation quotation on 9132033 With big scoop ice cream at Kelly Steiner and Letter Kenny there's so much choice from bubblegum blast to Oreo Crunch named after Kelly's famous robot waiter there's loads of flavours to choose from or you can create your own treat the kids and the big kids to a yummy ice cream dessert at Kelly Steiner mountaintop Letter Kenny Don't miss David James and his band this Saturday night in the Mulroy Woods Hotel dancing from nine to eight come along and enjoy a great night of music Weather grinds farmers to a halt for more in your Irish farmers journal His Paul Mooney With feed costs still rising and silage running short an emergency meeting of the National Father Committee is planned Record prices for spring lamb exports continue to drive weanling mark trade incoming T-shirt Simon Harris sets out a stall for farmers we profile a new state-of-the-art dairy setup in Mayo and how to claim up to 40,000 euros in retrofitting grants All inside the Irish farmers journal you cannot afford to miss it Keep out the cold, cold, cold and ring Fleming for their full range of garage doors agri doors insulated doors milking pallet doors Fleming 91 48 234 Highland Radio weather updates with Ireland West Airport You don't visit Liverpool for the weather but it does rain goals at Anfield Fly to Liverpool Daily with Ryanair Ireland West Airport Don't just take off Take it easy With a forecast and met here in Telus it'll be cold today with outbreaks of rain heavy at times falling asleep and snow in places rain becoming patchier this evening with dry spells developing top temperatures 5 to 7 degrees celsius possibly slightly cooler in Donegal with moderate northerly winds backing subtly and occasionally increasing fresh and evening rain will clear tonight it'll turn largely dry with long clear spells showers developing don't forward morning overnight lows minus 2 to plus 1 degrees celsius tomorrow largely dry with spells of sunshine isolated showers little warmer tomorrow top temperatures 8 to 10 in moderate subtly winds The government is being called on to consider lowering the national voting age to 16 now the national youth parliament for 12 to 18 year olds Dall and Nog took place in Lenster House this week and I'm going to ask our panel if they would agree that we should effectively be lowering the voting age I'm going to go to you first if I may Grania do you think 16 year olds should be voting? No I don't actually I have dealt with teenagers a lot in my career and I actually rang my granddaughter last night she's 20 and I got her opinion on it and she said that they have discussed it in their group and they don't think it's right they don't think that when they think what they were like at 16 and she said to me there's no way we would have the knowledge or even the interest you're all at that age you're you're concentrating on your studies so on your career what you're going to do your leave and search your front subjects et cetera et cetera your hormones are raging and it isn't a great time for people to have a level head and you're very idealistic we pick up the weirdest I know myself at 16 I had the weirdest ideas But then again by the same token and I've done a little bit of work over the years with Donegal Youth Council and we have a young person's panel that comes in here from time to time I'm sure you've heard them there's a lot of them are very articulate they're very interesting they've got something to say and their argument to you would be we're a part of this society we have a voice and we want to use it Well there is a theory that people's brains don't really develop acroletal or 25 particularly males and therefore you are making ideas on a kind of a wonky basis so no I don't think so and I think it's putting a burden on them and introducing them to problems and things that they let them enjoy their teenage years let them develop have their weird ideas dress weirdly do what they want to do and let them have their ideas and it's good for them to have panels and youth councils so they can give you know like gather up and chat about things and submit ideas and all that but as for them to vote no I don't think so and I think a lot of them also at that age you're very much influenced by your parents you haven't really developed your full personality and if your parents are this that or the other the pressure would be put on you to vote I have to be honest I mean when I was 16 if my parents told me to go left I'd have gone right if my parents told me to go right I'd have gone left if my parents said yellow I'd have gone green just on the principle the last thing I would have done it was what my parents told me to do that is not a good thing either so you have a kind of a weird it's a weird time for children and leave them alone let them grow up Cairn Brogan let's not worry too much about politics and what the country are doing Councillor Cairn Brogan I reference Donegal Youth Council you have regular meetings with them you see them regularly voting at 16 good or bad yeah I think it's good something I would fully support personally I'm a daughter my daughter is coming 16 now Malaysia and Orm was just 18 on Sunday and you know one thing I'll say about the young people of today I think they're very very bright and intelligent they have a mind of their own as well I think that's all changed I think the education system we have is one of the best in the world and I think we should the listening engaging more with the young people and the engagement that I have with them to be honest they're a breath of fresh air they're really good and I think we need to we need to take them on board so I would fully support giving them a vote at 16 years of age because look they're the future I will need to let them at it Mary Harding want to give the final word on this one to yourself voting at 16 you obviously would have had a lot of political knowledge and involvement at 16 given the household you grew up in do you believe you should have voted at that point Mary you're muted there if you don't mind just on muting yourself sorry Mary we can't actually hear you yeah sorry we got you got you yeah sorry um I yeah I would be in the one that would challenge my father a lot when I was 16 I'm with Gronya on this one and I was a former teacher and I had teenagers myself and I taught teenagers and um they are idealistic but they're not all idealistic we do get the nice idealistic ones on the panels and on the you know being part of the party groups and all that I do think they're far too young they cannot possibly understand the economics the macro and microeconomics of the political parties presenting you with I just find there it's uh it's just too young it's just too young and you know I'm you know I'm remember as I think all of us would when 21 was the age that you voted at so you know 18 I think is just about right and idealistic and very bright young people but not all of them are capable of making a good value choice when it comes to politics they might be good at everything else but certainly I don't think it's the right thing the right choice and that brings our Thursday panel to an end broadcaster and journalist Mary Hart councillor Cairn Brogan and active retirement member and campaigner Gronya Hines all of you thank you very much indeed for your perspectives enjoy that chat I always say when I do this show usually on a Friday but the panel is the fastest hour of the week and it's always it's been an absolute pleasure to all of you thank you very much indeed we're going to go for a break before the news and obituary notices but before we do go for a break I want to just let you know that if you have a ticket for our 10 000 euro home makeover draw stand by because we're going to have a draw later on in the program there's an extra 5000 euro in cash to be given away it's going to be given away in two tranches of 2500 euro it's going to happen today and it's going to happen next week at quarter past 11 this morning lines will close at half past 11 we'll be making a call and somebody will be winning two and a half thousand euro so if you haven't got a ticket already you can get a ticket now by contacting us on 0749125 000 you can get it online on highlandradio.com and if you do that before quarter past 11 this morning which means you have about an hour in 15 minutes if you do it before quarter past 11 you will be in the draw and you could be two and a half thousand euro richer by half past 11 this morning there'll be another chance Friday of next week to win two and a half thousand euro and then later on you will have the chance to win that 10 000 euro home makeover that's courtesy of Foy's in Foy's company they are Foy's at Balabafé aren't they yeah I think they're in Balafé they have a place better Kenny as well and if I'm wrong I do thoroughly apologise for that but that's the home makeover draw that is available and that's what's happening at the moment so yeah you can get in touch either on highlandradio.com or you can contact us at highlandradio over the phone 0749125 000 as I said news and obituary notices coming up will be with you after those but right now we'll take a short break that's why our family pan bakers make such great tasting bread is that so is I well put it like this city it's the slice pan people love eating too but it's not just a taste it's the pure satisfaction you get from our famous bread bake fresh each and every morning however you slice it anything baked is better with breadless today's bread today are your small appliances do an upgrade or when expert electrical your ultimate destination for all things electrical from stylish toasters and capitals to innovative coffee machines and air fires or elevate your tech game with a selection of smartwatches ipads laptops and phones and TVs from all your top brands stay connected with urban expert electrical letterkenny and bonkrana are you suffering from chronic pain letterkenny medics are now offering specialized pain medicine services our expert Dr. Anil Patel is now taking appointments for tailored care and comprehensive pain management advice discover relief from persistent back and neck pain post-surgical discomfort or explore advanced treatments like nerve root blocks and more call letterkenny medics on 074-92029-05 and start your pain-free journey today letterkenny medics we listen if you want to talk testing testing do you need to get your hearing tested test your hearing with a free sample hearing aid from hidden hearing order your free sample hearing aid today call 1-800-370-0000 or visit hiddenhearing.ie bluebird care are currently recruiting carers and nurses across dunnigol with immediate starts available in letterkenny, ballet buffet, nishon and dunnigol town areas your career with bluebird care starts here with new attractive pay rates travel assistance paid training courses and ongoing career progression opportunities why not contact bluebird care on 074-9129562 or learn more at bluebirdcarecareers.ie bluebird care more than just a career in care first of april tis and c's apply live on air online and on the hyland radio app this is hyland radio news good morning i'm akilah clark with the news at 10 o'clock prayers have been offered for a dunnigol woman and her two daughters killed in a road crash on tuesday 47-year-old unaboden and her daughter's 14-year-old kira nine-year-old seersha died when the car they were in hit a truck on the n17 in kainty mayo they were remembered at a service in their local parish at the church of the macklin conception in my colon at last night uniz husband and the girl's father david was working abroad when the tragedy happened and is on his way back to ireland adrian divan newton and the girls well when we got the news later on tuesday evening and filtered around it just caused a numbness in the village supports have been fed up today with grease counselors with the schools and the clubs for all parents teachers and friends the villages asleep to my colon and and the weather condition go away and mass has been fed dunnigol kainty council's finafall work believes the difficult task for simon harris as he prepares to take on the role of t-shock will be working through the program for government with his home party rather than his coalition colleagues the current minister for further education was announced as the new finnigol leader at the weekend he's expected to be announced as t-shock after the dull aster recess country cairn brogan expects minister harris that will work well with me hall martin and aimon ryan there seems to have been a good level of trust and understanding with the three leaders over the since the formation of this government to be fair so he probably will fit in well to that the fact that he's been at the cabinet table with them for some time so i suppose the challenge may be his own party more than the other leaders at this point in time and i suppose every party wants to put their own stamp in government but the program for government is there at the moment and i suppose that's what they're going to work through the 100% redress party has announced another local election candidate joy baird will contest june's elections for the party in the boncran electoral area she has been a defective concrete block campaigner for over seven years and was one of the co-finders of the redress focus groups miss baird says why the defective block crisis will be top of her agenda she also wants to tackle other issues that matter children's charity's fear department of housing figures due out this afternoon could see an increase in child homelessness recorded bernardo says the government must take immediate action to address the growing number of children living in cramped and per standard emergency accommodation it warns homeless children can't develop appropriately and struggle to walk or crawl due to a lack of space bernardo ceo susan connelly says this evening's homeless figures should be a wake-up call well we're anticipating that they will be obviously that they're extremely serious as they are they may increase but even if there's a slight decrease because people might be you know temporarily got out of the country or something that doesn't that doesn't matter a slight decrease doesn't matter in the context of the the vast number of children teenagers and parents who are experiencing this degree of harm at the moment and the government knows that over 267,000 euro in funding has been announced to develop and upgrade nine outdoor recreation projects in dunigol it's part of a 4.1 million euro fund unveiled by the minister for rural and community development today dunigol county council the initial development partnership and the dunigol local development company will receive a share of the funds for the creation and upgrading of trails across the county minister heather humphrey says the projects will be a huge boost to local communities each project will receive up to 30 000 euros and this funding will be used to enhance outdoor amenities such as our walkways cycleways lakes and beaches the health benefits from being outdoors combined with the tourism benefits are well recognized so as the evenings get longer and hopefully the weather improves i would encourage everyone to get out and enjoy the natural beauty of our rural countryside a car has been seized in dunigol after the driver was suspected of having a fraudulent driving license and insurance disc on tuesday while on patrol the letter kenny road's placing unit were alerted to a vehicle having no insurance the car was subsequently stopped and the documents inspected and it emerged they were fraudulent items were seized along with the car guardians say investigations are continuing their warning motorists who never drive without insurance and to leave the creation of official documents to the correct relevant bodies weather and i call today with our breaks of rain heavy at times and falling as sleet and snow in places rain will become patchier this evening with dry spells at developing highest temperatures of four to six degrees that's all from highland radio news for now we'll be back with an update again at 11 o'clock until then you can keep up to date with the latest local news on our website highlandvideo.com good morning the obituary notices for this thursday morning march the 28th the death has taken place of edith rebecca caterson calhame convoy her remains will repose at her home from two o'clock this afternoon funeral leaving from there on saturday afternoon at half past one for two o'clock funeral service in st patrick's church donna more with burial afterwards in the family plot in the adjoining graveyard family time please on the morning of the funeral family flowers only donations in lieu to the oncology day unit letter kennie university hospital care of any family member the death has taken place of aamon mullen port na blaw don fanahe county dunagall his remains will be reposing at his late residence from 12 noon today funeral service in holy cross church don fanahe on saturday morning at 11 o'clock burial afterwards in the adjoining graveyard mass can be viewed live on mcn dot live family time from 10 o'clock to 11 o'clock and on the morning of the funeral family flowers only donations in lieu of desire to the lake house nursing home care of any family member or james harkin funeral director the death has occurred of norah brunney galler main street carragans norah will be reposing at her sister john mcgee's residence to mill park carragans from three o'clock this afternoon and all day tomorrow rosary each evening at eight o'clock funeral cortege will be leaving two mill park carragans at 10 o'clock on saturday morning going to st baton's church st johnston for 11 o'clock funeral mass with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery family flowers only please donations in lieu of desire to the friends of letter kennie university hospital or cancer care west care of any family member or kelly's funeral directors the death has occurred of tom mcpartlin brookfield dunigaltine county dunigall formally drum karen county leitrim tom's remains will repose at his late residence at brookfield dunigaltine this afternoon from two o'clock until nine o'clock and tomorrow from two o'clock until nine o'clock remains will leave his home on saturday morning at quarter past 10 for a funeral service at 11 o'clock in st patrick's church dunigaltine with burial immediately afterwards in clark graveyard family flowers only donations if desired in memory of tom to the northwest hospice house private on saturday morning please tom's funeral mass in st patrick's church can be viewed live on mcn.live the death has occurred of dominic boil stra castle glendies dominic's remains are opposing at his late residence removal from his home to more morning to st connell's church glendies for funeral service at 11 o'clock with interment afterwards in the local cemetery family time tonight from 11 o'clock until 10 o'clock funeral service can be viewed live on church services dot tv the death has occurred of winnie sweeney nace drean rani hall kinkashla her remains are opposing at mcn's funeral home this afternoon from two o'clock with rosary at half past eight a private removal will take place afterwards to her late residence funeral mass to more morning at 11 o'clock in the star of the sea church anagri with interment afterwards in the new cemetery the death has taken place of majella gibbons west tine malinhead her remains are opposing at her home removal from her home on saturday morning at half past 11 to the star of the sea church for funeral liturgy at 12 noon fall by burial afterwards in lag cemetery house private from 10 o'clock to 11 o'clock please the death has taken place of eileen mcteig dairy art creaselor formerly of helensburg scotland no wake house private please cremation service will take place at lakeland's crematorium dublin road county cavern this afternoon at half past three family flowers only please donations in lee if desired to the dunningall hospice care of any family member or geom's harkin funeral director cremation service can be viewed live on churchservices.tv the death has taken place in london of brandon carne formerly of fatima glen car letter kenny funeral service fall by cremation in london the death has taken place of kenny liner moll hill milford reposing at his home funeral mass this morning at 11 o'clock in st peter's church milford burial afterwards in tully cemetery funeral mass can be viewed on church services dot tv house private please to family and neighbors and the death has occurred in liver pool of john mcteig 19 lockview bunkrana john will be reposing at his family home this afternoon from two o'clock funeral from there on sunday at 12 noon going to st mary's oratory bunkrana for half past 12 requiem mass within hermond afterwards in cockhill cemetery funeral service can be viewed online at church services dot tv house private from 11 o'clock to 10 o'clock family flowers only please for family information and more details regarding wigs and funerals please go to highlandvideo.com halsey with 20 meals for under 20 euro that's right mighty meals every weeknight for a family of four for under 20 euro how about spaghetti and meatballs monday or Tuesday sizzling vegetables stir fry there's chicken steak potato wedges and carrots plus chicken oyster thighs butternut squash mash and peas and friday's favorite fish rice and munch two two no vouchers no apps no messing follow the path to lower prices go all aldi the county's number one talk show the nine till noon show on highland radio this is the nine till noon show on highland radio it's donal cavana with you on the program on till 12 noon today now it's a thursday as we say but we don't have a nine till noon show tomorrow so we had our friday panel 24 hours early in the first hour so what i'm gonna do now is just give a very quick run through the main headlines on the papers because we won't have a chance obviously to do them at another point so the dunagall news this morning mother calls from memorial on site of tragedy the mother of leona harper one of the 10 people killed in the creasley disaster says she's horrified to learn of plans to rebuild commercial units on the site of the explosion in creasley in october of 2022 dunagall democrat the main story reforman and two daughters killed in male crash a story you'll have heard on the news obviously also making a stand 1200 a 10 defective blocks meeting a picture from that meeting on the front of the chair connell tribune showing the extent of the crowd and the main headline ringing endorsement for people's document dairy news this morning and the main story questions raised whether new midi task force can deliver newly established task force aiming to increase midi student numbers but a campaign group the dairy university group is questioning whether or not the task force will be efficacious a region dependent this morning a string of tech firms snub foley meeting on child online safety several social media and tech companies snubbed a meeting with the education minister at a meeting last month about keeping children safe online and a heartbreaking photograph that's on several papers this morning mother in daughters killed in horrific male crash had been visiting relatives a mother and her children who died in road traffic tragedy in county mail had been returning home from visiting family in donnie gall una carlin boden 47 and her daughters kira 14 and sir shin nine were killed instantly when their vehicle collided with a fuel lorry on the n 17 near clear morris the same photograph on the front of the irish times main photograph there um and the main story is motorists said to face congestion or clean air zone charges and then the other main headline mother in two daughters in fatal mail crash named the irish deli mail again the same photo on the front with father makes 10 000 kilometer journey home after death of his wife and daughters um and the main story hire taxes for bigger cars zame and ryan reveals 35 proposals to cut use of vehicles such as reducing insurance premiums for people who drive less the red tops irish deli star this morning mums two angels the same photograph and irish tug fights for putin mog a far right english tug holding an irish tricolor is fighting for russia in ukraine and irish deli mirror again n 17 crash horror loving smiles together forever the same picture of una and her two daughters and the irish son this morning's dad's crash agony as family all killed the irish farmers journal main story is weather grinds turnout and fieldwork to a halt and also a really nice shot of a tractor caught in very heavy rain and strab rathmore strabilley county leashes tillage farmers struggle to get their fieldwork done and that's the front of the irish farmers journal don't forget by the way it's a thursday which means on the half five news this evening at around about 20 past five we'll have farming news and views with chris ashmore but that's the way your papers are looking on this thursday morning daily newspapers are courtesy of kelly centra and diner mountaintop letter kenny winner of best family dining at the highland radio hospitality awards we're going to go to the bingo numbers in just a moment before we do just want to let you know that there is a bonus easter egg on our easter egg hunt today i motors have been taking us on hunt for easter eggs all over this beautiful county of dunny gall and we'll be giving you clues as to where the i motors team have traveled to begin with a chance of winning a 500 euro ryan air voucher all you have to do is send us an image of the golden egg or a selfie with the egg to our whatsapp number 086 60 25 000 the person who finds the egg will be entered into the draw at the end of the week which is tomorrow obviously on the notary alarm clock with it will be booth marty frill for lucky people will win a 100 euro one for all voucher one will win the 500 euro ryan air voucher now earlier this morning the i motors team were in dunfanny and james and lc putz found the egg there we do have a second egg today because it's holy thursday and the team traveled to letter kenny in akia ev6 they left the golden egg at the letter kenny park somewhere near the entrance all you have to do is find the egg and send us an image as quickly as you can hurry because there is only one egg so it's at the letter kenny town park to burnard bedlynchie town park to give it its full name and the egg is somewhere near the entrance so if you can find the egg somewhere near the entrance then you can be the uh entered into the draw you will at least get a 100 euro one for all voucher and you could you could win that 500 euro ryan air voucher now the time on highland radio 17 minutes past 10 time for the vision arland highland radio bingo numbers so grab your books grab your pens and we'll hand you over to joe it's time for vision arland bingo on highland radio it's thursday march 28th playing on a pink sheet reference number is s4 it's game 13 today is jackpot day the jackpot number is 54 and must appear as one of the following 10 daily numbers today's numbers are 61 76 two 65 four 31 six 69 21 and 45 phone your claim to 910433 before eight tonight leaving your name contact number and the name of the shop where you purchase your book and we'll call you back the next working day get all your vision arland bingo information at highlandradio.com it's time to travel again to feel nervous again to go where they go and roar the modern again rise again this sunday in park at the alliance football league finals our math face dunny gall in the division two final at 145 and dairy take on dublin in the division one final at four advanced ticket sales only at gaa.ai or selected center and supervalue stores gaa where we all be on looking for that brooks experience try the new range of bmcsports.ie new ghost max glisterin 21 or the adrenaline gts 23 step into our safe size experience so we can fit the best trainer for your foot let us make your trainer experience the best it can be brian macormick sports main street ladder kenny are you an absolutely huge fonder or a zoom inner perhaps your arms stretched out like a zombie when holding a newspaper or a squint so tightly at the menu the waiter thinks you're sleeping or at specksavers we get it you don't want to admit it's probably time to become a glasses wearer or that's okay we're ready to see you whenever you're ready to see properly book an eye test at specksavers.ie so you can see clearer or okay we'll stop with the errors now it's the nine till noon show on highland radio with stonal cavern with you on till 12 midday today we will have a lot of discussion on the program just to remind you by the way those tickets are on sale you now have 55 minutes to get a ticket in our home improvements draw and you can pick it up on highland or you can ring the station and buy it over the phone however I can't tell you the phone lines have gone fairly mad this morning so if you can do it online you'd be maybe a little bit better doing it there and there'll be a call made this morning there'll be a draw at about quarter past till draw at half eleven sorry it draws at half eleven and after the draw then we'll be calling someone and they will be two and a half thousand euro richer there'll be another chance to win two and a half thousand euro next Friday of next week and then the following week I think it is the ten thousand euro home improvement voucher from voice will be drawn for so plenty of opportunities to win there okay I've got some very important guests in studio to whom I want to introduce you because we're speaking about dunny gall horizons today it's an important initiative and we have two trainees with dunny gall horizons in studio with us we have max max good morning and we have porick porick good morning to you very good morning and it's porick dugun and max cleanins and we're also joined by shameless field who is senior key worker with dunny gall horizons say shameless good morning all right it's a very interesting and important initiative because educating people to work is really important and both both our trainees are getting on just fine max I'm going to go to you first because you're working in abracadabra at the moment yeah now I mean I have to be honest it's a place I do know well you'll tell by the look of me I am no stranger to to to the delights of a place like abracadabra um and you're enjoying the work yeah what what does it involve like cooking and helping like customers as well bringing food and helping them out yep so you're doing the cooking yourself as well which and that's a really important job and I have to say I I've never had a bad kebab out of that particular premises so take a bow because you're obviously doing your job well um porig you're you're training as well you were on the national learning network now you're in dunny gall horizons and uh you're really getting into it yes I am a big sports fan yes I'm and I see you're now signed up for a special olympic soccer so we're going to be seeing you competing far and wide in the the years to come yes yes yes excellent look forward to that well I do join it really because I get on with more pals in the special olympics brilliant um what position do you play on the team um mostly striker oh very good the one that gets the glory that that's what we want yeah true what's what's your score rate like uh well you could say 100 100 yeah 100 yeah okay uh hello sorry just make a call here hello is that general shane uh listen I have a guy for you uh so will we see you go across the water and sign up for one of the big teams over there probably yeah well you can see Manchester City or Man United or something oh Manchester City or Man United what who would be your preference probably erringhans oh so you're a city fan yeah i'm a city fan yeah oh fair enough but you wouldn't have any problem playing for you I said no no no no you take if you the money you pay for that that's the you know what that's exactly the mindset you need to be a professional footballer I think you're going places Max, I'm going to go back to yourself. You and Potty were both involved in a coffee morning recently, which was really important because you made a fair amount of money. What did you make? Over 4,000. 4,000? 4,000. 4,000, and that was for Epilepsy Ireland. And you're a big sports fan as well, yeah? Yeah. What sports? Akelec, football. Anything that's going. Yeah. If it involves balls, you're on top of it. Ball's running a bit. Are you like me? Are you the sort of sports fan who sits down and watches somebody else do it, or are you like poor and can get out and do it yourself? Do myself as well. Oh, you do yourself as well. Oh, that's what we want. True. You're both taking part in classes, and numeracy and literacy are obviously very important, but I see you're both involved in music and dance classes as well. Yeah. What sort of dancing? Like we do, like, well, we do, like, we do a bit of, but we do music, like karaoke. Oh, very good. Like we do sort of country, western, and dancing as well, too. And so it's the dancing to sort of jive in. Yeah, sort of jive in, yeah. Yeah. You can do that, yeah. Sort of stuff, yeah. Excellent. You know, are you going to give us a few bars? Well, you could mention... Well, well... Or do we have to be in a bar first, before we go? We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. Yeah. Sheba said, well, go to yourself, because obviously Donegal Horizons is, it's a very important project in the county, and it plays a really important role. Definitely. Yeah. We actually have two centres in Donegal. We have one in Cairndona, two, and we have about 20, 22 trainees up there, and we have one here in Larrikinni, and we have about 28. So it's basically, we would say, you know, we're going to go to Cairndona, teach life skills and stuff, we got there, and just make sure they're out in their community as much as possible, and it's really a good project. We're enjoying it and having a bit of crack on the way. Yeah. Yeah. So, Max, what's he like to work with? You can tell us if you want to. He's talking about me. He's trying to think of something nice this year. So, I'm sure he's going to crack to work with you. Look at the lovely spider in the face. You couldn't but love it in fairness, that's the button. That's it. Not everyone says that. No. Oh, is he a bit of a tyrant when no one's looking? Oh, I love it. Borek, in terms of work experience, obviously, you know, you're going to end up playing for Man United, and you'll be a professional footballer, and knocking in the hundred goals that will, just like Erling Haddon, no problem at all. So, you know, we don't have to worry about, you know, ordinary boring jobs. But if you were to do an ordinary boring job, what would the ordinary boring job be? Well, mostly I just sit about the house playing video games all the time. Yeah, you're not supposed to be honest for it. But obviously, I just quite say, like, but obviously I go shopping with my mother and father to get out of the house. Well, hey, that is important. It's really important to be doing things like that. Max, you're holding your hands to your face over there. I mean, is there a place in Africa where you could drag him in and get him to do some proper work? He's an old firm. Max, I want to go to a good thing here. Don't complicate things, please. Seamus, I mean, the work experience in ensuring that all the trainees are where they need to be and where it's best for them to be, it's an important part of the job, I'm sure. Massively, you know, and it's like Max, one of his main goals is he wants to be a chef at some stage. And working in Abercobabra is great for him. And he loves it over there. And Jason, the manager in Abercobabra is absolutely brilliant. As is all of our placement providers. You know, we have ones out in Fanat, or Patricia down in Fanat, Care of the Age, as one of our trainees. And then Veritas as trainees with loads of placements out there. But obviously we're always looking for more. So if anyone wants to take on one of our trainees in three. Yeah, and both Porg and Max, both of you, are going to go on a training session with the FAI with Finn Harps. Yes, yes. That's going to be interesting. Tell us about that. Well, we've done it on Tuesday, and we absolutely liked it, because we were training mostly skills and how to pass the ball, and get on to training other people, like Cluton, the ones in Cairndona, and the ones in Siobhan. Yeah. So you've done the training now with the FAI, and then the inclusion camp then with Harps comes up. That's a bit later in the year, is it? Yes, that's a bit later in the year. It starts in the 11th. Oh, the 11th, which is... Let me see if I can get this right. The day of the fortnight. The day of the fortnight. Kevin, I've got something right now. The programme is going to be delivered by myself and Stephen McNutt, who is the social responsibility officer with Finn Harps. Finn Harps have been brilliant. We were actually up at a game. They invited us up to the game, and I took Podrick and Max, and a few other trainees, Sean and Ellen up too, and they absolutely loved it, and they got pictures with some of the players and the manager, and couldn't have treated us any better. And I'm sure the lads were standing in the stand wave on the scarves and being nice and quiet. Yeah, there's a lot of noise. Unfortunately, they got beat that day. Well, they got that beat that day, so they were playing cool, but hopefully we'll get up to another game. You just have to go back to a game. But you mean, in fairness, Podrick, you might play for Harps a bit, Podrick, before you go across the water just... Do you think I'll get a squad like Finn Harps? And probably you'll never know I'm making it into Finn Harps. Well, if you're scoring 100 games a year, yeah, you'll get a base with Finn Harps. Get them promoted. Perhaps the 100 goals might have been a slight exaggeration. Perhaps wasn't. Maybe just a little bit of an exaggeration. Maybe just a little bit. Yeah, so that's taking place in... And it's important when Max, you're obviously looking forward to it. Yeah. Do you play much football yourself? Yeah. Do you play with the team or just about at home and with your pals? Not so much with the team as well. Which team? Special Olympics. Oh, sorry! Special Olympics as well. So, yeah, I mean, and that's so right. So two members of the Special Olympics soccer team. I mean, obviously you're going to be playing locally, but I mean, you know, it's an important business, Special Olympics, and there's going to be... I don't think you're going to remember all this as he's probably made a youngster in this in fairness. I mean, I'm sadly not too young to remember this. But when the national... the International Olympics were in Croke Park, I mean, it was a huge Special Olympics post right around the country. And I remember people like Sean Bradley were winning medals down there at that point. Now, let's just say Sean has a four in his name in his age now, so we won't go there. But, you know, it's a huge thing and you could find yourselves travelling the world if you can make it onto the Irish team. You do have ambitions there, Max. Get on to the national team. Absolutely, and why not? You really should. I'm really enjoying the chat lads. In terms of where it goes from here, Max, you want to do your work in Abercobabra, but you want to be a chef yourself. Yeah, I should have. I mean, are you talking about going beyond the burgers and kebabs and going into a kitchen and doing, you know, meals across the board? What would be your favourite sort of food to be looking toward? It's a maybe... He's good at it. He's a very good cook now. Oh, I've no doubt. He helps out in the centre there. We do a lot of cooking in the centre and he helps out with the breakfast and lunches and stuff we got there. And you get to do more than peel the spuds, yeah? No, here's what you do. You, too, the cook, can get pork to peel the spuds. Because he's used to helping around at home anyway, so peel a few of the spuds, no problem at all. Yeah, but you know what? I'm really looking forward. I have no doubt at some point in the not-too-distant future I'm going to find myself in a restaurant and find that the grub that comes out has been cooked by you, Max, and I'll be sitting back watching TV and there'll be Porike on the screen scoring whatever, six, seven goals a game, like you know. And all the city fans will be going, but I've really enjoyed the chat. Thanks for having me. Is there anything else you want to say before you go, Porike? Well, I was trying to look for a work experience, but I'm just probably planned to go somewhere as usual, so hopefully fingers crossed. Ah, well, I'm sure to look after you. Max, yourself. Just keep on cooking and keep on working. Keep up the good work, it's great. I look forward to seeing your meteoric rise in the Special Olympics team. Seamus, thanks indeed yourself for coming in as well. I mean, it's really good to know that there's initiatives like Donegal Horizons out there that's doing this work, because it is really important work, as we said. Definitely. And specifically for this inclusion camp, I don't think there's enough for adults with IDs out there, so hopefully we can change that there. And like so, the Lutter County Community Centre who's been laying down there has been very good to us in helping us out with this here too, and hopefully we get big numbers and we can hopefully make it a bigger and better thing in the future. Ian, we've just had a message in from Lorraine McDade, well done lads for promoting Donegal Horizons, great facility, especially for the people in Ishawn, can't praise it enough. The lads who take on Ishawn, I've heard of that. That's way up north somewhere. If you're a country music financier, it's up north toward Alaska. That's where Ishawn is. Well, I just want to say one last thing. Go for it, Porick. I'm just shouting to hold to staff and Lutter County if they're tuning in. I'm just saying, oh, hello to them all. So thanks for tuning in to Highland Radio. Do you know what you'll be taking my job next morning? He said he wants their analysis job, he wants my job. Seamus, Max, Porick, it's been an absolute pleasure. Thanks all of you for speaking to us today. Thanks very much. It's been great. Bye now. Watch the show live now on YouTube, Facebook and at highlandradio.com Tuesday 2nd of April is World Autism Awareness Day and we can't wait to celebrate it at Century Complex. We will be having a sensory screening of Kung Fu Panda 4 in Century Cinemas at 11am before the crowds. Century Play will also be sensory friendly from 5pm to 7pm on the day to let the little ones explore. Weather grinds farmers to a halt for more in your Irish Farmers Journal, his Paul Mooney. With feed costs still rising and silage running short, an emergency meeting of the National Father Committee is planned. Record prices for spring lamb, exports continue to drive weanling mart trade, incoming T-shirt Simon Harris sets out a stall for farmers. We profile a new state-of-the-art dairy set up in Mayo and how to claim up to 40,000 euros in retrofitting grants. All inside the Irish Farmers Journal, you can't afford to miss it. On Business Matters this week, I'll be looking at the expansion of credit unions with many now offering mortgages and also looking at the growth of digital payments and whether we are heading towards a cashless society. So join me, Chris Ashmore, after these 6 o'clock news on Sunday. Only three years with just one evening per week on campus. Open up your future by contacting the Faculty Office on 9186206 or visit atu.ie today. Proudly supporting Irish suppliers. Go on, go full-leadle this Easter. This is the 9-Till noon show on Highland Radio. Now we're going to talk about the deposit return scheme because you may recall it came up for discussion on the programme yesterday. A couple of comments on it and a few more comments came in after we closed the lines yesterday just to give you a few of those. Someone asking how long will it be before someone can print a QR code for a return bottle or can and attach it to an unrefundable redeemable can or bottle. I think these return machines will go the way of the e-voting machines. I'm not going to collect a house full of bottles for a month or two just to get a few pens back. Cora says, I work in a major retailer. I have 10 bottles to recycle. One deposit returns machine in the premises isn't working. The other is full. I have to wait another week now to recycle. That's, no, sorry, they're not working there. They're just visiting there. I do apologise. I have to wait eight weeks to my bill. Cora says, we had Toy Story the musical. Now we have West Disposal the musical. Trust me, this will be scrapped in nine months time. No one is talking about the property each shop is renting to the government for these machines. Plus no one is talking about the fact that all these recycle machines were imported. This government is a complete joke. Now I am joined on Zoom by Vincent Jennings and Vincent Jennings is a representative of the Convenience Stores and News Agents Association. And Vincent, you're a bit more confident about the deposit return scheme than perhaps some of our listeners. Good morning. Well, I mean, I'm not discounting what your listeners have experienced. And yes, there have been certainly glitches and there have been upsets but to suggest that it is going to go the way of the e-voting machines that are scrapped that won't happen. We have an absolute need as a society to recycle plastics and cans in a fashion that is sustainable and we were doing it quite well but it was only three quarters of the entirety so you were talking about over 600 million units per year that were ending up in hedgerows and landfill and God knows where this scheme which is used in 40 other jurisdictions around the world so it's not unique this scheme was designed in such a fashion to ensure that you would after a period of time have if we emulate Germany and Scandinavian countries and other countries we will have in excess of 95% of capture and it's because you are setting the deposit at a level that is worthwhile to people to bring it back or worthwhile for somebody to bring it back if not people themselves then through charities or through youngsters we see the young entrepreneurs starting all over again collecting and training and won't that make it great that they won't be in the hedgerows it won't be in the dumps. Well I have to be honest I did it myself and I was a young lad because when I was growing up you had a two pence deposit on and it was time old and it was bottles and you'll recall these days where you bought a bottle of orange or whatever in the shop the shop had a little bottle opener attached to the counter they opened the bottle they gave it to you you drank the bottle you brought the bottle back and you got your two pence back and I on more than one occasion did go around you'd find a bottle and hey and if you managed to find three or four bottles while I was walking but that was you went to the shop you got six pence and you bought a couple of pennies coffees or whatever it's a good point it's a different situation now because then it was quite simply you went to the shop you bought a bottle you were given your bottle you drank your drink you gave the bottle back you got your two pence it was very straightforward and very fluid now we're talking machines we're talking barcodes we're talking a situation where you know people can find themselves in a situation for instance a lot of our collars yesterday were saying that they bought a can or they bought a bottle they were charged but then found there wasn't a return logo on it and when they tried to put it through a machine they were being told this isn't eligible and that apparently has happened on a few occasions and in a few places yeah and look I mean any person who has found themselves and I've heard of that as well any person who has been charged a deposit and they know they know absolutely that they were they will most certainly receive their deposit back you shouldn't have to kick up a fuss or anything like that but you go to the customer service place of the shop that has the return in place and you make them aware look I paid a deposit whenever it was now sometimes you may well buy two or three different items and you would have been charged a deposit on one of them or two of them but not all of them at the moment although all of the stock coming through since the 15th now will have deposits levied into the retailer so they will be returning but they're still stock in place by the end of May there will be no more stock well even if there is stock in place we can't sell it because by law we will have to ensure that the only products that are being sold from the 1st of June have the return logo and that will be for all time and we are talking about something that's going to be there in 2025 this is of course there are glitches in the transitional period but they're not fatal to the scheme the scheme is well considered and we will have extra jobs that will come from a recycling centre that base itself upon the product that we have reclaimed within the island of Ireland that will be great for Ireland in terms of the machines themselves and their maintenance are you confident that there will be long-term maintenance of the machines we're already hearing of issues where the two major retailers both Tesco and Duns we've heard of issues with the machines there now cards on the table I've used the machines in Tesco and letter Kenny on about three occasions I haven't had any issues for others that's not their experience others have said they arrived and they found both machines weren't working properly and they couldn't put their cans through so are we going to see proper maintenance of the machines and are we going to see regular maintenance and are you confident that it will be a matter that we will see that continue or are we going to get to a point where the system may become dilapidated and tired after a while and eventually machines will just start to wind down and not work properly well don't forget that we are talking about you're talking about two people there wouldn't be members of ours with Tesco and Duns would be very very hard taskmasters they didn't make the machines but they bought the machines have spent in excess of 100,000 euro that's an investment to them they will absolutely crack the whip and they will be absolutely assured that they will get either a replacement or they will sit on guys over bank holiday weekends and be like they are hard taskmasters and you can be absolutely sure that if they're paying for something they want the value for themselves and for their customers it's an embarrassment to them when it's down that's for sure for the majority of your members of course it's going to be over the counter and are all retailers offering an over the counter service or how is it working? well that's an interesting one in so far that was the original plan that there would be an over the counter but we embraced the idea of the machines that was only supposed to be 700 for the entire country and then convenience sector ran in and said no no no we actually want to be part of this as well so there are now 2200 so in other words there's 1500 extra machines throughout the country and that is primarily our members have actually stood up to the mark and whether they're Centres or Spars or Londas or Gala or whatever they have stood up to the mark and they've gone out out of their own pocket they've bought these machines because they do not want to give business over to or be considered that somehow or other the only place where you can return stuff is an Aldi or a Lidl or a Tesco like you know we're equal to them and the only the biggest difficulty about this scheme is the fact that it's not it's not north and south it should have been north and south but unfortunately politics got in the way and the northern representatives refused to have something to do with an all Ireland scheme and is that potentially an issue for your members here because and let's again cards on the table one or two of our quarters did say I'm going to head across the border I mean where I'm sitting at the moment I'm 25 minutes from Anasta I'm 30 minutes from a Sainsbury's and numerous other shops where I can buy cans I can buy bottles and don't have to worry about deposits at all. There's an antifraud measure that they all now have different barcodes so north of the border, south of the border different barcodes won't accept it I spent a lot of money extra money in doing this didn't have to be done if the north had done it but you know there have to be antifraud measures somebody spoke about printing off a QR code and they're like look there will always be people no matter where there will always be people who try to game a system that's the same as shoplifting but I'm not talking about gaming the system I'm talking about instead of giving their customs their local shop people will go across the border buy their drinks there and then chuck them in the recycling bin it's perfectly acceptable that they make their purchase wherever they like but obviously if they haven't paid for it they can't read it one of your listeners had spoken about printing off a QR code what I'm saying is that that has all been taken care of and if they do attempt that's an attempted fraudulent conversion and they will be prosecuted I call this as I have a designated reusable shopping bag for my bottles and cans I bring it on my weekly shop to get the deposit back I've never been so good at remembering my shopping bags it's an interesting point actually could you imagine someone going into the shop with a couple of cans putting the cans in getting their thing from the machine and then actually forgetting to redeem it which is exactly what I did last week so I have a talk to be wallet right now actually it never loses its value it's there for all time as long as it can be read it will be honored Vincent Jennings you are confident as you've said then you believe there have never been some teething problems I know figures came out last week which suggested that the uptake wasn't as strong as it was initially hoped it would be now it's always I suppose there's going to be a fanfare and maybe people didn't quite understand the scheme as well as they thought they did I know certain it was a discussion at Donegal County Council level just days before it came into effect and the concern was that maybe people knew there was a scheme but weren't so including as to how it was actually operating in terms of if we want to find out where there are machines in our locality is there a central website we can find all that out or can we just assume there's one in our local center or our local spar well I think you can certainly assume that there's one in your local center but there is a map there is an interactive map you just key in what your own postcode is and it will show you in proximity to where you are those ones and as they say there are 2200 around the country so you're never too far from one though it is obviously a matter that we would prefer if there was a facility in every outlet handing it over without a machine is a real difficulty logistical difficulty and it is a difficulty for our staff in being able to identify potentially fraudulent ones and also a handling product that's been in somebody's mouth that's not what you want so we've applied for and received exemptions in those instances Vincent Jennings of the Million Stores and News Agents Association thank you very much indeed for speaking to us this morning thank you that's Vincent there we'll take a short break back after these have you entered our 10,000 euro home makeover draw? if the answer is yes then you are now automatically entered into our extra cash giveaway if the answer is no then now is the time to enter Greg Hughes will be ringing one lucky person on Thursday the 20th of March and again on Friday the 5th of April giving you the chance to win 500 euro each day giving you the chance to win twice that's not all you will still have the chance of winning in our main draw of a 10,000 euro home makeover in association with Foy & Company plus 5,000 euro in cash get your ticket now at highlandradio.com imagine the possibilities fresh snacks and freshly brewed coffee serve daily from 10am to 3pm and delicious fresh pizza serve daily from 12pm see you soon at the Waters Edge refresh your shoe wardrobe with the latest arrivals from Green Shoes bringing you the latest styles from top brands such as Riker Birkenstock and Wonders also New Balance Bugatti, XTA and many more step into style this season with Green Shoes Square, the Rikkenny Shopping Centre and Fulcara or at greenshoes.com one for all and shop LKCards accept it I hear you some wiring needs a fix it man the name's Buzz on account of my work no chance make great photos into beautiful gifts at McGee's Chemist Latter Kenny different gift ideas include canvas prints freestanding already to hang art blocks and personalised photo books perfect to mark any occasion there's also jigsaws, calendars, mugs and much more for details visit McGee's.ie turn your favourite moments into something truly special with McGee's Chemist Latter Kenny with Arland West Air Force time to book that business trip to London fly daily to London, Stansted and Luton with Ryanair and London Heathrow with Erlingus Arland West Air Force don't just take off, take it easy well the forecast and met area and tell us it'll be cold today with outbreaks of rain heavy at times falling as sleet and snow in places rain becoming patchier this evening dry spells developing top temperatures possibly slightly cooler in Donegal winds backing southerly and occasionally increasing fresh tonight any lingering rain will clear it'll turn largely dry with long clear spells some showers developing toward morning it'll be cold though top temperatures overnight of minus 2 to plus 1 degree Celsius with some frost and ice forming in light south-easterly or variable winds tomorrow starting largely dry spells in sunshine just a few isolated showers more frequent showers though spreading in from the south in the afternoon heavy at times top temperatures tomorrow 8-10 again some light to moderate southerly winds let's just remind you that we will in about 40 minutes time at around about half past 11 be calling one lucky person after a draw is made Katie's just been inside putting all the numbers in the draw drums we'll be drawing a number along with Sean at about half past 11 then that person shall be called and we'll hopefully take them on air and break the good news that they've won at two and a half thousand euro it's all part of the 10,000 euro home makeover plus extra 5,000 cash giveaway the draw is you can go on to highlandradio.com or you can call us on 7491 25,000 to purchase your ticket we'll be calling as I said someone today on Friday of next week Greg will be calling someone with the same purpose of giving them two and a half thousand euro and then the following week it'll be the draw for the 10,000 euro home makeover and of course the winners today and next Friday we'll go back into the voting age so you could theoretically win all three statistically that's probably not likely to happen but it could it's absolutely possible that it could happen now I just want to give you some of our comments that we spoke on the Friday panel earlier about the question of voting ages and the caller says I'll be 16 next month I have an interest in politics I'll vote when I'm of age I don't think the voting age should be lowered young brains are so easily manipulated that's according to one of our correspondence let's look at some other of your calls they should do a deposit return scheme for wine bottles and beer cans because the roads are a mess with them they're all on the roadside it's not working well beer cans are included I know certainly your standard 500 or 330 millilitre beer can is included in the return scheme so if you see them on the road you can always as I used to do when I was a kid pick them up give them a quick clean and bring them in you can redeem the cash on them Tron Ross and Carr Park in Downings is very dangerous says a caller since the 21st of January the fence has been broken at the fence there is a big drop and it's dangerous people need to be aware of that drop especially younger kids when people are going there for their Easter holidays we were discussing Simon Harris and his imminent going to be Tishock later on in April and he is we'll go back to that comment because I'm just told actually be referenced Michael earlier on and we can actually talk to Michael because Michael is online one Michael good morning good morning Donal how are you doing you are you're interested in politics yourself but you don't necessarily believe you should be voting at 16 no I don't think most 16 year olds are mature enough to be voting most 16 year olds are still in full time education and they're still living with their parents yeah because I'm and I made this point earlier okay I was hugely interested in politics when I was 16 and yeah I mean I was rebelling against my parents a bit I was rebelling against society a bit and I was wearing badges on my jackets going to school and the badges said things like reject Reagan's foreign policy Reagan was the US president when I was in secondary school that's how long back we're talking but you know the same token I sometimes think are we doing people like yourself a disservice I mean it isn't as though you're immature at 16 and then suddenly at 18 develop a socially conscious brain I mean there's a lot of people in their 20s are a lot less socially conscious and a lot less mature than some 15 16 year olds I know oh I know what you're saying there but I do see a difference in maturity of a 16 year olds compared to an 18 year olds can I then turn it around a bit should there be say we have things like here we have the Donegal Youth Council and we have other initiatives there is Dole and the Nogue as well of course should we have something in place whereby the county council are the Dole nationally should be paying more attention to the youth councils and paying more attention to Dole and the Nogue and perhaps have some sort of a way that the youth councils and the youth parliaments can get their views on a more streamlined way into the councils and into the Dole because I mean on 16 year olds and under you know they might not be fully mature politically and socially but they still have something to say I can see value and that's it Michael thanks for speaking to us it's an interesting point I certainly as I said I know there's probably a lot of 16 year olds that would be very interested and we certainly have had some of them on the panel here and there's someone put me to shame with their maturity and their knowledge and so on to be honest with you but listen thanks very much indeed for speaking to us this morning and all the best with it and all the best that's Michael there it's 2.5 minutes to 11 just to remind you after 11 we're going to be previewing and looking at some of the finalists in our community hero initiative that Highland Radio has been working on for some time it's going to be a very busy hour for Sean actually he's going to be with us on the community hero slot and then he'll be in as well with the draw but before we do anything else we'll just take the short break are you tired of waiting for treatment or surgery? Did you know you can receive immediate treatment across the border under the new N.I. planned health care scheme at potentially no cost? Donegal patients are still being treated with us at King's Bridge Private Hospital Northwest Post-Brexit the process is easy and our dedicated team will help guide you through it see you next time! So why wait? Contact us today to find out how you can skip the waiting lists and receive treatment in Northern Ireland Visit King's Bridge Private Hospital dot com because life matters Ireland's largest farm toy superstore open Monday to Saturday left road letter Kenny or online at tinnystoys.com Attention job seekers! Atlantic Technological University is looking for dynamic individuals to join our team of administrative professionals across our campuses in the west and northwest of Ireland we are looking for individuals to form a panel of grade 3 and grade 4 administrative staff to fill posts across the university enjoy competitive pay a supportive work environment and the opportunity to grow your career with us find out more at atun.ie forward slash jobs Value Fun Fair this Easter all rides only 2.50 excluding Stealth Bomber and Dodgems and Everington Square Dairy London Dairy from Friday March 29th to Sunday April 7th from 2pm until late every day treat the family to a great day out this Easter with Collins Mega Value Fun Fair and Everington Square Dairy London Dairy This is the National Noon Show on Highland Radio into the final hour we'll be introducing you to our community heroes in just a few moments but before we do anything else we'll take the news headlines and say good morning Miquela Tark Thanks Donal good morning Gardi have seized a number of items today as part of an ongoing investigation after packages containing over 4 million year worth of cocaine washed up in Donegal last year this morning Gardi from Donegal assisted by Leith Gardi carried out searches at a number of locations in Donegal Gardi say items of potential evidential value to the investigation have been seized including electronic devices and documents they say no arrests have been made at this time tribute are being paid today to a Donegal woman and her two daughters killed in a road crash on Tuesday 47 year old Inna Bowden and her daughters 14 year old Kira and 9 year old Sirja died when the car they were in hit a truck on the N17 in County Mayo Donegal County Council's Finafall Whip believes the difficult task for Simon Harris as he prepares to take on the role of T-Shock will be getting the trust of his own party the current minister for further and higher education was confirmed as a new finnegill leader at the weekend he's expected to be announced as T-Shock after the dull Easter recess Children's Charity's fear department of housing figures due out this afternoon could see an increase in child homelessness recorded Bernardo says the government must take action to address the growing number of children living in cramped and per standard emergency accommodation the 100% redress party has announced another local election candidate Joy Baird will contest Jun's elections for the party in the Bunkrana local electoral area she has been a defective concrete block campaigner for over 7 years and was one of the co-finders of the redress focus groups 4 men have been arrested in Derry after drugs were seized during searches police conducted a search of a property in the old Fort area of Strathfoil last evening and a quantity of class A and B drugs were seized along with a sum of cash the men aged 20, 25 and 54 were arrested on suspicion of a number of drug related offences and remain in custody at this time and over 267,000 during funding has been announced to develop and upgrade 9 outdoor recreation projects in Donegal it's part of a 4.1 million year fund unveiled by the minister for rural and community development today those are the latest headlines we'll be back with an update again at 12 noon this is the 9 still noon show on Highland Radio and we've reached a very very important part of the show this morning because I'm joined in studio by Sean Quinn our marketing manager Sean good morning Good morning Donal how are you? Very well indeed Sean for the past few weeks you and Anya and Queen and others have been very busy behind the scene working on the community hero in Derry on the community hero initiative for 2024 and I'm sure it's been a very interesting and roaring experience it's just been amazing the response that we got was just absolutely phenomenal we had over I think it was over 220 letters emails for nominees right across the county so you can imagine that process to start with was quite difficult I would say every single letter we got was worthy because there were people who go out to the community and they do things for people and they never looked for that reward or recognition they just do it because that's the type of people that they are so we went through a process and we had to pick five winners Donal and we were very fortunate that a very generous listener he gave us a thousand euros to give away to each person and he wants to remain anonymous which I respect but I'm also delighted that he can do what he can do for us because it just makes it easier for us to go out into the community and do this so we went through that process there was four or five of us that we read all the letters and we got down to five and what I wanted to do then is to try and make it a surprise element where we could go out to these people and recognise them but give them a bit of a shock and a bit of a surprise as well so we started the process on Monday and the team went out and we picked our first one was a person called Brendon Breen so just to give you a kind of a background on Brendon he was nominated by Joan Kelly and what Joan had basically said in the letter was that Brendon was a very kind and caring person and he drives people to Galway or to Dublin for hospital treatment and his car is always on the road he never stops and he also works with various charities across the county and also he would run trips to Galway and to Dunmore East so he's an organiser he's a helper within the community and what she said is that there's another thing that hit me with this letter what Joan had said is when the traffic lights came on at the pole star she had a real fear she had a real fear that she was not going to be able to drive around the roundabout and what Brendon did was when we were in the car on numerous occasions to drive around to get her used to actually using the traffic light system and she felt at the time that she would not be able to come in to let a Kenny to do her shopping but he helped overcome that fear and that's the type of person that he was so what we did is we wanted to surprise Brendon so through Joan what we did is we set up we set up a lunch that they have four times a year so we set it up on Monday in backstage in the Kenny so poor old Brendon had no idea that we were coming along with a camera and they had just ordered their starters I think their main course when we landed them with the actual camera so I don't know if we're ready to play I think yes I think we can go now this is the... Hello there is this Brendon is it? is this Brendon? Hello how are you Brendon? I'm very well thanks I wonder what am I, Sean Quinn here from Highland Radio you're here for your lunch but we have a bit of a surprise for you because you've been nominated by your dear friend here Joan and you've been successful as one of Highland Radio's community heroes for 2024 so I have some good news for you you're a hero but we also want to reward you as a hero so courtesy of a friend of Highland Radio's he donated money for us to help people in the community and to reward people in the community so we actually have a check for you today for 1,000 euros that Brendon is going to spend on himself for a change instead of spending on everybody else so even that fills the car with petrol for the next 12 months then this is yours Brendon oh god I'm blown away and this is all due to you and she's buying lunch as well 2 in the one day that's fantastic I really appreciate that that's lovely Sean I love him being given the amount of travelling Brendon appears to do just supporting the community I'm not sure 1,000 euros go to see his car field for a year absolutely not do you know what it's just I think Brendon will just keep doing what he does because he's that type of person and he probably won't even spend that on himself that'll go elsewhere but I hope it does and I said that to him just make sure that you treat yourself for once because you're always so good to helping others I think we're going to Margaret Coyle next we're going to Margaret so Margaret she was nominated by Rose Donahy and she again she wrote a beautiful letter about Margaret Margaret has worked tirelessly within the community for 21 years fundraising I'm going to name a few of the charities but trust me Donal, they're endless she's worked with Donaigal Hospice the RNLI We Care Food Bank Hope International MS Ireland Autism and it goes on and on she's a very she's a very quiet lady every December she picks a charity and what she does is she puts together a hamper at her own cost and she goes across the county and she sells tickets for it and that's what she's been doing for years and years but she's also an avid runner and she's ran numerous marathons endless half sorry one marathon I should say and endless half marathons and a load of 10k's and they're all for charity she's no fear in her either she would never do she took an abseil of Crow Park and also Smithfield Tower so not for the faint hearted lady I had so and this is all needed charity as well what Monica said is that in her letter, Margaret is a very caring and faithful and honest person who goes out of her way to help others and what we did is we surprised Margaret at our house and what I did I was a bit on I told her she had been shortlisted one I wanted to do was to just have some questions with her so what we did is we we landed at the house but what Rose did behind Rose came in behind and she actually had the check with her so if you want to play the audio there tell us some of the charities that you've helped in over the years some of the charities overall in 21 years of fundraising for different charities basically my first couple would be the likes of Donegal Down syndrome Donegal Hospice Little Blue Heroes what have you done for those charities? I hold a Christmas hamper for every Christmas and every year different businesses around the town give me prizes and I do raffles and all the money is given to the charity who's this by? congratulations who have we got here? Rose Dunnehy we've kind of got you a little bit so we have because you weren't shortlisted you're actually one of our winners one of our five winners being recognised as a community hero why is your community hero, tell us Margaret never looks for anything she does this as the word selflessly every year and she does more than this I could have written another three pages about her easily and she deserves it also she does and that was Rosemary there speaking about Margaret it must be lovely Sean to actually get the chance to do that sort of thing I've done some great things in here but I think this week's been the best week because to go out and talk to five people who just help others and to be able to give something back and that's what they do all the time give back and to be able to go to them and do it this week it's just been brilliant and their faces and I'm going to go on to Monica because this to me was this is just a pivotal one because Monica has been she's been working in the community at the Lenny County Community Centre for 30 years and she's deaf so you can understand that she's she has challenges but that's never stopped her in the 90s she started a live wire camp for kids and she's now looked after kids over those years she even got involved in gymnastics she helped to set up a Jump and Jacks Special Olympics club in 2011 and she helped actually to train kids to beat records to become better people and that wasn't enough for her what she had to do then is she looked and she set up 10 years ago a long rehabilitation group at the centre and this class basically ran twice a week and it was for people that were struggling with COPD had heart disease arthritis and some of that had come out of surgery so she's a real trojan and she gives up a lot of her time to others so her daughter kindly wrote on a lovely letter and we thought what would be the best way to register let's go right in at the end of her class and it was amazing because we actually met a gentleman who was I think he was 92 years of age and he was at an exercise class and what he said to me just made my days is that without it he would not be here because what it's helped him to do is to recover but also the social aspect he's met other people he has that COPD that this happens and it's grown over the years and as I said they're celebrating 10 years and getting stronger and stronger and what a thing to have in your community to be able to know that a couple of times a week you can go out and you can meet people and that's what Monica has done so if you want to play a little at the surprise hello is this Monica Monica how are you Sean Quinn here from Highland Radio how are you why am I here standing in front of you Monica you have been nominated and you'll be successful and you're a winner of the Highland Radio Community Hero Awards for 2024 and here's here's your daughter here she's got a lovely check for 1000 euros so you're working in the community centre for 30 years is that right I haven't used and you've also been involved in gymnastics you've helped kids to break records the Special Olympics and you're a hero of the community and ever be around here it just wants to say well done to you oh my goodness these people are amazing and this is what makes the community centre and guess what they think you're amazing as well oh that's gorgeous that's really really lovely that was Monica there in the community centre I think you're right Sean that wasn't more special it was and I think there was about 50 people at the class so obviously the community centre were in there as well so they made sure there were extra people there on the day but you know just even the cheers they came in with a lovely cake for her the balloons for her but just the reaction from the people don't know she means so much to people in there that what she does for them and you know again it's lovely to be able to go out and recognise that and say Nora McGlynn you are a hero you know I think one of my my two kids did that live work back in the day when she started thanks Monica it gave us a few hours free over over summer holidays at one point Sean we're going to take a quick break we just got a little message in by the way thank you Sean and the Highland team Monday is a day we'll never forget and that's from Rose Donahue so thank you Rose for that we're going to take a short break back after these we're just 34.95 per person a kids menu is also available from traditional Sunday roast options to an array of delicious desserts reserve your table today by calling 911-94444 and make it an Easter Sunday to remember have you Radisson Blue have your family around you to help you invite the family over for a fantastic Easter dinner with Lidl our award winning board be approved a Luxe Irish Angus topside roast with salt and black pepper only $11.99 all our tender beef joints are matured to perfection and produced in the heart of Cavern proudly supporting Irish suppliers go on go full Lidl this Easter brief up your style at Evolve Clothing Letty Kenny Retail Park and EvolveClothing.com Easter Sale Alert massive discounts on all stock Homeland Letter Kenny's Garden Super Saturday weekends are back starting this weekend Saturday 30th of March the Fabric Centre exclusive offers in store including buy five get one free on flower and veg seats organic vegetable compost buy three for two and organic grower green house now 199 Euro say 100 Euro all this and so much more for details see homeland.ie the Fabric Centre Letter Kenny has moved to Bunkrana the Fabric Centre has rebranded as Sheena Noelle Design with a gorgeous new studio ready to welcome you delivering the same curtains Roman blinds upholstery and services with the same talented team contact us today on 083 3781871 or check us out on social media or a website SheenaNoelleDesign.com for more. Meet the Easter Bunny this Saturday at Tinney's Toys in Letter Kenny from two to four there's face painting and some great Easter treats for all the kids for a family day out join the Easter Bunny this Saturday at Tinney's Toys on the leg road in Everkinny the 9 to 9 show on Highland Radio and we're in the middle of unveiling and honouring our five community heroes Sean is with me in studio and Sean got the lovely job of going around to the various winners with the checks and informing them that they'd won Sean our next is Nora Yeah so I alluded to Nora just before the break there by mistake but it was a teaser Sean just before the break Nora McGlynn and she was nominated by her good friend Marion Gallagher so Nora she's been living with Parkinson's for seven years and so that's a daily struggle on its own and unfortunately she's had family tragedies in her life over the last number of years no more so than losing her husband just before Christmas so I was very touched by the letter that Marion had written Nora takes 20 tablets a day for various illnesses and it's fair to say that she has good days and bad days so what I wanted to do I wanted to surprise her but I wasn't sure how do I do that so with her friend Marion what we did is we decided we'd go up and do an interview on living with Parkinson's and it meant that that day if it was a bad day that she could still be able to talk to us about the bad days but the whole essence of it was we were there to present her with a community hero check so what we did is I landed and thankfully it was a good day and what I understood from about Nora is that she's it doesn't matter whether it's a good or bad she is there for everybody and the one that hit me is she actually goes on a bus to Dublin and to Lisbon to go and babysit for her grandchildren that's the strength that this lady has she's also there for people in the community she's there if you're ill she's the first person to be there with a dinner for you she's an avid cleaner as I saw in the house the house is immaculate but that's the pride that she has and the fight that she has on a daily basis and that's the type of person that she is nothing but a phaser she was very nervous when I met her but she was able to to start to tell me about her life her life with Parkinson's but when the camera went off we got the real story and that to me is important too because and I don't want to share that because that's her story and the tough years that she's had and the struggles and the loneliness but she's got a lovely family around her and I was absolutely delighted to be able to surprise her and give her a community check for a thousand euros excellent let's have a listen have you family around you that help you and they support you Caroline the girl you met and she's married to my son and they just live up the road that's her two little boys and they're like you and I and I must say they're pregnant they're very very good now only for a little bit well Oliver we secret for you because only for you if you look to your left there or to your right you'll see that we've actually got a little presentation for you today because I know quite a bit about you Nora I think you do know more because I got a lovely letter from Marion to tell me all about you and you're actually one of Highland Radio's community heroes because I know that you've had Parkinson's for seven years but it hasn't stopped you being a good person I believe that you jump on a bus and go to Dublin and you go to Lisbon to do babysitting you go and help people in the community oh well that might be that you're a very Marion wrote a lovely letter outlining how good you are to other people Marion you're you're making me tears come and it's lovely thanks to a listener what we have we're out in the community this week and we're giving back to people who are never recognised and I think you're one of those people that needs to be recognised beautiful a beautiful person just a nice a nice person and it was very touching and so deserving we're absolutely delighted that was one of the easy ones because we knew everybody that read that letter knew that that was a special person so moving on to the last one don't know it was Seamus McLaughlin in Bunkrana was nominated by what I would just call as a character when I opened the letter I was just so moved by it and it was from his friend Tom and Tom is 91 and he just wrote a lovely letter about Seamus his neighbour and his friend and what Seamus does for him and what he means to him is I think is the part of the letter that struck me so I rang Tom just to get more information and he was just so charming and so appreciative of his neighbours in the Bunkrana area so the gist of it is Seamus is very good to him and Seamus doesn't even realise this because Seamus does it because Seamus wants to do us but Tom at his age of 91 obviously there's health issues there from different times but at any given time Seamus will put Tom in the car and drive him to wherever he needs to go and that could be Sligo it could be Galway, it could be letter Kenny and at the moment he's going through an eye infection with every four weeks he has to go to Sligo and Seamus is there and he takes him in the car and he sits all day as we know you give him an 11 o'clock appointment you might not get seen till 3 o'clock and they make a day trip of it so Tom is so appreciative of that but also it's the daily calling do you want anything at the shop are you okay Tom and it's the camaraderie in the company and he's become part of the family and part of the community but you can see why because he's a gentleman who is so appreciative of what people do for him but Seamus is an extraordinary person too because he devotes his time to others he's involved in charity work as well he helps in the meals and wheels to actually deliver them and he's raised over 7,000 euros for charities as well over the years a very honest human person and so I thought how do I surprise this guy I have to involve Tom so what we did is we arrived at Tom's house first and we had Seamus' wife in tow so she knew about it so we landed at the back door of the house with Tom on my arm to announce that Seamus was a community hero and we had a cup of tea afterwards and we had a great chat about the community that they have and it's very special and I think Seamus McLaughlin is one of those as part of why it's special Is this Seamus, is it? Seamus McLaughlin, do you know this guy here? Ah, I do indeed This is the bold Tom The reason we're here today is Tom actually sent us a lovely letter to Highland Radio and what we've been doing we have a community hero award for 2024 and he wrote a lovely letter about you and do you know what we have a community hero and we're here today to just congratulate you Tom, tell me why did you nominate Seamus? I nominated him because he really took me on for his wing even cut his time between himself and his wife to facilitate me going to Sligo Galway, Lerty, Kenny you mentioned it, he was there and it's there I suppose it's also fair to say that because of what Seamus does your life is so much easier What? I wouldn't be here without him I really wouldn't be here without him So Seamus, how does it feel to be a Highland Radio community hero? I'm chuffed, absolutely chuffed Well, Tom lost his wife six years ago so you know and I go swimming four times a week and the pleasure's handled down there so I've made it a habit a few years ago to just drop in and have Tom needed milk It's snow because I'm shoving for myself But it's what neighborhoods are all about You're a busy man because you've been involved in charities you've raised money for concern I believe you're on the Tidy Towns committee as well When I read Tom's letter, I was very touched by it and immediately I rang him and I'm delighted that we've managed to get here today to say that you are one of Highland Radio's community heroes for 2024 Very well done I wouldn't be here without him That's the statement That's the line of the week and it was from the heart as well because that's factual He's so appreciative of what Seamus does for him and the community because they're up and running in the Pillar Park area They've got a very tight knit community and you could see that as well and you could feel that capacity and you had that feel-good factor in your heart going back up the road because you know you'd kind of made a little bit of a difference but it's not about what we did this week it's about what people continue to do within their communities and I would extend it to say keep doing it because what I saw this week is smiles on people's faces because people care and people help just 150 people because they're all worthy of it and I say please keep doing what you're doing because it makes such a difference to these people, to these communities to these services and these are just a pick of five I also want to thank the team for this week as well the work that's gone behind the scenes we're going to, we've captured videos so what we'll do is we'll post them on our social media I think you'll enjoy them there's warmth, there's laughter but there's a message there that Karen is everything and I think that's demonstrated by our five winners this week and finally don't I just want to thank that mystery person that mystery person who has helped us because it just made it all happen today and he knows who he is and if he's listening I just want to say a big thank you and he's seen the fruits of that today and I think it is very wonderful to say it as he said Sean the videos are going up on social media and they'll be there for all to see now we're going to get our value out of you today because you're now Sean Quinn community hero coordinator has left the building ladies and gentlemen it's Sean Quinn Highland Video Marketing Manager he's going to be with us we're going to take a short break and in a few moments I think it's fair to say Sean we're going to make another person very happy we're going to make somebody very happy with two and a half thousand euro watch the show live now on YouTube, Facebook and at HighlandRadio.com this Easter follow the path to lower prices go all Aldi get the facts be drinkware visit drinkware.ie The Drumbo annual Easter commemoration will take place this Easter Sunday the 31st of March with special guest Chris McManus MEP speaking from the Monument on Main Street all are welcome to attend please assemble at Johnston's Corner Strunauer at 3pm with the price of diesel rising and electricity going down take the leap into electric with our special offer at iMotors test drive our selected range of cars and we'll see you next week at iMotors test drive our selected range of used electric cars for 72 hours if you've been hesitant about making the switch to electric now is your chance to experience the trill and convenience first hand visit our showroom in letter Kenny now to test drive our selected range and avail of our electricity card for 72 hours test drive our electric fine range at iMotors today the Loganair Easter sale is now on fly from City of Dairy Airport to London Heathrow and Glasgow for over 1 million seats across the Loganair network book by 2nd April travel from 26th April subject to availability, exclusion supply visit Loganair.co.uk Loganair, your journey are a joy across Ireland more than 1.6 million homes, farms and businesses have been upgraded to a smart electricity meter and ESB Networks is continuing the rollout of smart measures in your area connecting more of us to a cleaner electric future one of the benefits of your smart measure is being able to find out more about your daily usage regardless of who your electricity supplier is get started by signing up today for your online account visit ESBnetworks.ie ESB Networks energising your everything into the final 26 minutes of the 9 till noon show for this Thursday and joined in studio by two very important people Sean our marketing manager has stayed with us also joined by our CEO good morning now you would normally be here at this time with Michael Leady on the last show of the week but of course it's Thursday not Friday so we don't have Michael we're not talking entertainment at the moment although if anyone is a science fiction fan go to June 2 it's brilliant I was up half the night watching a documentary about Barbie's father we all know about the woman that created Barbie for the guy that actually was the engineer, it's a very good documentary on Skye and I was like oh I have a great chat with Michael today about it and then I got bumped for myself which was even funnier and my missus is saying that the gentleman is particularly good, she's well impressed with the gentleman, she's really impressed with that so there are your two recommendations the gentleman documentary about Barbie's dad and June 2 in the cinemas there you go, quickest entertainment hour ever because we have important things to do because if you're watching and I think we're on the guests too I'll just double check yes we are indeed if you're watching on screen you will notice behind the vanilla you will see a purple tombola is that you call it a droll barrel thing what's in that are thousands of pieces of plastic with black numbers written on them now I tell you this it's important that we tell you this because all we have in this studio are numbers we have no idea what names and phone numbers those numbers equate to Katie out in a completely different room has a list of names and phone numbers that correspond to those numbers and what's going to happen in just a moment is that vanilla is going to go over we're going to give the drama a good shake we're going to pull out one number then we're going to get that number over to Katie Katie is going to cross reference it against her list and then a phone call is going to be made to a person and hopefully we'll be able to speak to that person and they will be two and a half thousand euro richer I didn't even need to be here Tony you succinctly put it all into words but that's not all because there is more to happen after this vanilla over to you we're delighted this year to partner with Foiz for a ten thousand euro home makeover I think if anybody has seen some of our social media people are coming up with ideas of what they would do with the ten thousand how you would do up your house getting it fully painted or doing up the sitting room and getting new furniture and all that kind of thing and obviously Foiz is full of ideas and they're there to help you they can definitely help you spend that ten thousand and make the most out of it for your home so that you can spend the summer just spending and doing it up that would be lovely and then we've also included a cash prize that goes with that but then as Sean announced last week we're delighted to put on this extra cash prizes for people over the next couple of weeks in order to just increase the amount of winners that our draw gets so for this week and next week we'll be giving away two and a half thousand euros each Friday so we're delighted to do that and will I just jump up and do this one? Yeah go for it, go for it why not So as we said several thousand pieces of paper, plastic and it's good and noisy as you can hear Now as well we will just stress what we're going to put out of this box is a number that's all we will have here so we have no idea even if we wanted to fix it we couldn't because we have no way of knowing what name corresponds to what number so if Nila's going to put out a number if I could fix it I would know Remember the sweep sticks where you hold the number in front of the camera way back in the day Well I'm going to sit down and hold it and the winner is because I think I'm on this camera over here 0585 So 0585 is this week's winner but this winner goes back into the draw so they're in with an opportunity to win the two and a half thousand next week and also of course still in with an opportunity to win the big prize which is the following weekend Am I right? Yeah, following Friday Tomorrow this Thursday Thursday is throwing us here For the sake of draw purposes we're just going to call today Friday Yes, yes Yes, so it is on Friday It's a bit strange because we actually normally launch them on a Friday when we launch this one on a Thursday because of our charity day but now listen somebody's going to be very happy very shortly, two and a half thousand euros for Easter more time to get it You might have seen it actually in the window I'm not sure how the reflections were working but as Nila was reading out the number Katie was just outside the window it was a different window actually but Katie was just outside the window and Katie was taking a note of the number and Katie is getting that organized I can see Katie actually standing beside Donna Marie Donna Marie is reaching for a phone so I think we will hopefully in just a few moments be getting a phone call transferred through to us I just want to say I had a few messages in about the community heroes congratulations to Margaret and all those nominated I think all the winners are fantastic well done to them all from Val and again big congratulations to Margaret Coyle and her award, no better lady and that comes from Breach Boyle in Ardra and Margaret obviously a very very popular person indeed and why wouldn't she be after all the work that Margaret has been doing I am happy to say I can go to line one Good morning, do I have the pleasure of speaking to Carmel Quinn and Lenties That's correct, yes Carmel good morning, it's Donal here I know the ads promised you Greg but you're going to have to put up with me Carmel I'm happy to tell you that you do have a ticket to overdraw I have yes Well I can tell you you are now two and a half thousand euro richer than you were four and a half minutes ago congratulations Oh you so so much, that's brilliant Yeah if you've been listening you'll be aware that there's an extra two and a half thousand today an extra two and a half thousand on Friday of next week and then the main draw is in two weeks time but the first number that was pulled out for the extra two and a half thousand today was yours so congratulations and you are a two and a half thousand euro winner Thank you so so much that's brilliant and a happy Easter to you and the family and the same to you thank you very much bye bye happy Easter and happy Easter to you take care Carmel that's Carmel there in Lenties I think Neil and Sean we've made someone we promised to make somebody very happy I think on the evidence very happy I hope she's going to blow it on something frivolous I always think money one should be just you should blow it on something frivolous don't do something sensible with the Carmel yeah I fully agree actually I do fully agree buy yourself something nice whatever save two thousand and then blow the five hundred on something cracked go on that holiday or day trip you've always said I've always had this thing I'd love to go to Cologne or I'd love to go to Reykjavik or I'd love to go to some go there yeah I know I've actually never been to Amsterdam and it's really definitely on my list I know it's supposed to be lovely for walking around my sister just came back from it and I was like I'm going to add that to the list now I was there two years ago and Edinburgh they're my two now I've got to get in 2020 so if anybody wants to give me two and a half thousand I'd be delighted to accept it to allow me so that I can go in my city breaks one of you wants anyone to keep your company I'm sure I can find a weekend for you perfect Donald we're throwing it out there like we could do that what is that program where they go away for the city breaks you know on TV they have those where the comedians go away on their city breaks and that kind of thing I would need to pay two and a half grand to watch that so I'll put it this way you provide the two and a half grand we send regular videos absolutely I have no problem whatsoever doing city breaks all around Europe and ringing in home and going yes it's brilliant okay well if you make Carmel Quinn and Lenties very happy somebody else is going to be happy this day next week I take it Sean tickets are now back on sale again and if people want to get a ticket head on radio dot com ring us on 0749 125,000 you'll be only too happy to provide tickets to those who want them absolutely yeah as you rightly said lines are back open and they'll probably stay open until about quarter past eleven next Friday so if you haven't bought a ticket and you want to try and win two and a half thousand for next week then now's the time to buy it excellent Sean thank you very much indeed it's 18 minutes to 12 we're going to take a short break back after these Celebrating Meatloaf 25th September Mount Erigal Hotel with American Idol winner Caleb Johnson and Meatloaf's original band the Neverland Express perform bat out of hell in all its entirety and other hits Tickets on sale this Thursday 10am from Mount Erigal Hotel reception and ticketmaster.au Celebrating Meatloaf endorsed by Jim Steinman and Meatloaf presented by Joe Gallagher Entertainment from Limerick to London Newbridge to New York or Stony Batter to Sydney wherever you are and whenever you're jetting off get global travel money at your local post office make your money matter more with 0% commission on cash and card search on plus travel money or visit your local post office today T's and C's apply On Pust Money currency card is issued by PPS EUSA pursuant to license by MasterCard International PPS EUSA is authorised by the National Bank of Belgium and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rules On Pust is authorised by the Minister for Finance to provide foreign currency cash It's almost Easter so it's time to pick up some M&S collection Easter eggs for the people you really like for your favourite relative perhaps the Belgian Milk Chocolate Nutty Egg hand decorated in County Meath for the person you want to woo there's the Golden Blonde Egg made by Master Irish Chocolatiers or here's an idea you could just buy one for yourself these are not just Easter eggs these are M&S collection Easter eggs subject to availability selected stores This Easter come rain or sun and seek out somewhere special as a family from Easter trails for young explorers to a treasure trove of stories at historic places and room to roam in the fresh spring air you'll find more than one great day out on your doorstep or further away with the National Trust this Easter search National Trust N.I. and start planning your family's adventure Highland Radio weather updates with Ireland West Airport time to book the family summer holiday fly to Barcelona Faro, Milan, Mallorca and much more for a perfect family getaway Ireland West Airport don't just take off take it easy weather forecast cold with outbreaks of rain heavy at times falling asleep and snow in places the rain will become patchier this evening dry spells will develop top temperatures today 5 to 7 degrees celsius possibly cooler in Donegal south of the UK occasionally increasing fresh any lingering rain will clear tonight largely dry with long clear spells some showers developing go toward morning cold with lowest overnight temperatures minus 2 to plus 1 degrees celsius some frost and ice forming in light south westerly or variable winds tomorrow a dry start with spells of sunshine just isolated showers more frequent and widespread showers will spread in the afternoon becoming heavy at times some thunderstorms and hail possible rain moderate winds now if you listen regularly to and indeed to the 9th of noon show you'll know we've had a lot of discussion about the restoration of Cardona daycare services and Councillor Albert Doherty has been raising this quite a lot in the context of the regional health forum west and there is also a local restoration of the daycare service committee in Cardona it's chaired by Tony Doherty and Tony joins us Tony good morning good morning Donald thank you for having us on the show it's our pleasure Tony you recently held a survey around Cairn just to gauge how much real interest and demand there is for this service and you know you got over 279 people saying they would use the service straight away surely Minister Mary Butler and others must take notice of that yeah so we decided because we haven't had the service up now for four years the service closed down at the start of Covid and rightly so and that's a way back now in March 2020 so we haven't had a daycare service in Cardona for unbelievably over four years now and it was a thriving service that we had at that time so what we thought was very important you know we had a meeting in the Colgan Hall in Cardona back last October to hide the fact that the service hadn't reopened again after Covid because Minister Mary Butler whenever Covid was starting to relent way back in May of 2021 she tweeted that daycare services were open during the summer of 2021 and that any services that required remedial action would be opened by the end of 2021 that didn't happen in Cardona so we had a meeting in the Colgan Hall a town hall type meeting in the Colgan Hall last October it was a very wet Friday evening we thought we'd get 30 or 40 without seats for 30 or 40 people and in actual fact over 200 people the hall was full turned out in a really bad awful evening I suppose for us to update them on the fact that there wasn't a daycare service there was a remarkable anger in the room that such a vital service was being denied or most vulnerable people in our community these are the people who educated us, filled the potholes and made this contrary what it is and particularly coming in light after Covid whenever mental health and these people have been on their own for watching televisions for 16 hours a day back in place so we were given a mandate at that time to set up a meeting with the HSC which took place in November of last year's very unproductive meeting by the way the reason the HSC gave was because of IPC infection prevention control measures were not adequate at Cardona Community Hospital they deemed it unsuitable we questioned that and I talked in your show before about some of the issues that they had we don't want to get into that right now because we've done that already so the other mandate that we got was to set up a meeting with Minister Mary Butler we tried to get that meeting through Charity our local TD Charity and as yet we've been unsuccessful having that meeting with Minister Mary Butler so we're really disappointed that we haven't taken place we would call on any politicians out there or indeed Charity McConnel to please redouble his efforts to have that meeting take place with Minister Mary Butler so just getting to your point so we decided then that what we need to do is to really ascertain well is the service actually needed are we overestimating it what is actually needed out there so we did an online survey a survey monkey with over 500 replies and as you said we've got over 500 support letters of support from that survey one person thought that it wasn't a good idea and that's fine as well but the key figure that came out of that was over 270 people would avail of that service right now if it was open these are all individual it's not like one person putting in the same reply each time the survey monkey is designed that is tested from a specific email and we'd be happy to share the results with the HSE but unbelievably to us and I think to your listeners out there is that over 270 people would avail of the service right now we also as part of that survey asked many people need the service now many people in one to three years three to seven and over seven years so over 270 made it right now from one to three years 89 from three to seven years 104 and seven years plus 190 people that's all additional it just shows the overwhelming need for the service at this time and you can add in Covid into that and what I would also say is what the daycare service does is it takes pressure on GPs because it's a dirty warning it takes pressure of AE it takes the pressure of hospital admissions and also nursing homes and vitally it improves the quality of life of the clients as well because I mean if someone is sitting in their house 24-7 that's not going to be necessarily conducive to being social it's not going to be conducive to positive mental health if you're going out and you're meeting people you know working with people and you know it's a lot better so it has a huge impact I'm sure on the positive mental health of people that use the service as well we did reference earlier that councillor Albert Doherty has been raising this on a regular basis for years within the context of the western with the Regional Health Forum West councillor Doherty joins us on the line Albert good morning good morning Dono good morning Tony yeah Albert you and Tony have discussed this obviously often and have had many discussions on it you've been raising this on meetings yeah I just want to consistently from the passing of the Covid and as late as last Tuesday again was able to verbally share statistics that I'm sure the group will put together comprehensively and forward asking for timeline from the HSE group on their prioritisation of potential accommodation calling for the engagement of the local committee calling for the local committee to be engaged as a critical stakeholder and really what I'm just saying is that this was a facility very very well received work very very efficiently in the area and it is very slowly missed and you and Tony have covered how much of a social loss that has been to this area and all we want is restoration are you getting any indication from the HSE that they're closer to restoring a full-time service or are you still getting the same answer you've been getting over and over again I received tentatively small positive steps that there now was a focus group looking at within the hospital grounds what can be developed and what can be explored but sometimes I see these as holding letters and that's why on Tuesday and Dermot Monon was absent but Maria Ferguson took my representations listened to my representations that they need the involvement of this committee as the stakeholders because you would have more people with the local input assisting restoring a service to a significant number that Tony had just quoted because he would use it in the morning in terms of the work that needs to be done it seems clear that the HSE has effectively ruled out returning to what was there pre-COVID how long is it going to take to put replacement in place that serves the needs of the community and also meets the requirements of the HSE in Hikwa that was the constant received up until my last correspondence where they said that the capital works now we're looking we're looking at within the hospital grounds they were looking at the hospital use of the JCM which is nearby a building which is considered a decongregation and they also were looking at the lease of facilities in current and that's the impetus that we welcome but it will only be an impetus when they narrow it down and say these are our priorities and this is what we're going to do and the powers that they will provide the capital it's required and that the service that surely must will be restored with the help of a very active and positive local community Albert thank you Tony you have the final word yourself and Albert thank you sorry we have we have written to the HSE with the survey results recently and we've also we always be writing to them to say that we welcome them having a meeting but we would like to be stakeholders in any future meetings in relation to this and we'll be constructive in relation to that the community will be constructive but we are we'd like to say to everyone that's out there listening this morning to make representation to your local councillor, your TD happy and we won't put up with it and we're not going to go away and for all candidates and councillors and TDs out there you need to get behind this issue you need to educate yourself on this issue we in the committee are not happy with our local politicians and the support they have say for Albert who's on the call here now we have a mandate we won't we're calling on all politicians to get us that meeting with the minister Mary Butler should she understands the size of the problem that we have here in North Unisown and we also we're calling on the HSE as they said to get us involved in any potential solutions going forward we've a Facebook page and we'd ask people to you know to continue to engage with us and thank you for your time this morning and thank you Tony and thank you Albert that's Tony and Albert there the ongoing campaign to restore day services in Cairndona that's pretty much it for the 9 to 10 noon show I just want to give you a few of our final comments before we go a very happy 95th birthday to Mary Bogle in St. Junans in Raffaul that comes from Rodney a number of comments say school children are influenced by teachers or influencers will they just get caught up in the latest whatever it is without knowing the full consequences 16 is too young to vote caller says how many people will leave reuse machines drive back to wherever they bought the bottle for 15 cent if they've been charged to deposit it it's an unreturnable bottle or can there a spin which has been used for general rubbish caller says if you have these continued increases in the price of alcohol more drink will be drunk at home and people are concerned that that will be the outcome of increases caller referencing the meeting that took place in Bunkrana the other night why would Charlie and Nile not come to the event all well and good coming to your door looking for votes but when there is something like that meeting that took place in Cairndon or in Bunkrana excuse me on Tuesday night of course the candidates should be turning up and finally I can tell you that the golden egg was found today in the town park by Unan McNamee and Patricia Gallagher congratulations to them this has been the no national news show tomorrow it's good Friday Greg is back with you on Tuesday of next week thank you to Shannon thank you to Donna Marie who produced thanks to Sean and Finola for their work on the community heroes and all indeed the whole team that worked on that most importantly thanks to our contributors and thanks to you for listening from yourself Donald Kavana have a very good day Ross few interiors are having a massive Easter sale today Thursday the Saturday the 30th and on Tuesday the 2nd