 Well, one weekend, jet lag, you just forget how to work everything. I turn them up and they work. There you go. See the thought. See the thought. Good morning, Rory. Thank you very much indeed. Yes, indeed. It is another nine to noon show at nine o'clock, though. We yet start with a news update and it's over to Donald Kavanaugh. Thank you, Greg. Good morning, Ukrainian forces in the poor city of Mariupol are refusing to stop fighting after rejecting an offer from Russia to surrender. Moscow claims that if Ukraine's soldiers laid down their weapons, it will allow for the safe passage of civilians out of the besieged city, where conditions have been described as hell on earth. Authorities there say Russian forces bombarded an art school where 400 people were sheltering in Kiev. At least four people were killed during a bomb attack, which got to the shopping center. However, an assessment by British intelligence claims that Russia's advance on the capital is stalling Skye's special correspondent, Alex Crawford, is on the outskirts of Kiev. She says the center itself feels secure. People are definitely beginning to come back out onto the streets, even shops and some restaurants are opening. They feel quite secure, I think, right in the center. But even from where we were, we could hear the volley of explosions late last night. Forty business leaders attended a Donegal business breakfast in the London borough of Islington at the weekend as part of a series of Irish community events organized by the area's Donegal-born mayor. The business event was coordinated by Donegal County Council's head of economic development, Henry Conlon, who says it was potentially a very important gathering. Speaking in London, she told Heron Radio that the ability to act as a bridge between the UK and the EU is a major selling point for Donegal. Donegal has come on so much in the last 20 years, and I think what's really important is our cross-border location. If we're in the EU, but we're right beside Northern Ireland with access to UK and Northern Ireland markets, and I suppose we're connecting with businesses in London, what we're saying to them is, look, this is a great location if you want to access the EU. We're right here on the border with Northern Ireland. So the people of Donegal are really comfortable working in those two settings, and that in itself is a key selling point. Gardie are continuing to investigate the killing of mother of five in North Dublin, 36-year-old Sandra Boyd was shot dead at the back of her family home in Finglas on Saturday night. Gardie are investigating the theory that she was shot accidentally. And almost half of children with Down syndrome have had no vital early intervention services in the past year. According to a new report, Down syndrome Ireland also say 40% had no communication from the HSC in the past 12 months. Almost one third of Saudi respondents received zero speech and language therapy sessions, which are developmentally crucial. Today is World Down Syndrome Day and DSI CEO Barry Sherdon says it's essential that these shortages are discussed. We're seeing huge delays, we're seeing huge weatherless, we're seeing really poor lack of communication in some areas. And when you've got parents of young children with Down syndrome and they're waiting almost three years to get any services, you know, we've come so far as a society. It's just not good, not really that, but you know, we're still waiting. Cloudy and misty in many areas to start this morning. A little drizzle possible, but it'll become mostly dry as the day goes on. A mix of cloud and sunny spells coming through with highest temperatures, 12 to 14 degrees Celsius, mostly moderate southeasterly breezes. That's how in radio news, we're back with news again at 10 o'clock. Eileen can milk 49 cows in 57 minutes. Michael could wire a new kitchen in under three hours. And John can fix Sandra's shower, sink and toilet all before lunch. Fair play to you, John. These people are experts at what they do, so they work fast. We're experts in getting to know their business and helping it be better connected with Ireland's fastest mobile network. If you're a small business, switch to three business from only 15 euro per month. Business in store or a three.ie forward slash business. Three business where connections come to life. Fifteen euro per month for the first 12 months on our Simone plan, 25 euro thereafter, based on analysis by Euclid of speed, test intelligence data for Q3 to Q4 2021. And now it's time for the talk of the Northwest, the ninth and new show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. And it is four minutes past nine on this Monday, the 21st of March. How are you doing? How are you? I hope you are well. We're all good here after our little adventure in London. As you heard, Donald mentioned there on the news, we broadcast a special show from Islington between 12 and two, and it's available for you to watch back, by the way, if you still wish on our Facebook pages and our YouTube pages, if you wish to catch up on that. And then there was a Mary's ball, of course, Donagall born at Merrow for there on Saturday evening, too, which was a very successful event, great entertainment, too, not least Danny Lodonal and much more. And then, of course, you heard there from Marie Conlon, there was a business element to it as well in in terms of, you know, increasing and harnessing and forging new business links. But all good. And I think they had a great day yesterday. Goats don't shave with performing and there's a family fondant and all that. And they had the weather. And we come back to beautiful weather here as well. And it's looking good for the week. Right, let's look at the newspapers this morning. The Dairy People, Donagall News, a letter from Kenny Hotel, which began welcoming Ukrainian refugees this week. McGedd against Hotel has a three month contract to provide accommodation to those fleeing the war. Speaking to the Donagall News, General Manager Michael Noctam or Mehal Noctam, I beg your pardon, said they were still finalizing the details about how many refugees they'll be taking in, but expected them to begin arriving from today onwards. We have eight to two bedrooms in McGeddigan's. And if we have to give the two rooms, we'll give the whole lot. But at the moment, nothing is set in stone. Now, we have been contacted by people who had bookings or functions arranged for that hotel. Still working all the way through those messages and the implications it has for other people. But if you have something to say on that, you can get in touch with us. The lines are open for you. You can call Caroline on 07491 25,000. A WhatsApp and text on 08 660 25,000. The Dairy News tells us that Dairy Girl Amber Harkin has battled with anorexia for as long as she can remember. Now at 30, she is bravely fighting to recover after a relapse at the beginning of last year and remains in a critical condition. Amber is on a strict bed rest and regularly sees doctors that monitor her organ functions and recovery as the disorder has specifically caused grave pressure on her heart. Much more on the front of an inside the Dairy News today. Onto the nationals now in the Irish Times tells us that Ukraine has accused Moscow's invasion forces of killing dozens more civilians and deporting thousands even as mediated Turkey hoped to cease fire could soon be agreed. And Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said he wanted to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to avert a possible Third World War. Mr Zelensky also questioned Israel's position on the Russian invasion and urged it to supply an air defence system to Ukraine. And Pope Francis called on world leaders to stop this repugnant war during his Sunday address. Meanwhile, Russia last night demanded that Ukraine forces in Muripel surrender and lay down their arms by five a.m. They haven't. I don't know what the basis of that warning was or what Russia might do next with, you know, the ability to say what we did warn them to surrender. This is what is to follow. That city particularly is a nightmare territory. Hundreds of thousands of people, I believe, still stuck there. It's surrounded and it's constantly being shelled. It's pretty much been destroyed completely at this point. But it seems to be an important city in Putin's war. Russia continues to shell the residential areas of towns and cities, including the capital, as its land forces appeared to make slow headway in an invasion. Mr. Putin launched on February 24th. But of course, he can attack from the sky. He can attack from the ground, from distance as well. Actual forces on the ground in and of itself. Right. OK. The Irish independent now, a drug which could revolutionise the treatment of obesity by reducing body weight by almost a fifth within a year has been given the green light for use in Ireland and other European countries. I believe we talked about this last year or the year before. It's a drug called Wegovi, I think, Wegovi, maybe it's called Wegovi, which has been approved by the European Medicines Agency. It involves the patient getting a once a week jab to suppress their appetite. Professor Carol LaRue, an obesity specialist at St. Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin, said the medication could revolutionise the treatment of the condition. It marks or it works, sorry, by triggering the body to produce a four hormone to regulate appetite, leading to reduced cravings and calorie intake. The Irish Daily Mail, the smalling food is the next to rocket in price. This is a warning, as I say, from the Irish Daily Mail. No surprise here, though, unfortunately, fears are growing in government over the growing contagion between fuel inflation rising fuel prices at food prices. The effect of fuel price rises on the cost of food is driving a growing demand for cuts in vat on fuel. One senior minister confirmed Ireland was seeking flexibility from Europe on changing our vat rate. Meanwhile, there are fears that industrial relations piece could be the next casualty of the growing inflation crisis as government braces for a raft of 15 percent pay claims to match soaring inflation. Public expenditure minister Michael McGraw is facing a renegotiation of public sector pay deals this year. Pay attention is already high, they're only going to get higher. That's in the public sector, though, in the private sector. Pay rises are often much more difficult to come by to say the very least. Right, on to the sun this morning. Changes to the restrictions on blood donation rules for gay and bisexual men must be implemented immediately. A senator has said the Irish Blood Transfusion Service has appealed for the public's helping, increasing blood supply levels in recent days, as a shortage hits the country. Finnegale, Senator Jerry Bottomer said, while I welcome the IBTS's recent announcement that they'll implement changes to the donation policies, gay and bisexual men still face overly restrictive rules on donating blood. At the moment, a man who has had sex with another man in the past 12 months is not eligible to donate blood. I'm calling on Minister Stephen Donnelly to expedite the changes to the blood donation rules as a matter of urgency. I wasn't aware that that was still the case. I thought that had changed, but according to the senator, the rules are still quite restrictive. On to the Irish Daily Star this morning. And a ceremony honouring the lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic took place yesterday as the Torres Strait ruled out, bringing back restrictions despite Ireland battling another wave of the virus. Hospitals are very busy at the moment. There's over 1,100 people in hospital with COVID. Around 50 people are in ICU. Obviously, we know the separation there between with and off COVID. But still, it puts incredible pressure on the hospitals. Over 80 in Leicester County University Hospital with COVID at the moment. Mr. Bradcar said that about half of those with COVID were already in hospital and that their positive cases were picked up during routine checks. So whilst the figure is over 1,000, in reality, 500 are ill with COVID, still a significant number. The event entitled the National Day of Remembrance and Reflections Ceremony took place in the Garden of Remembrance in North Dublin yesterday. The ceremony paid tribute to those who died during the pandemic and those who battled the challenges posed by the disease. Very worthy, worthwhile, of course. It seems a little bit premature when you see what's going on. But it's happened nonetheless. And I'm delighted someone did this because, of course, you know, we've been talking about fuel and I was listening to Aiman Ryan this morning and he says, you know, the real way we can the real way we can tackle Putin is not through, you know, banning flights over Ukraine. It's by stopping our use of oil, gas, coal, etc. that emanates from it. But obviously, you know, the government perhaps needs to practice what it preaches because ministers globetrotting for St Patrick's Day were anything but green as they emitted as much carbon as four and a half thousand households do in one year. So I don't know what the population of a local town. I think, say, for instance, Donagall town, I think the population in and around four and a half, five thousand there. So politicians, there were other people on the plane, of course. I'm not sure if they broke it down like this, but the politicians away on St Patrick's Day used up as much or emitted as much bad gases as everybody in Donagall town. Isn't that quite remarkable? The annual visits saw senior politicians traveling as far afield as Argentina, New Zealand and India. But that comes with an environmental cost as this year's itinerary saw at least 46.52 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent being spewed into the atmosphere. That's more than 50 percent higher than in 2019. The last time a similar number of visits were made, the average household generates 11 tons, one of the EU's highest. While detailed itineraries have not been released, the Irish mirror calculated the footprint of each trip based on the official list of destinations, assuming each official flew alone and took the most direct route in an economy seat. So it could actually even be higher than they predicted. Ironically, Hildegard Nocten, a minister of state at the Department of the Environment, is the worst offender. Her visit to Australia and New Zealand admitted at least 5.49 tons of CO2. So the environment minister's trip on its own pumped out six months' worth of your your emissions out of your house. That's absolutely remarkable. Flabbergasted 08 660 25000. If you've got an opinion on that or anything else, we've got plenty coming up. But there's always space for you to raise your issues. Tell us your stories, have your say. Caroline on the phones 07 491 25000. We'll be joined by our first guests on the show very shortly. The newspapers are courtesy of Kelly Centra. Mountaintop, letter Kenny. Darren Brown, the multi-award winning master of mind control and psychological illusion is coming to Derry with his brand new live show, Showman, guaranteed to blow your mind from the 26th of April for one week only. Don't miss Darren Brown live at the Millennium Forum. Book now at milleniumforum.co.uk. This is a notice for all tractor and agri-plant owners. Minimize your downtime when you need tires and call Donegal Tires Donegal Tire. We can go to you and fit your tires on site or repair your existing tires if you have a puncture. Don't waste time and leave the hassle to us. So call Donegal Tires now 1074 9721 482 to organize your call-out. Kelly's diner and letter Kenny now has even longer opening hours. Try Kelly's Erdie Bird Breakfast, one of their great lunch specials or a renowned Jakes burger. Kelly's famous steak specials are available every Saturday from three with an eight ounce succulent steak and all the trimmings for just 11 euro. New extended opening hours now and Kelly's award-winning diner at Mountain Top Letter Kenny. Check out Facebook for details. Win with low prices from SuperValue with a great range in store and online like SuperValue chilled Valencia orange juice, one liter, only two euro. Epic! SuperValue frozen vegetable stir fry mix, 750 gram, only one 19. Smash debt and SuperValue chocolate chip cookies, only 99 cent. Winning. Win with low prices that compete with anyone. Win with SuperValue. Bingo every Monday night at Halfly House Bingo Burn Food. Doors open 7.30 with eyes down at 8.30. Two thousand five hundred euro must go. The snowball is now five thousand and fifty euro on forty five numbers or less. If you're not in, you can't win. That's Halfly House Bingo tonight at 8.30. OK, so we mentioned that McGatigan's Hotel in Letter Kenny is being made available to Ukrainian refugees. You should begin arriving from today for the next three months. So not triggered an email from one of our listeners that reads, Dear Greg, in relation to McGatigan's Hotel being used as a venue for housing Ukrainians, the reason I message in you is that I'm absolutely sick and reading posts from people congratulating the owners for letting their hotel be used to house Ukrainians. Don't get me wrong. I'm certainly not against Ukrainians coming to our country or our county. But the reason I'm so annoyed is because yesterday at lunchtime I got a call to tell me that they were sorry, but they now would not be able to host my wedding, which is in a couple of weeks time. I believe it is. We have a deposit paid and invitations ready to post it this week, naming their hotel as the reception venue. It is unbelievable that they can let people down at such short notice. I've heard two amounts that hotels are getting per night. And this is what I'd love to find out and put out there. One amount was two hundred and fifty euro per room per night, and another is one hundred and eighty euro per room. There are 82 rooms in the hotel. I'm pretty sure those figures aren't too far out. So anyone who thinks that they are being kind and going out of their way to accommodate these unfortunate people need to know they are getting more than well paid for it. They tell me that they'll help me look for another venue. The county's venues are well booked out as is, but hopefully we'll find a spot before our date. I'm not texting about this part. I'm sure we'll find something. It's just given that it's public money. I just love people to know how much money they're getting to do this. Thanks for taking the time to read my message. And thanks always for being a voice for our county. Well, I wouldn't go that far, but I appreciate your kind words. Nonetheless, so that is someone very upset there at short notice. They. It's it's affected them. And I mean, people like there might go, you know, well, look, what's happening in Ukraine? OK, that's fine. And I get that. And that's fine to have that opinion and understandable and justifiable. And I get that as well. But these are people who've already maybe had to cancel a wedding or what have you. And now they're finding themselves at short notice being told that they can't. Now, obviously, there's a humanitarian level to this, but there is also presumably a commercial element to it as well. And people in their own lives struggling with, you know, relative to them, their own things to have to deal with. This as well is a problem. Andrew is affected by this as well. I believe Andrew, thanks for taking the call this morning. Hello, Craig. Right. Tell us, you were scheduled to have your wedding reception in McGeregan's on the 20th of June. That's only a couple of months away. Yeah. What were you told? How were you contacted? And I was rang on Saturday at one o'clock and they basically just told us they cancelled the whole wedding to take into Ukraine. And yeah, go ahead. Basically, they just they've left us in the lurch now. Did they did they say to you that they would try and help you find an alternative venue or? Well, they're saying that they they're going to ring around. But basically, we rang the station has to see if the station has could help us. And we have a meeting with them today. But basically, I had rooms in our book for my family and people come from England and all states or hotel. And that's all cancelled. Oh, that's OK. That's a huge inconvenience, isn't it? Especially people plan early now to try and avoid any stress leading up to the big day. But you're you're having to start that process all over again now. Yeah. Hopefully, you get sorted. I think you may be lucky because if you happen to get a hotel in Letcher Canyon, they can work with you. That's fine. There's going to be a lot of people in the same boat that aren't going to have now, obviously, you have nothing booked yet. But, you know, there's a lot of people going to be ringing around a lot of hotels today. Inevitably, people are going to be disappointed. Yeah. So we were on the phone station and they told us that they have no rooms now on the 20th of June for. My family or people coming from England stay over. So I'm going to turn around all the letter. Can I try and find rooms to keep them the night before my wedding? Yeah. How many rooms did you have booked? Andra? I had 10 rooms. Right. OK. So it's not insignificant. OK. And that is on the 20th of June. We did the hotel say anything else to you? Did they give any reason? I mean, obviously, we know it's to help house Ukraine refugees, but did they say anything beyond that? No. And I mean, in terms of sort of trying to deal with the fact that obviously we're trying to help people coming from a very different country at the moment. And some might say, you know, they would love to be able to have a wedding in their own cities, which are now being destroyed. I mean, it is a bit of a moral dilemma at the end of the day, though, you have to deal with what you have to deal with. This is your big day and you have to deal with your disappointment and trying to come up with alternatives. Yes, we had everything planned and that was to restart the whole process, which is really stressful, OK, because we've only two months to try and find somewhere and then get everything sorted. In terms of deposits and what have you, was that sorted quickly or? We'd we haven't received our deposit back or anything. We had a good bit of money paid off with nearly the whole thing paid off and they haven't even rang us about giving us back the money or anything. OK, well, this is another factor, because you might need that quite quickly to secure another venue at short notice. Exactly. Yeah. OK. Well, listen, I hope it gets sorted. Do you have your invitations printed and all? We had the invitations and everything printed. We have them sent off and now we're going to have to redo all this with different adjust on it. All right. OK. All right. Listen, I hope it all gets sorted for you and you get your day off and done with. Let us not off and done with. That sounds terrible, but you know what I mean? The organization of it so that you can look forward to it. Ten rooms you're looking for as well for that day just on the off chance. Anyone's listening and wants to help out. Thank you very much, Andrew, as I say, the best of luck with with getting that organised. Thank you. OK, so that's Andrew's experience, so eight, six, sixty, twenty five thousand. When I was reading the story initially, I didn't really consider the fact that people would have weddings and stuff planned. What's your view? Oh, eight, six, sixty, twenty five thousand have yours. Say just like Andrew did there. Who's sorry? OK, thank you very much indeed. Right. Another call says I got a one for all voucher. I got one on the 28th of January for 40 euro on the 26th of February. I spent twenty two ninety four on the 12th of March and bought twelve fifty eight, but the voucher wouldn't accept it. But there should be 17 euro on it. I called the number and gave the voucher number and it said there was only for your own 40 cent available. The service charge is only supposed to kick in after 12 months, but I only had it a few weeks and it only spent on it once. Where's the rest of the money? I wonder, did the person who bought that voucher for you, did they buy it as they were giving it to you? Who's to say? I think we can say good morning now to Senator Marie Sherlock. Good morning to you, Senator. Good morning, Greg. Good morning to all your listeners. Thank you so much for joining us. Right, you posted on social media. Hands up, Donna Gaul and Derry Folk. How many have ever taken the Derry Belfast train en route to Dublin? And you went on from there. What was the purpose of that post? Well, Greg, as I've seen, I'm going to take my accent. I'm not from Donegal originally, but I've been coming to Donegal now, Tina Shoan and Karen Dona for almost 18 years. And I must say to my shame, I've never actually taken the train from Derry to Dublin. And I suppose really it's reflective that Donegal is one of the few counties in the country that does not have a rail link. And of course, hasn't had a rail link for well over 60 years now. And I found myself on Saturday night having to take the train to Dublin. And it really got me thinking about, I suppose, the issue of connectivity between the Northwest and Donegal in particular, and Dublin. And while, of course, we need to see the A5 developed and we need to see better bus routes, you know, we also need to see rail links. And like I'm hugely supportive of the call of for a rail link from Lesher Kenny to Dublin. But we also have an existing rail link on our doorstep, particularly for those in the east of the county. And for me, it's about ensuring that we have a better frequency of service and a lower cost and that's opening up a full world of possibilities then to those in and shown and those, you know, in the east of Donegal. So what do you say? You're are you saying that for now, people should be looking at the Derry, Belfast, Dublin route as a viable way of travelling from the Northwest to the capital? Is that? Well, I suppose now, like I mean, if you have time on your hands, right, it is certainly a possibility like it took me four hours and 40 minutes from when I left the very beautiful Derry train station to when I got to Conley and Dublin on Saturday night. And certainly it takes a long, you know, it certainly is a long run with I think eight stops along the way between Derry and Belfast. And I mean, if you were travelling from somewhere like Milford or perhaps Donegal Town, you know, you'd be looking at eight hours. Absolutely. So what the thing is, Greg, I suppose for me, like, we absolutely need to look at how Donegal is connected to the rest of the country. And so as I say, that is a combination of road, bus and rail. But let's start with what we have already. Like I think the thing is I was struck by my then boyfriend, now husband had to bring to court. He'd never been on a train in his life. So I think the thing is, how do we actually get people used to the train experience in that part of Donegal in particular, because they have this resource on their doorstep. And the other thing to say is that the Derry to Belfast route is probably one of the most beautiful railroads in the world. Like I said, I was really blown away by how scenic it is. But really it's about the frequency, the length of time. And there's no reason why there could be an express route from Derry to Belfast. And then, of course, we do have the enterprise from Belfast down to Dublin. And certainly then that becomes another option because I know, you know, I have family, I have I have friends in Donegal who are looking for alternatives. And this is the world that we now live in, that we have to have alternatives out of the car for how people, you know, connect with the rest of the country. And if we are to, you know, ensure a move away from that car dependence, then we need to make options like trains very attractive. And the thing is building new train networks, which is what will need to happen if we're to connect the west of the county by rail to to to to to the rest of the. I mean, this is huge to me. There is an existing rail work on a rail network on on our doorsteps, particularly in the show and in the county. Yeah, I mean, I'm not. You don't sound convinced. I just don't I just don't think Derry, Belfast, Dublin is a viable option for a lot of people via via rail, you know, I just it doesn't. Well, Greg, it depends on where you are, of course. But I suppose all I can do is to tell you my experience. And that's fine. And especially if people if you love the train and you've got a bit of time, how much does it cost you? Do you know off the top of your head? It actually cost me 33 pounds. And as the man in Derry train station very healthfully told me, it would have cost me 39 pounds if I had booked a Derry, Belfast, Belfast, Dublin, but actually the ticket was Derry, Nury and then Nury Dublin and and and I must say, the other thing is you can't book a ticket online. So, you know, in terms of barriers to to to travelling by rail, there's only 2022. Will you give us a chance to get that stuff sorted? I mean, you know, it's well, well, it's crazy. And I suppose that was my appeal to even translate and and to Irish rail, like, let's get the simple stuff done. How quickly if there was some sort of an express way, right? I don't know how that would work. I don't know the logistics of it. How quickly could the journey be done? Do you think? Well, well, well, there's no reason why to take two hours to go from from from Derry to Belfast, as you know, and as most of your listeners know, it takes it takes a, you know, over an hour or about an hour and a half to go from from from from Derry to Belfast. So there's no reason why there couldn't be an express route that would take under an hour or an hour from from, you know, to cut the journey in half from from Derry to Belfast. And then we're looking at two hours. So that takes three hours then. And if somebody's coming from in a show, like it's in on a good day, we can make Dublin to count on it in about three hours and 45 minutes. But like if we could do, you know, Derry to Dublin, I know there are lots of people who have to come to Dublin for health reasons or for education or for other other reasons that would gladly take the train if they thought that there was a good service, a frequent service and a cheaper service in place. And I think there's no reason why the Irish government and the government of the north or sorry, the government of the public and the government of the north can't, you know, come together and ensure that we have a better service because this is what, you know, we have to ensure that the whole of the islands is better connected here. You are sorry, Senator, I beg your pardon. I thought you were finished. You asked, you know, how many people have done that trip that you did? Had many very few. I think the people who came back to me said that they had done it more out of interest and that they were intrigued as opposed to out of necessity. And I think that tells the story in itself. So I'm certainly talking to my family and relatives. You know, I think one had ever taken the train. So certainly, you know, we need to, you know, this is about ensuring that we can sell rail. Like I said, you know, people in Donegal need to get used to the experience of rail because they've never had that experience unless, of course, you're anyway close to Sligo and then it is an option. But I think, you know, you know, for me, there's there's two things that need to happen here, absolutely over the longer term. You need to see investment to rail in Donegal. But we're only we're only one. A lot of our parents would have travelled on the trains within within Donegal, you know what I mean? So it's not that far removed since they decided in their wisdom to shut them down and to rip up the tracks. There are a lot of a lot of activity in terms of trying to, you know, as you would be you'd be aware, you know, Sligo to letter Kenny to Derry. The people have been shown would feel very left out and that as well, of course. But, you know, the public appetite is there. It's the political will that seems to be absent and particularly maybe even from like it would be helpful. I think if in Ruderan said that we want to provide this service, but this is what we need from government to do so, you know, there seems to be no will beyond that of the public and some public representatives that speak on their behalf for this. Yeah. And I think of there's been probably a failure of imagination over many years. There's been almost an acceptance that that that that there won't be railings from from Donegal to the rest of the country. And we need to change that. And I'm very clear now in all my conversations around the country, particularly amongst young people, amongst my age and younger, that they want alternatives, that they don't want to be solely car dependent, that they want to be able to, you know, I suppose, have options. And so, you know, we do need to push central government both in the Republic and in the north to be bolder on this. And in fairness, I know that there was investment when the A5 was floundering. I know investment was redirected into into improving some of the rail links along the north then. But the key issue now is that and that was to do with the train stations, of course, along that Derry Belfast route. But the key issue now is how do we actually ensure that there is a faster route, cheaper route and a viable route for people when they do need to travel out of the county? And I certainly will be lending my support to any campaigns locally in a bid for better rail services. Because don't go and needs it, it deserves it. And I think this is about thinking, you know, being realistic. And that's why you say in the first instance, let's let, you know, this is an underutilised resource on people's doorsteps in a particular part of the county that's better used that, right, or ensure it's better used. And then let's make the case then for actual investment into new rail lines or reopening those rail lines that haven't been opened in the years. Right. So it was four and how long did you say the journey was? Four hours and 40 minutes. Four hours, 40 minutes and thirty three pounds for the pleasure. Yes. OK. And did you come back on the train? Oh, no, I know. Well, interestingly, I drove up on Wednesday or we drove up on Wednesday as a family and and the experience in stock outside Japan and Oma, you know, certainly had had us all very frustrated. The car with two small kids in the back of the car. So you can imagine. I can. The thing is, you know, again, like I suppose and for us, the car is is typically the only way we would only ever travel. But I had to come back on my own and that's an item and I'll tell you, I'd certainly be doing the journey again if I was not under time pressure, I'd absolutely be taking the journey because it's extremely pleasant. The carriages are beautiful. You know, you can read, you can move around and and and certainly I've become a fan after my first experience travelling, you know, by rail from Dunigal to Dublin. All right. Listen, thank you very much indeed for your time. This morning, I don't know if that would be practical. I mean, you could you could probably travel to your local airport, Derry or or knock fly to Birmingham, Manchester or London and get a train to your hotel in less time than it would take to go from Derry to Dublin. But she is saying the senator is saying that it could be speeded up a little. I don't know how much by but 33 pounds to sit in a train for four hours and 40 minutes. I think I'd need to get that and then some. But anyway, what do you think? Is it a viable alternative? Have maybe it's if for some of you who travel to Dublin, it's the only way you might do so. 08 660 25,000. What's that per text? Give us a call at 07 491 25,000. All right. I mean, the boss is there. Can you still not use the toilets on bosses, though? You know, I was speaking to a couple of people and I'm not sure if they just happen to be on the wrong type of boss, but there were toilets on the boss, boss air and bosses and they weren't allowed to use them. And we've talked quite regularly on this program of it's not just a convenience, but the need for people to use toilets more frequently than others might. And it would be if does our boss network actually not allow you to use toilets? If anyone has an insight into that, let us know 08 660 25,000 or call 07 491 25,000. Most people say that Donegal is the coolest place in the planet, but up here we know that sometimes it can be the coldest. Charles Bonner & Sons Ballet Buffet is the one-stop-shop for all your heating needs. We have a huge range of multi-fuel and wood pellet stoves and ranges, spare parts for all major stove and range brands, plumbing and bathroom wear, all at exceptional prices. So visit our showrooms where our friendly and experienced team will be ready to help you. Charles Bonner & Sons Ballet Buffet in the Stovestore.ie where you can always do a good deal better. Brian McCormick, Sports & Leisure Main Street Letter Kenny. Try the new Brooks at Drennan GTS 22 with the latest update on cushioning and stability. Brooks Ghost 14, offering a soft landing to ensure comfort. Ghost 14 Gore-Tex will also keep you dry. Every move you make is a step in the right direction with a pair of Brooks Trainers. In-store or online, click and collect on bmcsports.ie. Highland Radio wants to send you on the holiday of a lifetime. Five grand spending money. Get your ticket now at highlandradio.com. Answer the question and start packing. Start packing. Draw takes place April 14th on the Nine-Tone-In Show. Start planning your ultimate getaway. Only on Highland Radio. Sheridan Security, now introducing Zero Wire Smart Alarm Systems. Zero Wire, Zero Mess and a real peace of mind. With a simple press of a button, your alarm can be set or on set or download the free app and control it from your phone. Call us today on 074 912 6025 and get your alarm from 299 euro. Stay local, stay safe and protect what you value most with Sheridan Security Systems. Now we're joined on the programme by Senator Pauline O'Reilly, chairperson of the Green Party. Thank you so much for joining us, Senator. Nice to see you. Nice to speak to you. Good morning, Greg. Right. Now, as people might be aware, an agreement was reached. Decisions were made that would see the closure of mink farms. And of course, this is something that's very relevant to County Donegal, Leesh and Kerry also as well. But it's taking a long time, taking too long. Was it not the case that we were waiting until, you know, that's the farming of the mink that sounds awful, even to say, but the farming of the mink that we're already in these farms for that to naturally come to a conclusion. And then their closure, what's the situation? Yeah, there's no natural conclusion, unfortunately. Well, what I was trying to say is that the mink that they are unfortunately killed and their hides taken from them. I was trying to avoid it saying that, but that's what we're talking about. That is what we're talking about. But even with that, every year in mink farming, 80% of the mink are killed and it's only 20% that are kept for breeding. And then the numbers grow very, very rapidly. So what has to happen is that we have legislation in place to stop it on an order to ensure that the farmers themselves get compensation, but also that the workers there are fairly, you know, would have some sort of package. But for that to happen, you have to have legislation. It has to be properly the end of their business. And that's what this legislation is about, to end the cruel practice, which is universally acknowledged. Now at this point is a very cruel practice, but also then to ensure that you have the winding up of the businesses in order to protect the staff. So that's what had to happen. And the legislation was brought into the door in October and it's run its course through the door and it's now in the Shannad and it's stalled and it's been removed several times from the schedule. And that unfortunately has brought us to a position where we're now in the middle of what would normally be breeding season for mink and it's not ideal to be to be honest with you. And it has caused real frustration because this is a program for government commitment. And so, you know, I really feel now that it's time to push on with it and I would be hopeful that that the warning shots that were were released from ourselves, but also from others in government would ensure that we can now press ahead with this. Well, your government colleagues told you that really this is about the welfare of workers, the delay to ensure that they get the owners of these farmers and the workers get a fair deal. Are you buying that? Look, I mean the minister has also been in the Shannad, the minister McConn looked and has said that, you know, there is an urgency around this as well. There has been an independent report into how the compensation is done. That's the correct way to do it and that there's absolutely no doubt whether there will be compensation for workers and for the farmers. So, you know, if these concerns were there, they could have been raised several months ago and any concerns that have been raised have been addressed. But it, you know, you absolutely can't put into a piece of legislation in monetary terms how much people are given because that is down to an independent assessor. But there's all kinds of elements in the bill that will say people will be compensated for not just for loss of earnings but for demolition costs or for repurposing of their buildings. So there's a whole host of things that will have to go into it. So I do think that it is questionable that there has been these delays and that it has been removed several times from the schedule as I say. This isn't the way that you conduct yourself in government, I believe. And I think that now is the time that we actually do ensure that we're ending the cruel practice and we're being fair to everyone. I mean, it's 22 years ago, it was ended in the UK and we're still here in Ireland and delaying it into the middle of a breeding season. I mean, obviously, and that is your priority. But I mean, this also wasn't, as you mentioned, you know, this was a key issue for the Green Party going into government. And do you feel that your fellow party members of government have been a bit disrespectful to the Greens on this issue? To try and sort of make out that it's really about, you know, looking after the workers, really, you know? Well, look, I mean, there weren't these issues when it came to the doll. So I think this probably does come down to a couple of people. And as I say, I don't think that this is the way to do things. I certainly know that the minister, Minister McConaughey, is keen to push ahead with this. So it's not a case that it's everyone in government. But as I say, I do think that it's it's not, you know, it's not respectful to anyone, including the animals themselves, to delay it for this length of time. But, you know, the minister has agreed to sit down and has sat down with all of us to work through what the concerns are. And I would be hopeful that this week we will see that this bill will move forward now properly. Just while I have you, you might, I don't not sure if you've seen an article in the Irish Mirror today. They've calculated how much bad gases carbon dioxide gases the the St Patrick's Day trips from politicians, how much of an impact that has had. In fact, since 2019, it was 50 percent higher the amount of these bad gases that it was required to ferry our politicians around. And in fact, Hildegard Nocton, apparently, was the worst offender because her visits to Australia and New Zealand omitted at least five point four nine tons of CO2E, which would be the equivalent to your average Irish households contribution to this problem over a course of six months. I mean, it's a bit of a slap in the face to us, the public, isn't it particularly us in rural Ireland where we're being taxed out of our cars but have no alternatives. We can't come up with 25, 30 grand to retrofit our homes. And yet we've got politicians including the Greens Minister Nocton flying all around the world contributing more to this problem than most of us will in our lifetimes. Well, there's a few different things that you've wrapped up there, Greg. Firstly, in relation to the tax and relation to fuel that is there's a there's a floor set by the European Union and I know that the Taoiseach is trying to ensure that we can reduce things further. But I'm on about our policy. It's pretty much accepted that you discourage the use of these fuels through taxation. Okay, so I'm not talking necessarily about the situation we find ourselves in now with the terrible events in Ukraine, but we're being taxed to try and encourage us to transition. But obviously we don't have an awful lot of alternatives. But anyway, sorry, carry on, Sansa. It's really important though to be factually correct because, you know, sweeping statements aren't going to get us to where we need to be. Okay, so tell me, correct me? What did? Carbon tax in particular is very, very low and I think, you know, that politicians need to be honest about that. It's incredibly low. The real issues, as you say, are around the taxation, which we can't reduce because of our European Union commitments, but we are trying to see what we can do at a European Union level. But in relation to the flights, I mean, I absolutely do take your point on board. And I think it is difficult for people to see, but we haven't stopped international flights and that's never an intention to do that. We are an island nation. We do have to build up. You know, we would be very pragmatic and certainly we have to ensure that we have an economy. That means that we have to build relationships. But, you know, I think that we need to be investing in different types of fuels, green hydrogen being one of them, for instance. We're not there yet. And I don't think we can shut down our borders and say, let's not travel. No, of course not. People would like to hear that message either. Of course. Of course. And I certainly wouldn't say it. And look, I'm Galway. You know, I know exactly what it's like when there aren't alternatives there. Our job is to try to put in place alternatives, but also to be realistic. But let me suggest, let me suggest, OK, as an example, right, if you were, your party were to lead truly by example. How about, OK, we employed the services of our diplomats or our people that we have in Australia and New Zealand, which I'm sure we're paying for. They're located there. They do a lot of the ground work. And Hildegard Notten joined one of those meetings via Zoom. So we have our Irish people already out there working on the ground. And if the minister, if it's important for her to speak, to join via Zoom, there is how we could save, you know, at least four or five flights from one person. Is that not logical? I think the vast majority of these things are happening over Zoom. But when it comes to St Patrick's Day, I think most Irish people would acknowledge that it is a different kind of situation. It's not, you know, an ongoing kind of meeting, and that sometimes we do need to be pragmatic. As I say, we're not closing our borders at all. And that sometimes we do need to move outside our country in order to be able to meet people face to face. I certainly know that you believe you genuinely. So you, as the chair of the Green Party, right, you actually think genuinely that it was advantageous for, say, for instance, Hildegard Nocten to travel all of that distance, right, rather than to come up with an innovative way to use our Irish people in the ground and for her still to make an appearance via Zoom or whatever. You actually think that that would not be a better way than what she did. I mean, I, you know, I wouldn't be fair for me to comment on one particular person, such as Hildegard Nocten. It is a long distance. There's no, there's no denying that. But you're justifying it. You're justifying it. On a principle, Greg, though, I think, you know, like too, too many people say the Greens should do this. The Greens should do that. Everybody, all of us are in this together. And we do need to look at, you know, broadening the conversation and not shaming people for their, for their use for the fact that people go on holidays for the fact that people sometimes we do need to use cars because we don't have everything. Let me just, but you have to you have to remember to write and I'm not into cheap shots and Aime and Ryan said this or that or the other. But you do have to remember that we have been told by Aime and Ryan to slow down. OK, we've been told to car pool that in rural villages we should consider car pooling. OK, so, you know, I'm just suggesting to you in reverse as someone who might say, you know what, I can actually vote for the Greens, because they took a stance here. They didn't take that long distance trip. They used our Irish people on the ground, our diaspora, our business people, our diplomats and they come up with another way to do something that led by example. And then I could go, do you know what I can do that I might follow what they're saying because they're not doing something different to what they're asking of me. I think that I think that in some ways you've made, you know, you're making a good point in some ways that we do have to come up with innovative ideas. But we also need to be practical and pragmatic. And I think you'll find that Aimee never told anybody to car pool. He just suggested that there are our alternatives. I'm simply suggesting there was an alternative to your ministers travelling abroad. Yeah, absolutely. And I think sometimes there is and sometimes we do have to do the face-to-face stuff. Right, OK. I have to be honest about it because, you know, I'm a Green, but it doesn't mean I live in a bunker, somewhere. We're like, we all live in the real world and we have to make the changes for the whole of society. That's what our job is as politicians. It's not to just stand on a high horse, but it's actually to say if there isn't enough public transport, let's invest in that. Let's invest in greenways, let's invest in cycleways, and let's invest in alternatives so that everybody can do it, so that it's not a few people making a decision not to go somewhere because that does come across as a little judgmental, to be honest with you. And I don't think that that's the position that any of us are really in. And if you meet green politicians, I think that we are practical people who just want to make the change and that change be a change that everyone can participate in. OK. Thanks for your time this morning. I appreciate it. I really do. OK. That was Senator Pauline O'Reilly, chair of the Green Party. Hello, Grace. Where are you heading? Down to Made to Measure Fireplaces in Cresla. Made to Measure Fireplaces? Didn't you just buy a fireplace there? Yeah, but I'm going now to pick my kitchen worktop. Create the kitchen and living room of your dreams at Made to Measure Fireplaces and Granite Worktops. They've been in business for over 40 years. So for help choosing Granite or Quartz for your worktop fireplace or stove, visit the Made to Measure Showroom at Casual Cresla or see mtmfireplaces.com or on Facebook. For confirmation and first communion, see the great selection of suits, casual wear and footwear at Watson Men's Wear Letterkenny, top brands, including 1880 Club, Lyle and Scott, Fara and Diesel, also Tommy Bowe footwear and all at great prices. Whatever the fit, whatever the style, confirmation and first communion are covered for less at Watson Men's Wear. Open seven days a week on Main Street Letterkenny and at WatsonMen'sWare.com. Also, great end of sale bargains still available. Bluebird Care are looking for you. Bluebird Care are currently seeking carers and nurses to join their ever expanding team. Immediate starts for carers in all parts of the county, especially Letterkenny and Ashone and Donegal Town. Bluebird Care are also looking for registered general nurses for day and night time 12 hour shifts. Contact Bluebird Care on 0749129562 or visit bluebirdcare.ie and bring care home. Head Value Ballet Buffet has just got bigger. Yes, we've opened store number two at St Mary's Row, Bonkranagh and to celebrate, one lucky customer will win 1,000 euro of home heating oil. Simply call into the store during March and you will be entered into the draw. Head Value will open Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. Sunday 12 till 5 with fantastic offers across both stores. Head Value, your one stop shop for all your animal needs. Highland Radio Weather updates with Ireland West Airport. Get ready to hit the beach and soak up the sun by choosing flights to Alicante, Barcelona, Faro, Mallorca, Malaga and Milan this summer with Ryanair. Ireland West Airport, you're flying. The 9 till noon show with Letterkenny Credit Union now offering mortgages from 40,000 to 600,000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges. Letterkenny Credit Union 9102127 Okay, you're welcome back to the programme and we welcome a number of guests onto it now. First, we say good morning to Katarina who has arrived in Donegal last week from Ukraine having to flee her country which was a very different country only a few short weeks ago and we've all we're all witnessing firsthand what is happening there. Katarina, thank you for joining us and welcome to Donegal. Thank you so much guys for your hospitality. So I'm here but I'm here more as a translator because like my story thanks God it's not like such a hard experience a hard explosion but I left here myself on 21st of February but I want to represent some people here who experience some crazy crazy hard period of war. Yes and that takes its toll because obviously there's the upheaval there is the loss there is the worry for those that remain and for the future and that uncertainty there's an awful lot for your fellow country people to try and contend with at the moment Katarina. No, no, okay, sorry. I know this is not your first language it was a complicated question. I'll come back to you in a moment but I also want to say good morning to Arton. Arton, thank you for joining us. Right, you came from Poland on Tuesday you had left Ukraine some time ago but you were able to bring your family out of your... What was their experience? It's a bad experience I think well because at 24 I could tell you could call my mother my mother she told me war is starting it's starting conflict with Russia and Ukraine and it's terrible because it's so shock just me and my family I could, at this moment call my mother and say you need to quickly arrive to Poland but my father he thinks it's not too long but he thinks it's two days four days and quiet and comfort come back but I think it's not true Arton, obviously we knew what happened eight years ago and what's happened since then and we know the language that was used by the likes of Putin but did you ever think that you would ever see at the invasion of your country on this scale? I think this is conflict starting more early not early when it's conflict started with Georgia that Georgia have a problem with after it's Moldova and it's starting in Pridnostrovia after we have a problem with Syria after we have a problem with Ukraine with Lugansk-Donetsk and Crimea it's problem to starting more and more time and let me ask you finally are you hoping to reunite your family here? I believe your partner and father remain in Poland your mother and son is here are you going to be able to reunite and if so how? sorry can you repeat are you hoping to have your family together soon? yeah yeah yeah I'm waiting I'm speaking all day with my wife with my father because my father it's changing my work at Krakow and we wait for some some techniques before we finish it okay I'm waiting for my friend from Belarus he want to leave to and rent a flat where we live leave the before okay Arten listen thank you for joining us I appreciate it and well Don I know it's not your first language and Katarina as a translator that is one of the challenges for millions of Ukrainians now into a new country obviously all the upheaval but also communication Katarina is difficult so right now I want to tell a story from Tiana she was in Buczyn you know Buczyn is right near Kiev and there were very big bloody bottles there so right now she will tell me her story in short and I will translate it for you go ahead thank you I don't know we had to get to Kiev there was our mother where we had to pick her up of course on the way she was through Kiev through Palestine Kiev through Zerbim and Gaston so Tatiana she is a doctor from Buczyn and when the war started she needed to come back to Kiev because her mother had surgery maybe a couple of days ago so she she is supposed to take her mother and bring her home to Buczyn okay so when she when when she was on her road from Buczyn to Kiev she they saw Russian troops all over there and they were so scared because you know to see Russian soldiers and Russian tanks but thank God they didn't shoot them they went to Kiev pick up her mother from a bomb shelter but whereas they were on the road back to Buczyn Russian troops blow up Gosomen airport and blow up all bridges so they couldn't be back to their home so they stayed just in one village nearby and finally Katarina can you ask how she what are her emotions you know does she feel safe or is she still incredibly upset or can you give us an understanding of how she feels now okay so uh actually uh she's still be very scared and she's all the time 24 24 per seven she is in in touch with her family and she's worried because her mother she's after surgery so she she needs a special treatment and she cannot walk she cannot sit she cannot stay only lay down her mother is one is in one village and her father is in another village and they cannot gather together because all over there in each village there is Russian blog post and also troops and if you want to come out of your house you will be either shoot immediately or they will take you like they will put you in a prison you know like they take you as them I don't know as a slave or whatever like they will just take you to the air base to serve them unbelievable Katarina if you could pass on our best wishes um and um hopefully something is the powers that they can come up with some solution I appreciate your time this morning I really do thank you so very much indeed apologies we're going to be a couple of minutes late to the news a quick word a brief word with chancellor Michael McMahon who has been helping receive these refugees these Ukrainians into Bondor and we can hear there Michael that you know whilst on a personal level there is some reprieve they're still very much connected to the horror and to their families facing that horror over in Ukraine and then of course you know away from home language barriers and what have you after Greg it's very very sad to listen to the stories and all the stories that we've heard so far are very very sorry very sorry sad and very hurtful there's 125 here in Bondor at the moment to know and they are get themselves composed and get themselves sort of organized it was a big job to start a coming in Wednesday and I think they'll ask them coming on Saturday Saturday day there we're doing our very best to make sure that they're been well looked after and been taken care of it's a big job it's very sad when people arrive in a country and they've only got their toes on their back that tells their own story but the people have gone down in the surrounding area they've been very very generous and we're very happy about that they open their hearts and they open their houses and they open their minds and the stuff that's coming in is unbelievable and I want to thank them personally about that very tough to listen as I say to the stories as you have heard there water is a terrible thing and this this is unbelievable that this can happen in the 24th century to people who have been just massacred in their own country we'll be very well taking care of here in Bondone there's a lot of professional people there teachers doctors nurses electricians different people there you know so hopefully in the later stage when we get everything sorted and get them things going that they will get employment here but at the minute it's a very bad and very sad story on a Monday morning and it is indeed Councillor Michael McMahon thank you very much shanties okay my apologies we are going to the news a little late five minutes late in fact but it just wanted to hear those people's stories apologies to Donald news on the way then the obituary notices and read Jonas thereafter Ukrainian forces in the port city of Mariupol are refusing to stop fighting after rejecting an offer from Russia to surrender Moscow claimed that if Ukraine's soldiers laid down their weapons it would allow for the safe passage of civilians out of the besieged city conditions there have been described this morning as hell on earth authorities in Mariupol say Russian forces bombed an art school where 400 people were sheltering in Kiev meanwhile at least four people were killed during a bomb attack which got to the shopping center however an assessment by British intelligence claims that Russia's advance on the capital city is stalling Skye's special correspondent Alex Crawford is on the outskirts of Kiev she says the center itself feels secure people are definitely beginning to come back out onto the streets even shops and some restaurants are opening they feel quite secure I think right in the center but from even from where we were we could hear the volley of explosions late last night 40 business leaders attended a Donegal business breakfast in the London borough of Islington at the weekend it was part of a series of Irish community events organized by the areas Donegal born mayor the business event was coordinated by Donegal County council's head of economic development Anne-Marie Conlon speaking in London she told head and radio that the ability to act as a bridge between the UK and the EU is a major selling point for Donegal Donegal has come on so much in the last 20 years and I think what's really important as our cross border location we're in the EU but we're right beside Northern Ireland with access to UK and Northern Ireland markets and I suppose we're connected with businesses in London what we're saying to them is look this is a great location if you want to access the EU we're right here on the border with Northern Ireland so the people of Donegal are really comfortable working on those two settings and that that in itself is a you know it's a it's a key selling point a Dublin based senator says it's time to start a serious conversation about a dairy Dublin railroad Senator Marie Sherlock a frequent visitor to Donegal says while she supports long-term plans for the expansion of the A5 and also supports the idea of a rail link from letter Kenny to Dublin she believes with express trains and an agreement between TransLink and the Irish government a high-speed rail service from dairy to Dublin via Belfast would be feasible and could be achieved quickly she spoke to Greg on this morning's 9-2-noon show over many years there's been almost an acceptance that there won't be rail links from from Donegal to the rest of the country and we need to change that but the key issue now was how do we actually ensure that there is a faster route cheaper route and a viable route for people when they do need to travel out of the county and I certainly will be lending my support to any campaigns locally in a bid for better rail services because Donegal needs it Garthee are continuing to investigate the killing of a mother of five in North Dublin 36-year-old Sandra Boyd was shot dead at the back of her family home in Finglas on Saturday night Garthee are investigating the theory that her killing was accidental and almost half of children with Down syndrome have had no vital early intervention services in the past year according to a new report Down syndrome Ireland also says 40% had no communication from the HSC in the last 12 months almost a third of survey respondents received zero speech and language therapy sessions which are developmentally crucial today is World Down syndrome day and DSI CEO Barry Sherdon says it's essential that these shortages are discussed we're seeing huge slays we're seeing huge weapons we're seeing really poor lack of communication in some areas and you know when you've got parents of young children with Down syndrome and they're waiting you know almost three years to get any services you know would come so far as a society it's just not good enough really that but you know that we're still waiting Looking at the weather forecast after a cloudy and misty start in many parts of the northwest it'll be mostly dry today with a mix of cloud and some sunny spells shining through highest temperatures will hit 12 to 14 degrees Celsius this afternoon mostly moderate southeasterly breezes tonight mostly dry with a mix of cloud and clear spells lowest overnight temperatures 3 to 8 degrees Celsius some mist patches forming in light to moderate southeasterly breezes tomorrow Tuesday we'll see some better sunny spells it'll be dry for much of today but during tomorrow afternoon we may see a few shards and that's how in radio news we're back with news headlines again at 11 o'clock good morning the average notice is for this Monday morning the 21st of March the death has occurred of Derrick Gallagher mean Moore and Key Road Dunlowe his remains will repose at Midlands funeral home from five o'clock this evening with Rosary at nine viewing tomorrow from three to half past five followed by removal to St Columbus Church acres for six o'clock where he'll repose overnight funeral mass on Wednesday morning at 11 with interment afterwards in Belchurch cemetery the death has taken place in Woodley Reading England of Patricia Patsy Gill Nailogue formerly of Malin County Dany Goh funeral arrangements will be confirmed later the death has taken place of Eddie Herity formerly of Nocnofoher Don Fannahi his remains will arrive in St. Michael's Church creaselet tomorrow evening at approximately six o'clock to repose overnight funeral mass there on Wednesday morning at 11 followed by Burial in Doh Cemetery mass can be viewed live on mcnmedia.tv the death has taken place of Mora Harkin Ne Galena Strand Court Bunkranna her remains are reposing at her home removal tomorrow morning at quarter past nine to St Mary's Oratory Bunkranna for requiem mass at 10 o'clock followed by interment in St Mary's Cemetery Coch Hill family time please from nine p.m. to one p.m. family flowers only please donations in Louis Desard to Nazareth House Patient Comfort Fund care of any family member or Murphy funeral directors the death has occurred of Rose Sharkey Carol Cannon Falkara funeral mass this morning at 11 in St Finan's Church Falkara with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery house private please before the funeral donations in Louis Desard to Port Neblas Patients Comfort Fund care of any family member or Sweeney Funeral Directors Falkara funeral mass can be viewed on mcnmedia Falkara or Sweeney Funeral Directors Facebook page the death has taken place in her 100th year of Kitty Hoodie Bug Gallagher Tavernia Hoodie Bug Bunbeg and formerly of whore Crawley funeral mass since the public's church mean a wheel this morning at 11 with burial afterwards in Ballary Gallon Cemetery family flowers only please donations in Lou to Cromland Children's Hospital care of any family member Kitty's funeral mass can be viewed live on the Kieran Rorty funeral director Facebook page the death has taken place at his home of Dominic Rorty Chrysler funeral mass in St Michael's Church Chrysler this morning at 11 followed by burial in Doe Cemetery mass can be viewed live on mcnmedia.tv family time please before the funeral family flowers only please donations in Louis Desard to the oncology unit letter Kenning University Hospital care of any family member or James Harkin funeral director Chrysler for more details including any family health guidelines for wakes and funerals please go to highlandradio.com and you are very welcome back to the program keep us busy on those phone lines I'll wait 60, 60, 25,000 WhatsApps and texts so I'll give us a call 07491 25,000 the caller says Highland Radio not giving a balanced view on Ukraine this morning I'm sure there are Russian people living here it'd be nice to hear their views you presume that all Russians think the exact same I don't understand what you're talking about are you talking about maybe the events leading up to leading up to the invasion we've talked about that extensively on this program or are you saying there is justification for bombing children and their families I don't know what side of it that you type us out of text let me know what you're saying you're saying this is justifiable I don't know whatever went on before but I don't think anyone could justify the level of destruction and the loss of innocent lives and I also would strongly suspect that all Russian people do not think the same either we don't think uniformly in this country why would you presume that the people of Russia think uniformly as well a caller says surely they first place these people whose weddings have been cancelled despite deposits being paid should be to their solicitors I'm not sure of the T's and C's I don't know what the instant answer that is Greg it's amazing that zoom would work exactly the same from Dublin to the White House as from Blair House to the White House that comes in from Mary Green Party hang your head in shame that person trying to defend the Green Party don't practice what they preach but sure we'll just put the tax on the people and still use our diesel cars and fly around the world the people will pay for it it's the defense of it saying no this is the right way to do it your suggestion of trying to do something with a little bit of innovation is wrong which I find quite remarkable the Green Party shouldn't be worrying about the planters as they clearly live on a different one from the rest of us Greg as usual do as I say not for that I do thank you very much indeed okay why was the bill delayed in the shanard the mink farmers have been getting millions in Udras grants for over 40 years I'm not quite sure if the figures are correct but I don't know why there was a what the delay is hi can you ask that senator can she campaign to remove that on Donagall residents fuel bills until there is a train service in Donagall shame on our government yes let's tax the government tuned to a decision you know in a reverse type of way a recent bus journey from Donagall to Dublin airport took me four hours not much difference and when I booked the return ticket I booked 3 p.m in case there was any delays but then I was in on time they wouldn't let me get the earlier bus despite the bus not being full good morning Greg hope you had a great sympatrix break I'm on about the price of petrol and diesel in the garages in our towns they never took the 20 cent and 50 cent off the pumps it's not very fair I think at this point whether it was going to happen anyway or because you know the public were very vocal on the issue I think for the most part from what I've seen that reduction has been applied but I obviously we can't speak for all towns and villages Greg I've nothing against Ukrainians and my heart does go out to them but why aren't these places opening their doors to the homeless people in our country I've seen people on Facebook saying they had a spare room in the house for anyone having to flee their country and how hotels now hotels offering rooms but how many homeless people are there in Ireland suffering and not a bit of help offered to them I think we should look after our own first let's look after everyone together if we're taking in 100,000 and there's 10,000 homeless but the situation can be a little bit more complex than that and I think if you look at the situation you might understand that solving the homeless problem is difficult but where there is a will there is a way that has been proven but as I say I don't think it's a case that we don't help others and only help our own first let's say right well if we can do this for others let's do it for everyone I don't think it ever has to be an either or an or right everyone's saying how great these hotels are at housing Ukrainians they're letting locals down though that have events booked that's one person's feeling I don't know how it affects staffing by the way if we have an opportunity to speak to someone from the hotel group we'll put those questions to them obviously there might be questions about staff maybe more staff might be employed our staff being let go I don't know but until we get a time an opportunity to speak to someone we can't answer or ask those questions the people that have had their bookings cancelled by McGatkins should take legal advice this is they believe that there's a financial motivation to it our McGatkins getting paid to host the refugees I imagine so as I say if we get an opportunity to speak to someone from the hotel group we shall ask that question directly it's a business and they're helping the government out I think it's it would be expected that they would receive payment what that payment rate is struck at and for how long maybe we'll never find that out but I mean it's not being done I don't think and I'm open to correction through the goodness of the heart if that makes sense okay we are going to take a break for the bingo numbers and rejoin us after the 9 till noon show with letter Kenny credit union mortgage is now available with a personalized service from your local and friendly credit union email mortgage at letterkennycu.ie it's time for NCBI bingo on highland radio it's monday the 21st of march you're playing on the green sheet the reference number is s16 it's game number 12 the numbers are 74 73 55 6 64 89 85 63 81 and finally 87 phone your claim to 910483 before 8 tonight leaving your name contact number and the name of the shop where you purchased your book and we'll call you back the next working day get all your NCBI bingo information at highlandradio.com if you've got magic moments or great memories captured on your smartphone now is a great time to have them printed at magies.ie simply upload your favorite photos choose your size and finish and magies will take care of the rest with the results delivered to your door prices are from just 12 cent and there's also creative options available preserve your memories today at magies.ie don't sleep in and miss the very latest beds and mattress offers from dfibeds.ie Ireland's leading online bed and mattress retailer you'll get a comfy Irish made mattress upholstered base and headboard from an amazing 229 euro check out the full range at dfibeds.ie delivery free and guaranteed to you within seven working days dfi beds sleep well live well you'll find all the best toys at Foyze Ballet Buffet discover great value on all the latest toys ride on spikes and bear go-karts with new deliveries arriving every week great offers on best selling brands like lego fish or price and barbie with new deliveries every week you can get all the fun shipped to your door with free delivery on orders over 75 euro shop local and find everything you need at Foyze Ballet Buffet or shop online at toysatfoyze.com looking for a flexible affordable home improvement loan from your kitchen renovation to get in your garden barbecue ready b&s credit union's renovate loan is ready to go for loans from 5000 to 70 000 euro visit their website at bnscu.ie or free phone 1-800-290-390 where their dedicated and experienced loans team will be delighted to help you loans are subject to approval terms and conditions apply b&s credit union limited is regulated by the central bank of ireland okay you're very welcome back to the program now news broke towards the end of last week about P&O ferries they'd cancelled all their sailings at very very short notice and then of course let an awful lot of staff go in a not a very humane manner many of them just being told via video call that their livelihoods with P&O had come to an end Lisa McDade was affected by this as a passenger and joins us now hi Lisa my good morning Greg how are you I'm okay you're from Newtown Conningham and tell us how the events unfolded you had your booking how long before you were due to sail were you notified and then what happened by the tall we had actually pulled up to the port to check in our boat was the sailing with 12 o'clock and we pulled up about 11 o'clock and the lady just says listen sorry P&O's not doing any sailing today and she says we don't know what's going on what's happening she handed us a little card and says for any complaints or refunds try and get in contact somebody there she says I wouldn't try to stay up tomorrow she says I would leave it a few days and go and try Belfast to see if we can get on the Stenna line and I mean your group would be with the company itself I mean that that member of staff you were talking to may have been told that day that their job was gone well that's it I think the the staff that was actually in the bus they weren't told nothing they were just told that the ferries weren't sailing and that they had to advise people of alternative routes to say and that was what they got told and that's the message that they had to pass on right so did you find an alternative route and how long did that take well yeah we had to actually rebook the whole boat again so we had to rebook with Stenna so we were made to be sailing at 12 o'clock with P&O's but we didn't get sailing until 7.30 with Stenna but Stenna's boat because it had so many passengers and so many referrals from P&O to come over that it didn't leave until I think it was about 20 to 9 in the evening was it much more expensive than the the P&O yeah far more expensive it was about 120 euro more expensive okay so you're still awaiting I presume you're still awaiting your refund from P&O because they made a decision you'll add hundreds of euro are you hoping or are you going to try and recoup that from P&O through Donagull Travel so I've been speaking to a lady through there who's been wonderful and she's dealing with it all for me for getting you know the refund back and she just says look put everything in an email and all the expenses and things that that occurred over the day because obviously we didn't expect to be hanging about a whole day before traveling so she has been wonderful and she's she's doing it all for us but it's just whether we do get a refund or not or you know how it's going to work yeah but if you get the refund though the battle might be actually trying to get the you know you're out of pocket expenses covered but you're you're prepared to keep at it to get that money back to Chloribard oh definitely without a doubt because it just put a whole a whole uproar on schedule because like we were meant to be in Scotland at six o'clock that evening and sure we didn't arrive here until I think it was about 2.45 in the morning you know so just kind of putting up people on everything it kind of just knocks your day away and you know all the rest of it but I spoke to a journalist when we were up at the port yes and I had faced him I just looked do you know what's happening and he says like we knew from about five o'clock in the morning because P&O had grounded all their boats from everywhere they had them and then I thought to myself well if that was the case I think it would be manners to just send out a little email a text saying listen the boats aren't failing today you'll need to find alternative especially considering that the company wasn't going into liquidation it's going to continue its services I presume this is not it was handled very poorly in terms of the communication seemingly with customers and of course the awful way they treated their staff that's going to have an impact on the company going forward as you say you know things happen but you shouldn't have found out sitting in the car at the port no that's it you shouldn't have you know I mean but what I had found out later on was that the later sailing that P&O had put on they had actually transferred all their tickets over to Stena so the people that were booked on the later boat didn't have to pay their tickets transferred over but the 12 o'clock boat they didn't because it was kind of all up in the air at this time you know yeah it would have been a slightly easier pill to swallow if your booking had just been transferred for sure because we're you know we're sitting at the minute that we're 900 year old out because we've paid for two boats okay you know if it was just crazy in the poor staff you know the staff were coming without the boat coming out the port and you know you could see the devastation on their face they were just they were absolutely devastated you know they got told that they're losing their jobs over a zoom call a pre-recorded zoom call you know and the wording on it for those of you I think what was that he said today's your last day of employment I mean it was just the way in which he was done it was awful okay well Lisa keep us updated if you have any success in I mean I'm pretty confident you'll get the refund however long that might take hopefully sooner rather than later but it'll be interesting to see and I hope you're successful in recouping some of the expenses that through no fault of your own you you had to incur at least you're back in Scotland now though anyway yeah I'm coming I'm coming home now um this evening I'll be back and good old me in this evening now so fingers crossed fingers cross please fingers crossed all right safe journey Lisa to you and yours thanks very much for joining us that's Lisa McDade uh heading back from bonnie scotland uh to new tan conningham this evening the 90 noon show with letter kenny credit union now offering my cu current account and debit mastercard bringing full banking features delivered with the same local 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is back after two years artist wishing to submit for this year's glee gallery open art competition should bring their artworks to the glee gallery church hill letter kenny on the weekends of the 26th and 27th of march and the second and third of april between 12 and 5 p.m artists can submit up to four artworks and the entry fee is four euro per piece the exhibition will open on good friday the 15th of april at 4 p.m and all are welcome to attend the exhibition will run until sunday the 24th of april admission to the exhibition is free pictures must be framed and ready to hang if selected further details are on the glee house and gallery facebook page okay you're welcome back to the program i want to say a very happy 18th birthday to avine darty who is in hilly in boncrona lots of love coming into you from uh granny trisha can you please wish charlotte connor knock by the buffet a very happy fifth birthday for today from mommy daddy garvin and kiran and i'd like to congratulate my granddaughter uh aina aina a bigger pardon kirby from burton passing her driving test yesterday love from debbie eddie elicia and keen weld on to you all right let's take some music we promised to play this one last week but between the jigs and the reels uh we didn't get around to it it's a traveling wilburys back in three or four minutes all right that's the traveling wilburys it's the end of the line okay back here with our next guest in fact we're going to be talking uh history with uh dr joe kelly we're going to talk about our history of neutrality where did it come from uh and where perhaps it's going so it's about history but it's also about the future stay with us it's uh hopefully going to be an interesting conversation always with is uh with joe kelly the nine till noon show with letter kenny credit union now offering mortgages from 40 000 to 600 000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges letter kenny credit union 9102127 visitary and experience a world of difference 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robinson estate agents working for you okay time to talk history now with dr uh joe kelly who is uh conveniently a historian uh for the purpose of this segment joe good to see you again how are you keeping i imagine why you could uh greg i hope you can all hear me loud loud and clear uh dr kelly a lot of we're having this conversation about neutrality and there are people that feel that um you know a conversation was already happening maybe about uh our neutrality i mean listen we're not clearly we're not politically neutral our neutrality in the past has been quite flexible uh and and who's to say where we're going i might get your views i will get your views on that uh in a moment but you know i was mentioning i think last week or the week before on the show uh the dunny gall corridor i'm not sure how that settles uh with with our neutrality and then of course you know we have and we do allow us soldiers to to land uh in shanard and the wrong word roots and whatever else might go on so can you talk to us a little bit about our our history of neutrality well you see it depends how you define neutrality and that that's where in fairness a lot of our political elite and our academics have been very untrue in in many respects defining our neutrality if we go back first of all to world war one um we 80 000 Irish men they believed died in world war one and over 200 000 men partook in world war one without conscription but once conscription was brought in and made law in Ireland it wasn't enforced but it was made law in Ireland um there was a massive backlash and it was then really that shin fame became a very prominent political party because people then understood what it was that the men and women were 1916 were about they were looking for a republic where we could be self-determined and define our own nationhood and we were not to be signing up to joining an army or be forced to join an army and for that then really that that conscription crisis put shin fame along aligned with the catholic church and you saw a lot of them publications of the time seeing the bishops and shin fame tds all going together so the whole history of 1916 merged beautifully into look you can be a catholic and at the same time shout for a republic and so then we when we did get independence the question was where was Ireland going to stand with us um and we there's nowhere in our constitution where it says we are neutral believe it or not it's an aspiration that we have that we are non-militarily aligned and that's terribly terribly important and and to be honest most politicians since we joined the 19 they joined the EU in the 1970s one could honestly say from Shanla mass right nearly up to the present time or or Tishi have said oh yeah yeah there's no such thing as neutral we're on neutral Ireland because they want to be part of an EU which also has a part from cap and fishery policies has to have a military budget and so how do how can Ireland be part of an EU that has a military budget and so they're telling the european leaders look we have no problem with this yet they come home then and try to sell us treaties um for example the lesbian treaty where there is monies put aside for our elements and so forth and the people of Ireland have voted these down because of the concern of neutrality so what i'm trying to say is there's a difference between neutrality and military neutrality we are not morally neutral for example when it comes to Ukraine or to any other situation of war but that does not compromise or military neutrality and and as a nation of people like Ireland's known the world over as a nation of missionaries of doctors of caregivers of aid givers we do not need a gun in our hand to broker peace and putting guns in our hands is going to achieve nothing but our politicians are political elite um or some of our academia and some of our media have been trying to push this agenda that we're not militarily neutral or we're on neutral which is very unfair we are morally and very much on the side of Ukraine we are morally not neutral and we never wear what's the difference between neutrality and uh being non-beligerent yeah well see this is the point non-beligerent is that we're not actually physically taking up arms uh to fight for one side or the other and like there's a there's a lot of research done on this there's a there's a brilliant article written by Karen Devine a postdoctoral research and she critiques Irish neutrality see Gareth Fitzgerald and other people have have previously put out this idea that neutrality in Ireland is a myth it is no myth in fact our neutrality arguably is superior to that of Switzerland or Sweden or Finland um or Austria for that matter we have very much very uh been very very clear always that we are not going to arm ourselves to attack but that again doesn't mean to say we will not arm ourselves morally that we will say what is right and what is wrong and we're very very clear with this but you talked about legislation where where there's no legislation necessarily in the statute book but part of the niece treaty there is an article inserted in the niece treaty is not where it sort of expressly says that we are not taking part so I can't really find the words correctly but we aren't going to be part of any European army I mean is that the closest we have to a an official standing on our status in that regard well it's more an aspiration and an in fairness to Simon Coveney our minister for foreign affairs he's been very clear in it and very strong thankfully saying look at we are not getting going down the road of military alliances and now is maybe not the time for having that conversation that would really he would look at it I mean and realistically Greg from a neutral point of view in the sense of military neutral we know as a nation what it is like to be conquered we've never conquered a nation we know what it's like to be brutalized to be murdered to be suppressed we know what it's like to be exiled we know what it's like to be a refugee we have that history and no country better than ours understands the bite of other countries in war situations okay of course and a lot of people feel that you know we we have an understanding of it now because there's part of this island that is under the control of another state but in terms of you know you say we should we don't take sides right but if we facilitate other countries in their wars we are taking sides are we not yeah we'll see that this is where you can't we might not be picking up a gun but if you facilitate the travel through your country of another person taking up a gun I mean can we really use the word that we're neutral really with a straight face a brilliant question and therefore if we use that criteria and this is how do what criteria do we use to define neutrality and and if we use the criteria that you're saying then Switzerland is not neutral and has not been neutral Sweden is not neutral and has never been neutral this is what I'm trying to to to make the point for example during World War II Sweden allowed Hitler and his army to move up through Sweden the Swiss did the same so look there there's an you're talking about the belligerence there has to be a sense of of sliding scale of realities here where in the case of Sweden and Switzerland and with Ireland in regards to England during World War II I mean it was the weather that was read at Mayo that gave the information for the day-day landings we weren't morally neutral but we weren't taking up a gun in our hands and I think that's the point and realistically there seems to be some kind of agenda being pushed are we really saying that we should put guns into our Irish army's hands to take on Russia I would far rather we've never had peace with guns in our hands and we know this from Northern Ireland well it's the guns that were under the table or the legalized guns were above the table in the hands of the British army we could not have peace with guns in our hands so Ireland being a neutral militarily neutral country can argue a very high moral point that very few nations in the world can that's the beauty of it you've actually just led into my next question because you know obviously we can back the Ukrainians and what they're going through and what have you right but you talked about us maybe having a unique position why do we not use that why are we not uh you know there's always the talk of the fact that the Good Friday Agreement is looked upon internationally as being sort of like a blueprint for what can be achieved uh you know you've talked about our status in in what scope like why are wonder are we not being used in some way or other or why we are we not asserting ourselves on the national stage to try and be the brokers of a solution or peace maybe i'm being naive in that question but you know we have we are a small country but i think we have a decent international standing but we're not instead you know really it feels like we're being walked into a European army you know we're sending out flak jackets and i know that is for peacekeeping and all that kind of stuff but the direction of traffic seems to be not us adopting a role as a neutral country using that but for us to be moving in a different direction well here now here's what i would do and i think it's time for the i wish people to prove their neutrality and i think the place it has to start is with our president and this might sound fanciful but i genuinely believe this and there's been opportunities before for our president to do this and they have failed to do so and i'm thinking of for example our president or if i were president for it for a day i would call biden and putin i would get in touch with the EU leaders i would talk with china do that within a week if i had to travel to their countries and talk with them i would and then i would invite them all i would have a world peace conference a somewhat of some description or a conference a world peace conference in freedom square in karkiv in ukraine and ask the world leaders to come there with me and stand there and as little neutral ireland as the president of neutral ireland i would stand there shoulder to shoulder with president slansky and other world leaders invite them invite the pope to come there and call out for peace break out in reality right but we have to have someone call for peace but if the truth be told sorry if the truth be told do we have that independence could we do something like that without our without the country's leaders checking it with france checking it with germany even checking it with the uk do we truly have that independence to make those type of decisions or do we have to run them past the powers that be who perhaps have already decided as best as they can how this is going to play out and that would just be meddling well first of all our president is a citizen of this country and has the freedom to do anything as you or i would have that's the first thing the second thing is that we do not need the imprimatur of any other country to talk the words of peace we are a neutral country and we can go out there and fly or try color and call for peace and let the people of russia know let people know let the bledgerans know that we are not there to cause war we are there to cause peace and it this is the level it needs to be at and you know it's not just ukraine that we need to talk about we need to talk about the economic wars there are other countries suffering because of policies of other countries and our neutrality gives us a unique position to have to claim the high moral ground but and let me ask because i wasn't making it very what my point is is are we though can we make like what of course we can and possibly should but i just wonder politically right politically would we upset our european cousins we know we wouldn't be acting sort of in coalescence with the rest of the union of course the president can stand up and say whatever the hell he likes but i wonder politically if we would get a slap on the wrist for doing such whether we should you know whether that's right or wrong that's not my point i just wonder how independent our government and our president truly is to take the leads that you talk of well first of all and i hear what you're saying i couldn't care less about the other european countries and what they believe with regards to this be it militarily or any other way that's not my point i'm on about what is the situation not what we like or what we shouldn't be or what is but i just wonder do we have truly that sort of independence to do absolutely we are a sovereign nation in our own right our president is the first president first person citizen of our country and he is a freedom to do this and if we have to embarrass other countries into bringing people yet you should lead the way and we have led the way internally in ireland by your funding by your welcoming of 20 000 opening up our homes we have shown morally that we are not neutral on wrong but militarily we are neutral and i think it puts us in the position to do something and if our president would do this it would be an amazing thing to do for ireland and maybe mehill martin rather than looking for a bolo sham rugs and a photo opportunity with joe biden should go and look for his photo opportunity with the people of ukraine in ukraine and show how neutral we really are look we've we've had decades of violence in northern ireland and we knew and we know that there was only peace brokered when the guns were gone we cannot have peace with guns in our hands and as a country we don't need guns to broker peace okay um right what i mean looking to the future you know and i know you we talked to you about history but you've you uh you obviously have an interest in what's happening out into the future do you think though regardless of what some might say uh you know the tone of conversation it feels like we are being walked into a european army oh i i agree i agree with you i think that the men of no disrespect yourselves in highland i think there's certain elements of the the media certain elements of our political elite certain academics that would like us to go down the way of war the way of guns the way of violence it is not ireland we have as i said earlier on we have been a we're a great people for missionaries for doctors for aid for charity for kindness you know we talk the truth we talk peace and we hit war we hit injustice we've been torn for centuries we've been bludgeoning for centuries by by a conqueror and it's not within our psyche war is not what we want you know war is not what we want we are people of peace and i and i genuinely do believe that there is a danger that we're being led down a garden path towards a militarization of ireland we don't need that and irish the irish army are known worldwide as great peacekeepers and i'm very very proud as many are of our irish army going into situations with the un and others to keep the peace because they know we're not on either side it's just been an interesting it's been an interesting couple of months because firstly our report was published giving us our three options do we invest in our army do we do this do we do that next thing you know ukraine is invaded and then the conversation is ramped up a little bit it's interesting times dr joe thank you so much for your time this morning i really do appreciate it that's doctor dr joe kelly who's a historian talking there about our uh talking there about um our history as a as a neutral country where it's going um and where it might end up okay we'll be joined by minister charlie mcconnellog after this short break the nine till noon show with letter kenny credit union mortgage is now available with a personalized service from your local and friendly credit union email mortgage at letterkennycu.ie at centra we're at the heart of the community so we go to great lengths to help you live your best life fresh bread finest meals fantastic offers all the good fields not to mention a fabulous wide range of our own brand favorites and as for off license we've been to the four corners of the world so you can enjoy the best wines and beers locally at centra we've got everything you need centra live every day enjoy co sensibly bingo every monday night at halfway house bingo burn food doors open 7 30 with eyes down at 8 30 2500 euro must go the snowball is now 5050 euro on 45 numbers are less if you're not in you can't win that's halfway house bingo tonight at 8 30 dunagall hearing clinic now open up pier short letter kenny and bunkrana now offering state-of-the-art rechargeable hearing aids free with your prsi also pain-free microsoftian wax removal services call 07491-8470 or dunagall hearing clinic dot ie life sounds brilliant with dunagall hearing clinic highland radio wants to send you on the holiday of a lifetime plus five grand spending money get your ticket now at highlandradio.com answer the question and start packing start packing draw takes place april 14th on the nine till then show start planning your ultimate getaway only on highland radio highland radio weather updates with arland west airport now flying to 19 destinations this summer with seven days car parking from just 30 euro when you book online arland west airport you're flying okay now let's have a look at the weather forecast now then today a mix of cloud and some brighter sunny spells any lingering overnight rain is died out at this stage becoming dry apart from the odd shower temperatures 12 to 14 degrees right we are joined on the program now by minister for agriculture marine charlie mcconnellogue good morning to you minister thank you for making the time for us this morning i know you're under pressure so we appreciate it good morning greg now and is there any update in terms of our before we talk about this any update in terms of you know there's a lot of conversation about we need to be growing more grain and you know a bit of but certainty in terms of supplies and i know a lot of work's going on in the background in that regard is there any updates or any news uh as to to to planning or or anything yeah well there has been a lot of work on it i set up a national father and food security committee which has been meeting over the last couple of weeks and also been engaging with my own team in the department greg it's a big objective to try and ensure that we do grow the amount of grain that we uh or increase the amount of grain we grow this year um it's something i'll be discussing and bringing some proposals to cabinet tomorrow on as well for for for cabinet support so i think a good number of farmers actually have shown a strong willingness to actually that would have had some experience this in the past importantly as well those who are intelligent um are open to the idea so given that we import 60 percent of our grain it's important we try and grow that um given the this the supply chain challenges that are there as a result of what's happening in ukraine do you feel that we are in any better a position given this awful situation and we don't know what's going to happen next uh to as best as we can ensure that farmers can do their work be it uh you know their inputs that we have to import or grow and in terms of you know the cost of because we've been speaking to farmers who feel that they're and those working in the agri sector who feel that they're like they don't know if they can continue because of the cost is with fuel even just fuel do you know what i mean do you think we we're going to be able to come up with some sort of a solution um yeah and listen i'm working closely with this sector obviously there's real pressures there in terms of cost at the moment uh we're seeing both in terms of you know input screen fertilizers fuel going up and that's putting pressure on the sector and i'm working with the team in my department in terms of how we can support that over the next period the most important um an urgent piece of that is how we can support farmers to grow more gray and that's the first piece i'm prioritizing the biggest priority and biggest thing that every farmer can do this year though is is work to maximize the amount of grass that they grow and ensure particularly we plan ahead for next winter and spring to ensure that the the grass and fodder supplies are in place um and grass is the most important aspect to that but also looking to increase grain so i've been working very closely with the sector and key to that was putting that national committee in place really early on in the season as soon as we had the opportunity to ensure that we plan ahead work together okay and and just by coincidence again our news is going to be a little late i do apologize for those of you waiting for that we'll get to it in a moment because there is an important issue as well ongoing and one for the future and that is uh efforts to crack down on unfair trading practices in the agri-food industry i think a lot of people would be uh well aware of what's going on what do you think needs you know talk to me about you think needs to change and how we're going to change it yeah well listen i'm at an EU council meeting here today in brosles and it's been an important part of the work that's been going on at the EU level but really importantly taking that forward and stepping that up at national level one of the key policy priorities i've had Greg is the introduction of a food ombudsman or regulator office and tomorrow i'll be bringing a memo to cabinet to step that forward further i've engaged closely with all in the sector and with farmers and all stakeholders in relation to how we can establish an office that has real teeth and they can ensure that there's transparency right throughout the food supply chain so from where food leaves the farm gate and the work that our farmers do to where it ends up in shelves and plates that we can see what's going on in that process and really importantly with the objective of ensuring that the farmer is getting fair play and a fair income as part of that because they do massive work really really hard graft and time put into it and then there's a lack of clarity for many farmers which is really frustrating in terms of what share they get so and they take the hits for you know they take the hit for loss leading practices say for instance do you think that this office this role will put an end to that so that you know if a company wants to discount certain products that they're free to do so but it will not be expense at the expense of farmers do you think that will be achieved yeah that's the key objective here to ensure that there is a transparency and it likes you on and what's happening and that you have an independent office with the statutory legal basis to carry out that function and with the credibility that comes with that as well to ensure that there's fairness there and I think everybody you know everybody when they're going to the supermarket and putting food in their plate want to ensure that ultimately the farmers are getting a fair fair fair play as an advance of it landing up there and because your average person they're very much respects and appreciates how difficult it is to produce that food so but it has been a real challenge in recent times it's led to disruption and we you know remember the the beef protest two or three years ago was well which very much emanated out of a lack of trust and lack of lack of insight as to what was happening and ultimately really importantly from the fact that farmers weren't getting a price that delivered a profit for them and that's something you know as minister I've been working really hard in terms of the policies I put in place to support farm families and incomes and this office is a key part of that to try and ensure that that transparency is there and the farmers get fair play very finally and briefly we had the chair of the green party earlier on expressing her frustration at the pace of the winding down of the mink farming industry obviously you've you've got a great interest in that what's the hold up when when is that process going to be concluded yeah that's it's I brought the legislation right through the doll and it's through most stages the channel just waiting now to go through the last stage and I hoped it would have been through by two weeks ago but there was delays in terms of the channel scheduling so I'm hoping to get that through very very quickly Greg working with Senator Riley indeed her nose in the program this morning and all my own colleagues and the three government parties to deliver that is it is a key problem for government objective and so you know mink farming and for farming is very much outlived its relevance it's not something we believe is appropriate anymore but what's really important in doing that too is that we're very fair to those farmers who you know as a result of the law change we're bringing in we'll no longer have their livelihood and I want to ensure that there's fairness for them so I hope now that we will have it through I hope this week that's the plan and we're all working across government to try and deliver that okay minister thank you very much for your time this morning I do appreciate it all right it is three minutes past 11 again apologies to those of you waiting on the news headlines it's just when people have been available to us this morning it's just been one of those days but anyway we get a news update now by saying good morning and welcoming back on to the program Donald Kavanaugh thank you Greg good morning the number of COVID patients in hospitals has increased by 25 percent in the past week there are 1,308 people in the hospital with the virus today that's the highest figure in more than 13 months the Department of Health hasn't given an update on the number of new cases across the country since last Thursday because of the long weekend Dr. Dennis Macaulay at Donegal GP chairs the IMO's GP committee he believes that the increased socialization over the St. Patrick's weekend will mean we'll see an increase in the numbers in the coming days please since Straban are trying to track down a driver who was involved in a cross border incident in the early hours of yesterday morning shortly after one yesterday morning police were mounting a vehicle checkpoint on Lyford Road in Straban the driver of a gray colored Seat Leon failed to stop he drove across the border into Lyford Gardi were alerted the vehicle wouldn't stop for them it drove back across the border into Clarey police eventually deployed a stinger device on Ernie Road the vehicle came to a stop but the driver fled the scene a number of drugs were detected at the scene in a follow-up search Ukrainian forces in Mariupol are refusing to stop fighting after rejecting an offer from Russia to surrender Moscow claimed that if Ukraine's soldiers laid down their weapons it would allow for the safe passage of civilians out of the besieged city authorities there say Russian forces bombed an art school where 400 people were sheltering the city has been described as the epitome of hell at this point in time in Kiev meanwhile four people were killed during a bomb attack which got at a shopping center Amnesty International has warned that the trial due to start next week of a soldier for a troubles related death could be the last troubles trial if plans for a de facto amnesty are enshrined in law 51-year-old Bernadier Gardsman David Jonathan Holden will appear in court in Belfast next week charged with the manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie in Okna Tloy County Tarone on February 21st 1988 and a Dublin senator says it's time to start a conversation about a dairy Dublin railroad Senator Marie Sherlock a frequent visitor to Donegal says well she supports long-term plans for the expansion of the A5 and also supports the idea of a rail link from that her can be to Dublin she believes with express trains and agreement between Translink, Stormont and the Irish government a high-speed rail service linking Derry and Dublin via Belfast would be feasible and the headlines were back with news headlines again at 12 noon okay Donald thank you very much indeed back with our next guest shortly by the way coming up a little later on we've got I'll tell you about that after the break actually we'll be back with it a moment playing or moving home can be a strange mixture of excitement and stress so the last thing you need is worrying about conveyancing time to call McElhinney and associates they'll move that property transaction along swiftly make sure everything's in order and prevent any nasty surprises residential commercial leasing or voluntary transfer call today on 0749175989 or find us online we'll do the paperwork you do the wallpaper McElhinney and associate solicitors to an owner how can we help years ago I used to dread my motor insurance renewal then a friend told me about O'Malley Scanlan insurance in Balibuffet and Dunlowe they do all the hard work they contact all the major insurance underwriters and they get the very best possible quote for me they have saved me a small fortune over the years and they could do the same for you when your insurance comes up for renewal contact O'Malley Scanlan insurance at their Balibuffet office on 9131020 or they're done low office on 95 treble 206 O'Malley Scanlan is regulated by the central bank 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 park yeah I think if you try to design a garden too much it's it's artificial open then and you know we better to see go along the garden we see these gardener programs you know don't put this color beside that color and don't think that's a lot nonsense too like you know about panga plant looks nice no matter where what what color it is that's down the garden path a new series Wednesday nights on Highland Radio after the news at 8 p.m okay so earlier we heard the well-intended calls for a formalization or establishment of a dairy to Dublin train route it exists but it's long and it's expensive I think but I think this has already been discussed in the past as Councillor Paul canning can bring us up to date these weren't the first calls then Paul the first time we looked at the possibility of you know setting that up as a viable route to the Dublin to the capital no definitely in the country and also we got a we actually got a presentation from Translanks and the the person there the boss of Translank and he was Richard Knox with the the man's name he at that time because it got lobbied by the councillors now regarding just the cross border group give you an indication the cross border group consists of five or six councillors from the Donegal side and five or six councillors from the Darius to Bamside and then you have all the all the chief executives and the directors of service etc so both both chief executives at the time and the councillors all lobbied to see if we could get express train or whatever from dairy to Dublin at that point in time he he said in relation to it that he would need an investment of about 80 million now this is three years ago and he said that 80 million now the way for this is if he got an investment of 80 million it would take two minutes time he said that's the sort of money you're chatting so the other thing that he had stated that he also needed investment for for loops to increase the frequency so we don't have the actual proper infrastructure to actually put an express it's just not a case of putting more trains in the same tracks you have to logistically figure out how they can pass I said it would cost too much you'd have so many loops and as as he said the 80 million needed to take two minutes off it now we we happened in the January meeting we we have because of because of the the way we're going now with all this you know the project Ireland 2040 the National Development Plan the Northwest Regional Assembly Spatial Strategy all these strategies they have to be in place now before you can actually get get down to the man says so we actually had we opened up we we have submissions now to what they call an all island strategic real review which is basically what what what we are we're having to do now is we have to get an assessment for a feasibility study and what we what we a feasibility study does that involve whether or not it would be used whether or not we could afford to the whether or not the investment would justify the return is that when we talk about feasibility studies is that what we're talking about to our figures on what exists because they're not on existence so we have a we're struggling to get a bar to start off but in relation to the actual tonic all with what what was going on to the feasibility study was also to look at the new real connections which was kind of the the dairy to Dublin but it also was dairy to to slaggo and then we had the internal network with with dairy to letter Kenny and also letter Kenny to Straban I know that's not connecting the whole of the west of the country like but that was our starting point so we we've actually sent forward a document stating that these are the the the area that we have to do a feasibility study and see how it all walks out you know but I will say I just feel I just feel particularly with the the Greens in government that you know this is something we're nice to see being driven from the top down you know it's great to see that some exploration is happening but it sounds aspirational to me despite everyone's best efforts and I'm not undermining that I hope but I would just I can't understand why you know when we're not getting a top down approach you'd say like this is something we have to do this is the future you know rather than this crap of us having to make arguments for it and all that type of stuff and it just feels like it's never going to happen we have a meeting with the arrector's members of the arrector's members will be at a meeting with us and this will be one of the the subject that will be discussed at okay one of our agendas anyway you know so there is there is as you know and I know to get all your docs in a row and with the environment the low carbon with the climate resilience all of that now there's a lot of people working bald before you actually get the speed on the ground unfortunately but that's part of where we're at with the real way all right listen thank you for the update I do appreciate it because it fills in a few gaps for us okay appreciate it councillor Paul Canning 08 660 25 000 this week on Highland Radio our website hellandradio.com we're highlighting Neurodiversity Celebration Week which runs from today until the 28th Patrick Sharkey speaks to different neurodivergent people from throughout Donegal and further revealed about the challenges they have to overcome in daily life the guests span all four corners of Donegal and tell many different stories dealing with ADHD autism dysbaxia dyslexia and asperger's syndrome daily podcasts available on that website highlandradio.com each day at 11 a.m through to Friday so your first episode has just dropped and it's available for you right now even if it is to maybe better understand the neurodiversity terminology and what it means the 90 noon show with letter Kenny Credit Union now offering my cu current account and debit mastercard bringing full banking features delivered with the same local trustworthy service of your credit union if you are worried that your alcohol or other drug use is negatively impacting on your life reach out for support and information talk to your GP who can offer support and who can refer you on for further help if needed alternatively call the Donegal HSE community addiction service on 0749128769 or the HSE alcohol helpline free phone 1 800 459 459 when you are ready to talk we are ready to listen help is out there this ad has been supported by the letter Kenny community action on alcohol and by the healthy Ireland fund supported by the department of health and the department of children equality disability integration and youth it's not just a sewing machine for Maya it's a chance to give her family a better life it's not just a way to make a living it's a chance to give her daughter an education like thousands of mothers Maya lives in fear of what the future holds for her little girl and it's not just this lent your love can make all the difference visit trokrat.org or call 1800 408 408 trokrat until love conquers fear Kelly Steiner and letter Kenny now has even longer opening hours try Kelly's Erdie bird breakfast one 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artisan food support your local traders this sunday at eglinton community hall from 12 noon to 4 p.m okay it's monday which means later today the latest uh dl debate podcast will be released its presenter is brendan devaney he joins us in studio now uh brendan good morning to you how are you keeping of course you were over in london yes yes you enjoyed yourself did you as a couple of days yeah very good great great it's nice to see what's going on over there isn't it what what we're you know the the roots that we've laid over there are the contributions we've made what we continue to make um you don't really get it until you're there i think well a lot of people don't win yeah our fantastic choice in old school buddy of mine you know and try well from muckys avenue just down the road from us here so fantastic to see somebody coming in you know and make a news type of waves there he is now with the with the chia and he's running things in the town hall in asinton and yeah all the dunagal crew coming over i mean dino singing the homes of dunagal there it was it was getting very romantic i know it was great now it was good and fair play to everyone okay right now on to uh the program uh your program tomorrow um it's a tale of two dunagal teams really isn't it the ladies pulling out a victory against dublin not the same story for for the men and i think a lot of people thought are they going to get a couple of late goals and uh see them over the line but it wasn't to be uh so how are you going to be reflecting on that yeah just we'll go talk to jerry mclaughlin of course jerry and our current all-star on that game but big move for dunagal to to beat dublin like that you'll dub them or this thing over us and there was a freaky school remember uh the other season put us out of the championship against them so you know we were trailing and looking game over with final minutes two goals in 23 seconds so i think we'll maybe do that we will look against dublin and i think it'd be interesting to get jerry's point of view even though people talk about the league the league you know they're more or less very close to what's going to be happening in championships so psychologically huge lift for for ladies yeah um and of course i don't want to forget and i wouldn't forget that the hurlers had a victory at the weekend as well which you'll be covering but just sticking with the football for a second um i don't know how much in terms of travel or how much of the game you got to see or or you know to judge on a personal level uh what what's your take on it i mean you know obviously we were expecting dublin to come back unfortunately um were the victims of that but yeah well i suppose dublin after beating the terrible start and after beating uh me uh truan in their own backyard last week a lot of people were a bit concerned about this because we had been playing with ourselves but really poor performance against monhan something about crow park i think lefts people and lefts the game the game's more open there's more opportunity and it's it's it's a fast playing pitch so there always seems to be a bit more action happening i mean wait a phenomenal start uh greg you know four points up but there was just something maybe a wee bit more settled and controlled about taroon we obviously kick seven ways in that first half as well we get stripped quite a few numbers of times but that's some of the young lads and they're still learning it like the core that dublin team was back in and presence there and the three or four of their top men back to who probably just had that wee bit of exes but we didn't give up it was it was probably better performance than most people yeah but 90 of the fans uh who pay their money and feel they right to have a view on this feel that it's our style of play that's frustrating them and leading to these results i mean can you understand where they're coming from it's how we're setting up how we're moving the ball around uh you know the the the the approach that we're taking to these games and of course maybe we'll carry on into the championship yeah well i think everybody's kind of playing the same way more or less we did kick but we did kick the ball more yesterday and i suppose everyone will highlight the the goal that michael got you know the rhyme the cue it was like something that seems like it could happen a lot but we never do it we don't do it enough anyway so have michael inside and seeing bits and pieces of his platform and how much he causes problems you still are three or four players who come back uh Greg you know you still had some decent performances out there and one of our biggest problem there is of course was it fall back and and brenda mccole just seems to be getting better and better and you know funny back to crow park how things can change Greg a couple of seasons ago when he made his debut he's now going to make full forward newman from meath and uh he didn't even make it to the end the first half you know my heart really went out to him that day you know but he's come back got better and better and there he is now he's one of the best full backs in the country at the minute so there's still this positive sitting there you know keen and McGonagall legs are langing um and these fellas ashing gallons you know obviously jimmy brendan not not that fit in that so the focus is i suppose getting these lads all back and fit if we have our full side i think we can we can still beat anybody in our day and of course it's coming down to this last league game now you know there's five teams can get there's a lot of variables isn't there a lot of variables the one of two variables is playing in our way i suppose is the head to head if you end up in level points um uh with the legs of throne or caldera or you've but we don't know what kind of teams people are going to put out as well either this so so even until match day we'll not know what the uh consequences of the we're playing our mob we're playing the championship so that's all of it exactly um so john kasey uh from mayo and uh kevin cassidy um of donigall of course they're going to reflect on that uh you talked about gerald d mcglachlan talking about uh donigall's uh the performance of the ladies against dublin in that league one semi final and mc mccann's on as well to talk about uh the hurling yeah this and mc mccann there's a lot of talk for years that donigall couldn't manage it and division two b and here they are now potentially going to get into uh uh you know a league final to go up to the next grade and phenomenal stuff um Gregor hurlers how much they've come on and been able to stabilize before if they ever stepped in division two b they couldn't call it now they're well able to mix it so you know huge leaps been made by them fair play at all and an interesting tie against slag a bit of a north west starby all right that and so much more besides you can watch it at your leisure that's the dl debate uh when the podcast goes live on a website and also it's going to be broadcast after the seven o'clock news this evening that's it all right brendan divany thank you very much indeed take care of yourself all right uh as i stay tuned for that that's coming up uh some of your comments as we move on in the program now we had a blow cost selling ban charlie and his fellow tds lifted it to let little analdi come into this country no one is to blame for this but our current and presumably you mean two former tds that's that one person's take on it there the media strong in pushing them on neutral agenda we win the nobel prize for our peacekeeping around the world uh joe kelly for president says uh i great man that comes in from eileen ingridor what is arland doing in the u.n the west has a lot to do with what has happened in the ukraine russia disputes of course you know the grounds for a lot of what's happening here have been set for a long time um to all those bigoted irish you can only say the more ukraines that come to live and stay here the better and hopefully influence and raise their morals i don't think it's bigoted if something a decision is made that impacts you personally you've been treated unfairly i don't think we should uh try and mute hit the mute button on these people where people are entitled to feel how they feel and they are people are fixing their texts saying that you know i understand what's going on i know we have to do something but you know people have to be able to have an ability or the freedom to speak their minds too hi we don't have a legitimate government to start with so why should we let them away with their stupidity that's what the one person thinks morning can you explain to me about census form i thought it was to see how many people that lived in arland it seems to me that the questions they're asking is to know more about us what how many of us have smoke alarms in our home or if we rent a house how much you pay a month or what kind of heating in your home what type of sewage you have like that does that what has that got to do with the census form whoever writes these questions are nosy of nothing to hide but questions are stupid i get where you're coming from but the census is far much more than how many people live in a country it it it policy it forms policies in all different levels that's how we know how many people may be still use home heating oil or who have switched to gas or who have tried to move in a greener way there would be no better way than asking that question for example as it relates to how you heat your home in terms of renting houses it would give us a true reflection of what we're doing with our housing stock so i think that's important um you know how else would you find out how many houses have smoke alarms because if we you know 40 percent of us don't then you maybe can have a targeted campaign to try and encourage smoke alarms usage and you can compare that maybe to um figures as it relates to domestic house fires or what have you so a lot of the questions in the census are important and it's important we engage with it i think because it does help us decide uh future policy and we are the ones that hopefully might benefit from that so i don't think it's nosy it's anonymous and i i get personally i get why these questions are being asked but i also get why some people might question why those type of questions are being asked at all uh dr joe is so correct we are and should remain military neutral since the beginning of time it's been proven violence only breeds more violence another uh this man has just said we uh stand with kiv as a neutral shoulder to shoulder with ewe leaders and biden surely neutral must stand between both sides well that's where the conversation stands morally we can say what is happening is wrong if that's what we believe but we can also be neutral in that we don't take up arms to get involved uh those two things can't sit in the same space another call it says why does war and murder and corruption only matter when it inconveniences the west that's um a valid question another i am a farmer costs have been going through the roof for over a year ukraine is a convenient excuse for the inflation caused by the insane response to covid come on join the dots well listen you know i mean someone who's if you you know we're invited regularly to do our research the the whole situation in ukraine uh began long before uh the invasion actually happened and that was affecting prices and it's a lot of those prices are adjusted on the stock markets they knew what was going on what could happen i don't think anyone predicted it would come to the extent it is now but sanctions were being discussed months and months and months ago uh supplies were being restricted by russia months and months and months ago a lot of political uh stuff was going on in the background so i think it would be i dare i'm not saying naive but to think that ukraine happened the day russia invaded that's not how it works that's the conversation was happening and decisions were being made sanctions were being imposed words were being said that were uh adjusting oil prices because of what was to come um so that would be my comment on that the 90 noon show is brought to you by letter kenny credit union with monster loans available up to 60 000 euro for all occasions visit letterkennycu.ie head value balibuffet has just got bigger yes we've opened store number two at samarijro bonk rana and to celebrate one lucky customer will win 1000 euro of home heating oil simply call into the store jury march and you will be entered into the draw head value are open monday to saturday 10 a.m till 6 p.m sunday 12 till 5 with fantastic offers across both stores head value your one stop shop for all your animal needs darren brown the multi award-winning master of mind control and psychological illusion is coming to darry with his brand new live show showman guaranteed to blow your mind from the 26th of april for one week only don't miss darren brown live at the millenium forum book now at milleniumforum.co.uk this march we reflect how covid has changed death and bereavement in ireland together we grieve irish hospice foundation bereavement support line is open for all of us who are grieving free phone 1800 80 70 77 to talk to someone in confidence and for a shoulder lean on the red castle oceanfront gulf and spa hotel is the perfect location for that special celebration indulge in our delicious mother's day and Easter sunday carvery make that special location magical in our two a a rosette age restaurant or have afternoon tea all with breathtaking views overlooking lock foil to make your reservation contact the red castle hotel on zero seven four nine three eight double five double five or visit our website redcastlehotel.com dunagall hearing clinic now open up your short letter kenny and bunkrana now offering state of the art rechargeable hearing aids free with your prsi also pain free micro suction wax removal services call zero seven four nine one double eight four seven zero or dunagall hearing clinic life sounds brilliant with dunagall hearing clinic milford tiles wood flooring and bath where 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 tyler's and wood footers available new bath where sure and now open milford tiles wood flooring and bath where zero eight three zero nine one zero seven zero seven delighted to welcome back on to highland radio now paddy cullivan who's going to be performing his show the murder of michael collins in the bala theater on thursday it begins at eight p.m audiences are loving critics are raving about it and paddy's with us now paddy good morning to you thanks for joining us again good morning gregg great to see you how are you keeping i'm okay i'm getting there two years of covet was pretty tough but this tour seems to be doing really well i'm sold out in bell fast tonight and i'm really looking forward to bali buffet this thursday yeah and you've i think it's unique the what you've come up with here in that and i don't mean this particular show but the way you do it is that you're entertained and educated at the same time you know which is which is always a good way but you could remove the comedy from this couldn't you and and not much like this has been done before in you know how you look at it how you look at the story how you research it how you present it i mean the comedy is amazing don't get me wrong and it works so well uh but this is this i mean this is something that you could get something from without that as well do you get what i'm trying to get at you know what i mean it's like absolutely i call it historical entertainment and i open with a little mini film like a paté newsreel where i give people the official history of michael collins what we're taught in schools and then the following 90 minutes really is the alternative history which is quite fascinating the reason comedy comes into it there is a little bit of comedy in it there's a couple of songs and but it's because the whole thing is so farcical the cover up of his death was a farce the newspaper reports afterwards were farcical including where he kept firing after he was mortally wounded all these kind of weird reports last words he said well there's no possible way michael collins could have had a last word so the the comedy is generated kind of in the show from the farcical nature but don't be under any illusions it's a very sad story about a brilliant Irishman who i think was a fascinating character and i try and get that across too it's a tragedy and it's a murder mystery that needs to be solved i think the comparison has been made to it's akin to the jfk mystery somewhat before but there's some similarities there well there is i mean i mean it's even worse than the jfk the guy who wants to investigate the death of michael collins ends up being shot shone hails in December and there is no ballistic evidence no forensic evidence from anything the autopsy is burned there's no inquest there's no inquiry in fact it's it's worse than the jfk assassination in that it was simply completely covered up and you know for years and years and years but people have been trying to figure out what really happened to michael collins yeah for those who haven't seen your full show pat describe how it's it's presented because it's very immersive you know between the sounds the narration of course you can see you there in your commentary the imagery as well you talked about the musical elements of it um you know maybe i've actually just described it in my question you might have something else to add well there's about there's over 300 images i mean the amazing thing about the collins era is it's the era of photography and in fact that there's quite a few mysteries solved if you look carefully at the photographs i'm a visual historian and that's essentially what i'm trying to do is is use the imagery to show people see here's what actually happened you know yeah indeed and do you think you're doing something important as well in in sort of getting this uh getting this on the record getting this story told the way you're telling it um patty patty's going to reach on us in a second i love it when someone tries to get in on the zoom call but no i'm not sure if you got the question but i'm saying like there's something important happening here is there in that this is being put on the record this is uh you know people are learning different elements of a story they thought they knew absolutely i mean we've been taught about the death of michael collins that it was a tragic you know an ambush that happened in beln the blah that the ira men and anti-tree he man might have shot him uh with a stray shot her accidentally i go through it all forensically and i show you that there's a lot more mystery to this that you know in fact sonny o'neill the man who was named we have no proof that he was a sniper at all um and yet he's been named as a sniper for over you know four decades now and there are other suspect things like the fact that you know he has 25 men meant meant to be guarding him they're his bodyguard he's the commander in chief of the country the most important Irishman alive and yet he dies and not one of them gets a scratch well one does say he gets a scratch but he when he looks for a wound pension he doesn't even get that so it's very mysterious what happened and that's why i'm trying to take everybody through and also go back to the source material because you find a lot of historians copy other history books without actually going back to the source yes and seeing what actually happened yeah and i've gone back to the source and found out all sorts of incredible detail and stuff so think of this like a live podcast but almost like i'm one of those murder mystery serial shows that you might enjoy but it's live with imagery a couple of songs and a film and stuff like that um now do you think the establishment now just accept the story that people are familiar with or is there an actual resistance maybe to discover the truth and if so why well this is why i'm trying to do it i mean Greg i mean for instance you know michael collins is buried he's in glass nevin and there have been documentaries going through all sorts of forensic and ballistic stuff like what bullets hit him and from what distance and all of this we have no proof whatsoever of any of it so it is in the hands of the state really to find out what happened and to solve this mystery a hundred years later because i mean i'd rather talk about the great achievements of michael collins and his work and his ideas but unfortunately we'll always be talking about his death for the next hundred years if we don't try to solve the mystery there is great resistance to it and the old irish thing of ah let it lie now let the poor man rest in peace when i started doing all this research and you know it was reporting the irish times the work i've done on sonny o'neill i got anonymous phone calls from people saying how would you let it lie would you would you let the poor man rest in peace my question for you is this michael collins being one of the most forensic people ever you know who himself investigated murders and who himself was trying to get to the bottom of a lot of things including spies among his own uh friends um do you think he wouldn't investigate his own murder do you think he'd let it lie do you think of let's say tito or adaturk in turkey or iva slavia have been shot eight months into their reign that there will be a massive cover-up uh that the document's pertaining to anything to do with it was burned 10 years later i mean this is a huge mystery and very few people know about it and i think it's because it's such a hard thing to talk about because he was such a great person and such an important person and i almost think it's a bit like the civil war itself brush it all under the carpet brush it down under the carpet but this year unfortunately we're going to have to remember a lot of things that a lot of people would rather forget um i've said it before uh and you know with your involvement in calin kicks i've said before that i think some of some of the um most um balanced and pointed commentary on politics in this country's done through comedy shows like that and then we have you you know open up this conversation uh in your style right um and you're a historian and and you know other people are are commentators as well but why is it and why shouldn't it but why does it take the likes of yourself or oliver calin for example to sort of maybe have the conversations have the digs or ask the questions that you know we've a lot of journalists and and historians and writers in this country and no one else is really uh doing it well i don't know i mean it sometimes it's a bit like there's a person who wrote a book about this uh the assassination michael collins s m c or some because she's irish american i think you have to have a slightly outsider's view because i think the irish get very emotional especially in the civil war terms whether whether you're an anti treaty person or a pro treaty person and i think a lot of historians are too close to it and and you know to them they're not interested in the death of michael collins they think it's just a terrible thing that just happened it was just a random event down below but i think you need to explore it oliver came to my show in dublin about two weeks ago and he really loved it because his recent stuff has been about irish history as well on tv and i think you know the reason we need to find out all this stuff is because you don't know where you're going if you don't know where you came from you know and if you don't really research history properly and if it's just brushed under the carpet and we're told oh well we'll never know it's a mystery there comes a point that that just is taken as the fact that is how history remembers something well that's it's not corrected at some point yes it's the winner's story i mean um you know we're we were told for 50 years before they come up with the sonio niel thing we were told for 50 years that he was killed by a ricochet uh which is you'd almost be winning the lotto i've had people say to me oh he was killed by a stray shot which means all the intentional shots missed and the stray one hit i mean and the ricochet of course was a great way of getting everybody off the hook because the anti-treaty side could say well we weren't really aiming at him and then the pro-treaty side could say well you know we've had the worst security failure in the history of the state 25 men are meant to protect a guy and stick him into the armored car and somehow he's 50 meters away from everybody lying dead on the ground what happened and you see and and this this element of cover-up we see it in all aspects of ira society greg and i think you know i think you know a bit of sunlight is really important in this case okay well listen um as i say audience are loving it critics are loving it uh it it's selling out all over the place um just to read a couple of the quotes maryland mcdonald uh amazing work hard history told with the light uh touch uh make od a great show patty's scholarly scholarly and entertaining scholarly and entertaining begging for the live stage superb job that comes in from eskin charters she didn't just text oh they didn't just text it in by the way i'm reading it here off a sheet of paper and so on and so forth okay uh and i think it's brilliant between yourself and the bala theater that we're getting to see shows of this quality uh in our uh area as well because there would have been people traveled from here to try and go and see you in belfast so i think it's great that we are able between yourself and the likes of the bala to host off at this level locally i think that's a great kiosk well it's it's just great to be back doing live shows and i'm really happy connor you know you know straight away was the first one to say let's put the show on so i'm really excited by bringing it back to dunny gall and spending all my old friends there all right super stuff thanks so very much indeed patty cullivan there uh historical entertainer forming musician actually as well uh and it's called the murder of michael michael collins uh in the bala theater it's on thursday the 20th of 24th of march it's at 8 p.m i've seen a short show uh that patty's done it's nothing on the scale of this and it's it's an amazing way that he presents stuff um so this is going to be a big hit i think there are some tickets available if you want to go along to the bala theater thursday night you can contact their box office there and we appreciate uh patty's time and he's joining us this morning all right oh wait 660 25 000 that's the whatsapp and text number 07491 25 000 uh we have another interesting item for you just around the corner stay right where you are the nine till noon show with letter kenny credit union now offering mortgages from 40 000 to 600 000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges letter kenny credit union 9102127 hit refresh on your home this spring at foyer and company in bala buffet and letter kenny create your perfect home with new arrivals and furniture and beautiful fabrics hints wallpapers rugs and wall art from brightening up your kitchen to breathing new life into your living spaces the foyer and company team will help you create the perfect color scheme for your home and lifestyle book your free online or in store color consultation today at foyes.ie win with low prices from super value with a great range in store and online like super value chilled valencia orange 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work opportunities skills to advance is a national initiative offering highly subsidized re-skilling and opportunities for employees and employers brought to you by sulless and the education and training boards an initiative of the government of ireland bingo every monday night at halfway house bingo burn food doors open 7 30 with eyes down at 8 30 2500 euro must go the snowball is now 5 thousand and 50 euro on 45 numbers are less if you're not in you can't win that's halfway house bingo tonight at 8 30 highland radio weather updates with ireland west airport gatwick's back you can now fly daily to london gatwick with irlingis the perfect gateway to explore south london ireland west airport you're flying okay right today we'll be dry apart from the odd shower temperatures of 12 to 14 degrees and i think the weather's going to improve as this week wears on all right so monday matters now we discussed the new northern island planned health care scheme it was formerly known as the cross border directive we've got two guests online with us now gareth crudden business relations manager with kingsbridge healthcare group a very good morning to you gareth thanks for joining us good morning greg thanks for having us it's our pleasure and pat harvey the former ceo of the northwestern health board who is helping kingsbridge develop private health provision in the northwest high pat hello greg how are you i am doing good it's good to have you um so talk to us pat firstly maybe you um who can access the northern island planned health health care scheme what's the advantages well first of all maria preface i've always argued that tonigal has been disadvantaged in not having an alternative to the public health system only we had been planning for private health care and so on austerity and economic times changed all of that but by good fortune we've now landed in a situation where because of the cross border scheme there is in effect an alternative private health care for all people in tonigal not just those with family health insurance but all public patients medical care patients so in effect because of the cross border scheme because of what kingsbridge have on offer both in limibad and in belfast and indeed in sligo but limibad in belfast anybody can access this service essentially free of charge there's no need for waiting this in future somebody doesn't want to be on waiting this so i do think it's a win in every sense and that's why when kingsbridge approached me for games and advice and all of this i thought my goodness this really is a godsend gareth i think sometimes some of us might not engage with the likes of this scheme firstly i'm surprised how many people didn't know about the cross border directive and its replacement but also it seems complicated you know what can can i apply can i avail of it how do i go about doing so how much will it cost how does reimbursement work all that kind of stuff but i think now with particularly with the drop in information clinics the idea is to take those concerns those worries those questions from people and provide answers absolutely great yes and at kingsbridge we've implemented a dedicated cross border team to answer all of those questions and guide any patient from their initial inquiry right through until discharge after surgery you touched on our drop-in clinics and we had one just on the 15th of march which was our first and coincidentally there was a patient indeed as you highlighted who was totally unaware of the scheme that is not universally advertised across the island of arland and it's ourselves who try to promote this no patient should be languishing on a public waiting list for any length of time giving that this scheme is open to to everyone so we have two upcoming drop-in clinics in our outpatient facility in letter kenny the first of those is this thursday on the 24th and then on the 29th of march at those we will be meeting patients on a one-to-one basis outlining how you can apply for the scheme we will discuss the specialties that are available in the treatments and also engage with the costs and level of reimbursements that are directed back to the patients what kind of typically you know what are your most popular treatments that that people are using the scheme for the most common ones greg typically be hip replacements knee replacements cataracts but generally any treatment and surgery that you can avail of publicly can be accessed by the directive so so anything from head to toe can be availed of and as I say we will guide you through the through the course of the application and provide all the information necessary and in terms of just an obvious question like do you have to be on a waiting list or you know how do you how do you know if you can avail of this like what where do you have to be in the in the system in in the republic thanks great good question and there's a popular myth that you have to be on a waiting list that is categorically not the case the only thing you require to access this scheme is a referral letter from your GP or treating consultant and that starts the process of our table will help you with the paperwork which can be it can be complicated so we've implemented the team to do that for you and as I said guide you through the entire process you and you talked waiting lists the turnaround can be quite rapid content in availing of in availing of your service I mean under the scheme you will be in to see a consultant within a number of weeks and then have your surgery depending on what specialty it is Greg it could be three weeks it could be eight or ten weeks thereafter but we're not talking to three four five years 60 months you know the kind of absolutely not we're talking three to four months possibly for for turnaround from consultation to having your surgery and being discharged from the hospital patients believe it or not are traveling from as far and wide as quark and kerry they're coming to belfast to kingsbridge belfast they've also come to kingsbridge bolly kelly to have cataracts and hips and knees done so given that we we've expanded now into the north west region with the acquisition of north west independent that is that is probably the closest in proximity to the residents of donny gall and they can avail of the scheme there as well pad I think really the blocker for those who are aware of this scheme but but are reluctant is the upfront costs that that is the biggest complication of this I mean obviously if you can bridge that much of it is reimbursed but but that is maybe the bit that's a little bit complicated for people well it might be a little bit intimidating but in fact there are many settings where credit unions for instance are familiar with the scheme with the confirmation of the refund coming from the hse and so on they can get a ready loan to fund them through this year so it's not nearly as difficult as one might imagine there's a cast iron sort of guarantee of funding from the hse and therefore it's a short term bridging loan that might be needed by some people but I mean Greg it's pretty impressive and I've been around the health service for a long time this effectively is saying that and I'm just talking about people from donny gall you don't have to wait anymore 40 minutes in the road from letter kenny to limba valley or to bali kelly that's closer than we do is to letter kenny it's 40 minutes in the road you don't have to wait there's no need to wait it just seems to be like this is uh all dreams coming through so when bali kelly has been taken over now by kingsbridge as part of the kingsbridge group it's now stepped up several levels in terms of what it provides and the complexity and so on so it's a pretty impressive scenario as far as I can see just so people are clear um the drop-ins are and the the the the kingsbridge private hospital building in letter kenny is located at scally place thursday 24th of march tuesday 29th of march you don't have consultants on hand to sort of diagnose people that's not what this is about gareth just to be clear so we don't have people waiting their time or your time for that matter people are like at what stage do you want people to be out for them to be dropping in does that make sense yeah absolutely so so people people may be on a waiting list I want to know how to access the scheme people may just want to find out more information they may have been in with their gp who has a concern etc we will we there will be no consultants there to to deal with you know uh physical queries or that we will be just outlining the the application process the costs and reimbursement timescales of when you might be seen etc now just on just on the letter kenny clinic itself we do have consultants operating out of there at the minute uh and it actually it's it'll celebrate it's one year anniversary in june but we will be gradually building the service provision um and special days within letter kenny the patients can come and see and I'm sure I just didn't want anyone turning I just didn't want anyone turning up going you know my knees playing up on me a little bit uh you know what I mean because that would be there would be no medical provision there uh at the at the drop in clinics it's purely uh information but yeah but Greg perhaps go ahead it's probably worth reinforcing for anybody who has an interest in this or wants to inquire it's just a question of contacting the center in letter kenny and then the system starts to roll from there and kingsbridge make the process easy for you make the decision making easy uh but it's your call at the end of the day in conjunction with your GP contact that's it do we do we have any idea of you know uh even anecdotally what capacity is there versus what's being used you know because I think it's very clear pat you're trying to force on the fact that this is here now and it's a fantastic service but I wonder you know and I don't mean the actual physical capacity of the kingsbridge healthcare group but you know clearly it's under use pat significantly on yeah yeah I mean if everybody who was on waiting list were to go to the kingsbridge could they cope uh which is probably the question and I imagine they couldn't but it can take very significant extra numbers from what they're doing at the moment limibaddy has or ballet kelly has a lot of capacity that they can ratchet up to so I wouldn't worry about there being a capacity issue at this stage them yeah I just think there's a lot of people languishing that don't need to be I don't understand it I can't imagine why anybody would want to language they may have some concerns about whether it's northern ireland and have they got access to their own medical cover when they come back and so on none of that's an issue people don't have their treatment there's seldom ever a post-operative issue there's post-operative care in any event if there are emergencies there can be emergencies for any reason so they just go to the local hospital but it seems to me a relatively straightforward and for people who want to go out who are very familiar with northern ireland familiar with traveling to ballet kelly familiar with traveling to belfast it's not like coming from cork and yet we have bus loads coming up from cork yeah it's like it has to be it has to be down to a lack of awareness garth because you know in terms of the bus loads coming up from cork and down the country I think a lot of that is organized you know by maybe public representatives who might assist to make all that a little bit a little bit easier but this is you know on our doorstep effectively I mean a lot of people would travel a great distance from within donningall to go to letter kenny a lot of our treatment you get referred down to gallway so it's not like we're not afraid to travel because unfortunately we've had to do it it has to be garth down to it has to be down to awareness is there a reluctance of the system in the republic to suggest this or refer this I wonder and that could be for any number of reasons which you don't really need to get into perhaps Greg it's just it's just something that hasn't been universally advertised by the HSE and it's been left to the the relevant independent hospitals in the north here just to promote the services and make it accessible to the patients there there are some advocates in dull air and who are strong believers in this scheme and and we get to do it with more just to make it aware among their constituents and the people yeah and listen it's complicated it's because it is public money going into sort of private health care and then you have to sort then have a another conversation about you know the funding in this country and how these hospitals are operated and I think that's where it all gets confusion and people have a little bit of difficulty in adopting a position that doesn't sound contradictory go ahead Pat yeah no just in case it should come across that it's an anti let it any general no it's not but that all of this all of this relieves pressure on the existing public service system so any numbers that go elsewhere relieves pressure everybody benefits as a consequence and and that's just the win-win in it all right the drop-ins take place Thursday the 24th of March between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. which might suit you if you're working choose to the 29th of March between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. if you're interested you can give the Kingsbridge private hospital at a Kenny's galley place Justice Walsh Road letter Kenny a call on 074976000 that's the correct number is it 976000 is that right or is it 916 I think I'll double check that because that sounds like a South Donegal number there leave that with me either way you can email as well 976000 nine it is okay that's sorry my problem yeah it's just nine sevens down up down the south of the county and and I didn't want to confuse anyone 0749760 000 that is the number I did this I had an operation in Ballikay it cost me 60 000 and I only got back 2200 is that because people aren't going in this with the rise fully wide open we are is and that's the purpose of these dropping clinics presumably it is great I guess and as I say we've now implemented a team whereby all the information will be provided firsthand including costs and reimbursement so patients having all that information to have you know that they can decide to proceed with with their treatment they can decide to withdraw from the scheme at any stage as well understood listen thank both of you very much I really do appreciate you joining us that is unfortunately where we have to leave it on the program today back with you tomorrow morning at 9 stay tuned John Bresen's coming up around the northwest the 9 till noon show with letter Kenny credit union mortgage is now available with a personalized service from your local and friendly credit union 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