 The National Teachers Organization estimates up to 1,500 primary teachers are currently unavailable to work due to COVID-19. General Secretary John Boyle says contact tracing needs to resume in classrooms to deal with the high levels of infection. We actually heard yesterday morning that 10,503 primary school children have COVID-19 confirmed and we figured from our survey that we have up to 1,500 primary teachers testing positive as well. So we needed two departments to step in urgently. Education have certainly done their bit now. We certainly need public health to play their part, making schools safer by reinstating risk assessments and contact tracing. PCR testing capacity needs to be increased according to the social Democrats. No appointments are available for numerous test centres around the country with GPs calling for more walk-in community testing centres. 3,666 cases of COVID were detected yesterday, while 638 patients with the virus are in hospital. Social Democrats co-leader Rosheen Shorthall says while testing capacity has increased in recent days, it's still not meeting demand. The advice is to people to do the right thing, to get tested once you have symptoms. And where people go to do that, it's not possible. And what that results in is that very often those people, rather than self-isolating, will continue to plow on and think it's, you know, hope it's just a flu or something like that. The HSE has confirmed that work on the new community hospital in Lettercanny is expected to commence in the third quarter of next year. The 110 bed unit will provide long and short stay beds as well as a rehabilitation unit. An update report on the project as requested by Councillor Cairn Brogan revealed that it is currently at design stage and is scheduled to go out to tender early 2022. And boosters for the over-50s won't start to be administered until the end of the year. The HSE says boosters for the medically vulnerable will be completed first. Boosters for the over-50s were given the green light over a week ago. Head of the HSE's vaccination and test and trace programmes, Damien McCallion says they're working through some cohorts at the same time. Because of the eligibility criteria for five months, we're paralleling some of the cohorts in order to keep the volume moving through all of our channels, our vaccine centres, our GPs and our pharmacies. And then going back to your question in relation to the medically vulnerable, which is a large group of close to half a million, we will intend to start those now probably next week so that they will also run in parallel. A cloudy start today with a band of rain spreading from the northwest. The rain will clear through the morning followed by sunny spells and scattered showers with the chance of isolated hail showers feeling cold with afternoon temperatures of five to seven degrees. We're back with more 10 o'clock. Until then, good morning. From the creators of Moana and Frozen, Disney's Encanto. A lot of people want to know about my family. Well, we have a magical house and magic gift. What's your gift? Mirabelle didn't get one. Coming only to cinemas Wednesday, November 24th. The magic is in danger. This is my chance. I will save the magic. Wait, how do I save the magic? With original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Disney's Encanto. Don't miss it in cinemas Wednesday, November 24th. Certificate PG. Today's Ninetown Unshow is brought to you in association with Ulster Tires. Get your tires ready for winter. Call in to Ulster Tires in Latter-Kinney and Bali Buffet today. And now it's time for the talk of the Northwest. The Ninetown Unshow with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. And a very good morning to you. Four minutes past nine, nearly five minutes past nine. It's Wednesday, it's the 24th of November. How are you? Are you well? Good. Hopefully you'll stay with us and enjoy the show. That's coming up on the program. Lots of interesting subjects. We want your views, of course, as always. How do you get in touch with us for those tuning in for the first time? You WhatsApp us or you text us on this number. It's 086-60-25000. 086-60-25000. If you're listening outside the Republic on your smart speaker or online, 0035386625000. Your telephone calls to Makayla this morning are on 07491-25000. And good morning as you join us to watch the program on Facebook and on YouTube. You're very welcome along. Feel free to say hello. Leave your comments there as well. We pick them up. We're forward slash Highland Hub on Facebook. Forward slash Highland Radio News and Sport. Or on Highland Radio Ireland on YouTube. You can go on to our website, HighlandRadio.com. There's a link there at the top of the page. Click in and watch if you want to. And emails, did I mention emails? Comments at HighlandRadio.com. And we still occasionally get the odd letter via the post. Grey Hughes, Highland Radio, Mountain Top Letter. Kenny will get me. The papers this morning, the Donegal Post, the family of a Donegal man who was shot dead by a Royal Ulster Constable patrol in 1973, close to the border, have met with the officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs as part of a campaign for a new inquest into his death. Pettigo Man, Michael Leonard, was 24 when he was killed on a Fermana road between Bleak and Pettigo. Mr Leonard, who was a disqualified driver, was shot in the back by RUC officers who were following his car in a Land Rover. The front page of The Inch Times asks question this morning. Is more than one million Euro of taxpayers' money going to go down the drain as a result of Donegal County Council's purchase of five mica-affected houses in Boncrata? More on that inside the paper. The Irish Independent this morning tells us that a number of creches and child care facilities hit by COVID-19 has soared by 500% in just six weeks as the virus surges in communities. A total of 98 child care settings have seen cases of COVID in just over a fortnight with early years centres accounting for almost one in ten cases of the virus. In the under fours, the T-shock has confirmed that antigen testing will now be extended to creches, so it's not snake oil after all. Data from TUSA, the HSE and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre revealed that rates of COVID-19 notifications have increased by over 500% in child care settings over the past six weeks. It's emerged that in one creche, 13 children in a pod tested positive for COVID-19 after an adult care worker complained of feeling unwell. All the children were asymptomatic and we would be led to believe that all 13 of those children more likely catch COVID in the community and then just happen to be in the same pod and tested positive in the creche. The Irish Times this morning, no further COVID restrictions will be imposed by the government this week as ministers and public health officials wait until at least the end of next week before deciding if further measures are required to tackle the fourth wave and it's an interesting period we live in. Not a speculation from one source that something's coming mid-December, who's to say my gut feeling would be that they want the money in the economy, but anyway we shall wait and see. But in reality, in terms of the hospital situation, this week and next week the die is cast. I mean those cases were caught at the start of November, that's just the way it works. As it relates to the impact in hospitals last week in November, first week in December, that's happening now. Those cases will be caught now or even maybe a little bit beyond. So really I suppose they're looking at the positivity rate which has steadied off. It seems to be steady, the positivity rate which is a good indicator. Case numbers are going to be pretty high tonight because they under counted them yesterday. So anyone who looked at yesterday's figures and thought, all right mid-3,000, that's good isn't it? No, well it's going to probably go over 5,000 this evening because they don't count them on any given day and it's up and down like a fiddler's elbow, I think an old saying used to go. But hospitalisations are under 600 again, they've gone down. ICU numbers are remaining around about 130. So I don't know what metric they use to make these decisions. It's not fully clear really and how much of it is about COVID, how much of it is about the inability for the underfunded, under resourced health service actually cope with a relatively few amount of cases. Who's to say, we don't know what the metrics are, we just know staff are under incredible pressure doing really great work and in almost impossible decisions. They are the heroes, they're the ones that are keeping things moving. But ministers and officials said they saw a tentative sign, the huge recent spike in infections, hospital cases and ICU admissions were beginning to abate, though tonnishly override car said it was too early to be definitive. Meanwhile plans for the state to subsidise antitank tests, bringing the cost down to two or three euro have been further delayed and may now not be ready for approval until next week. Sure, what's the rush? There's no panic on that. Mid 2022 will do, won't it? Irish Daily Mail families who have not seen their loved ones in months and in some cases years face rocketing prices to fly home this Christmas as airlines hike fairs to make up lost profits and reduced capacity. Some one way flights from the UK are close to 500 euro. Now in fairness, I'm not defending the airlines for a moment but they used the last Saturday before Christmas as their test day. Now flying on a Saturday is expensive at any time of the year but they've built this story around trying to book a flight from London to Dublin on the last Saturday before Christmas which I'm not sure it's fully reflective and it might discourage people from checking because I'm sure you can get cheaper flights but we do know that airlines as soon as they get down to the last few seats they will ramp the price up. There's no surprise. It's got nothing to do with COVID. They've been doing this for absolute years. We've seen it, haven't we? You check that, you check a seat, it's like 30 quid or something and then you say check it a week later, there's only four or five seats left and it's up around three or four hundred. It's happened since the planes took off but anyway they go on to say after many suffered the disappointment last year of not being able to spend the festive season with their families due to lockdowns and travel bans, most travellers had pinned their hopes on spending Christmas at home this year. However skyrocketing prices have forced many to rethink their plans and fly earlier and later than planned and you know there are people who knew what they were going to be doing in early November and got those flights on those dates pretty cheap. But anyway it's expensive to fly. The Irish Daily Star and we might be covering this a little later on and to try and get some answers to this story because it's a peculiar one. RTE was under fire last night after a senator slammed the state broadcaster for dropping Andrew McGinley, a Donagall man from the Late Late Show lineup following a letter of complaint. Mr. McGinley whose children Connor 9, Dara 7 and 3 year old Carla were killed by their mother Deirdre Morley. He was due to appear on the RTE show on October 8th. In May Ms. Morley was found not guilty by reason of insanity of murdering the children in their Dublin home. Mr. McGinley was due to appear on the Late Show to raise awareness of his charity as Dara did and he spoke to us about that charity on this programme. He was scheduled to be on the TV sofa alongside Peter Schmeichel, Rosanna Davison and Ruth Nega. But he was polled from the Friday Night programme on the same date was due to air following an objection from a member of the public. He said he had brought the date of the launch of the charity raffle forward specifically for the Late Late Show and if you appear on even the guards, if they've got, if crime line tell them on some occasions at least you know we'll cover your appeal. Well it doesn't go out to us or other newspapers as well they'll hold off on on that or the footage because RTE is calling and I can understand why he would have moved the launch round to coincide with an appearance in such a big programme but because of a letter now I don't know we can I suppose well we can't speculate on air but we can speculate in our own minds as to why that might have been sent in you know but we'll speak to him hopefully later on in the programme to see what the story is. If you don't like the traffic heading in and around the Twin Towns or Dunlop or Letter Kenny or Boncran or wherever you are Darius Treban you won't be feeling too bad today if you look at what's going on in Dublin because truckers are causing traffic chaos in the capital as part of a major protest at the rising cost of fuel. Limerick TD Richard O'Donohue is also taking the fight to the door by parking his lorry at the door of Lesterhouse. It comes as new figures from the AA show Ireland's fuel prices have reached a record high. Hundreds of hauliers from across the country are expected to descend on the capital and they have in convoys that will travel the motorways and into the city from 7am this morning and some streets in Dublin the traffic simply isn't moving others it's moving very very slowly. And lastly to the Irish Daily Mail Ireland has one of the lowest rates of daily smokers within the EU with less than one in seven adults classified as regular users but numbers are on the rise. New figures published by the European Commission also reveal 30% light up at least 20 cigarettes a day so one in seven people smoke a third of them smoke at least 20 cigarettes a day which is really expensive now isn't it what is it 15 euro for a packet seven fifties you know yourself 105 euros something like that they're a week 440 euro per month on cigarettes over four grand then isn't it on ciggies alone. Despite the comparatively low rate health campaigners have expressed concern that proportion of population who smoke every day started to increase again after many years of falling rates. Professor Luke Clancy is a director general of the tobacco free research institute said smokers are twice as likely to need to go to hospital end up in ICU and die if they're infected with COVID the latest EU figures show Ireland has the sixth lowest rate of smoking among the 27 EU member states all right that was a quick run through the papers this morning 08 660 25,000 WhatsApps and texts if anything caught your ear or give us a call on 07 4 9125,000 the newspapers are courtesy of Kelly Centra mountaintop letter Kenny today's nine tone in show is brought to you in association with Ulster tires get your tires ready for winter call in to Ulster tires in letter Kenny and Bali buffet today buy a ticket buy a ticket in highland radios mega draw to win a car win a car get your ticket by November 30th and automatically enter an extra draw before the big draw big draw one lucky winner will walk away 2000 euro imagine that's Christmas all wrapped up Christmas the draw will take place on Wednesday December 1st on the 9 till noon show 9 till noon and you're still in with a chance to win the Kia exit worth over 28,000 euro it's that simple to win that car to get your ticket log on to highland radio.com highland radio exceeding your expectations don't miss the crazy black friday deals right now at Watson hire in letter Kenny up to 70 percent of the recommended retail price on hand and power tools paint homeware clothing and much more many are a clearance prices that won't be repeated loads of great present ideas now reduced that's amazing black friday deals right now at Watson hire kill toy letter Kenny visit Watsonhire.ie or see facebook for daily offers St. Columbus College to Norlar are accepting applications for first year enrollment for the 2022-2023 academic year from monday november 8th until monday november 29th application forms are available on their website St. Columbus College.ie or from the school office on 0749131246 we're turning black friday green this november join us by supporting local as you shop in-store and online this christmas by supporting local our communities will remain vibrant go to championgreen.ie for more details and to get involved champion green is supported by kakena design and visa in association with retail excellence small firms association and chambers ireland. Clarins big beauty gift is now available at McElhenney's ballet buffet choose four tree-sized essentials and a cosmetic bag when you purchase two Clarins products one to be a moisturizer or serum so why not spoil yourself or someone special this christmas with our Clarins big beauty gift available in store or online at McElhenney's.com giveblood.ie know we can count on you our community of blood donors to give blood and to choose to be there for others in their hour of need blood donors from ballet buffet and Dunlowe should attend the clinic in Jackson's hotel in ballet buffet from tuesday 23rd to thursday 25th of november to ensure social distancing all donors need to make an appointment so call 1-850-731-137 to book your time new donors are welcome visit giveblood.ie to check eligibility and clinic details because we count on you at letter Kenny shopping center we're already dreaming about the festive season so why not make a start park for free and enjoy your christmas shopping this year letter Kenny shopping center bringing you the time at the time is 18 minutes past nine now of course we know the micro scandal has not gone away it hasn't been properly addressed yet by way of the announcement of a an enhanced redress scheme there are a group of people going over to raise this issue at the highest seats of power in europe in brosles next week of course we'll have extensive coverage of that is that those dates approach but people are living this nightmare every day it's not going away at all Mary Ann McLaughlin is one of those good morning to you Mary thanks for joining us today good morning Greg i really appreciate it now i mean you've been hit by this scandal every which way haven't you yes i have my own home that i live in and i've had it tested and it has to be demolished and i also own a second property a rental property that i bought as my my pension investment for my retirement and it will have to be demolished as well it's worthless you know so financially this has ruined me if the government does not step in and give us our micro 100 redress for all properties regardless as to whether it's your private principal residence or not you know yeah because and we'll go through it in more detail but this is through no fault of your own you work very hard you spent this money believing that you were building with blocks you know solid as a rock and all that kind of stuff you know that there were regulations in place to ensure standards were met even through the building process maybe that there was checks and balances that you'd be protected so that the single biggest investment we make and you've done it twice that is protected now you've done absolutely nothing wrong at all yet everything that you've worked for and everything that you are working towards is as we sit now worthless worthless completely worthless and the most basic item a building block you just would have expected that the proper regulations would have been in place that a quarry would never have produced and sold blocks that were not fit for purpose my houses were only built in 2005 and they're barely standing now because you decided that the way you would provide for your retirement is thousands and thousands and thousands of people do would be to invest in the second property you know safest houses you know what I mean that would be there they're thinking did it take you a while to feel comfortable speaking out you know talking about two houses that we wouldn't sort of hear conversations from Dublin like you know the mansions on the hill that kind of stuff in other words what if Margaret can marry can afford two houses sure she can afford to rebuild them herself did it take a while for you to be confident enough to speak publicly about your story I wonder it it did and it didn't it just once we had our house tested and our engineer sat on a zoom call just like this and gave us that prognosis it really brought it home then the fact that both houses would be doomed you know what does it feel when someone says that to you Margaret it is unbelievable it is really unbelievable we sat that evening at a quarter to five had our zoom call with our engineer and he read out all the results we you could tell by his face it was grave looking that it wasn't going anywhere good and when I asked him what was the the upshot of of the results he said marry your house has to be demolished that's and that is really devastating I'm 62 I don't have enough years earning capacity left in me to recoup this loss you know this was not only my family home but my pension that's sitting right next door to me that that I see every day as well it's it's incredible to think that this has happened and there are hundreds of other people in Donegal who have second homes who have holiday rentals who are landlords and it seems to be a difficult thing for people with a second home or who is a landlord to actually come out and speak about it but it's vital now that every person that has a second home or maybe two or three second homes that they make a small video no later than today get it up on the Micah Action Group Facebook page so it can be brought to the attention of government because they are going to leave us behind otherwise getting my my home house repaired will be some sort of recompense but it's going to ruin me financially if my rental home is left behind sorry Mary there's a slight delay on this link my apologies as it stands Mary what what is the best case scenario from what we know as it relates to your your second property like is that still in the mix of course we're being told that everything's on the table we've heard some talk about rental properties and what have you I mean you know you know what as as it stands are you hearing possibly might be the situation as it relates to your second home I don't think it's it might be in the mix but I don't it doesn't look like it's going to fall out on the table it looks like they are just going to go with private principal residents they seem to have I am not a I am not a large property developer who owns four or five million worth of houses in any show I own one rental property the reason why I bought it was because I was living on the wild Atlantic way so I assumed that it would be a good investment from a holiday rental point of view which it was you know it was going to break even and it was going to be there to sell that was the plan was to sell it when I would retire and I would have that money then but it's now it's in fact actually it would probably cost me going by today's prices anywhere between 40 and 50 000 to clear the site which is it's crazy yeah and you know whatever about your your principal private principal private residence there's no way you could invest in a rebuild of the second property and even get your money out I would imagine never impossible absolutely impossible it's a total loss financially ruined and mentally we will be ruined as well this will be it'll be impossible to get through this it'll be very difficult yeah because we're having to dig really deep everyone is having to dig really deep now to keep their to keep their keep themselves going every day to keep getting up every morning going to work putting on a brief face trying to keep doing what you have to do to get through the day but this is this is a major problem hanging over our heads and you don't need me to amplify because it's your lived experience but just to emphasise what this means I mean if there is no provision to help you with this second property the rest of your life it affects it it affects every element of it be it um you know we we try and build up reserves it could be for great things to enjoy our lives but it could also be resources that we need if we become ill or if something happens and that safety net that you have had and other people do it a different way they do it through pensions contributory pensions and all that kind of stuff you've just done a different way that safety net is ripped from underneath you and that's for us to have that prospect for the rest of our lives is really you know not something any of us would want to have to experience but that's your lived experience yes it's very difficult I'm 62 it's I I would have assumed that I would have worked for another few years and would have been comfortably enough well off then that I wouldn't have been depending on the old age state pension I would have had another little income coming in and I would have had a house to sell if I needed the money for my old age to provide for it for a nursing home or whatever this is going to be you know and not to mention that if you have to spend some money towards your own home it's tied up in the second property which is pretty much worthless by the site yeah that's so you're you're stuck every which way you turn every way and also too you can't really allow yourself to think okay it'll be great if we get a scheme that will allow us to to rebuild a house because that's going to take an awful long time that's a huge journey in and of itself you could be doing that but still looking across at this other building with no help like as I say I'm not trying to be hopeless here but but I just want you to understand how we understand how helpless it must feel like and it is it's totally helpless I mean it beggars belief you could not believe that this could have happened to your to your investment obviously now in hindsight I would never have built a house in Donegal at all you know I would probably never have returned to Donegal had I known this was going to be the fate you know and if I was living maybe in some other county rather than here maybe this wouldn't have happened maybe better legislation would have been in the quarries I still cannot I cannot for the life of me square off how this has happened how this has continued to happen for so many years as well the government now they must take responsibility for this this is not our fault no and as well let's not forget either by your own testimony there you're coming to the the end of your working life a couple of years left of course working life I'm talking about here when you've been working since day dot paying taxes contribution contributing to this country all of that money or sorry at least some of that money you would expect that it is there to protect you to protect your greatest investment to as I said earlier on you know to to provide for oversight to provide for checks and balances so you know you must feel failed in that regard as well having spent 40 odd years contributing into this country that is about it feels like it's about to fail you yes and it has failed me totally you know all those years I'm working since I was 17 and I'm tax compliant and when I built my house and built my rental house that was all tax compliant as well was through registered builders it was everything was bought that was paid on every item there was no shady deals done you know all right stay where you are I want to bring Michael Shufflin in good morning Michael morning Greg what's your situation Michael I won't like everybody else talking this night man we bought our property and a few years later started the company as well wrong we've we've got all our testing done we've got our final report to our demolish case but now it it looks like we're in a situation where we bought it was through leasehold and not understanding back then at the small rating that generally means that we don't own the outside of our property we only own the inside inside walls we don't own the roof that's because it's an apartment block an apartment block of four and the the outside is owned by a lower company which no longer exists their liquidation or receivership so again we're stuck as well we're we can't move our application further because of the situation we're stuck and is there anyone to sort of go on the scheme to try and get these rebuilt as you say it sounds like you know the ownership is in the ownership of those the only apartments but the ownership in terms of how one might get into this scheme is you know it doesn't I mean I'm not saying it doesn't exist but but is there anyone that could try and get on this scheme to get your houses sorted or your apartment sorted or is it because it's an apartment block it wouldn't fall onto the scheme you're really trapped every which way I'm trying to work through it in the head but it sounds like you're trapped every which way no we we've tried to work through there as we've we've contacted engineers listeners you know and they scratch their heads so they're scratching their heads you know it doesn't give us much hope they've made our open conversations with people to see where we go with us what direction we can take but like that there there's every way you turn as you say you're you're kind of knocked down again it's different if it was going to be knocked and not rebuilt and understand what the property is going to be rebuilt again so whether it falls onto a leasehold or free hold it shouldn't really matter so I mean already your apartment is dangerous to live in I wonder if we spoke before Michael a couple of years ago or someone in a very similar situation in terms of obviously the deterioration of the building is going to have an impact on you know services going into the house electricity and all that type of stuff but how dangerous and why is it dangerous from your perspective living in it Michael I work as they were gable walls are given away you can see into the electricity box you can see wires and there's gas running on underneath the floor so so all those utilities that come in through it um we're sitting both bison slabs below us um the apartment below us is the same way um so you just don't know you're just living fear you know of what could happen um but at the same time you're you're trapped where you can't go either way I mean it is an apartment but it is your home it's your house right effectively okay it's you can call it an apartment but it's your house if you make a decision with your partner that this is no longer safe to live in and you move out yeah you've no come back at all that all of your money yeah is gone yeah that's right that's right I'm not all like Mary say our case is tragic as well um we kind of bought it both the intention of upgrading in a few years time and that was back in 2007 um and and either sell on it or having it like that as a retirement yeah idea but as I said because of what happened now we're working in that situation where we're stuck as well um there's there's no way to nowhere to go no direction we can take and you know another heartbreaking element of this too is whatever the value of the apartment you're also seven thousand euro in the hole as well which I would I would say is a reasonable percentage of of of the overall value of the apartment that also down the drain seven thousand euro I mean how many of us could put their hands on seven thousand euro right now uh and not miss it significantly very few listening to this program I would suggest uh Michael yeah yeah presenting it for that that's again that's the type of obstacles that you come across as you work through the process um and say financially whatever happens financially um but the mental side of it the kids involved in it things to get there that's just twice as hard and you're sort of in the middle of um the outside of a building um with questionable ownership and other people living in the building that don't own their apartments they're they're they're they're living uh they're paying rent in there I mean have you been given any scenario uh by anyone any theory that might help you Michael no no that's the problem Greg there's no theory whatsoever given um we're kind of left just sitting and limbo at the moment with no no direction or no knowledge of what direction they go um and as I say that's that's been the case for for long enough it's helpless again I'm sorry to use that word because you're sitting there thinking right you know obviously you sympathize with other people in this situation but in your heart of hearts you know at this point there's not going to be anything in any announcement for you no it doesn't look like it unless uh unless it's as I say them some things are included in the scheme um as I said to look after lease holds as well as free holds um because it's probably talking to a solicitor he said it's it's probably the only situation where a lease hold would actually have a problem because generally people bought like that for years um but that's the case where unless you had the demolition outside of the of the building you you really wouldn't have a problem so I mean without going into names or anything Michael yeah even if this scheme could be accessed right by you you couldn't it would have to be whoever owns the outside of the walls is that ownership clear is there an individual that would be able to liaise with you liaise with the scheme to get this rebuilt to get you all money out of this investment like if it were extended to apartment blocks is there actually a an ownership or a group that there's not there's not an ownership correct the ownership was actually the construction company yeah that's what I was thinking there are now kind of liquidated or under receivership or whatever you want to call it and so on on this opening up a communication with the liquidator um that's probably the only way it could be it could be done well and I mean even if even if that were all doable you can only imagine the time frame involved like oh well the time frame's another thing because every time you start a conversation you know it takes six weeks eight weeks for the to make any progress on it and before you know it the times the times will go on I mean could there be because I think there's very few people in your situation Michael could you try and make it work in your favor and I don't know if this was was part of the conversation during negotiations but you know it might be in that it might be cheap cheaper for the state actually to buy you out of that if you know what I mean to pay you whatever a market value at this time might be there can't be many examples of that at this current time I mean has that been looked at you know it hasn't been looked at great not not my knowledge um as I say that is won't have New Yorker go down and look at um but again it just comes back to the same old thing of of being a taxpayer of doing everything by the book paying your insurance getting your mortgage um and then you're left in a situation you know it's just criminal as you said about the small print Michael who who in in in that situation could ever foresee a problem like Micah that this could come up that the outside of the building's ownership be quite could be questionable I mean no one could ever have seen what was coming I mean it's certainly not you were of Oswald anyway that's a fact no no for sure yeah uh right so how how how do you feel because you know the whole thing of a home it's where you feel safe it's where you feel secure it's yours it's where you go home after work it's where you have your parties for your children where it's relevant you know you know how does it make you feel knowing what's happening now it's deterioration and the lack of an out on this look we'll leave it there Michael um yeah okay thanks thanks Michael uh obviously a very difficult conversation from Michael and fair play to him for coming out uh and speaking about that but uh I think very clearly at the end of that call that question was answered and I hope ministers and TDs that have influence on the situation are listening um because that is the reality of this um how it's affecting people on an individual basis Mary I mean you can you can relate to that it's incredibly sad but that's that's the truth this is what's happening that's how it's people feel yeah this is that is exactly how each and every one of us are in the very same boat we're all just holding on by a thread really you know that's exactly what it is Michael just that's that is exactly it and it's so unfair and it's not his fault that he has is in an apartment block and of course something has to be done for him but and we have a minister like we're not every local area has their own government minister we have our government minister we need him now we need him no more than ever yeah I just hope um the civil servants that are that that are playing their games and sending their emails and talking about this as it is mortar and bricks and money and I'm not sure I've ever seen any reference to anything they've ever said to take into consideration the impact this is having on people it's breaking people it's destroying their lives I hope if they have any humility or humanity in them at all that they realise the the emotional and mental impact this is having on people Mary it's not just about blocks and bricks and roofs and bison floors this is about people's lives and well-being yeah this is about your safe place you know your forever home you know and it's not about even my rental house that wasn't to make out to make myself rich on because that was never going to happen anyhow it was just I thought a safe place to put some money into I thought it was a safe place to invest in so that I would be able to get the return on it but it was clearly that was the biggest mistake financially I've ever made anyhow you know but again just as Michael's situation it could never have been you could never have seen it coming never you know and will we ever trust anything again you trusted the system never you it's so difficult I have always believed in Ireland as a good country I really I truly believe that I never worked abroad I've always worked here I've always paid my taxes here I always thought it was a decent country but when you see what is happening to us as families it you soon start to understand this isn't a decent place you thought it was and your government ministers and your government really are puppets because it's these civil servant guys in the background that seem to be the ones that say yes you can do it or you can't do it Daryl Bryn seems to be in our on our side and I hope he is and I hope he sees us as a legacy that he can leave behind him for good because if he doesn't he will be remembered as the housing minister who destroyed families in Donegal and Mayo as well and wherever else they're going to turn up okay Mary thanks for your time this morning I appreciate it and thank you very much for joining us okay and thanks again to to Michael and we'll obviously give Michael back a ring and just make sure everything's all right there I think he's partners with him but I think that's the reality of it that there needs to be some emotion in these decisions that they're making that we are humans we are moms and dads sons and daughters brothers and sisters friends and this is taking an incredible incredible toll on people and uh enough is enough today's Nine Till Nun show is brought to you in association with Ulster Tires winter is coming get your tires winter ready call in to Ulster Tires in Letterkenny and Bali Buffay today for great fuel deals contact Gortley Sales and Hire large sacks and trailer loads of logs also briquettes coal kindling and gas with free delivery locally contact Gortley Sales and Hire in Letterkenny on 91 262 76 have you got a one for all gift car that you've yet to spend now is the perfect time go and treat yourself and any of the 11,000 one for all retail partners before December 31st and you could win 10,000 euro in cash pennies argos b and q curries pc world tk max and many more simply spend your gift card and visit one for all dot ie forward slash win for your chance to win terms and conditions apply the one for all gift 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gold themed gift box available now from michael murphy sports dot ie big plans doesn't mean big repayments with a home improvement loan from any shown credit union whether you're converting the attic changing the kitchen or doing work to the garden talk to us today with rates starting from 6.18 apr no hidden fees or charges and fast loan decisions we have the perfect loan for you apply online at any shown c u dot ie or call us on 93 61017 membership of any shown credit union is open to anyone who lives or works in the initial peninsula all loans are subject to approval terms and conditions apply any shown credit union is regulated by the central bank of arland don't miss the crazy black friday deals right now at what's in hire in edderkenny up to 70 percent of the recommended retail price on hand and power tools paint homeware clothing and much more many are a clearance prices that won't be repeated loads of great present ideas now reduced that's amazing black friday deals right now at what's in hire kill toy leather kenny visit what's in hire dot ie or see facebook for daily offers store and go springtown dairy the north of arlands only temperature controlled smart access individually sized storage units store and go offers storage for personal storage house moves and renovations business storage for excess stock or finding systems once signed up you can access 24 hours a day through an app on your phone gaining access through four levels of security to your most precious possessions call store and go springtown dairy on zero two eight seven one two seven eight nine hundred to discuss your needs and get bespoke advice or get a free quote at store and go dot net highland radio weather updates with national fuels delivering home heating oil to letter kenny and the surrounding areas at competitive prices national fuels nine one three seven four hundred okay so becoming cloudy this morning is a band of rain spreads across the region the rain will clear later this morning followed by sunny spells and scattered showers there is the chance of isolated hail showers and it's going to feel cold temperatures five to seven degrees now we're joined on the program now by professor emeritus of a chemistry at university college cork john so though who also works at the center for research into atmosphere chemistry at ucc good morning to you thank you very much for joining us it's great it's great to have you on on the program and it's great to be able to tap into your insights into this you tweeted out some images which relates to air quality in letter kenny professor explain them to us in layman's terms what did they show well first of all they they they come from a proper gold standard source and that's the epa that have now increased their air monitoring throughout the country letter kenny is one of the places i think there's a couple of others in in donnie gull as well but they they've got about 90 90 stations odd now that can give us information real-time information as well which is important because from the epa information on letter kenny over the last week it shows how damaging are the air pollutant particulate matter that has been growing and it's winter and people light up their fires big coal wood or peat but quite clearly what the data show is that they are burning a lot of smoky coal which contains sulfur that's the sort of acid rain compound it's illegal they're doing it and the real problem is is that donnie gull county council won't prosecute they don't know i think even how to do it and the epa haven't really given them a great lead on how to do it either right so as it relates to the as it relates to the sort of the peaks and troughs okay what do the peaks tell us in terms of the day the time what is your reading of what it's saying to you when you see the peaks they're probably round about nine o'clock in the evening uh they start rising up at about six maybe when people come home from work and they light their fires up and then it goes off round about ten o'clock when people are going to bed so at the peak point is when obviously most you should not go outside and walk and do exercise because particulate matter of the type that's measured in letter kenny kills now talk to us about that because the information uh the monitoring is really quite specific okay it can it tells you the prevalence of what particles in the air at any given time and there there are three featured in the graph that you released so talk to us about those these are substances you know it's not just a smell or a scent uh on a on a very uh uh uh at microscopic level these are things that are in the air talk to us about that yes the the particles are very much smaller than the width of a human hair i mean you can probably get about what 10 or 20 of the smallest the most dangerous ones the pm 2.5 lying side by side in a human hair they get into our nose their respiratory system into the lungs but then worse because they're small enough to get into the arteries and the cardio system they call strokes heart attacks they can get even further get into the brain they begin to cause dementia and you get diabetes uh miscarriages all of these things do you know i've never i've never really heard that before uh or never took it on board perhaps before that these particles it's not just that you might get a cough or they might agitate a respiratory situation they actually are so small they can enter your system and build up and have the knock-on effect that you talk of that's right they can build up in arteries what happens the arteries sort of attack back and they produce plaque and then you get a stuffed artery and then you get a stroke they can get actually further into the heart itself and kill and it's all of the solid fuels that do that burning peat is the worst of all burning wet wood and smoky coal are also bad but they're all bad don't believe this stuff about dry wood burning is good it's not and also presumably whatever is going out the chimney is also coming out through the open fire as well into your front room your kitchen absolutely comes into into your living room you wouldn't park a diesel in your front room would you and start up the engine that's what you're doing with an open fire but also and these are not good either these are in fact worse wood stoves the wood stove burning we spend 90% of our time indoors the the smoke goes out the chimney obviously much less comes to you other than when you're opening the to reload but it goes into the neighbour's house but you you don't get away because your neighbour's house throws into you now presumably the fact that we have a particularly high rate of presentation at that kind of university hospital with respiratory illness that is proven you know it's not a theory that is a fact we in particular should be trying to avoid exposure to these types of to these types of chemicals like I cannot do presuming it has to be exacerbated it either is a chicken an egg situation either makes our respiratory problems worse or causes them the the most vulnerable are the most risk for acute and chronic effects beyond the old those are pregnant those have got asthma all of these make those situations worse the only way to do it is to stop burning solid fuel but we can't look at it and go up but sure there was two sets of traffic lights in letter kenny on monday and you know the town was in gridlock so of course there's going to be a peak the the information is far more specific it disproves that that's a separate issue road transport is a separate issue that's bad in its own right because although these days because of technology the small particulates are not so bad coming from them nitrogen oxides are and they are equally dangerous this gas an acidic gas that gets into you and does much the same problem damage as the small particulates do so traffic is a problem but in ireland without a doubt the biggest problem other than probably in doubling is burning solid fuel so you would not be inclined to go for a walk around letter kenny around about nine o'clock in the evening would you I would not I would completely dissuade anyone from playing sport of any any type and certainly even if you would do that is to to push a pram around with a kid all right it's uh people say well sure there's a smoky fuel ban in letter kenny absolutely that's why if you want people to to ring in or if you want them to get in get in touch with um donningall county council or whoever say ask why are you not enforcing the law why are you not going to the sellers it's a bit like a drug addict relationship you have the sellers uh the dealers that is and you have the users the addicts and that's those who burn they're both breaking the law now there are problems in in your area because of cold trafficking from the north um but uh people simply just must not buy it but on the other hand your county council must start prosecuting alongside the eba all right listen thank you very much for your time this morning I appreciate it professor emeritus of a chemistry university college court john sodo there he's uh works also for research into atmospheric atmospheric chemistry at ucc some stark warnings I saw the graphs though they're pretty clear just as you're sitting down to watch i'm a celebrity or whatever that's when they're peaking look we're going to take a break we're going to be a minute and a half late to the news apologies we'll be back after that in the obituary notices today's nine till noon show is brought you in association with ulster tires are your tires ready for winter call into ulster tires in ladrickeni and ballet buffet today real people are winning real money buy your ncbi radio bingo book today and you could be in with a chance to be the next claimant it's that simple my name is alton gibson and i am a ncba radio bingo owner as you start rediscovering northern ireland again we want you to explore with confidence that's why we've introduced the we're good to go industry standard for tourism and hospitality businesses so you know they've agreed to follow covid 19 safety guidelines like social distancing following the recommended cleaning processes and undergoing spot checks so you can enjoy your break to the full look out for the safety symbol for businesses that are good to go northern ireland we're good to go brought to you by tourism northern ireland in partnership with uk national tourism bodies supercharge your black friday with electrifying deals at screwfix strike now for huge savings from power tools to work where so you can amp up your kit but hurry they'll be gone in a flash deals end monday 29th of november shop screwfix online and in store to supercharge your black friday now visit screwfix.ie for tees and seas delivery charges and restrictions event ends on the 29th of november while stocks last wanted job that really counts our next census takes place in april 2022 and we need census enumerators in your area so if you can work flexible hours and want to earn up to 3200 euro for 10 weeks part-time work visit census.ie to apply now cavernor hoopadolan insurances based at rossview business park let it canny provides a comprehensive and competitive range of products for home motor young drivers business farm and marine call us now for a free quotation on 0749175 00 check out our range of products online at chd.ie or drop into our office at rossview business park today for help and advice on your insurance needs from our experienced staff cavernor hoopadolan insurance is limited is regulated by the central bank of ireland at christmas it always feels so much better to give than to get the best gift you can give this year is a vaccine to the most vulnerable people on our planet to give a vaccine now please go to unicef.ie because it's not over for anyone until it's over for everyone let's give covid the jab this christmas if you're aged 60 to 69 you will soon be offered a covid 19 vaccine booster dose covid 19 vaccines offer protection from serious illness but this may weaken over time the booster is recommended to give you the best possible protection when it's time for your vaccination center appointment you will receive a text message from the hsc it's very important to take up your booster appointment for more information visit hsc.ie or call hsc live on 1800 700 700 from the hsc live on air online and on the highland radio app this is highland radio news it's 10 o'clock good morning i'm catherine gaffney antigen testing will be introduced in schools on monday the education minister has confirmed norma foley says it'll be operational from the 29th and guidance will be made available to schools and parents this week meanwhile unions and the department are meeting to discuss student teachers being recruited to primary schools to deal with a covid staffing crisis i nto general secretary john boil expects the full details to be laid out at today's talks what we asked for was that of the four thousand students between the pme's and the third and fourth years that they would be released at least in batches of 500 every week up until midterm break in february so it seems that our call has been listened to and as well as that minister last night announced minister foley that there will be another 200 teachers added to the supply panel scheme a victim of the mica scandal and donnie gall has been told by the esp that he must leave his premises due to the impact of the crumbling block issue on his property michael shoved and lives in a two-bedroom apartment in the county and noticed cracks back in 2009 subsequent testing confirmed mica pyrite and other materials within the walls of his home it comes as discussions continue on the mica redress scheme with a memo expected to be brought to cabinet shortly speaking on today's nine till noon show an emotional michael says he is nowhere to turn to we cannot bother both the intention of upgrading in a few years time and that was back in 2007 and either a settlement or having it like that as a retirement idea but as i said because of what happened now we're working in that situation we're stuck as well and there's there's no way to nowhere to go no direction we can take there are currently over 22 000 patients on waiting lists at letter canny university hospital the hsc confirmed also that there are 127 staff vacancies at the hospital with recruitment underway with more here is mckayla clark in response to a question by cancer king brogan at the latest sitting of the regional health from west sealter university health care group coo and cosgrove acknowledged that letter canny university hospital is facing a number of challenges in relation to waiting lists bed capacity increased numbers of people attending the ad and staff recruitment which she says is being exacerbated by the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 according to figures up to november the 11th 5401 patients were waiting an inpatient or day case procedure almost half of those patients have been waiting a year or more in addition the number of people waiting on an eye patient appointment is 16 723 of whom 7781 have been waiting over 12 months a number of steps are being taken in a bid to address the increasing waiting lists at the hospital including carrying out additional endoscopies availing of private hospitals and an overseas nursing recruitment campaign due to commence early next year andrew mcginley who was dropped from ortee's late late show lineup says he would never set out to intentionally upset anyone the donnie gallman was due to announce plans for a fundraising concert in his children's memory they were killed by their mother at their home in new castle in dublin when she was suffering a psychotic and depressive episode in 2020 mr mcginley says he was left off the show after a small number of people objected to the broadcaster i was told that they said it could be a painful experience for them and i understand that but i'm talking about i suppose the kids and i only talk about the kids with love i wouldn't intentionally set out to upset anybody and there's pressure on authorities in northern arland to sanction a fresh inquest into the death of michael lenard the donnie gallman was shot dead by the r u c almost 50 years ago after a car chase close to the firmana and donnie gall border between patty go and belake on the 17th of may 1973 at the time police claimed that mr lenard who was a disqualified driver had failed to stop when he got into a car after leaving a shop and that a single shot was later fired during a chase however new evidence has contradicted the single shot claim relatives met with government officials in recent days where they conveyed that a new inquest is necessary local consular michael noctin also attended the meeting we've got a very positive response from the department of foreign affairs all we're looking over here is justice i mean michael lenard's father and mother went to their death without basically getting justice here i don't want to see another member of the lenard family or a sibling going to their death for justice for the family it's very important basically what we're looking for basically it's just a new inquest because the information that was given at the last inquest was false and misleading and also even the rc officers did not attend the inquest a cloudy start today with a band of rain spreading from the northwest the rain will clear through the morning followed by sunny spells and scattered showers temperatures five to seven degrees that's it for now we're back with the headlines for you at 11 o'clock until then good morning the obituary notices for wednesday morning the 24th of november the death has taken place of john mcdade altahala clonmani funeral arrangements to be confirmed later the death has taken place of kevin quinn mullenty boil glantis kevin's remains will repose at the family home today from five until 10 o'clock funeral mass tomorrow at 12 noon in st connell's church glantis within termed afterwards in the local cemetery house private on the morning of the funeral to family close friends and neighbors the funeral mass can be viewed live on church services dot tv forward slash glantis the death has taken place of charles boys boots pound street remelton his remains will repose at his home from six o'clock this evening the house is private to family only funeral mass on friday morning at 11 o'clock in st mary's church remelton burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery rosary tonight and tomorrow night at nine o'clock the funeral mass and rosary can be viewed on church services tv st mary's church remelton family flowers only the death has taken place of david dc macky of dromola house cavern and letter kenny condy donnie gall david will repose at his home from five until eight o'clock today removal from his home tomorrow afternoon at half past 12 to the cathedral of st patrick and felon cavern for a funeral mass at one o'clock via dublin road college street pharnham street with burial afterwards in st bridgett's cemetery killie gary the funeral mass can be viewed live at the cathedral webcam family flowers only please donations and loo to the irish cancer society the death has occurred of tony creerand formally of muckash avenue letter kenny his remains are reposing at letter kenny funeral home and port road funeral mass this morning at 11 o'clock in st unan's cathedral letter kenny with cremation to follow in lakelands crematorium and cavern at a later date family flowers only donations if desired to the donnie gall hospice care of any family member or com mcdade funeral rector the funeral mass can be viewed live on church services dot tv the death has occurred of mary ellen burn core friend bally buffet her remains are opposing at mccoo's chapel of rest funeral leaving there this morning at half past 10 for requiem mass at 11 o'clock in st mary's church at o'neill and term it afterwards in the adjoining churchyard the funeral mass will be streamed live via the parish facebook page wake funeral and burial will be private to family neighbours and close friends only the death has taken place of freddie duncan castle third carragans his remains are reposing at his home removal from there this afternoon at half past one for two o'clock funeral service in monria presbyterian church followed by burial in the family plot in the adjoining graveyard family flowers only please donations and lou in aid of monria national school care of any family member or tarence mclintock funeral director for more details including any family health guidelines for wakes and funerals please go to highland radio dot com at irish life health our benefit plan helps you embrace a healthier lifestyle get up to 250 or back on a mix of benefits like fitness wearables dieticians and sports clubs like your local g a club it's health insurance but not as you know it search irish life health irish life health fact is regulated by the central bank of ireland terms and conditions apply call us to see exactly what's covered with all the stories that matter across the northwest it's greg hughes on the night and noon show on highland radio thanks to kathryn and you are very welcome back and you're keeping us busy today thanks so much for that here's some of your comments so far today the traffic situation in letter kenny at the minute is serious traffic lights on the main roads into town just when people are out trying to do some christmas shopping just sat at poll star round about for eight minutes what are people's opinions on teenage discos going ahead this friday if the before 12 noon uh before 12 noon that'd be some disco wouldn't be before 12 p.m. they're they're perfectly legal so there's no question about legality or what have you nightclubs are opening um i would say most people given the fact that these young people are uh out in school and on buses for 100 percent i presume most people might think it's okay but what do you think oh wait six sixty twenty five thousand michael was on with us earlier and uh we checked on with him and uh he's okay michael you're so brave to speak out i really hope you are not left behind the scheme that you deserve so much more another it's not the country's fault arland is a good country it's the people in charge of it and i think um that's a given you know and margaret's not talking about me or sorry mary her name's mary margaret uh i keep calling margaret my apologies mary's not talking about me or you uh or their neighbours or friends or the people that help with charity or the people that are there if people need them they're talking when she talks of this country it's the country that we live in how it's run um and i think that's an obvious sort of distinction there but thank you for the text uh would have to wonder who the other three flat tenants are paying the rent to yeah indeed but the house could be owned by a liquidator um on behalf of a bank or a cuckoo not a cuckoo fund uh a vulture fund or something i don't know it's an interesting question though greg they're making college teachers available for primary school what about secondary schools that have the very same issue yeah i haven't heard much from the secondary school unions i'm not sure if it's a bigger problem because many of those are uh many of the students in that environment are vaccinated so maybe it's not as big a problem uh a caller says it's better with the traffic lights in strunolo the way it was before it's just more traffic on the roads a bit of patience is needed uh greg armed you the booster vaccination but i had a positive covid test so i won't get it for six months but in the north you can get the booster 28 days after having a positive covid test it's an interesting one but look your antibodies are good in terms of your well-being um there's a lot of information out there that says you know having had it recovered you're getting better protection than a vaccine um so you're okay in that regard uh the north have made a different decision um i don't know um dead wooper swans have been seen in interest this week intensive poultry farms are bad for the environment believes a caller there hi greg you have a mortgage legally the bank owns the property until it's paid off they hold the deeds why aren't the banks up in arms of a mica as it's their property instead of a gainos fighting on their behalf and i understand where people come from when they start getting into ownership and and all that kind of stuff and you know what a mortgage means and who holds it at the end of the day the person who borrowed the money against the property is responsible for it it shouldn't be the case but that's the reality the bank owns the bank i think the the bank certainly holds the right to take ownership of it uh if you default on your payments do they actually legally own the property uh you don't have to ask the bank's permission to sell it do you i don't know um you know as i say a lot of people get into trying to get into the ins and outs of you know what the law actually means but at the end of the day we have to live in the reality that it is us uh that own the houses the banks don't have to worry about it because as well as that the scheme restores their assets to full value they sit around probably laughing at us really probably saying look all those people out there um you know restoring our assets to full value for us hello wondering can you ask if any of your local micah listeners have the same problem i'm trying to contact my engineer to see what is happening i've had no answer or no reply to any phone calls voicemails texts only confirmation we have micah was by a phone call no paperwork and we've already paid four thousand euro uh it's a hell of a lot of money to get no compassion or decency uh or some reply thanks says the caller there another all micah buildings need fixing but it would not be fair if any second homes were done ahead of principal private residents and knowing this country that is exactly what would happen leaving family homes to the back of the queue and i think i uh could say with some confidence if mary was still on she would go no hold on yet private homes first or at least at the same time i don't think anyone would be looking to jump the queue in that regard what guarantee have they got that this wouldn't happen again how will the materials as a result of demolition be disposed of very carefully they'll have to be treated with great care and i just wonder the appetite for contractors when you've got a big demand and you know nice handy new builds down the road and the the dirty job of uh you know clearing a site with uh potentially hazardous waste uh it's going to be uh that's going to be a challenge uh mary made an investment in the second home unluckily it's gone wrong like any investment can she will get her main home rebuilt but should not get more than that she could have simply had a normal pension pot if she wanted to play it safe well i mean a lot of people lost much of their pension pots uh due to um pension funds investing it in the wrong way but i take your point uh that being said how is it unlucky um how is it unlucky that the government the council suppliers whoever has oversight didn't do the job correctly how is that unlucky that doesn't sound like unlucky unlucky would be if the house was struck by lightning and burst into flames and um by chance a monthly payment had been missed and the insurance didn't cover it that's unlucky um investing in a property where you know you pay a premium so that you can be assured it will stand the test of time that's not unlucky that's being failed uh as far as i would see it but listen it's your opinion and you're perfectly entitled to it and many people might share that opinion too by the way i'm not dismissing it just putting a counterpoint there uh hi greg just wondering when work starting on strunaller bridge and what time the bridge will be closed haven't heard about that yet um to be honest with you so i have no answer we can look into it uh for the gentleman who was on the program yesterday looking for a photo of his mom his mother uh caller says he should check did she ever have a passport and be able to get a photo that way yeah okay that's possible but there was a time and this is going back to the 60s that people probably didn't have passports many people didn't have them they didn't travel outside the country very often and if they did it wouldn't be to a place that required a passport but it's certainly something we did have some contact yesterday by the way from distant relations who wanted to get in contact with him so hopefully there's some movement uh in that regard hi greg if you catch someone by cctv on your premises is it true that it is useless if you don't have a warning notice up i don't know i mean it's indisputable is it admissible in court um i'm not sure of what the situation is there and and if you stuck a sign up after the fact who's going to know when the sign was up or down i'm not suggesting anyone would do that but it sounds to me like a particularly gray area i heard michael o'leary complaining that his passengers are unwilling to offset their carbon footprint by paying higher prices for their tickets that's not surprising but michael is happy to put the blame on his customers rather than on ryan air i agree michael ryan air you've got billions in reserve cash reserves spend that money okay on reducing the carbon footprint of your planes come up with new technology invest further in that don't come looking at us the mugs paying every which way breathing the crap comes out of the planes in the air and then paying not to reduce them to offset them which is a load of offsetting them you know how does that really work does that reduce carbon footprint at all because someone plants a tree because you book a plane ticket i don't know someone's going to have to explain the connection between that a bit clearer for me right let me see it's time for bingo 20 past 10 my apologies a little bit late going to the bingo stay where you are we've had loads to come in the last hour and 40 of the show kirin's got to join us after 11 talking business as well with some business news and previewing the highland radio business matters podcast that and so much more besides keep us busy on the phones mikaela 07 49 125 000 uh good luck if you're playing the bingo today uh before we go to that um stay with me because i just want to mention the non-winner winner is bingo draw so even if you played in week 47 48 49 you had no luck you still have a chance to win a 400 400 000 that'd be nice a 400 euro voucher for the malvern hotel group you can book your getaway with malvern hotels in exciting locations across arland and britain and joy four star spacious accommodation and delicious food but anyway split up your books on weeks 47 48 49 write your name and contact details on each of those books please send them into us or drop them into us we throw them in a big box i don't want a situation when we're doing the draw on the 17th of december that we take a book out there's no name or number on it it's so frustrating but get your losing box into us we'll throw them into the hat and one of you will win that great prize um in mid december all right here are the numbers for today though it's time for ncbi bingo on highland radio it's wednesday the 24th of november you're playing on the blue sheet the reference number is s13 it's game number 47 the numbers are 87 20 14 19 4 40 3 48 83 and finally 23 phone your claim to 910 for eight double three before eight tonight leaving your name contact number and the name of the shop where you put your book and we'll call you back the next working day get all your ncbi bingo information at highland radio dot com today's nine till noon show is brought to you in association with ulster tires are your tires ready for winter call into ulster tires in letter kenny and ballet buffet today new this week in home store and more all our christmas table linen is half price time to get christmas ready with festive patterns for the table that is at the heart of every home but better hurry because when all our half price christmas table linen is gone it's gone also all christmas tree lights are still half price but when all our half price christmas tree lights are gone they're definitely gone so order online before 2 p.m. today for next day delivery or drop by your local home store and more home store and more a happy home ramon swinney here from ben swinney ironix to let you know about the great gifts we have this christmas we have fitness trackers from names like carmen samson fitbit and wahee wireless earbuds and headphones from as little as 29 euros the ninja air fryer is a low-fat healthy way to cook your favorite fried foods from fluffy golden chips and crispy chicken wings to roasted vegetables and a great selection of tv's laptops and printers ben swinney ironix or draw letter kenny and the shopping center down low with great present ideas this christmas and great black friday deals in store right now people don't become successful by accident you've got to know what you want so take off your shoes sit down reach no further than your tablet type in scota and you've won smile about doing less while some other guy is doing loads yawn like you've never yawned before smile again about the offers from zero percent then configure your perfect car and fill out the easy online finance application it's never been easier to be successful finance provided by way of higher purchase agreement from volkswagen financial services ireland and subject to lending criteria terms and conditions apply visit scota dot ie for further information your local scota dealer is dmg mortars clarrot donnie galtown telephone zero seven four nine seven two one three nine six store and goes springtown dairy the north of ireland's only temperature controlled smart access individually sized storage units store and go offers storage for personal storage house moves and renovations business storage for excess stock or finding systems once signed up you can access 24 hours a day through an app on your phone gaining access through four levels of security to your most precious possessions call store and go spring town dairy on zero two eight seven one two seven eight nine hundred to discuss your needs and get bespoke advice or get a free quote at store and go dot net the national food waste separation roadshow is at letterkenny shopping center friday 26 of november from 10 a.m to 3 p.m drop in on friday with your aircode and pick up a free kitchen caddy to make food waste separation much easier limited stock when they're gone they're gone more information on mywaste.ie brought to you by the government of ireland milford tiles and wood flooring milford retail park now open large range of wall and floor tiles on display and in stock over 70 different laminate floors to suit every pocket tillers and wood fitters available you're welcome to call in and have a look around milford tiles and wood flooring 08 3 0 9 1 0 7 0 7 christmas is well underway at letterkenny shopping center park for free and get everything you need thank you for shopping with us this christmas letterkenny shopping center bringing you the time at 10 25 notes we mentioned significant disruption is taking place on the main approach routes to Dublin this morning a convoy of trucks have made the way to the city to protest at rising fuel prices some areas shut down altogether others experiencing great delays guardie are advising commuters to plan their journeys now paddy common is a a ireland head of communications he joins us now paddy good morning to you good morning right i mean a lot of people outside of dublin maybe even inside dublin i'm sure can certainly sympathize with those who rely on on fuel to make a living you know because their costs really have to remain somewhat static but their outlay to provide their service goes through the roof um in reality could the government do much to impact on on the price of fuel well i think it's almost entirely in their control to alleviate the pressure currently because as we know 60 of the price that you and i pay at the petrol pumps is tax pure and simple and you know we know from the last budget where there was an increase in carbon tax of 750 which is which you know put up the price of a tank of fuel by one euro 50 and we've been told as well at that last budget that that will increase year upon year by the same amount until 2029 yeah but in reality to make a difference they'd have to slash tax significantly on petrol indies and of course you know that that that has to come from somewhere it ended up going on somewhere else we cannot have that gap in the in the country's finance so realistically whilst it might be in their gift to do so it's never going to happen no i i you know i i think it would be it would be unlikely but i think what's what's happening is is that there is a push to move people towards electric vehicles and that is a very noble push and but at the moment electric cars are expensive you know you're looking at the the cheapest one being in an around 30 000 euro so it's not within the it's not within everyone's remit to be able to move towards that and at the moment i think the the price petrol prices diesel prices are really affecting average motorists yeah i think if prices were half what they are now i probably would try and get myself a 10 year old 3 liter 4 before uh you know i mean so i can understand but at the same time too you know your likes of your taxi operators the haulage industry which really is the lifeline you know for everything that we come to rely on there could be scope could or not if there's certainly no precinct don't think to to make give them a break uh on tax yeah i mean look if you know whatever whatever your thoughts on you know private use there is an argument to allow um for some sort of legislation to allow the haulage association to um to be able to operate a little bit more efficiently now because because they do not have an alternative it's not like they can go riding out and buy electric trucks or hydrogen trucks so there is that difficulty for them at the moment but look in general i think i suppose what what we're doing is highlighting the issue this is the record fuel price that we've recorded since 1991 now obviously you could adjust for inflation 2012 was a particularly expensive year as well but that is not likely to decrease anytime soon now we did see last night that uh joe biden in the us has um has started to mobilize some of their oil reserves and is also calling several other countries like china south korea etc to do so to try and alleviate the pressure how much oil do we use because i think we're talking in the region of 56 million barrels of oil and and that in and of itself is not enough to actually uh you know make any positive inroads in terms of reducing price they really need is it opec to to open open the uh open the supply lines this is really where all of this has stemmed from because um during covid obviously the uh production dropped significantly of oil because there wasn't demand for them and what's happened is that the production hasn't properly ramped up since and the opec countries are hesitant they're also they're hesitant because they also see that covid hasn't gone and they might not um have the demand for it yet so there is a little bit of pressure being put on them to increase their production which will consequently you know relieve the pressure a little bit uh in terms of what we might see because often you know it seems that prices increase very quickly and are very slow to come back down um is there any hope as we head into 2022 that we could see petrol and diesel fall to more uh affordable prices i wonder well well there will what we're seeing at the moment is uh is is the result of the peak which was a couple of weeks ago where it was 85 86 dollars a barrel it's it's come down to around 80 dollars a barrel now we tend to see that it takes about two weeks for any price changes to be reflected in the pump so so we will start to see it coming down uh will it be dramatic no it won't and and the european years we know um it will increase um so so really we're at the mercy of the production uh for now and uh you know hopefully that will that will stable stabilize really i mean if we any real there's no guarantees is there patty that once they get enough people out of petrol and diesel and hybrid cars and into electric cars that that's just not where we'll start seeing all this money lumped on to do you know like i can't imagine a situation whereby there's a sector that will allow everyone to move to electric cars and see any diminishing in their profits even running an electric vehicle when we all switch over to that eventually you know they're going to gouge us on that too well we were already seeing quite an increase i have an electric vehicle and and the price of charging that has obviously started to increase a little bit you know if you go to some of the ionity chargers which are very good but it's still about 20 odd euro to to charge your car fully on that so that's inevitable we'll start inevitably seeing a charge for the church you know the wall box on your house there'll be a different rate of electricity potentially charged for that and and obviously the charging network um will increase accordingly so there's there's no way they're going to lose the revenue that they're losing that they're getting now and once everyone changes over to to evs but but you know hopefully we will have a period where it will be there will be a cost saving just as it relates to the evs i mean i i think now more so than ever there are really attractive cars uh still incredibly expensive but really attractive cars with really good range like so that even someone in living in donningall could realistically perhaps do their day to day business in one of these cars and as i say some of them look absolutely uh gorgeous but the the charging network just i don't know what it's like where you are it simply is not there there would be i think at least one possibly two relatively fast chargers between here and my home 40 50 minutes away and if one other car was using them do you know what i mean you'd be stuck or if they weren't working you'd be stuck when is the as far as you can determine the infrastructure going to catch up with the the dreams that this government have a wonder we are getting there it it does depend on where you are the routes between the likes of dublin cork dublin limerick dublin belfast they are getting an awful lot better on fast charging points some of the so-called hold junction 14 heading down um towards the south is particularly good and we need more of that i i know that you know i have a i have an ex-colleague who um who drives a lot to donningall in a scota enyak ev and he does bemoan the uh the almost total absence of charging points train yeah exactly um but it's uh it's it will get better but look it's not there yet the um but i think what they expect most people to be able to do is charge at home but that doesn't really help if you're going from from cork to donningall um but but look it's improving but not to the pace that we need it to do because there i can look the cars are there i think the cars are there or they're very close to getting there uh the the stick is there beating us into them uh but the infrastructure to permit us to use them or make it practical to use them isn't there and it's the one uh group i.e the government's responsible for two of those things that are contradictory but it is a cultural uh thing as well i i was driving from cork to Dublin the other day in an ev and i was stopped at the ionity charging points in cashel there are four of them which are very good but all four were filled with uh i c e or internal combustion engine cars all inside and mcdonald's having their their lunch so i couldn't charge and they were just parked there they weren't yes okay and they were just parked so yeah they're there that's all frustrating no has to be a cultural change as well in that regard all right listen thanks for your uh thanks for your time i appreciate it greatly take care all right take care of yourself that's uh patty uh patty common there who is a a arland head of communications today's nine till noon show is brought to you in association with ulster tires get your tires winter ready drop in to ulster tires in letter kenny and ballet buffet today buy a ticket buy a ticket in highland radios mega draw to win a car get your ticket by november 30th and automatically enter an extra draw before the big draw big draw one lucky winner will walk away with two thousand euro imagine that's christmas all wrapped up christmas the draw will take place on wednesday december 1st on the nine till noon show nine till noon and you're still in with a chance to win the kia exceed worth over 28 000 euro it's that simple to win that car to get your ticket log on to highland radio dot go highland radio exceeding your expectations if you want to get in shape or stay fit through the winter and beyond you won't want to miss the black friday sale and inish fitness at the waterfront hotel down low where they're giving a whopping 20 percent of all memberships from the 26th to the 30th of november while waiting till christmas to purchase a gift voucher give your loved ones a gift of fitness this year or treat yourself to a healthier you call 07495 22590 inish fitness the future of fitness in west donnie gall brine mcconnick sports and azure main street letter kenny your destination asics advisor looking to go further and faster or maybe some cushioning and support asics gel kiano 28 with added flight foam cushioning to the midsole accompanied with a new and improved stability system new range of asics for men and women in store and online look the part play the part in store online mobile click and collect on bmcsports.ie walk the line with the amazing johnny cash and june carter tribute show cash returns when it comes to the alley theater stirban on friday the third of december if you're a fan of the man in black you simply cannot miss the spectacular night and listen to the ring of fire i walk the line hurt jackson plus loads more this award winning show starts at 8 p.m with the last remaining tickets now available at the box office that's cash returns live at the alley theater stirban friday the third of december the best deals of the year are here mckelhennies black friday mega sales starts tomorrow in store and online mckelhennies.com discover deals with up to 50% off selected women's men's kids clothing in footwear plus amazing jewellery beauty and gift offers so go get what's yours with fast delivery and click and collect at mckelhennies.com the northwest virtual jobs fair will be held on wednesday 24th of november from 10 a.m to 4 p.m this event is hosted by yorez cross border partnership department for social protection and department for communities this event provides an opportunity to learn about the companies and see what vacancies are on offer job vacancies can be applied for by uploading your cv on the day to register for this event log on to www dot cross border job fair dot com right now we're going to take a piece of music but we'll do a couple of comments first it's just four weeks to christmas eve and letter kenny is busy i'd expect a little decency would be in place on parking was out of my car for about eight minutes and got a parking ticket is there no free parking in letter kenny any longer um i thought you got a bit of grace do you know anyway someone will let me know i don't want to mislead anyone by the way don't presume there's any grace period because i said so could you please ask any doctors or politicians why it took exactly 108 days from when Pfizer started producing the records for license to when the FDA licensed the Pfizer vaccine but they want 55 years to produce the information for the public something seriously not right here we know there was no long-term information available but my god 55 years to wait widely reported on national tv that a record 26 000 covid tests were carried out on monday michael martin stated in the doll on monday the 207 000 tests have been carried out in the previous week six one used 26 000 by seven equals 182 no wonder that it said that a week is a long time in politics must be on a eight day week well there are tests that are done publicly so you drive down or your gp refers you um and those are one batch of tests then there are regular tests that take place um in certain settings that happen on a regular basis and then there are tests that are done in hospitals for people maybe who are going for treatment and stuff so there are different sets of figures out there and uh when i imagine when they're talking about certain figures as it relates to referrals or walk-ups for PCR tests that's one set and then you can add on the other um the other tests as well that add into the capacity so that's probably why there are a number of figures floating around out there uh floating around out there built my house in 2019 not moved in yet but i'm told i will not get on the micro scheme because i wasn't living in the house by 2020 use certified blocks where do i stand well the people at the micro action group will help you uh there are a great bunch of people um working together and i can't imagine they wouldn't have advice now it might not be what you want to hear uh but there are going to be exceptions in any use scheme as well that sounds to me like one that should be an exception but as i say contact the micro action group on facebook and i'm sure um someone when they have a chance will be able to help you there and i wonder the covid cases is so high three people out of our house had symptoms we went for a test all came back negative we've never been so sick so i bundled all into the car for a retest yesterday positive result which we already knew all along rang hsc helpline today and they counted from symptoms for starting swat 10 days up we free to go out and about again tomorrow it doesn't matter uh what way this goes the lorries are going to have to be kept on the road and the people are going to have to keep paying but should there not be a break force i mean the i don't think it's only when you see frosty weather um or something like that there uh that we realize how important our lorry drivers are too was in terms of keeping this keeping stuff on the shelves because we operate a what do they call it a right now system or an x-day system or something so in other words what you you you uh by today was delivered yesterday not exactly but around that i would imagine that the government could see their way to um giving a further break for that industry as it relates to the costs because it is such a vital part of this country i'd have thought uh but there must be something some other reason why they can't do that that is uh cold heart elton john and do a leap and pannau as well um we have to take a break coming up afterwards we're going to be speaking to andrew mcginley who's devastated by an rt decision to pull his late late show appearance we've read lots about it we're going to hear it directly from him what the situation is after this short break today's nine-toned show is brought to you in association with ulster tires get your tires ready for winter call in to ulster tires in letter kenny and ballet buffet today they have vacancies that need urgently filled do you require temporary staff for the christmas period have you tried various ways to find new staff but didn't succeed let highland radio help you source and fill your current vacancies in the most cost effective way simply sign up to our new job spot and we will tell our seventy thousand daily listeners about your vacancies every monday wednesday and friday during our prime time shows we will broadcast the latest job opportunities across the northwest and into county's darien toron for more information contact the advertising team on zero seven four nine one two five three double two or email advertising at highland radio dot com highland we are here for you now celebrating at salando the perfect look for your every mood enjoy our cyber week deals with up to seventy percent of streetwear winterwear gifts and more discover all our cyber week deals on salando it's the right price tiles and wood flooring seventy percent off sale get up to seventy percent off on all your purchases up to seventy percent of all tiles all wood flooring all bathware everything's reduced in store the seventy percent off sale at right price tiles and wood flooring stores nationwide sale ends sunday business owners are you wondering what to do for your staff for christmas well kelly centret and letter kenny there's great hampers to suit all budgets with delivery available luxury hampers are a speciality there's also vouchers for kelly's award-winning diner or circle k fuel at the full court get christmas sorted for your staff now by calling kelly centret mountaintop better kenny on name one double two zero two six i am teresa hudson i'm a firefighter advanced paramedic last year saw an increase in fatalities on our roads these are needless and preventable deaths we all share the road however you use it please be careful and keep each other safe together let's save lives on our roads a message from the road safety authority the dublin fire brigade and ungar the chicana beat the cost of brexit and no customs charges do you need a uk address for your limited company or personal use space hub and dairy can provide you with your own virtual office or mailbox have your post and parcels delivered to space up and collected your convenience also brand new 20 foot shipping containers now in stock ideal for all your storage needs at our springtime and comor depots find us on facebook or space of dairy dot com or call 04871 878077 for details highland radio weather updates with national fuels pierce road letter kenny for all your solid fuel needs at the keenest prices 91137400 or national fuels dot ie uh right so rain clearing later this morning followed by sunny spells and scattered showers there is the chance of isolated hail showers feeling cold though throughout the afternoon temperatures five to seven degrees and we'll tell you about the weather for this evening in the last hour now as you may have seen on the front of the papers andrew mcglinley admitted last night he was devastated over rts decision to pull him from a late late show lineup the dad whose children were killed by their mom dirja moorley was dropped following a complaint from a member of the public andrew mcglinley joins us on the program now andrew thanks for joining us i wish we were speaking in different circumstances but it's important i think the people here directly from you the situation and we appreciate you speaking to us now good morning to you and the listeners right thanks for having me on now tell us um you know the arrangement you had with rte what you were going on on to talk about how long was it in the planning andrew um it was it wasn't that long in the planning i think the date was in october that i was due to be on they reached out to me because we were just launching our as darah did charity in memory of one of the children darah and there's three legacy projects so that was um we were planning a launch off that i've spoken to to show about before the raffle raffle take us to when the chance to attend a daniel a don concert so we actually had agreed with the late late show that we would announce daniel on the show that we we weren't telling anybody before that uh so we had to make a lot of changes because we hadn't planned to do the raffle um so we we made all those changes but this this for me is uh it's it shouldn't be about this it's about darah i was being invited on to launch a charity we're a new charity it just keeps darah's name alive i was also going to be chatting about the snowman for carla coloring competition that the independent were helping me out and so i had said to the independent that i would announce that on the show as well so i suppose um the independent had asked me well when are you on and i was going well i don't know and when are you on and so that's kind of why the story broke i suppose uh but everybody i i feel more genuinely devastated for everybody who supported me especially daniel o'Donnell he has just gone above and beyond to do this for a small startup charity that is going to keep a young boy's life you know to keep his memory alive and to help other people and and that's it you know i i presume andrew maybe there had to be a bit of a backstory but it wasn't to go over um the events of the past this was about the future and as you say what you want to do keep your children's uh names alive and in their names help other people as well so you know i presume it would have been a primarily as much as is possible a positive uh segment um you know me i was expecting it to be a very positive conversation um i've i've spoken before about the events of the of of the night and and i don't think we were going to be covering any of that ground uh by the time i i've spoken about the prize because it involves uh louis fissuel hotels and derrick clark from rte doing the the cooking and julie coach is helping us out that would have been my 10 minute slot dawn i it's just a massive blow because we that money i i sort of estimate we could have probably sold about 10 000 raffle tickets on the back of the late late show the biggest show in ireland to be given that opportunity was wonderful it was just we were so excited and then to have it pulled away was devastating and it's not about it's i can't put words in your mind thunder but my feeling is is this is not about you or you feeling that you you were let down what what you've built yourself up to and i presume what helps you get through is these these positive initiatives as dire did etc and it it taints it is is is that what's the upset element of it in a way it'll never be tainted because but i want the world to know that conard darin carly existed that they lived amongst us um the projects that i do were based on promises made to them that i didn't get chance to keep and they mean an awful lot to me i know that it means an awful lot to a lot of their friends at school their teachers or football coaches people who've seen the kids on a daily basis yeah um and it's just it was it should be about the kids i shouldn't be on here chatting to you about somebody writing in it i was going on about the kids legacy project and it should be about them but can i say one thing um andrew that uh from my perspective what i know uh about is um how much your children meant to you how much you love them i know a lot about them from our conversations and your newspaper articles and all of that that you want to do you are achieving i don't hope that doesn't sound patronizing uh because i wouldn't let something like this in any way uh affect what i've learned from listening to you and i think you've done amazing and i think you've made your children and continue to do make them very very proud and this one instant is not going to take away from that and i appreciate this my wife dirger is aware of what i'm doing um the only thing that she has asked is that i do not when i speak about when i speak about mental health or anything else that i don't speak about her personal medical records and i never would so she knows what i'm doing in relation to these projects so i for for somebody else outside of myself and d to object i i i'm devastated i i do know who it is now that did right can you understand their motivation i i i don't set out to upset anybody i wish they had a reached out to me to say that potentially they feel that i that some it could be a painful and traumatic experience for them but the late late show had said to me bring a few people with you i would have said that to those people who wrote in i would have said come with me and if you feel any way upset then it'll be cut out of it i i i don't i'm not here to upset anybody i just want the world to know that connor darin carly existed and and in that right let's not forget you know there's a massive push on to um allow uh roms and dads to talk about their children that have been murdered for example in different cases now i'm talking about do you know what i mean because uh they were not allowed to do so so we understand how it is important now your children were killed i understand that but it's we understand it's not just you there's massive campaigns it's in the door to allow people to speak about the people that they've lost especially children they're precluded by law from doing so so we do understand that that law i actually uh campaigned long and hard to change that that came in about this time last year where there was a banning order on naming uh naming children who had been murdered and um we campaigned long and hard and and that has actually been lifted in most circumstances but i'm still in touch with one or two parents who are still unable to name their children talk about their children and the reason i brought that in is is because that's what this is about they're so important to people oh yeah andrew was a call made to you and says look we've had this letter what your your the father we've had this letter you know can you explain it to us or what do you think we'll give it a bit more context was there any dialogue with you or was it a cold cancellation well i i i got a call to explain that they had received the letter and and as a result the invitation was being withdrawn i i wrote to rte uh to the producer in question and she sent me an email back just putting it in in writing as to why and it talks about how the people who wrote in felt that it could be a painful and traumatic experience and under the broadcasting regulations that they would have um the rte wouldn't set out to cause anybody any any uh trauma or pain and i understand that and as i say i wasn't going on to upset anybody i was going on to to uh primarily i had to be quite honest to thank Daniel O'Donnell publicly for just going above and beyond and Lily Fitzgerald and Derry Clark and Sodexo who were going to be doing the food it was to support a small charity like us was just going to be it was it's a massive gig i i mean obviously we have to read between the lines a little bit but it sets a precedent i wonder you know and how we can discuss things going forward if this is if this is what it takes to get something that i think ultimately would have been a positive thing off the tv and i'm not judging the motivation for whomever wrote the letter but where does this end it could be this could be employed you know for for less honest reasons down the line it i just would be concerned if i'm reading this correctly that it could set a it could set a precedent andrew listen thanks for explaining that to us because people are invested in this story with you uh and and know your children and what they mean to you and what you're trying to do and and the next time we speak we'll focus solely on whatever you want to push and how people can help if that's okay well raffle tickets are still on sale through asdareded.ie all right good stuff uh all right take care of yourself thank you very much indeed all right uh a tough one that's andrew mcginley donagall man of course speaking of his devastation at rte's decision to pull his item from the late late show okay uh right um a caller says that man should not have been stopped on the late late no member of the public is forced to watch the show say no to this censoring okay that's um another comment on that another people need to start treating the electronic charge points as disabled parking spots and you know i was when when we were speaking to our guest earlier and he was talking about people being parked in uh charge points for electric cars how often do you see it now in in regular petrol diesel stations where people fill the car and for fear of being accused of driving off or whatever the reason is is they just leave the car there and go in and you often find a situation where you can't get at the pumps because people are doing the same thing for petrol and diesel cars but perhaps more for well not perhaps certainly more of a problem uh with electric charge points it is the nine till noon show here in highland radio it's 11 o'clock we've a busy hour coming on the program stay with us stay tuned but it's 11 o'clock which means it's time for a news update and we welcome back on to the program kathryn gaffney good morning kathryn good morning greg the head of the hsc says we are now firmly in the midst of the fourth surge of COVID-19 paul reid who is appearing before an iraqtis health committee says the entire health system is under very serious pressure antigen testing will be introduced in schools on monday the education minister has confirmed norah foley says it'll be operational from the 29th and guidance will be made available to schools and parents this week letter kenny university hospital is the most overcrowded hospital in ireland today 49 people were awaiting admission to the hospital this morning according to the inam o the need for a review of the current ambulance service model is back under the spotlight it's been revealed that in the fin valley area while there is just one ambulance crew available no nighttime cover is provided monday to thursday a victim of the mica scandal in dunny gall has been told by the esp that he must leave his premises due to the impact of the crumbling block issue on his property michael shovelyn lives in a two bedroom apartment in the county and notice cracks back in 2009 speaking on today's nine till noon show and emotional michael says he has nowhere to turn to andrew mcginley who was dropped from ortee's late late show line up says he would never set out to intentionally upset anyone the dunny gall man was due to announce plans for a fundraising concert in his children's memory a leading professor believes that air pollution in letter kenny is so bad that he is advising people not to exercise outside in the latter half of the evening last week air quality sensors found that letter kenny was one of a number of towns in the country that had the most particulate air matter in the air and there's pressure on authorities in northern ireland to sanction a fresh inquest into the death of michael lenard the dunny gall man was shot dead by the r u c almost 50 years ago after a car chase close to the firmana and dunny gall border that's it for now we're back with another update for you at 12 now okay katherine we'll be back with more on the show after this break homeland fuel offers keeping you warm for less 40 k g premium doubles or easy flame coal 1699 buy 10 get one free hardwood logs two bags for only 10 euro flow gas 25 pound gas cylinder only 25 euro 99 shop in store or online at homeland dot ie as you start rediscovering northern ireland again we want you to explore with confidence that's why we've introduced that we're good to go industry standard for tourism and hospitality businesses so you know they've agreed to follow covet 19 safety guidelines like social distancing following the recommended cleaning processes and undergoing spot checks so you can enjoy your break to the full look out for the safety symbol for businesses that are good to go northern ireland we're good to go brought to you by tourism northern ireland in partnership with uk national tourism bodies tune in this thursday for all the latest farming news and views straight after the five p.m news brought to you in association with lyford credit union who have recently launched cultivate an agricultural loan at only 6.55 percent apr 6.75 percent call into any of their three offices for more information or to make an appointment lyford credit union raffo newton lyford supporting local farmers visit century complex treat yourself to a tasty meal at backstage bar and grill an exciting movie at century cinemas i'll let the little ones explore century play call us an 07491 21976 or check out our website century cinemas dot e for more information on century complex something exciting is happening at dun stores the dun stores christmas millionaire draw is now on with winners in every store every week for our grand prize one lucky shopper will become our dun stores christmas millionaire winning one million value club card points that you're shopping for the whole year worth 10 000 euro simply come in store and swipe your value club cards to enter swipe and win today with the dun stores christmas millionaire draw terms and conditions apply see dun stores dot com for details just arrived at means of raffa new autumn winter range of men's and ladies diesel clothing men's shirts and pullo shirts up to five excel men's jeans two for 55 euro and black friday special there's 20 percent of ladies diesel hoodies and sweatshirts at means of raffa christmas has come early exclusively here at eye motors drum king and malin why not treat yourself to a new kia or nissan and available the fantastic finance offers available on all two to one vehicles order today and drive away in style in the new year all new orders will be entered into a draw where one lucky winner will win 2000 euros in cash calling today to eye motors drum king and malin i'll call 0749134567 teas and seas apply hi i'm clara and i'm a jewellery box ballerina yeah now with work i'm constantly on my feet literally going in circles so being in a cold house just wound me up the wrong way then the home energy upgrade happened with grants from sea for insulation heat pumps you name it totally transformed the place search sea i home energy upgrade and discover a new world of comfort supported by the government of ireland oh it's fab all right you're welcome back to the program now last week you might remember we spoke to councillor john donnell about concerns of the project the pro and odd project in downings not going ahead because no funding was being set aside in the budget that would obviously not finish it but keep the project going and he spoke quite strongly on this issue so you can imagine he joins us on the program now good morning john good morning greg right so you have got some confirmation that funding has been approved tell us what the funding is how much is and how this helps to keep this project moving in the right direction yeah well look i suppose i got some good news from the chief executive last uh Thursday morning um that the council is going to uh follow on now with the foreshore license application that they're going to fund it uh to make sure that the foreshore license application is complete and also dedicate a team and i probably have one personnel to do a one-to-one with the committee on an ongoing basis to make sure that they keep them up to speed with the application as progresses but also to work alongside that seeking funding from external bodies as well uh difference themes of funding for to be able to deliver the project once when the foreshore license is uh complete so it's a good news story for councillors and for the committee as i said on your show a number of weeks ago it was very first written so i'm delighted that we're coming on today with a bit of good news yeah and as i said this this is not funding that will finish it uh by any stretch because that's a different project in terms of of actually getting the funding for it but it keeps it moving forward yeah it keeps it alive keeps it moving forward and for all projects that they need to be shoveled ready before you can apply for funding so this is the final piece of the jigsaw to get it shoveled ready and again the team that's been uh dedicated to this now will also be looking at external sources as well for to be able to get funding uh for the foreshore license is complete so um it's just something i suppose that uh as i said before that the people in downings have put a lot of time and effort into and to be to hear this news and a bit for me to get to give them the phone call uh on thursday that we're absolutely delayed at the committee so we'll just keep working uh what's that now Greg over the coming months and hopefully keep trying fast track it because i'm sure you've heard there's a lot of good news for downings lately with the the greenway the cycleway walkway as well the plan and permission has been granted there as well for the link between carry out and downings uh which in a number of years and i've been calling for since the day and hour that i went into the council so another good new story coming this weekend then as well they also have received the funding as well for the new toilet block and water activity centre down there as well on the entrance to the beach so it's it's all going in the right direction thank god and all these projects when completed and hopefully the boardwalk does end up being completed they all um complement each other obviously exactly the right work to use the complement one and other number one but number two as well you know see for facilities and amenities to have them like that on your area it attracts more people as well to come into the area you know and that'll leave downings a place to be and that has come on an awful long way downings in the last 10 years on a tourism spectrum but i think we do need to work harder as a local authority to mature that our facilities are up to standard and that we you know provide good recreation facilities when people are in the area all right thanks for your time this morning counsellor john old donnell there more of your comments here hi greg everywhere it was advertised that andrew mcginley was going to be on uh the late late show at 845 i saw a tweet to say andrew got shafted i'm shocked that a member of the public complained at first i thought he got replaced with other donnell families that were in doubling for the michael march that comes in from kevin the michael march predated uh his um scheduled appearance i believe hi greg who's the person who wrote this letter and by their actions stopped this guest they didn't have to watch the late late show surely it's this man's decision who he talks to he's been through enough give him the freedom to speak as he pleases sounds like he's doing amazing work after the tragedy he's had in his life now i don't know um who wrote in okay but i suspect that they are closely connected to this in terms of emotionally connected to it uh and and and you know maybe they have their own way of dealing with um an unspeakable tragedy um such as it is i i would i don't think if i if i'm reading this correctly that their motivations were to silence someone i would imagine they might have been quite genuine in how they feel and how it might have made them feel um so i would consider that a little bit as well but i take your point wildly widely um would the ban the news because it can be fain painful to watch the late late show some context same context um i'm not sure what that means but thanks for the text um if you're on remelton main street to be aware uh we're being told there is an oil spill okay so in a breaking situation that uh that particularly can be problematic so oil spill on remelton main street another caller says whilst i understand peat bogs uh great to take carbon from the air and great for an area for wildlife but many people lived very long lives in the past with peat heated in ranges or large fireplaces i understand what you're saying statistically though and this is not to contradict your point if you have a look at life expectancy now versus 20 or 30 years ago it really is actually quite shocking how it's changed and many people who are looking forward to 20 or 30 years of life with good health hopefully would be coming towards the end of theirs um going back um a number of generations it's worth looking at uh hall ears already get a rebate if everyone uh if everyone moved over to electric where does the tax come from um yeah i did say extend the rebate um just because there's there's such an important service if we didn't have lorries on the road we wouldn't have an awful lot of stuff uh that's a fact um electric there's there's tons of tax comes from electric it's you know you don't don't charge you charge your car for free if you charge it at home uh you're using more electricity and you're paying a lot of tax on that electricity if you charge it at one of the roadside places um we heard from our guests earlier cost 20 quid you can be sure a lot of that is tax so you know they're they're um everyone driving electric car doesn't mean they don't make tax they just might not make as much tax through petrol and diesel but listen that's what the point i was trying to make they're not going to leave a hole in the coffers if everyone switches to electric it'll just come to a certain price the people that are going to make savings are the early adapters because when everyone switches they're going to go to that too hi greg people still have weddings they're inviting people uh do they have a conscience as the covid numbers are matters it only uh for self gain says john well john they're perfectly entitled to have the weddings it's within the regulations uh a lot most of the guests probably 94 percent of them will be vaccinated or children um and there'll be there's guidelines there i mean i don't see them doing anything morally wrong they're they're getting married a lot of those people have been delaying their weddings for two or three years listen you know never continues continues to continues to blame us right we're doing everything we can that wedding you can be sure that they are going through um moving heaven and earth to make sure it's as safe as is possible but where are the air purifiers in our schools for example where are the antigen tests that they have in other countries you know we're doing all but we continue to do it but you know like we need to stop pointing fingers at each other and maybe point them to doblin and say well are you guys doing enough you know are you doing enough uh nephits also has a role to play in increasing bed capacity increasing staff numbers have they done enough you know we've we've done a lot and we continue to do a lot have they done enough uh so to say i would look more to nephit and the department of health and the hsc than i would at a couple getting married to be honest with you today's nine till noon show is brought to you in association with ulster tires winter is coming get your tires winter ready call into ulster tires in letter kenny and bally buffet today if you're aged 60 to 69 you will soon be offered a covet 19 vaccine booster dose this is because cases are starting to increase in this age group your booster dose will give you the best possible protection against serious illness from covet 19 you should get it around six months after your last covet 19 vaccine when it's time for your vaccination center appointment you will receive a text message from the hsc for more information visit hsc dot ie or call hsc live on 1800 700 700 from the hsc transformed into gallery quality art at mcgee's chemist photo lab this christmas send a gift of art on canvas have your choice of photo blown up to a gallery size canvas print from as little as 44 95 you can upload online or drop into our main street store treat your loved ones this christmas mcgee's photo lab canvas prints check us out on facebook and online at mcgee's dot ie parking in the multi-story car park behind dylan's hotel at tesco nothing's stopping us this christmas try our tesco finest irish hole and half leg of lamb now half price or stock up on tesco irish potatoes one kg 49 cent and tesco lemon and lime five pack 89 cent and get ready to party with o'Donnell's crinkle-cut crisps 125 gram and seven up zero two liter and more five for five euro book your christmas home delivery or click and collect now at tesco dot ie tesco every little helps the groom's room is now open and taking bookings for all you grooms getting married contact us at evolve clothing let it any retail car candles lanterns christmas trees decorations and all types of lights everything you need for christmas experience the magic of christmas at coonies our biggest and best christmas shop has outstanding value on lights and trees there really is something for everyone at coonies letter candy retail park don't miss the crazy black friday deals right now at watson hire in ever candy up to 70 percent of the recommended retail price on hand and power tools paint homeware clothing and much more many are a clearance prices that won't be repeated loads of great present ideas now reduced that's amazing black friday deals right now at watson hire kill toy letter candy visit watsonhire dot ie or see facebook for daily offers if you're aged 60 to 69 you will soon be offered a covid 19 vaccine booster dose covid 19 vaccines offer protection from serious illness but this may weaken over time the booster is recommended to give you the best possible protection when it's time for your vaccination center appointment you will receive a text message from the hsc it's very important to take up your booster appointment for more information visit hsc dot ie or call hsc live on 1800 700 700 from the hsc be properly prepared for a donnie gall winter and the odd parkot with a visit to wet and wild wet and wild are a local family business fully stocked with stoves gas head torches flasks hydration bottles sleeping bags folding beds pocket knives marino socks wellies gloves and hats smile this winter with a visit to wet and wild at leady kenny shopping center we're already dreaming about the festive season so why not make a start park for free and enjoy your christmas shopping this year letter kenny shopping center bringing you the time at the time is 11 17 some of your comments here i passed granola bridge at 7 30 p.m last night it was one way uh traffic one side all dug up guessing they're only doing work at night thank you for that another aeroplanes a huge pollution to the planet no one telling us that well i think sometimes the aviation industry's contribution is uh over amplified to be honest with you and you know if you take a screenshot of lob london or doblin and you see all these yellow you know on flight radar or something and you see all these yellow planes the reality is the fact is and these are in disputed facts that the aviation industry in its total produces about two percent of man-made sort of co2 problems and in terms of transport in total uh aeroplanes the aviation industry contributes about 12 percent now we might view aeroplanes as you know if we can get to go on holiday or to visit a relation but in a lot of countries america and elsewhere you know they are transport you know the transport from one place to another for just regular business hop on hop off almost and i suppose when in that context you know when they're contributing 12 percent overall uh cars are 74 percent it's not really that much is it uh and i think as i say sometimes there's an over focus on it two percent of all sort of co2 bad co2 man-made comes from the aviation aviation industry and much of that traffic is not holidays as well it's as i say people commuting but also um transport and you know shopping goods all that kind of stuff as well so it's two percent overall and it's 12 percent in terms of traffic which is not i don't know is that as much for as little or did you know maybe you knew it already but anyway all right now wellness wednesday our guest is kevin dunleavy we're speaking about giving back uh kevin does that good morning kevin good morning great uh it's great to have you uh with us right tell us a little bit about uh yourself and uh uh your involvement with the volunteer driver service like why did you decide to get involved kevin at what stage of your sort of life were you at and you thought right this is what uh this is what i want to do uh yeah that's the uh that's the ills cancer society volunteer driver service uh yeah i got involved uh last year the beginning of 2020 when the pandemic hit uh i had a call going out for drivers because the older drivers had to uh have to use that terrible word cocoon that was the word they were using at the time so they couldn't uh they were a bit short of drivers and i thought why not and uh i looked up how to do it actually the first people i got in touch with was uh the volunteer center letter kenny through them i you know they put me in touch with the irish cancer society and uh so yeah i thought why not do it it was uh something good to give to the community and uh i had the time to do it and you were like five k restriction what five k restriction for yeah well when we were down to the five k restriction it was great for me when it did start driving because i could get out and about you know and uh you know my wife was fed up with me cooking all the dinners at home so i thought well let her cook for a change so i got out and about you know and um were you nervous about it had you done professional have you done driving before or anything sort of where you you sort of work with the public you sort of have to chat and all that kind of stuff is that something that you had in your any previous careers kevin well i suppose i've always been able to chat a bit uh but no i wasn't really because i was uh you know the irish cancer society they put me at ease they put you at ease when they talked to you about what's involved in the driving and i know there's different times now with the covid we just the the person that drives sits in the backseat on the passenger side and we both wear masks in the car so no i don't uh i don't go into the hospital or anything like that so no i i wasn't really concerned about and when you were sort of out and about uh with your volunteer driving did you find yourself doing other stuff for other people as well because of course you were quite mobile around the country where people saying look could you do this for me could you do that for me kevin is that well it was yeah there was a few times people found out that i you know i was going to let her kenny or going to fly go and oh could you pick up a park for me tractor or there was different bits and pieces that obviously things they couldn't get locally and they couldn't travel really outside their 5k limit or whatever yeah i did there was a few occasions where i was uh i was chauffeuring bits and pieces around in the bit of the car yeah and it sounds like you were happy to contribute to help oh absolutely it's very satisfying and uh and the reason we're speaking yeah and the reason we're speaking to you and the reason we're speaking to kevin is that uh volunteer drivers are required for the irish cancer society and we're going to explain a little bit later on how you can get involved what we're trying to give you an insight into to uh what the role involves so how um often do you i presume it depends on availability um kevin but you know how often are you on the road how often do you help out what's that your average week for example well for me personally um you know if i'm free you didn't nothing going on i put my name down for a drive we get a we get an email every day with all the drives all over ireland so obviously i'll only be doing drives and done it all so um yeah if i'm available on a day i'd say i'm available for that drive or whatever uh no when you do sign up to be a driver they would expect you to do two drives a month we only drive on weekends don't drive at weekends so uh two days a month is what uh what would be expected of you if you sign up and is it from someone's house to the hospital from hospital to hospital what kind of journeys do you be doing kevin yeah it's it's people who are undergoing chemotherapy so we pick up the person at their house we'll be given the time to pick them up and uh drop them at the hospital and then uh expect a call from them when they're finished uh or from the nursing hospital to pick them up when they're ready and drop them back at home now you just want one drive in a day and you're talking to people uh and everyone deals with things differently kevin but you're talking to people too at a a very important part of their lives is there i don't know if the word would be on there or is there something special about being a part of of such an important part of another person's life um as opposed as opposed you do feel good at the end of the day when you drop somebody home after a successful drive uh that you know people themselves are so positive everybody that i've driven is so positive about their uh they don't actually talk much about their treatment we talk about everything else apart from treatment usually so it's it's very you know i've met some great characters and and uh during the drives and uh and continue to do so even you know if you get a new drive uh the people are great they have all sorts of interests as i have as well so i can talk to them about that so it's great great for them as well yeah and good for you too and not just you because for whoever whomever is involved in volunteer driving with the Irish Cancer Society or whoever is thinking about doing it you know it's like any form of volunteer in kevin the person who's volunteering gets a lot back themselves too absolutely absolutely uh yeah as i said the positivity of the people i drive and uh you know some of the great stories and great yarns we would have and you know i've actually even uh people are so happy to people are first of all very happy that they have a driver uh it's not everybody that's uh going through cancer treatment know that there is that service available to uh to them that they can be picked up from home and uh but and when they when they do then find out about that service it's very relieving for them because for example i will call the person i'll get my booking and i'll call them two days before the drive and so you know they're at ease that they know there's somebody coming to pick them up take them to the hospital and take them back back because uh you know depending on their treatment they might be well enough to drive but i think they're recommended not to drive on the day of chemotherapy anyway so yeah and it's just another thing you know it's a thing they don't have to worry about as well it's just something uh you know they've got their mind focused in other areas use fix that for them that that one worry about transport they don't have to worry about that that's right i say because they're family they may have family members but they have to go to work and they have to you know they have lives to live as well so it's just nice uh it's nice to be able to give them that that uh peace of mind now in practical terms um you know uh you use your own vehicle it has to be obviously a fully compliant with the road road regulations and what have you watched the story there kevin yeah it's lovely you have to have a road worthy car and obviously you know insured and the nct tested and you know just a safe car to drive and uh yeah that's all you need and do you have to inform your insurance company that you're doing this or yes i did inform insurance company and they uh they said that is fine just once i informed them i didn't cost me anything extra just as long as i informed them i do that they were quite happy with that and you have to have your license obviously in place your insurance your nct um and um in terms of the fuel costs because obviously some people might want to do this but they're on the you know they're on the line themselves um does the Irish Cancer Society cover the fuel costs yeah they do they'll cover the fuel costs and uh if you have to wait a few hours which the waiting time can be different for everybody but they'll give you a substantive for something to eat as well while you're waiting you know so uh yeah it's covered that way so because the Irish Cancer Society they you know they only get three percent of their income from the government believe it or not so they depend on donations everything else for but a lot of people too and kevin well you know a lot of people uh a lot of people in this county particularly you know there's lots of of causes and people looking for assistance and they don't have the money themselves necessarily to spare to contribute and it's things like this that you can do if you want to but you know you don't have the spare cash to sort of be able to donate here and there this is a donation uh mostly of your time and it's a very very significant donation that and and you know that anyone uh who who has the vehicle in the time can do exactly exactly it's uh then there you know there are lots of volunteer organizations throughout Donegal throughout Ireland but this is one I just felt that it was uh I was uh suited for if you might say that and it just got me out and about and you know I've since I started it I've been all over the best county in Ireland Donegal so and and just loved being out and about and doing something good at the same time yeah you really are and I'm sure we bonds are formed as well too if you happen to to to regularly pick people up kevin oh absolutely absolutely and it's uh you know it's uh well we have some great fun in the car with different people I've actually had one uh gentleman uh we talk to love music as I do as well and uh on the way back from letter kenny to home uh we but we sang a song each in the car car is that carpool karaoke your your own version of it you could call it that yeah it's a good job it wasn't recorded though oh come on it would be brilliant if it was recorded it sounds fantastic uh uh kevin so you've got a lot out of this and the reason you know as I say it's about in uh the it's about encouraging others if it suits them to get involved in this and it's clear that uh you're getting you're getting quite a big back from this as well kevin and how you feel and and what you feel that you're doing absolutely and uh yeah dunny gall we're we're short there are short of drivers now in dunny gall especially the coastal area around dunny gall and around the letter kenny area as well uh basically anywhere in dunny gall and if people want to to tell you where they can get and yeah go ahead and do that and I'll remind at the end as well yeah there's um the easiest way to get in touch is just go online and go on to uh cancer dot ie and uh volunteer so they'll get you'll get all the details there or drop them an email volunteer at irishcancer dot ie and the minimum really is you know two days uh two uh mid week um two week that's exactly I couldn't think of the term two week days a month that's that's what they would like you to do yeah obviously uh you can do more I mean as opposed since I started I've probably done an average of one drive a week since I started so yeah that was May 2020 so yeah probably done over 80 drives this day brilliant well done it's fantastic um and again it's sort of like people don't maybe not even realize it's going on it's a brilliant thing fair play to kevin yeah there's also another thing a lot of people uh don't realize maybe that that service is available and people can call if you have any concerns about cancer or the driving just call that free number 1 800 200 700 that's now that's more for the people who have any questions about cancer that's okay kevin listen a brilliant advocate for for the society and for the service I appreciate it I'll recap for people but it's a big thumbs up for you you'd strongly recommend it thank you very much I would indeed it's a very satisfying thing to do okay fantastic lovely to speak to your lovely man there obviously kevin done leavey he's involved now since 2020 with the volunteer driving service driver service with the Irish cancer society because as we know um it eases the strain of travel on cancer patients many often find it hard to get to hospital because of transportation costs or they might not be feeling well enough to drive themselves because of their treatment or maybe they don't want to be impacting on everybody's lives around them some people sort of want to be able to do much of this themselves for whatever is needed volunteers need to be available for two week days uh two full weekdays each month have a road worthy car a valid driving license insurance and nct the service is completely free for patients and volunteers receive money from the Irish cancer society to pay for their fuel costs roll tolls where it's applicable not as much up this part of the world and there's an allowance for food while waiting on the patient and they say that more than ever in Donegal now they urgently need to recruit more volunteer drivers so they can continue to provide this incredibly important service to anyone who might need it so they're encouraging anyone who may meet the requirements or to volunteer to get in touch with them and how do you do so again you go onto their website www.cancer.ie forward slash volunteer-driver.service but there'll be a link there for you to follow or email volunteer at irishcancer.ie and if you want to contact the support line this is not now to volunteer but this is just in case you have any questions or concerns or you need someone to talk to as it relates to cancer 1-800-200-700 and hopefully and I'm sure that at least one person listening to this today will go you know what Kevin's doing that I can do that and I really hope that's the case because it's amazing this is the real art and this is what we do we help each other you know and I didn't know Kevin did that he batters away at that like many many others do and that is the real community real care for each other today's 9 till noon show is brought to you in association with Ulster tires are your tires ready for winter call into ulster tires in letter kenny and ballet buffet today my name is rossin galler and i am an mcbi radio bingo winner thank you rossin and all our bingo players for supporting the national council for the blind when you're in you can win start playing today visit highland radio.com for more information concerts are back join me david james for a night of the stars in concert on thursday the second of december in the strand hotel bali liffen featuring robert missel patrick feeney trudy lala jim divine and shonam extravix tickets 20 euros available from hotel reception or by phone in 0749376107 and night of the stars in concert thursday the second of december the strand hotel bali liffen in this week's ortee guide dig out your christmas jumper as we chat with ryan ahead of the late late toy show in his new series my bungalow bliss huwallis helps owners transform their humble single stories plus your free christmas gift guide with ideas for everyone on your list everything and more ortee guide on sale now new this week in home store and more all our christmas table linen is half price time to get christmas ready with festive patterns for the table that is at the heart of every home but better hurry because when all our half price christmas table linen is gone it's gone also all christmas tree lights are still half price but when all our half price christmas tree lights are gone they're definitely gone so order online before 2 p.m. today for next day delivery or drop by your local home store and more home store and more a happy home at kunis we have quality suites chairs tables beds and mattresses all at fantastic value if you see it you can buy it and we'll deliver to your door and time for christmas call into kunis at letter kenny retail park the day has finally arrived some say the most important one of the year tesco's christmas home delivery and free click and collect slots are now open to book this christmas nothing stopping us so give yourself a little help this year and book yours today at tesco dot e book early slots will be going faster than well santa sleigh and christmas eve tesco every little helps at boots our biggest ever black friday event is now on with a whole month packed full of amazing deals this week get better than half price savings on big electrical brands like oral b and brawn plus many more offers available now in store and online boots bags of joy selective stores offers end 30th november see boots that i e for details join us in dunigaltown this christmas for a special christmas extravaganza 100 plus boutique stores discount score late opening capture the festive atmosphere at the dunigaltown shopping spree friday the third and saturday the fourth of december business matters in association with the ly it faculty of business do you want to learn how to tap into unprecedented opportunities in the food and drink industry then join our higher diploma in food product innovation and enterprise this course is 100 online and co-funded by dunigalt local enterprise office visit ly it dot e for more information it is wednesday which means how to really your business matters podcast is out it's available for you right now its presenter is kirin or donald just a reminder for you by the way that you can watch this program three hours per day midweek uh on our facebook page highland radio news and sport or highland uh hob or on youtube highland radio arland and you can interact with us there as many if you have uh good morning to uh sharon dj uh audrey unan uh sarah annie patrick and uh all the rest of you uh commenting and interacting with us and you get to look at kirin or donald i was so sorry about that but anyway sure it was all going well and so it's only once we for ten minutes craig don't worry look at you every day for three years a lot of people i keep the camera off myself just possible right now okay i don't atlantic technological university yes no joke hey pull the first next year tell us about how you refer into the data as well yesterday yeah litterkenny institute of technology along along with his partners gmit and it sligo will be known as atlantic technological university as of april the first 2022 so this name was chosen following an independent process of engagement by marketing and brand consultant company mccan who conduct the service and online consultation with staff students and stakeholders across the region and nicely so this new t u greg will offer almost 600 academic programs from pre degree to doctoral level to a student population of 20 000 plus students supported by over 2200 staff so litterkenny or the lbt is two campuses obviously one here one in kelly bags and there's over 5000 students this year and it's intake and it has an increase of 43 percent around summer yesterday over the last seven years and it could probably be known more companies at you want something about what happens it's nice it's nice it is what it is it's that atlantic technological at university it is where it is isn't it right now cancel supports for businesses during decovid yeah a total of 23.3 million euro was paid out to dunagore businesses through the covet 19 business restart grants in 2020 that's according to an audit of dunagore county council for the year ended december the 31st last right pay rise on the cards for local councillors it's a contra a controversial one uh this uh there are some big uh you know advocates for this it's a tough and a fall job they're get around 18 grand i think at the moment a lot of people do it as a full-time job uh others don't but what's the news anyway yeah dunagore's 37 credit counters will get a pay raise as you say of 8 000 euro next year so their pay break for serving on the council is known as representational payment and it will increase from 18 707 euro per year to just over 26 000 euro per year what do you do it you need that in a whole lot more than a month i think it's i think it's a quite a thankless job at times and i think uh i'm a i'm a big believer and a big supporter of democracy and sometimes if people feel that they're not happy or they think that they can change or do something better there's always the option of putting themselves before the people yeah for sure new jobs for good or yeah oco global which has offices in dublin and belfast is set to recruit trade and investment investment analysts at the g-tech hub in good or so the international trade investment consultant for plans to establish a base in dunagore to facilitate its continued expansion into the irish market and the move will see the company operate from g-tech hub in good or which is part of a network of rural digital hubs run by udris now guilty of that so good good news there for good or for sure now local sports clubs there's um relatively low range you know per application but a significant fund nonetheless it will certainly take some boxes for some kieran very much it's just the last caller greg dunagore sports clubs community groups and sports volunteers have an opportunity to avail of government funding being allocated under the sport irons let's get back campaign so online applications will close tomorrow thursday november the 26th and the fund is right 25th and the funding amounts will range from 100 to 1500 euro yeah and detail is active dunagore dot com and yeah as you say look small amounts greg mean a whole lot to to to to to to to to community groups and sports clubs so if there's uh if there's an option there for for for clubs to sort of uh get out of help that they should check it out the money's there uh and and each club is as entitled as the next to apply for it right you know i think sometimes us moving online uh and lockdown um has uh just really been um shook the monetary for cyber criminals um and we talk about it individually and your bank account and someone might have 300 quid and it's emptied out and it's it's huge but this is a huge huge business for these uh criminals yeah cyber crime costs the Irish economy 9.6 million euro and 2020 and that's according billion sorry billion uh that's according to new research by Grant Thornton so ransomware attacks alone and the cost of fixing them amounted for two billion euro of that total with computer verges according for 1.3 billion and fishing 1 billion so overall the story claims that there was a 50 increase in online crime in early 2020 and you can see how they adapt why they want to make it so clever how they come up with the technology to get that text into your into your AIB or Bank of Ireland or also bank thread you can see how they have the time and money to invest in how to extort companies and all that kind of stuff this is big big money Greg you've discussed this a number of times and I've had a couple of guests on my show and that's what they specialize in but I was really taken back by your uh uh Gerda you're the grandeur yeah I mean she did all the right things she didn't take any chances and and and her account and her affairs weren't the fair both and taken out so it's just shows you um how specialized and how advanced they are you know for sure it's worrying we have to be on our guard right we're in conversation with Kieran O'Donnell he is the producer and presenter of the business matters podcast it's available for you right now on our website and on Spotify and iTunes we're gonna be previewing what's coming up on the show after we take this short break today's 9 till noon show is brought to you in association with Ulster tires winter is coming get your tires winter ready call in to Ulster tires in letter kenny and ballet buffet today do you need a little extra help staying in your home at bluebird care we offer a wide variety of qmark approved personalized home care services across dunnegall and are fully trained and committed staff will always meet your care needs with kindness compassion and dignity to get your personal home care assessment plan visit bluebirdcare.ie or call our care team today on 07491 29562 and bring care home at aldi we've got hundreds of passionate 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but only while stocks last letter kenny driving range where the real golfers go every home needs that's something special at max light lighting that's exactly what we can do for your home high quality stylish interior lighting and illuminated mirrors at exceptional value see max light dot ie or call into kellan electrical in letter kenny retail park and see a selection of our lights that will give your home that wow factor highland radio weather updates with national fuels letter kenny for a keen price on your home heating oil call national fuels on 9137 400 so a mix of sunny spells and scattered showers today feeling cold with afternoon temperatures of five to seven degrees in light to moderate northwest winds and increasing strong at times on coast now tonight there'll be clear spells and a good deal of dry weather uh those scattered showers will feed in from the north another cold night temperatures zero to three degrees generally though will be less cold near coasts with temperatures four or five degrees but uh your reward for living near those coasts warmer temperatures but stronger winds moderate to fresh uh north westerly in direction we're in studio with uh kiran old donnell uh business matters podcast as we said to you online for you right now it'll be on air for you on sunday we'll remind you about that a little later on so what's coming up in the program this week kiran yes great my guest this week on business matters is john woolley bignolte from balba fae who set up jw bignolte painting and decorators limited in the 70s in donnelly gall having served his time as an apprentice painter in coventry so that when the family business is now headed up by john woolley's son patrick john woolley is still involved in a consulting capacity the honorary president of the master painters and decorators of ireland since 2006 john woolley is famously known as the donnelly gall man who painted co-park so john woolley recalled how he got the contract to paint jay's headquarters i had done a project in dublin uh our ladies hospice was the first project that i had done for uh the biggest construction company in ireland which is sus and they won a building award for it and we happened to be one of their subcontractors in the finish and trade and they were delighted with what my people had done so the project manager there went to crow park and he nearly insisted that he brought us with him so and the proof of the pudding is we're still working for them 40 years down the road you know in that sense but uh yeah that that that kind of that that got it off the ground uh i have i suppose i'm around now i'm double in circles as the man that painted pro park you know and uh as a donnelly gall man it's a it's uh yeah it's a great thing and and and to be more of a soccer man than a gaelic man it yeah it was quite unique in that sense quite the admittance there is it's more of a maybe a more of a finne horror supporter than the other but anyway listen uh that's another one of these stories that's about business but it's about the person behind the business as well and that is uh he is a very interesting character interesting person kieran yeah look he went over to to england when he was a teenager and he worked with one of the leading companies and carpentry and when he came back he saw how things were done well and he wanted to to do the same thing when he came back to his own country basically started out small earned a very good reputation and look he's still going he's still uh and in good shape he's up every every morning he's telling me at seven o'clock up in finne valley gym and he keeps active and look he's he's had a he's had a good life workways and uh he's handed on now to to his son patrick and uh he's still there as he says and a consultant capacity to keep any company going for 40 odd years his summer chief and yeah i suppose he's extremely passionate about his trade and that was the one thing that struck me and uh you know he's going to give him talks into into young people and he's a huge supporter and advocate of the apprentice uh process and uh you know he he he was very inspiring and i'm sure he'd been a great man to walk for listening to him and uh the one thing he said for the many people that he that he had worked for him and he had a list actually of of those people that he had written down um when i talked to him um they all had very much uh mutual respect for for each other he trusted them they trusted him and i think that was one of the main reasons that uh john's business has been successful yeah another huge success story and uh it's not just the company it's the the person behind the company that's uh uh john willy mcnulty the full interview available uh as part of that podcast right now uh you can get it on our website highlandradio.com and on Spotify and iTunes there if you subscribe in the full back catalogue you must be pushing 70 at this stage if not beyond next week we'll be 70 yeah 70 next uh next week they're all there available for you to listen back on and if you want to listen to it as a scheduled program on the radio kiran yeah after the six o'clock news on sunday evening and if anyone wants to get in contact with you yeah just drop an email please buzzersmatters at highlandradio.com all right great stuff and it's great to get these stories on the record as well kiran as always uh tata for now thank you very much for joining us good morning great thank you all right kiran old Donald there website highlandradio.com Spotify iTunes it's all there for you right now uh some of your comments as we had towards the last 10 minutes of today's program Greg you're right we irish people need to stop blaming one another and call out the ones who were not doing enough indeed be accountable you know uh everyone needs to be accountable i think we've been accountable us as a as a population hi Greg just listening to your show here and listening to andrew mcnulty and it's heartbreaking to hear what this man has gone through his family were ripped away from him and his only platform to highlight this fundraiser to tens and hundreds of thousands of people has been ripped away i can read between the lines and know that it's obviously someone very close to the tragedy however to deny this opportunity is terrible like he said have they come to him he would have invited them to come along and if anything was painful he would edit it out my feeling is they don't want to look uh they don't want to look a certain way on one of the biggest tv shows of the year um it's an irish taboo they say personally i'll not be watching the late late and if you have any feeling for andrew and what he went through you will boycott it also yeah okay i get you into a tough decision all around there good morning Greg well done on saying that we the people have all done our bit now let the government step up and protect our schools and hospitals etc another what is the man talking about weddings we have to stop this nonsense about vaxed versus unvaxed he wasn't talking about vaxed or not i was mentioned that uh to to point out that i would imagine that anyone organizing a wedding is conscious of that now and if people are unvaxed maybe they do antidepress i don't know what the story is but i know they're i'm confident that no one's organizing a wedding now to tear up the rule book and throw caution to the wind they're operating and doing what they are doing within the guidelines within the laws uh but this caller goes on to say that the science shows no difference in viral load uh both catch and spread that's not strictly true either and and you know there's big differences between uh how long you have the viral load when it peaks how likely you are to catch it versus how you pass it on you are quoting a study there which was focused on homes where close contacts of people uh were vaxed and unvaxed in a close contact sleeping beside someone for example it doesn't work that study in the real world i'm not contradicting you but i just think when we are talking about this we have to need to know what we're talking specifically about and that was a study that was done specifically in homes but this caller then goes on to stay uh to stop the divide i wonder why they want to wait 55 years to produce results they say there's so much paperwork and there's so few people to work on it that they would do five or six hundred documents a week or a month or something and that's how it would take 55 years uh because there's so few of them to do it you know uh whether it's to hide stuff or not people will make up their own minds but they say it's a workload situation greg in my humble opinion the wearing a face covering should become pulsory indoors a lot of people have become very complacent about wearing masks and i think it's a major way out of the pandemic it is what the uh nephits say is one of the core uh one of the core um barriers we have and it's quite simply this if i have cold and it's not much more complicated than this if i've got covid right the stuff comes out of my nose and my mouth and if i'm speaking to kieran there and he's next to me and i'm confident spottering or just chatting away i'm spitting this stuff out and he's inhaling it's pretty disgusting but that's the the reality for the time i would have to which is very limited wear a mask it just keeps that spit and snotters uh and as i said i'm not being disgusting but that's what it comes down to in my space and not out there it's pretty basic but look and some people see wearing a mask like wearing a dog collar or a saddle or or or chain a ball and chain i see we're in doblin a chunk of public land has been gifted to private developers with the help of fina for finnegale green party labor and perhaps some independence are we really surprised at the crazy price of housing and rental they say more of your comments um coming in thank you for those uh i can't understand the government said if you're at a disco before 12 noon you won't get covid but after 12 you will a load of crap even tony hulens admitted that that's not going to make much difference in and of itself they think it'll discourage some people from going to discos change the public mindset it's not it's never really been about you know reducing people's interactions it's to change people's uh habits they go right so they're they're closing pubs at 12 i'll not go to that christmas party or they're closing pubs at 12 you know i'm gonna cancel that booking we had down in go away that's what happens you know it's clearly it doesn't take a brain surgeon to work out i presume brain surgeons are pretty clever it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that they're gonna have the nightclubs earlier it's the same thing it's about changing mindset i suppose in 2021 arland had two anti i think this is saying two is information here in 2001 arland had 22 658 hospital beds in 2021 we have 14 000 in that 20 years our population grew by a million uh or 25 percent there's massive pressure on our health service when the government say we are where we are it's because we've got at the health service now it's the time to build up hospital capacity i believe you can take those stats it could be mistaken from pathotovine pathotovine listen you can compare 20 years ago and and rightly so and i'm not in any way discrediting that the bottom line is this we have fewer ICU beds than any developed country any um developed country except sweden and new zealand we're bottom of the pile and we've done very very little over the last two years compared to where we need to be to address that you know so we have 130 people in hospital uh icu with covid and we wish them a full and speedy recovery sadly unfortunately the statistics show that one in four of those people will pass away uh that is very very sad we have 130 people in icu today as we speak that is 50 bar the shot in a very entire capacity and that is enough to see uh that and the other people that are in hospital and others are getting quite uh invasive treatment as well to to stop surgeries uh to stop cancer appointments to stop other activities in the hospital our surely our health service should be able to accommodate that amount of people the vaccine has done a great job clearly compared to last january in that there were almost 3000 people in hospital the figure much much lower now and we have a full open society for quite some time is it covid or is it hospitals now at this point oh wait six sixty twenty five thousand i won't get to your comment today but we can talk about it tomorrow john bresson's coming up for you around the northwest after the news at 12 with kathryn i believe we'll be back with you tomorrow morning at nine o'clock from me gregg hughes and mikaela clark who researched and produced the program today enjoy the rest of your wednesday wednesday