 It's really at five o'clock in the morning for me to get up, right? But I couldn't swipe it off, and I couldn't put it to snooze. Rune my bank holiday, or public holiday, or whatever you want to call it. Oh, it's just terrible. What am I going to do? Have a day off tomorrow. That's a good idea. All right, see you Thursday. Really? Right. It is the night till noon show for this Tuesday morning. Let's see if we can keep that right throughout the rest of the day. And it's over to the newsroom. Donald Kavanaugh has the headlines. Thank you, Greg. Good morning. Searches continue in Turkey for more survivors. Over 4,000 people now confirm dead in the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria in the early hours of yesterday morning. Teams have continued searching through the night. First-time buyers who've been unable to get mortgages could soon be able to avail of loans of up to 360,000 euro from their local councils. Minister Darrow O'Brien is taking a memo to cabinet this morning. Last week, the Nigol County Council agreed new protocols, governing how houses will be assessed and tested for defective blocks before loans are agreed. With more, here's Eva Kearns. Minister for Housing Darrow O'Brien wants to see income limits and house prices increased under the local authority home loan scheme. The house price limit will increase by 40,000 to 360,000 euro in Dunleary-Rathdown, South Dublin, Wicklow, Dublin City, Fingal and Kildare, according to the Irish Independent. In Limerick-Waltford-Clair, Wexford-Westmead and Kilkenny, there's been a 50,000 euro increase to the limit, which is now 300,000 euro, while in Galway, Cork, Loud and Mead, the house price limit is now 330,000 euro. Other memos, which will be presented by ministers today, include a draft legislation on a statutory domestic violence agency. Ministers are also said to be briefed by the Attorney-General on the government's handling of the nursing home's debacle. Visitors from the US can be charged up to 470 euro more for accommodation in Ireland compared to Irish customers when booking through third-party sites. New research shows there are price discrepancies across the board for tourism-related services. In some cases, Irish customers are being charged more to stay in a hotel or rent a car than those travelling from the US or UK. The chief executive of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, Owen O'Mara Walsh, is urging consumers to book directly. A lot of the time, of course, bookings are made via third-party websites or online travel agents. And I suppose the thing to keep in mind is that those third-party websites and so on earn a commission or at times mark up the price that they have, so the price can be a little bit more expensive for the consumers. Ryanair has repeated its call on the Department of Transport to take action against drone activity at Dublin Airport. Flights were suspended for 45 minutes last night after a drone was spotted over the airfield. That means there was three days in a row during which flights were disrupted. Ryanair says thousands of its passengers were affected. And half of children's surveys say they spend too much time online. Almost a quarter have admitted they saw something online in the past year that they wouldn't want their parents to know about. The study of 1,608 to 12-year-olds is being released today to mark safer internet day. Jane McGarregal from WebWise is hoping to open a conversation about safety online. Today, we're launching the Silent Witness Campaign, an awareness campaign developed by WebWise, the Irish Internet Safety Awareness Centre, to explore the topic of online bullying. Developed in consultation with young people, this campaign aims to spark conversations inside and outside the classroom, in homes online and in the wider community. Mostly cloudy this morning with patchy rain and drizzle, clearing by this afternoon, clearer, brighter conditions in the late afternoon and into the evening, highs of 8 to 11 degrees Celsius, near calm conditions. That's how in radio news. Back with more at 10 o'clock. At Ulster Bank, our team is continuing to close current and deposit accounts, along with some of our branches. At this time, if your notice period and your deadline has passed, your account is now queued for closure. All personal and business account deadlines are fast approaching. You must take urgent action. If you are still relying on your bank account and in need of more support, please contact us immediately. Visit UlsterBank.ie, your local branch, or call 0818-210-260. Call costs may vary and calls from mobiles may not be free. Ulster Bank Ireland DAC is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. The county's number one talk show, The Nine Till Noon Show on Highland Radio. And now, it's time for the talk of the Northwest, The Nine Till Noon Show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Good morning to you. It is four minutes past nine on this Tuesday, the 7th of February 2023. I hope you are well, in fact, and a very good morning to you. Right, how was your weekend? Hopefully it was relaxing for you and you were able to get some time off. And now you're back, Tuesday. Here we go again, a four-day week, dependent on what hours you work, of course. Right, the lines are open for you. 08-6-60-25,000 WhatsApps and texts to that number. Or give us a call at 07491-25,000. Emails come in to us. Comments at highlandradio.com. And if you want to watch the show, hop on to our YouTube channel, Highland Radio Ireland. You can watch on your smart TV, your forestic, laptop, tablet, etc. The same on Facebook, the Facebook Apple, Facebook Watch, and also on our website, highlandradio.com. Right, lots to get through, so let's crack on with a look at the papers and start with some positive news from the front of The Dairy Journal. Recruitment's already underway after financial services IT firm Fintru announced 300 new jobs for Dairy as part of a £20 million investment. The company based at former city factory on Patrick Street will now see its dairy workforce double over the next four years, supporting the new roles announced after the fast-growing, globally-recognised firm last year unveiled another expansion in letter Kenny. On to the Donegal Democrats and there's widespread shock and sadness in the close-knit fishing community at news that a fisherman drowned while fishing off the Donegal coast. The man believed to be in his 30s and originally from Eastern Europe went overboard from the crab vessel on which he was fishing approximately 65 miles northwest of Ironmore on Saturday evening. Weather conditions were challenging at the time with a three to four-metre swell and high winds. Having received a Mayday call at 8.30pm, Malinhead Coast Guard coordinated a mission involving Ironmore live boat and the R118 helicopter on arrival. They found that the man had been recovered from the water by crewmates who administered CPR. Sadly, the young fisherman was pronounced dead on board. Our sympathies with his family and friends and work colleagues. Again, another pleasant evening for our rescue crews to be bolting and flying out as they do. The Irish Times this morning and all four scenes coming out of Turkey and Syria, I think you would all agree, just absolutely shocking. The absolute force of nature, the complete not a devastation, the initial impact. But then I'm sure you've all seen those videos of buildings just apparently randomly collapsing. Of course, it's not random, but after the fact they seem of sound in the sound position and then next thing, they just come down like a house of cards and then those images of people halfway up a multi-story building looking out where the front of the building used to be. You can see their bathrooms and the insides of their properties. They're not knowing if theirs is to fall next. They've got the death toll here on the front of the paper is 3,000. We know that's going to increase greatly. It's going to be in multiples of that. These stories as they are covered are always the same, but there will come a period where people will be buried and so much time will have passed that they will not expect anyone to be found alive. And it's that point really when you start seeing the death toll increase dramatically. Absolutely horrendous scenes. I'll read from the front of the paper here. International rescue missions were rushing to Turkey in Syria last night after one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit the region in at least a century, left more than 3,000 people dead, thousands injured and an unknown number trapped in rubble. The early morning quake and dozens of aftershocks wiped out entire apartment blocks in Turkey and heaped more destruction on Syrian communities already devastated by years of war and civil war in Syria is actually complicating rescue missions there. Pledges of emergency assistance to both countries poured in from the globe with calls from Damascus to allow aid into Northwest Syria, the last rebel-held enclave and one of the areas worst hit, Tonaster and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mikhail Martin said, Ireland stands ready to support local and international relief efforts. The magnitude 7.8 quake was followed by a second 7.5 quake in the middle of the day. By the early evening, the death toll in Turkey stood at 1,762, but as we know and as I mentioned, that death toll is going to be many multiples of that. And just the absolute interest, only imagine what people are going through there. That being said, some of the imagery does bring back recent memories. So there is certainly an understanding of that kind of event and devastation, very clear in our minds here in Donegal. On to the Irish and dependent now, the exam chiefs struggling to recruit leaving cert examiners, hoping a pay boost will encourage teachers to give up some of their Easter holidays to run the Orals. Rates being offered to teachers for each student they interview will be almost three times what they were in 2019. It includes an Easter premium of 10.50 per candidate to reflect the change in timing to bring the exams into the first week of the Easter break as also happened in 2022. This is on top of a six Euro per student satisfactory completion fee introduced as an incentive in 2022 while general pay increases have enhanced the basic rate. Oral examiners working for five days and typically covering 14 to 18 interviews per day would expect to earn between 1,616 Euro and 2,614 according to the state examination commission on top of a basic fee of 235 Euro they'll receive 26 Euro per candidate for most oral tests compared with 9.38 in 2009. So hopefully they get the numbers that are required to complete that task. So there's no delays down the line. Onto the Irish Daily Mail now and the attorney general will present a report to cabinet this morning on the state's secret strategy to conceal liability for nursing home charges. It comes after revelations in the Irish Mail on Sunday on the legal strategy to deal with those wrongly charged for nursing home care. The state faced the prospect of a 12 billion liability in compensation for hundreds of thousands of families who were charged for the care of the loved ones over a 30 year period. Now there are people who have text in this show and sort of said this is a disgrace this shouldn't have been going on and all that kind of stuff but I'm not sure we have received any communications from anyone who this affects who would be maybe seeking redress who have told us stories of great loss. Now that's just to be completely honest with you. Obviously people are reading the headlines and think this is terrible what was going on but we have not really received any calls and we would normally ordinarily even just messages saying this affected me and this happened or that happened but we really have not been contacted by anyone unless I'm not aware who has said this as a result of this, this happened to us and so on and so forth which I don't know what that says obviously a lot of the people it might have affected maybe have passed on but you would imagine there are some families out there that are still feeling the negative impacts of it but as I say they haven't reached out to this program that is somewhat unusual. I'm not saying that I'm out there but we're receiving messages from people saying it should never have happened this is typical, this isn't typical that you know what I mean and we've read many of those out but no one who has given out because it affects them or being able to tell how it affected them so if you're out there and you want to share your story please get in touch 08 660 25000 or it's possible that maybe there aren't people affected in such numbers that they're out there to give us a call I don't know we're just I'm just trying to figure that out on to the Irish Daily Star now and a leading surgeon has said going bald can traumatize and make some men suicidal Dr. Morris Collins who runs Hair Restoration Black Rock said the psychological impact of losing hair can be incredibly damaging for a person and it's not something I think talked about much really anymore is it? The medic also urged Irish men who want a hair transplant to speak to a doctor and warned of the risks of going abroad speaking to the star Dr. Collins said for some men when they start going bald they must trim their hair very short except the hair loss and get on with their life but for others they will become deeply, deeply traumatized even suicidal over their hair loss and we have speaking to people in the past who have been very affected by it of course if you want to talk about that again get it out there 08 660 25000 this seems like a good idea reported in the Irish Daily Mail a school is saving cash strapped parents hundreds of euro by offering first holy communion dresses and suits to children for free hundreds of dresses, suits and veils shoes and bags were snapped up over the weekend by parents many of whom were astonished when they discovered there was no charge on the complete outfits the event was organized by the parents' association of St. Declan's National School in Ashburn County, Meath who had been collecting donations of pre-loved dresses and suits over the past year spokesperson Keeveen Gore said or Keevea Gore beg your pardon said we had more than 100 dresses and about 80 suits as well as dozens of pairs of shoes, bags and about 40 veils and they put people in contact with each other I'm not sure many people out there have these items is it the type of thing you hold on for emotional reasons I'm not sure but there are others out there that they would have maybe something like that could be organized here some sort of a network Keeveen goes on to say first communion outfits can be costly and put extra pressure on parents at this time of the year so we decided to try and reduce the stress the weekend was incredible we have about 20 dresses and four veils left which we will probably hold on to and replicate the event next year we held this sale in a shop in the town so it felt like a real shopping experience for the children for the big day so a big thank you to Ashbourne High Street for the use of their unit so they had the sort of day out as well and the children were probably none the wiser but mums and dads and guardians were able to pick up their dresses and suits for that one-off day and a lot of them change out of them too don't they on the day for nothing which is great and hopefully now they'll be able to to pass them forward again finally in the sun this morning marriage or cohabiting can cut your risk of type 2 diabetes a new study has suggested researchers found couples have lower blood sugar levels whatever the state of the relationship they tracked 3,300 adults aged 50 to 89 for nine years from 2004 some three quarters were wed or cohabiting they had a 0.21% lower blood sugar than singles meaning they were less likely to develop diabetes those not with a partner had more chance the study published on BMG Open Diabetes Research and Care Revealed marital or cohabiting relationships were inversely related to blood sugar levels regardless of spousal support or strains or simply living with your partner or being married to them reduces your blood sugar levels and therefore your risk of type 2 diabetes according to that so stay where you are right 08 660 25000 let's just say WhatsApp's a text to that number or give us a call on 07491 25000 the newspapers are courtesy of Kelly Centra mountaintop Ledrick Annie the C-store national large forecourt of the year for 2022 inland fisheries Ireland is looking for seasonal fisheries officers to join our teams around the country our officers play an important role in the protection and management of Ireland's rivers, lakes and coastlines as a seasonal fisheries officer you'll implement and enforce legislation to help conserve these natural resources if you love working outdoors whatever the weather and if you're happy working shifts that include evenings and weekends find out more at fisheriesarland.ie slash careers dunny gold denture clinic let her Kenny denture problems we can help at dunny gold denture clinic we customize, personalize and tailor your dentures to suit you call us for a free consultation on 9 1 25 25 3 find us at ballet rain letter Kenny beside rossin college medical cards welcome for all your denture needs called dunny gold denture clinic on 9 1 25 25 3 online at dunnygoldentureclinic.ie I've just had the Eclipse cinemas experience Wow, they truly have taken a night at the movies to a whole new level amazing recliner chairs directors lounge VIP rooms pizza and hot food served to your seat have a glass of wine and enjoy the film on the big screen try it for yourself at Eclipse cinemas Bundorn and Lyfford Sturban where the stars shine brighter by the way the pizzas are amazing you can book your seat anytime at Eclipse cinemas.ie attention all pet lovers and owners gary's pet world letter Kenny is open seven days per week offering the very best value on all pet foods accessories grooming and care products call in and let our staff help you spoil your pet today you will be amazed by the range of product for all pets with exceptional value on all leading brands alternatively you can browse and buy online at petworld.ie and we will deliver to your home OK, our first item on the program today is concerns over the future of the Milford Guard district really in effect we're joined by two guests to discuss this John McIntyre joins us first Good morning John, how are you keeping? Good morning Greg, fine, thank you Very good, that radio's on in the background I presume, yep Exactly the sound of your voice I don't want to hear myself twice Nolan McBride's also going to be joining us as well Good morning to you Noel, thanks very much for joining us former mayor of course Right, OK John, give us the background to this this is all part of a shake-up but maybe you can set the stage for us there It's a very big shake-up entirely right across the whole country and this was put on hold during Covid it was been reported in the local media you were reporting to yourself as far back as 2019 Guard of Management will be arguing that by the regionalisation policy that they're adopting for counties like Donegal across the north-west that is going to lead for a fitter leaner machine to manage now the Guard of the Representative Association totally disagree with that and they're made to be convinced that this will work out on the point to other services that were rationalised and brought back into Dublin effectively the benefits of that did not accrue out in rural areas in fact it seems to happen that where you take services away from a place like Milford as we expect the headquarters will go the personnel and the services there they tend to migrate to the extent to which of what happened in Glentys ten years ago back in the day there are 52 officers there and very quickly within a couple of years they were down to a handful it is that whole thing of what do you cut out of rural area and what do you leave behind effectively government services are just going, going, gone we don't have enough police on the roads we don't see enough of them they do a good job, they're there when we need the most, they're there as we see road traffic accidents, all of these kind of things but community policing is about looking after the community and being involved in the community and getting to know the community and how can Guardi that are based so far away have any input or any contact with the community I mean already we're just looking at stations where Guardi are assigned to in community roles they're rarely if ever on duty there they're brought back into Milford just to make up the numbers to keep the division taken over as personnel we need not rationalisation and we need more of them because you know it's okay saying that the days of the Guardi on foot in the local town is over that's, there's nobody arguing with that but we're arguing with the fact that if you're going to take those services away those vital services we're never going to see them coming back here It's not really been properly explained has it and maybe there was an opportunity when Drew Harris was recently in Donegal how these changes improve policing now we're told that because this will happen that will happen and it will be able to do this but there's no explanation as to how these measures will actually improve policing really or even maybe you know a visible policing model it's not going to happen it is not going to happen because where it's already more advanced to than Donegal as it is down the country there's no evidence that it is showing any improvements at all according to our sources in the GRA and they're totally opposed to it the general public has remained very aloof on this as I said this was had was taken some shape around 2019 and then Covid came along for three years with it very very little by the way of movement but this work and this progress behind the scenes to make sure that these that these districts are reconfigured they're pretty well advanced now I understand that from April onwards we're going to see changes in Milford effectively if we lose the district headquarters in Milford as is predicted by people very close to the scene the servers that a district office brings will go to Lerner Kenny I mean how are you going to police the Milford area from Lerner Kenny given the size of it you're going to be policing Lerner Kenny will be policing that area of Glentes arms along the Guibara and across the river at around that area Glentes and Lerner McAward through those areas they'll be police from Ballishan we don't see or hear tell of any extra guard the area any extra resources at all coming into the Milford district it's quite evident to us for numbers of years and guard the area in a very difficult position because they can't say very much about this they're in this very difficult position that they can't talk to the media we can talk to them right enough they might not be listening to us very much but we do gather from GRE representatives that there are difficulties you don't have to gather from anyone you can see it the absence of guard the patrols at night time is quite startling I'm driving 16 miles from home I have 16 miles home every night I rarely rarely I think I was stopped maybe last September it's not that we need to be stopped every day of the week but you simply don't see it in there it's the visible presence and in and around it is somewhat different in the south of the county compared to sort of your Milford, Karagart, Dannings all that kind of an area the guard he just don't seem to be quite as visible down there as the RLs where I stay with me of course John the former Mayor of Donegal and former Councillor Noel McBride is with us as well do you believe this will make a difference as to what's already there? I mean what's your feelings on it Noel? what's the mood on the ground? Well the first thing I'll say is look the day Drew Harris was in Lifford meeting the GPC he was very cagey with his information I understand and that's just from people contacting me afterwards that we're concerned about it what I see is look we take for example the Karagart, Dannings area the Parish of Meville where I live the Fanad area we are basically losing our Rural Garda stations our Rural Garda are not really there anymore they come and go the stations open for a while other stations are closed completely that is not the way the rural areas should be policed Donegal generally has approximately 6,000 kilometres of road public road now how is that to be policed under the current situation? it's not been done currently so if changes take place and Mulford loses it's look it's on the verge basically of not being a 24 hour station well look if you ring it now and say such and such is happening in you mentioned Karagart there your call is diverted to Galway anyway I mean are we really sort of trying to fight to save something here that's already gone well I don't I think we need to start this fight again and I'll give you an example now John might have more information on this than me but I understand well geographically if you look at the County of Donegal and look at County Kerry fairly similar you know a coastal area Kerry I understand has got a stand alone Garda district okay and Kerry I don't know how well it's working but I would say it's working a lot better than what we're talking about here we make a phone call that goes to Galway now the person in Galway hasn't a clue about the might hear of Fannett Head the might hear of Atlantic Drive but they may not hear of Karnagore outside Karagart they may not hear of Mulroy they may not hear of Glinsk and Fannett you know those names will only register in the local Garda's head if the local Garda station gets a call something has happened but let me put it just for the sake of trying to be fair the ambulance service and the fire service they operate okay you know with the calls triaged not locally well can I give you a very simple example I had a situation myself one day where an ambulance had to be called fortunately enough I was okay but I was just across at Park to St. Connell's Hospital I had passed out in the car nobody knew what was happening I was out of it a particular lady called the ambulance 999 right away the call went to wherever but that person hadn't a clue where St. Connell's Hospital was and that was it but in general terms look as said Dunny Gaul in general has it's a big county its land border with Northern Ireland is 96, 98% like that in itself could create its own problems we welcome many, many visitors from Northern Ireland every year and in particular to our own area of Kerrygarde Downings in the parties of Meeva take for example around look around the 12th of July time the population and the parish of Meeva it could quadruple but you do see an increased guard of presence as a result though I mean is that not the kind of flexible reactionary type of of force that maybe Drew Harris is trying to refine here I won't have my doubts to be honest with you I'll come back to you in a second John did you hear anything from Drew Harris that sort of recognise Dunny Gaul's unique geography of course we're surrounded by the sea and Northern Ireland really with this tiny, tiny little connection with Leecher I mean it is not the same as Kerry an example that was given there and also to you know to recognise the fact that it's not just you and Noel and me and the listeners that know where there could be gaps in policing now going forward you know criminals are very well organised they're very intelligent not to give them any credit but you know they know what's going on as well you know it's not all about checkpoints and what have you you know could we could this every action is a reaction do you think we could this could lead to sort of an increase in crime in certain areas with these types of changes absolutely, absolutely the presence of guard of the press crime absolutely to do that has always been the case but over the years going back as you will know probably over 30 years ago we've been losing police officers they're assigned to various districts let it be Carragare, Brock Mullins there's no station in Remelton at the moment let it be Kerry Keats or Chills but they're not there because they're required back at headquarters in Mullford to be part of manning the service for the day and for the night and like that has gone on almost under our eyes I mean I'm driving past a couple of guard of the stations at least once a day mostly twice a day I rarely, rarely have ever nowadays see a guard on duty or a guard present at that station they're just locked up and they're forgotten about it because the manpower is not there of course we have a political system here that should have some input into this insofar as the department of justice is concerned servers have been taken out of remote areas okay crime is much much lower but I keep arguing that back in the day and you remember this no we've had a spate of teps of copper cable here in this area going on for a number of years we also had unfortunately far too many road fatalities we had far too much joy riding it was the vigilance of the Guardian and their persistence in pursuing that at a local level that put an end to that and I remember the former inspector Michael Harrison coming into Millford in place of a super who had been transferred elsewhere and Michael Harrison flooded the place with resources on to get that resolved and he did very very quickly now it is that local policing element that can deliver success but you take that away over a period we'll go back to the bad old ways and the bad old days all over again I have no doubt about that because you can't leave a full area from Farnett Head to Dunlow from Leonard Kenny to Glenties the way beyond that with reduced numbers of policing we're not going to have dozens of extra policing in the area the exact opposite is going to be the case and that's what the Guardian of the Representative Association fear and they know that that's happening and I mean they're at a loss and so much as we are in the media we don't get any feedback anymore from like if this was 20 years ago there'd be protests outside Cherry Keel Guardian Station as they were back in days about the phone masks but we're losing services and you repost offices gone and your banks are gone we've lost schools now the Guardian you asked what's left to take away from us I don't know Yeah and the thing to I'll put it to Noel and you John as well I mean obviously there's a reality right there's a reality of what might happen but there's also a perception about people feeling safe in their homes you know and I'm thinking of vulnerable people maybe older people I'm not saying those two cohorts are the same but you know it's this sense that people they feel safe if they don't see a guard from one end to the month to the other you know it's about how people feel as well Noel Yeah look my opinion of policing is community policing the Guardian need to be visible within the community and John has said it there if look if Guardian are in an area if the Guardian car is seen if Guardian personnel are seen in the area then it gives people you know say the elderly people or whatever vulnerable people that bit of confidence but we do hear about community police walking the streets of Flattery-Kennie some on bikes maybe the twin towns you know community policing there is some there but why is it only in those population centres we need more of that we need it in the local communities we need it well I understand our guard and carry a guard has his bicycle there and I think I met him once out on his bicycle I don't know I'd be away in the morning he might be waiting for that cycle from from paragraph down the footpath it's on the way to it's on the way to hopefully but you know we're talking about the the guard here today they need the resources and to be honest with you to be very honest with you look our politicians our senior politicians have been very very quiet and John Noel made a good point there the Guardian on the ground near the backing as well because Morale is at an all-time low I think I don't think that's an exaggeration and as you said quite rightly they can't really speak out en masse you can have one person that can come out and represent some of the concerns but you know they're struggling to recruit guardie they're struggling to retain guardie and the morale of those that are within the force is at an all-time low I mean it's not a bit wonder is it really I mean and this is not an accident this is all has been of management's making and it's been going on for long numbers of years you know a 20-25 years at the very least a probably Mullford would have been one of the heavily-polished districts back in the day because of IRA activity and stuff like that that year has now passed on but so has the numbers of guardie we talk about Lerner Kenny having having officers in the community and Lerner Kenny is a very big town and if you're talking to the guardie there they do not have the resources needed at all and I've been hearing that but you contrast Lerner Kenny with the likes of Mullford and the fact that half of the Glentius area belongs to Mullford they're trying to cover that with very little resources at times I mean I've seen guardie driving from Anagrae two incidents here at Fanat Head maybe an hour and a half on the road and the tyres burning on the cars it's not the way to do police but the other point I wanted to make about community policing a big part of policing is getting to know the community that you serve and if they're not in the community and they're not these people I mean obtaining information has to come from the public a guardie can't wave a magic wand and say like we've got a suspect for this particular crime or whatever that the community has to have the trust in a guardie to lift a phone and say look I have a suspicion you don't have community guardie that's not going to happen that's an attis and nonsense about community guardie being in various stations doesn't it's just not there because the guardie are called away to Mullford they're called away to whatever other stations are there but like we go back to the whole issue of funding it's all down to funding you can streamline all you like like we see what happens when banking service is streamlined it just disappears out of that village it never comes back and you have to travel well outside of your area to find a bank that is open and where are we going to stop with this or is this the end of it well I mean we're not resisting it no John talked of maybe in the past this might have led to a protest or a gathering somewhere or other we just at this point now I don't know for what reason why and I'm not calling people out into the streets don't get me wrong but you know if there is no resistance it's just going to happen you know we can talk and we can people can text in and all that but this is not going to not happen if people don't do something or at least politicians maybe do something about this I don't know what do you think OK, well OK, number one I don't agree with protests because protests can get out of hand ah come on well they can I don't agree with public protests and that's personal opinion might be wrong but we have our local representatives of our local councillors we have our local TDs yeah but you protest when you believe that they're not doing the work for you that's but those but look if you want to have a protest they could have a public meeting OK that's not this protest where you're out shouting and placards and all the rest get into a public building get into a hall get into whatever have a public meeting invite them along let the public have their say but it's up to the take for example Drew Harris came to meet the JPC and live for there a couple of weeks ago now I understand from John's paper from the Chicago Tribune and from different people contact me after that that Drew Harris was was cagey with his comments he was holding back he wasn't really giving giving the JPC the facts which I think was if that's what he was doing that's incorrect because he should have been giving the JPC the facts and if there's a situation in Milford if there's a situation with Dunnegall been taken over by a wider area we don't want that in Dunnegall and I've given the example of Kerry I think of our TV's well a caller says the difference between Dunnegall and Kerry are you know what I'm going to say here yeah go ahead the Healy Rays the Healy Rays yeah well the Healy Rays are there they fought the corner they got the they got the resources in place I understand stand to be correct on it I don't have full information and others say this wouldn't have happened under Neil T. Blaney's watch may not Neil T. Blaney was an excellent politician for our county in the day he got a lot of good work done not only in Dunnegall but throughout the country and I would have had great respect for the man you know but our look we have our TV's there we have our councillors they need to stand together and they need to work together to fight the corner on behalf of the people of Dunnegall nice I was there I'm not there anymore if I was there today I'd be calling on everyone in Dunnegall County Council look we all need to shoulder to shoulder I think that is the case and that's why it's the case really I don't think anyone's pulling in opposite directions it's just not doing anything they just need to start talking about it they need to start they need to start knocking on the doors and doubling all right but you know the session has been raised and the dial has been raised in the Senate going back to Brino D'Olon in 2012 Pat the Copern 2018 and Charlie McCallan-Lough just this time three years ago and he was raising a very strong issue after a piece on your show that Councillor Liam Blaney was doing Greg you probably don't remember any of that but Charlie McCallan-Lough Charlie McCallan-Lough addressed the dial about it he really has no faith in me this well it's all you know we're on the radio John you have no memory Charlie McCallan-Lough was making very valid points about about Gardie from outlying stations been drafted in to fill the headquarters numbers in Milford and it just wasn't working and he said he said it just goes back to under-resourction of the Gardening for County Donningall and that is just saying it all isn't it yeah it's on the resources to provide a police and service that's a word well just lastly what can we then what can the people of Milford do then I mean this is we can talk and we can express you know people's views on it but beyond that it's a fate of complete John is it nothing's a fate of complete it's actually delivered now there's a lot of working on behind the scenes to to redraw the boundaries and as I understand it it's a couple of months away yet eh people can write to the papers they can get on get on the wires with you they can just air their opinions and hope that they'll be that they'll be listened to I think what's happening now people have lost trust and faith and they've lost confidence in the political system that's probably hardly surprising but you can't you just can't go ignoring the fact that we're losing major services in the Milford district and in the Glentis district because they've become even more remote again Donegal is going to be all that worse off as a consequence of these changes and it's all right for saying Drew Harris came to JPC Drew Harris is a very professional police officer I wonder is it a coincidence but this feels very much that the closer you are to Sligo the better off you are eh you know what I mean if you think of what's in Manley Shannon Bondoren Donegal town and as you head west as you head north that distance from Sligo which will probably be the operational centre of eh the new district it just seems to to fade away if that makes sense I wonder is that is that an accident Drew Harris wouldn't even answer the question whether the the divisional headquarters would be Sligo or Lergeni just told former surgeon James Trady I don't micromanage my my officers I mean this this is as close as an answer you're going to get from Drew Harris he came down here to sell the whole idea of regionalisation of police he'd done a very professional job of it and he left quite happy I'm not saying that that the JPC members were happy eh they got away with it they know exactly what's going on I mean if he's going to come here on a charm offensive that's fine but that's not what policing's about that's not what good policing should be about alright John McIntyre as always thank you very much indeed great to have you on the show see you soon thank you alright take care and Noel McBride former mayor, councillor you'd say if one needs to get their shoulder to the wheel on this then yeah most certainly look you know the general public can can contact their local T.D.'s contacts John said the local paper here papers the yourselves and Highland Radio start the conversation and get our politicians involved and you know it goes up the line and it has to go all the way to Dublin and we have to fight our corner for Donegal and for the Mulford area if we don't fight it it'll not be fought for us alright Noel McBride thanks for your time take care thank you very much watch the show live now on YouTube Facebook and at HighlandRadio.com direct from the west end and rated five stars by the BBC Seven Drunken Night the story of the Dubliners is the ultimate feel-good show coming to Derry's Millennium Forum on Wednesday, February 22nd put now at MillenniumForum.co.uk or call 04871 26445 Donegal Denture Clinic Letterkenny Denture problems we can help at Donegal Denture Clinic we customize, personalize and tailor your dentures to suit you call us for a free consultation on 9 1 25 25 3 find us at Balli Rain Letterkenny beside Rossum College medical cards welcome for all your denture needs called Donegal Denture Clinic on 9 1 25 25 3 online at DonegalDentureClinic.ie Hi, Pauline MacLinn here sharing something really important when someone's having a stroke minutes matter because two million brain cells die every minute so call 112 or 9 9 9 if you see any of these F A S T signs F for face has it fallen on one side A for arms can both be held up S for speech is it slurred T for time it's time to call 112 or 9 9 9 fast learn more at irishheart.ie Wet and Wild Wet and Wild is celebrating 20 years in business with a massive 20% off absolutely every product in store in February choose any top outdoor brand product in store and we will deduct 20% of all prices at the tell by premium quality outdoor clothing, footwear and equipment today and save 20% OK, Connell joins us now Hi, Connell Good morning, Greg Thanks for taking the call What's your view? Well, you have been described I think there needs to be far more joined up thinking about but the accommodation section there's a very fine building but it has been unoccupied for over 30 years and it's fallen into terrible disrepair Now, the garden station is seldom used but this is a separate door but it has been maintained by the OPW it's at the side of the building you know but five years ago in the UN4 New York spec we went up and I remember we have 300 shareholders in a small area like we're a community group with the Dolman Centre and we approached the Guard of the Authorities about getting a lease on this building because there's a huge emphasis now on state buildings lying idle they shouldn't be lying idle and even private buildings to the start of the authorities on the 12th of September 2018 senior personnel from the OPW and the Guard of the Authorities met us on the side and they said, look it they opened the building and the creaking of the door and the smell of dust coming out and mould coming out of the building and they said, look it they gave no call to this anymore you're the ideal people to get a lease on this for ten years and you can do it up and you can use it because you have a plan to use it for a facility and I was absolutely delighted as small members of our own committee were at that breakthrough you know because we got it great rather than this building with the waste and it's we needed the space at the time and we still needed it but even if we didn't need it it could have been put into two apartments you know whatever rather than the whole building would have wasted state-owned building the pressure went on since that and on and on and on and it's almost five years now and I've really given up on it you know what happened after that positive meeting that sort of that left it where it is now I wonder, Connell pardon why has there been no progress can you give us your best guess as to why I think the executive of the state is bought politicians really want most politicians want to see community development and they want to see more and they want to keep progress but the executive of the state is so bogged down and our cake rules that make no sense whatever and the world that we are today that a building like that going to waste couldn't be given to us who are a legitimate community group in the area and that would help community policing too and they have this small barrack beside it that's showing down but there's a separate door but they're maintaining that but it's like a lot of these small guys they say effectively there's no point in saying they've been used because they're not really being used at all you know what could have this space been used for to benefit the community Connell pardon what could this space been used for to benefit the community well in turn we started a great place to have we were under pressure at the Dolman Centre for Space and this was ideal space to have part of the family resource centre located there and we were knew then that we could avail of funding up we had a ten year lease from to guard the authorities from the Estates Division on guard the Chicana and the OPW if we could get a lease in that building for ten years we could avail of funding to fix it up but even say if we weren't to get it and the shortage of housing and everything and state owned property that's very good that they could give it to the council lease it to them and do two nice apartments and for families or something you know even and that's what they got are are being used but they're very good community groups in every parish and it would work with the guardian you know community police and it would all work and it would gel together and the company hence can away because they'd be calling on there occasionally and they wouldn't know what's going on and you know rather than the building just going to waste which is very sad I think you know No you're right it makes a lot of sense kind of Yeah it's makes sense and also too you know even though it's being maintained a constant presence within it would maintain the structure you know the heat would be on you know it's only the guard the station that's been maintained that the rest of the building is falling down Oh well that's a heartbreak that is and it's red tape really a lack of will is that Yeah and I think politicians have tried their best to resolve this matter but it seems we bogged down on old rules that are just out of date at the present time Yeah okay well we know rules can be changed now at the drop of a hat so hopefully maybe something might come of it but it also will mean the point also is that your radio's coming out all the time but there are like buildings that the state owns and that private people own that they should be that they should be citizens or whatever and if the state owns this but they should do something with it even if they don't give it us at all Okay we'll see what happens Colonel thank you very much for your time this morning Set the table light some candles and serve up a restaurant quality meal at home with 20% all for carefully chosen simply better menu at Dunn stores Begin with a seductive seafood starter like our scallop gratin on to mains prosciutto wrapped chicken breast anyone then treat yourself to a simply good sticky toffee pudding and toast your savings with our 10 or 50 grocery vouchers enjoy a simply better Valentine's with Dunn stores terms and conditions apply voucher can be used next grocery shop a 50 euro or more Ireland's biggest ever tribute weekend is coming back to Dunnegall Trip Bash 2023 is taking place at the Clannery Hotel letter Kenny on the 10th and 11th of February the nation's very best tribute acts take to the stage with a fantastic award winning Johnny Cash and June Carter tribute show Cash returns the sell out show Mac Fleetwood as Fleetwood Mac the smash it Abba tribute with your net entity and the show stopping Queen tribute limited tickets available now at the hotel reception and online at eventbrite.ie Trip Bash 2023 the perfect Valentine's party weekend let biz print the printers help with your business marketing and printing to get your 2023 off to the right start biz print the printers Port Road letter Kenny call 911 double seven nine double five or see bizprint.ie Dunnegall denture clinic letter Kenny denture problems we can help at Dunnegall denture clinic we customize, personalize and tailor your dentures to suit you call us for a free consultation on 9 1 25 25 3 find us at Balli Rain letter Kenny beside Rossum College medical cards welcome for all your denture needs called Dunnegall denture clinic on 9 1 25 25 3 online at Dunnegall denture clinic.ie Highland radio weather updates with Ireland West Airport from March 26th Erlingas will operate a daily service to London Heathrow providing onward connections to any plus destinations worldwide Ireland West Airport don't just take off take it easy OK mostly cloudy with patchy rain and drizzle clearing by the afternoon though clearer brighter conditions for the late afternoon and evening temperatures at 8 to 11 degrees the sun is shining in some household today because the National Lottery has confirmed that Donnegall's latest one million euro lotto winning ticket was sold in Burnford and Margaret Tourist is the owner of Burnford service station congratulations to you Margaret it's always nice to make someone's I was going to say make someone's day but make someone's life by selling them such a valuable ticket it's great Greg thank you for having us on the show we are delighted it's just it's unreal at the moment everybody's still so excited and how do you how do you find out that you've sold the winning ticket Margaret well on Sunday night Porick rang me to say that we had a one million euro one in ticket in our shop so you can imagine the excitement in the house at that time so then when we come into the shop in the morning then it was just all those and everybody was sorry the lines just dropped out there unfortunately but it's picked back in again now Margaret we don't know it's up to the whoever is the winner to to say whether they've won it or not it's their right to to privacy and all that but obviously everyone's the big buzz around town I'm sure is who bought this winning ticket we had we had great crack and speculation yesterday now one of our locals Dennis he wanted a picture with one of the signs and there was a lot of speculation there even on social media you'll see there's people putting up posts with fancy cars and but people have a crack with them yes definitely but we have a lot of passing trade to the Nashona Peninsula on holidays and we have the engineer DNA engineer beside us and then you've all your locals in your passing trade so there's a big wide range of people there yep the who owns that ticket they could be from anywhere really effectively not necessarily from the local area and a lot of people and I know a few of them like to buy their tickets not in the local shop for some reason they think it's better look that you always hear these stories of someone buying a random ticket during a journey so maybe that's part of it too as well but listen go ahead Margaret well and you know before that's our biggest one was 2000 we had one in the Maybank holiday weekend we had one in the Halloween bank holiday weekend and then yesterday which was Friday on the Sunbridge Sunbridge it's bank holiday weekend so we're very lucky that there is something about us and the lotto on the bank holiday weekends we know where I know where I'm going next long weekend I'll see you there come here for sure maybe you maybe because it's quick pick two which is nice to see maybe you bought it Margaret and you'll keep it on the Q2 and part of the cover story is you're going to go on Highlands and then no one will suspect it's you well you never know I'm saying nothing listen congratulations I'm sure everyone's having the crack with it as well and it's good to get some good news I would like to wish whoever has won the ticket on the one million euro all the best of luck from all of us here in Burnford service station and I hope it brings them a lot of good luck and to pay off maybe some bills and years of happiness and good health and I think it's that kind of amount that would set you up but it wouldn't drive you crazy either definitely and that is actually a very nice amount I do believe that hopefully it'll make someone very happy I'm sure it will all right Margaret listen thank you so much and for being a good supporter really appreciate you coming on take care of yourself and best and Greg thank you very much for having us on your show I really appreciate it it's our pleasure and best wishes to everybody Margaret, tourist there, owner of Burnford service station was it you? are you a millionaire? wouldn't it be nice? OK, I'd love it just want to let you know that a charity tractor run in memory of Patsy McLaughlin is taking place on Sunday the 19th of February it's 20 euro per tractor to enter entry fee includes a burger and a drink all proceeds in aid of the orthopedic ward and at a Kenne University Hospital now registration is from 11.30am on Sunday the 19th leaving McLaughlin's yard at 1.30pm sharp returning to Pine Hill Industrial State Mountaintop raffle on the day at 4pm permit granted so if you want to get dust off the tractor for a tractor run you can do that on Sunday the 19th of February it's in memory of Patsy McLaughlin and all proceeds in aid of the orthopedic ward and at a Kenne University Hospital registration on the morning at 11.30am leaving McLaughlin's yard at 1.30pm sharp and then returning to Pine Hill Industrial State Mountaintop raffle on the day at 4pm so maybe that's something that you want to get involved in and support a great cause there we'll be back with much more in the programme including community garden information after we take a break for the news with 231 well underway are you calling in for a look? shall call in for a cup of tea or a coffee and let our sales executives show you the options available in our new Nissan range with an unbeatable range of vehicles there's only one garage to visit for your next purchase and that's iMotors visit us in Lederkenny or Malin or visit iMotors.ie Direct from the West End and rated 5 stars by the BBC 7 Drunken Night the story of the Dubliners is the ultimate feel-good show coming to Derry's Millennium Forum on Wednesday February 22nd book now at millenniumforum.co.uk or call 04871 26445 Ladies get in shape this year at Fitness Express Canal Road Lederkenny with their personalised fitness and weight loss programmes Fitness Express Lederkenny 9109000 Dunigall IFA County Executive Annual General Meeting will take place in the Clanry Hotel Lederkenny on Tuesday 7th of February at 8pm guest speaker is Mr Tim Collanan IFA president and all farmers are welcome Join Marty Freel this and every Friday night from 8-10pm with Rockin' Hits on Highland Radio in association with Arena 7 The Williams World Kids Adventure Centre at Arena 7 is a must-visit in Lederkenny see arena7.ie for more info Air online and on the Highland Radio app This is Highland Radio News Good morning It's 10pm Donald Kavanaugh at the Highland Radio News Desk Seltha has confirmed that Lederkenny University Hospital is managing a data breach incident arising from the removal of a list of patients from the hospital premises has been reported to the Data Protection Commissioner in accordance with legislation Seltha says the hospital is fully committed to protecting the rights to privacy and confidentiality of all patients under general data protection regulations in line with HSE policy they say any data incidents are taken very seriously and acted on immediately Rescuers in Turkey say the next 24 hours are crucial if they're to find any survivors following an earthquake that's killed over 4,000 people teams have continued searching through the night and into the early hours hospitals and clinics have been flooded with the injured tens of thousands have lost their homes First-time buyers who've been unable to get mortgages up to now could soon be able to avail of loans of up to 360,000 euro from their local councils the memo is to be brought to cabinet this morning by the housing minister last week Donnie Gold County Council agreed new protocols governing how houses will be assessed and tested for defective blocks therefore loans are agreed with more, here's Ifa Kearns Minister for Housing Darrow Bryan wants to see income limits and house prices increased under the local authority home loan scheme the house price limit will increase by 40,000 to 360,000 euro in Dunleary-Rathdown South Dublin, Wicklow Dublin City, Fingol and Kildare according to the Irish Independent in Limerick-Waltford-Clear Wexford-Westmead and Kilkenny there's been a 50,000 euro increase to the limit which is now 300,000 euro while in Galway-Cork-Lowth and Mead the house price limit is now 330,000 euro other memos which will be presented by ministers today include a draft legislation on a statutory domestic violence agency ministers are also said to be briefed by the Attorney-General on the government's handling of the nursing homes to Backel A former mayor of Donnie Gold says there needs to be a major public conversation about garther structures in Donnie Gold particularly in what is now the Milford Garther District Noel McBride, a community activist in the Meefa-Karagart area says the restructuring of garther stations in the county will see the areas being covered becoming bigger while the number of garthery covering them becomes smaller he believes there's a very real risk that Milford Station could go from being a district headquarters to losing its 24-hour status that Mr McBride says is something Commissioner Drew Harris should have been a lot clearer on during his recent visit to Donnie Gold The day Drew Harris was in Lufford meeting with the GPC he was very cagey with this information I understand take for example the Karagart Downing Area at the Parish of Meefa where I live the Fanad area we are basically losing our rural garther stations our rural garthery are not really there anymore they come and go the stations open for a while other stations are closed completely that is not the way the rural areas should be policed visitors from the US can be charged €70 more for accommodation in Ireland compared to Irish customers when booking through third party sites new research shows there are price discrepancies across the board for tourism-related services in some cases Irish customers are being charged more to stay in a hotel or rent a car than those travelling from the US or UK Chief Executive of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation is encouraging consumers to book directly a lot of the time of course third party websites or online travel agents and I suppose the thing to keep in mind is that those third party websites and so on earn a commission or at times mark up the price that they have so the price can be a little bit more expensive for the consumers half of children's surveyed recently say they spend too much time online almost a quarter have admitted they saw something online in the past year that they wouldn't want their parents to know about the study of 1,608 12 year olds is being released to mark safer internet day Jane McGarregal from Webwise is hoping this will open conversations about safety online Today we're launching the silent witness campaign an awareness campaign developed by Webwise the Irish internet safety awareness centre to explore the topic of online bullying developed in consultation with young people this campaign aims to spark conversations inside and outside classroom in homes, online and in the wider community where the forecast it will be mostly cloudy this morning with patchy rain and drizzle that will clear by this afternoon with brighter conditions in the late afternoon and into this evening highs of 8 to 11 degrees celsius today near calm conditions with very little wind and that's island radio news we're back with news again at 11 o'clock until then from the news team good morning the obituary notices for this Tuesday morning the 7th of February the sudden death has occurred of Shani Skill, Mindoran Klonmani the funeral arrangements will be confirmed later the death has taken place of Joe Tish Gallagher upper Dunmore Falkara his remains are opposing at his late residence funeral mass tomorrow at 11 in St Finan's church Falkara with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery rosary tonight at 8 o'clock the funeral mass can be viewed live on mcnmedia.tv the death has taken place of Malaki Croson Greenham Park, Bunkrana his remains are opposing at his residence which is strictly private please funeral from there tomorrow morning at half past nine going to St Mary's oratory for 10 o'clock requiem mass with burial afterwards in Coghill cemetery family fires only please, donations in to the Dunnegol Hospice care of Annie Family Member or McLaughlin and McLaughlin funeral directors the mass can be viewed live online on the St Mary's oratory webcam the death has taken place of Pat Bolland from Swinford County Mayo his remains are opposing at St Mary's church Derrybeg funeral mass tomorrow morning at 11 with interment afterwards in Mahara Gallon Cemetery the funeral mass can be viewed live on Keir and Rorty funeral directors Facebook page the death has occurred of baby Bloheine O'Rourden and Kelly Beggs daughter of Liam and Natasha O'Rourden funeral this morning at 11 o'clock in the church of St Mary of the visitation Kelly Beggs with burial afterwards in the local cemetery donations if desired to Philakon the stillbirth and neonatal death association of Ireland the death has taken place of John McGettigan to Glenry Carrigart his remains are opposing at the church of St John the Baptist Carrigart funeral mass this morning at 11 with interment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery family flowers only please and the death has taken place of Nule Deans Ney Sharkey 25 Derry Road Streban formerly of Lower Main Street Streban funeral leaving her home this morning at 20 past 11 for Rukwio Mass in the church of the Immaculate Conception Streban at 12 noon interment afterwards in Sacred Heart Cemetery Derry Road Streban the Rukwio Mass can be viewed live via the parish webcam and the death has occurred of Danny Boyle Owen Lochanior St. George Annegri with interment afterwards in the new cemetery for more details including any family health guidelines for wakes and funerals please go to highlandradio.com at Ulster Bank our team is continuing to close current and deposit accounts along with some of our branches at this time if your notice period and your deadline has passed your account is now queued for closure all personal and business account deadlines are fast approaching you must take urgent action if you are still relying on your bank account and in need of more support please contact us immediately visit ulsterbank.ie your local branch or call 0818 210 260 call costs may vary and calls from mobiles may not be free Ulster Bank Ireland DAC is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland welcome back if you have been with us since 9 still plenty to come in a moment we will be doing community information where we have a member of the force in with the latest appeals and information we were talking earlier on about initiative Dan and me where they gathered up you know former formerly used first community in dresses and what have you and put them in a shop in the local vicinity and then people called in took them for free so they had the whole shopping experience but not the cost apparently Skolmora in Bunkrana is also doing a free community community and out of service fair play that's a good idea Greg I had a great bank holiday weekend off and did a wee bit of shopping but I was very surprised to be charged for paper bags in shops when did this come into effect do you want a paper bag yeah alright that's such and such I mean it's a transaction of course it's legal they can charge you for anything I haven't seen it before myself there you go let me see there was another thing I wanted to get through here could you ask Greg what's the situation with the GP visit cards for over six is my daughters has expired and we don't have a medical card HTC cannot provide any clarification even though an extension was announced in the 2023 budget well listen you know you ask we get the answer so let's see if it's a satisfactory answer for you the Department of Health and the HSC have made preparations for the expansion of free GP care to all children aged six and seven engagements with the INMO representing GPs in relation to the necessary fee structures remains ongoing with the intention of introducing the services early as possible so you're correct you did hear it in the budget but negotiations between the HSC and GPs reps are ongoing to agree a fee and as soon as that's done as early as possible they say then that service will be extended as was announced okay so maybe don't hold your breath but nothing I mean hopefully that's a bit of clarity for you anyway right okay we've lost to get through so let's crack straight on with the bingo numbers if you're playing today okay they are it's time for NCBI bingo on Highland Radio it's Tuesday the 7th of February you're playing on the brown sheet the reference number is S7 it's game number 6 the numbers are 64 24 79 46 76 53 19 69 30 and finally 54 phone your claim to 9104833 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 for an estimated 35 million euro clear responsible in-store in-app or at Lottery.ie the national lottery it could be you if you're about to use an electrical appliance like your hairdryer which uses a lot of energy just ask the question is this a good time yeah electricity demands fairly though you're looking good if it's before 5pm or after 7pm it is a good time because it's outside of peak hours when less of us are using electricity at the same time to find out the best times for your electricity usage sign up to our pilot at ESBnetworks.ie slash pilot if I learned one thing in the last year it's that falling into debt can happen to anyone luckily I heard about the ISI the insolvency service of Ireland their professional advisors can help you restructure or even write off your debt the first thing they said to me was every debt problem has a solution I can still feel the relief so if you're worried visit their website backontrack.ie or free text get help to 50015 the ISI together will get you back on track this is an initiative of the government of Ireland 2023 is already turning out to be an electric year for Hyundai why? because Hyundai is the best selling electric car brand in January 2023 and the IONIQ 5 is now officially Ireland's best selling electric car make 2023 the year you make the change to fully electric driving your local dealer is Diverse Hyundai canal road letter candy call 9-1-22-600 the community guarder information slot is brought to you by Sheridan security systems protecting what you value most call today and get your zero wire alarm system from 89 euro Sheridan security 9-1-2-6-0-2-5 OK you're very welcome back to the 9 till noon show it is Tuesday the 7th of February 2023 we're joined in studio now by Garda Nile Maguire community guarder information time good morning Nile morning Greg and I suppose the function of this item and I suppose off the back of what we were talking about in the last hour but not to get into that that relationship with Garda in the public in terms of solving information it's critical to the work of the Guardian that's why we do this isn't it of course Greg yeah it's it's all about having local guard in local places you know and people maybe passing on information and things so yeah it's this appeal that we do has been proven to be very successful in the past Greg and long may continue yeah indeed OK well let's get straight into it then and an appeal about a burglary in letter Kenny Nile Yes Greg a burglary took place at the Isleview apartments on Larkins Lane between Saturday the 21st of January and Friday the 3rd of January the resident of the apartment was away for two weeks and returned to discover that their apartment had been critically gone through and wrecked really Greg damage was caused within the property quite a bit so we just want to appeal to other residents in that area at the Isleview apartments in letter Kenny as they did observe anything between the 21st of January and Friday the 3rd of February please contact my colleagues in letter Kenny 07491 67100 or the confidential line on 1-800-TREVEL 6-TREVEL 1 All right now Gordy investigating the theft of machinery in a Nechone Yeah this just happened last night Greg my colleagues in Cairndonna are investigating the theft of quite unusual now this one Greg tractors and one forklift from the yard at Brie Mallon last night between the hours 4.30am and 5.30am they have been recovered along with the forklift but at approximately 9am at the green area in Mallon Town damage had been caused to the grass area at the green where it appears these tractors and forklift were taken for a joy ride we appeal to anybody who may have witnessed these machines in transit or being driven on the roads between Brie and Mallon Town between 4.30am and 9am this morning to make contact with the Gordy in Moncranagh on 0749320540 if anybody witnessed any activity involving the stolen machinery in Mallon Town or they think they may have captured the machinery on their dash cams please contact the Gards again in Moncranagh or indeed the confidential line on 1-800-TREVEL 6-TREVEL 1 Very strange so just to be clear let me just get an information 6 tractors and a forklift were started and driven off by obviously a group of individuals and then abandoned and that's incredibly unusual isn't it there's a gang I don't want to profiled anybody but I could guess the kind of age groups that we're not talking about here Greg this year last night so yeah it wasn't one person that done this they did it because they're all taking it in a very short space of time and taking it for a joyride not stolen for any personal gain but stolen for a bit of crack I'd say Someone's bound to know something in relation to that such as the scale of it it's inevitable ok People aren't happy down in Mallon at the minute because the Greens destroyed Greg Very very very proud people they all roll over the county but that's one of those ones there's obviously a number of victims there Greg Criminal Damage in Derryburg yesterday is it? Yeah my own colleagues in Milford are investing in criminal damage that occurred at Arden and Grappery Derryburg between the hours of 3.15 and 3.30 am last night, Monday the 6th of February a dark coloured car with a loud exhaust pulled up at a property at that location an item was thrown at the conservative window of the property and damaged the window and the frame got off again and we appealed to road users who may be able to assist us at Arden and Grappery Derryburg between 3.15 and 3.30 am if anybody saw anything please contact my colleagues in Milford on 074 9153060 Alright, theft from a car at Marlborough Hill Beach Yeah this one is a real current one Greg a theft from a car parked at Marlborough Hill Beach the person was using the facilities down there and done fanny on Thursday the 2nd of February between 2pm and 3pm a short window in the afternoon a lady parked her car and went for a walk when she returned she noticed that the rear number plate had been removed and taken from her car I can't give you the number plate Greg because this is still registered to this lady's car I don't want people spotting this lady driving around and reporting her but certainly if anybody noticed somebody screwing the number plate which last Thursday between 2pm and 3pm please contact the garage leader in Milford or done fanny Yeah and we can't speak to the motivation but you know obviously Yeah it's not good It's not good, yeah okay because it doesn't make sense otherwise and it's difficult for you guys because she's can't really flag it to the public because this lady it's still associated with her but I'm sure it's been noted in case it does turn up somewhere A and P or on some of our vehicles Greg which is an automatic number plate recognition system and this the number plate will be flagged and hopefully if it tries past any of the guarded vehicles that are equipped with it it'll be flagged Road traffic collision in Strinola people Guardie looking for witnesses I presume Yeah between Milborough Eastern order between 7.30pm and Saturday the 4th of February and 12.55pm on Sunday the 5th of February a resident had parked the vehicle outside their home at Milbury and at some stage between those hours it was struck by another vehicle and damage was caused along the passenger side we appeal to anybody who travelled in the Milbury area and who may have witnessed the collision contact the Guardian at Erkenny 0749167100 obviously that's the head wrong Greg the vehicle failed to stop Alright okay and of course you know someone's landed back with the damaged vehicle as well it was best interest to come forward in that regard Yeah I have no more information on that one Greg of course no okay no that's okay Now Guardie in Bancrana investigating a collision Yeah a car was parked at a takeaway premises in Bancrana Burnfoot Village on Saturday the 4th of February between 7.20pm and 7.40pm so just a 20 minute window there in the evening time it was struck by a white van unfortunately the driver of the white van who was attempting to park at the premises smashed into this car and then again drove off Greg without reporting the given his necessary information so any road users that can help us on the R238 between Burnfoot and Bancrana at the local takeaway there between 7.20pm and 7.50pm last Saturday please contact the Guardian Bancrana 0749320540 All right and a bit of a follow up from an appeal last week Yes we issued an appeal last week in relation to a recent border area a business premise in Bancrana a man has since been arrested and questioned in relation to the matter and a file now be prepared to the DPP we wish to thank all the head and radio listeners that have provided assistance in relation to the matter Further to other appeals Greg I just want to add that on the night of 31st of January a car was located in Latter-Kinney town and a few hours later on February 1 the stolen car was located by the Latter-Kinney roads policing unit and the driver was arrested again on the same day on the 31st of January a robbery took place at a shop at Upper Main Street Latter-Kinney a man was arrested in connection with the incident a short time later by my colleagues in Latter-Kinney and was charged to appear in court Excellent and I think it's difficult at time for operational purposes for you to give updates we know it's happening but it's nice to hear that we're not just reading stuff out or talking about stuff and nothing ever comes of it but as I say for different reasons, operational reasons and what have you, you can't always say that Sure Greg, yeah we don't at times let people know maybe the successes that we do have but there's more successes than there isn't and we do get great assistance from yourselves and your listeners Greg Alright and some scams going around the place I was notified of a particular one an M50 E toll scam and also there's another one that proposes to be from Facebook they're so tuned in these scammers, they change them all the time and incredibly, incredibly convincing but this one we're focusing on at the moment is a bailiff scam Yeah it's just one of thousands Greg so it's just again it's nothing special it's just once again we're harking on every week about it but unfortunately we're not going to stop going on about it until people stop Clicking the links Everyone on social media says I've been hacked and I'm not judging but you don't get hacked unless you click the link now some people can clone your account and that's different but if it goes wow look what I found and you click that link because we're curious creatures us humans that's how you end up in bother Yeah I know I really had one myself last week Greg that came up on email but because my own email address is my name you know I know some people don't have their full name in their email address but mines is and it came up with my name saying oh this is your voice that you requested and like you know we do a lot of online business but after I thought about it for a couple of seconds I was like oh no that's and you have to check yourself I was so close to inputting my password Yeah it's so, so close but I just managed to hold back so give us a details of this bailiff one So yeah it's purportedly from a bailiff service the correspondence states that an outstanding debt payment is due to a bailiff service and that failure to do so will result in this bailiff service attending your home address to inventory their valuables they do have certain amounts of information maybe possibly about your name, your address and obviously your email address they will ask the individual to deposit a sum of money through bank details provided and we'd just like to remind people to respond to any unsolicited email seeking personal financial or security advice never click on a link or attachment in an unsolicited email if you believe the email is from a genuine source verify it independently possibly by telephone telephone whatever company or indeed if you're in any doubt contact your local guard of station independently verify any request for information and never use the contact details supplied to you by the caller or the texture so that's important Greg as I do give you details don't reply to that email or that phone number look it up and the way I nearly got done if you just move a wee bit closer to that mic it's just not picking a nihilistic problem with that mic it's not your fault it's the mic's fault with the facebook scam I got they claimed I was infringing on copyright and all that kind of stuff and it kind of got me but your email address this is why I was so not in any meaningful way but sometimes there's a bit of music in the hands breaks and it flags on our stream I wouldn't do anything illegal now I swear put the coughs away but your email address is on your facebook page my telephone number is on my facebook page now that's not advisable but I don't mind because of the job that I do but there's two really key pieces of information that very quick and your address is there for crying out loud you know what I mean you've got photos on there where your location data is in the photos that you've uploaded so they literally can pinpoint you if you take a picture outside your house and you have no one switches that data off on the phone they can literally identify where your property is so we're sharing this information and they have a bit of that info and then we click the links and that's where we all get and then you take some of that information that you've maybe voluntarily given to whatever facebook or whoever and if you take you might have provided further information but if I did a separate google search say on your phone number or something like that it might come back that you've done something else on some other websites and they're able to get more information that way and cross reference it to hacks as well because I do know a couple of my emails have been compromised over the years through certain groups being hacked so you just don't know we don't want to alarm people out of Greg the thing is just don't click on links links seems to be the big one and I think too just with the alarm thing coming from we have an awful lot of control about this you know traditional scams where people might come up between the street or cold callers and stuff but this is something where we have a great deal of control to protect ourselves and that's why it's so important I think for the likes of yourself and I'll just remind us I know probably 99% of your listeners are going oh god they're all a bit scams every week but unfortunately people are being fallen back to these scams not nicely but and done it all here every week they come into the garden station because they've been listening to us in the radio and they say I can't believe it failed for but it could happen to anybody Greg and it's the same things being lifted out of your car if you've you know leave them on display or you forget to close we know but we also can find ourselves guilty of it anyway sorry I digress it's not your fault it's mine so I just feeding on from that Greg today February 7th is actually safe for internet day suppose that we talk about the internet and the benefits it has but we're all too aware of the dark side it has as well we all find it difficult to keep up to date suppose with the latest apps and social media platforms available especially to people that have children but it's very important to have a basic knowledge the government and the Gardie recommend the www.webwise.ie you'll find a lot of important information and advice for people that want to maybe have a browse that website it is very user friendly and it gives advice in relation to how to handle kids online how to you know support your children for safer internet day 2023 we will be hosting two free sorry the webwizer hosting two free safety webinars for parents the first online safety session is for parents and guardians of younger children and will take place tonight February 7th at 8pm the free online safety session for parents and guardians of teens will then take place on Tuesday the 21st of February at 8pm and I know I'll be tuned on that one myself but I'm not a teenager there as well you must go to the website or facebook page and register to take part in these events Greg okay great stuff did you mention those or is that part of it? yes this is hot off the press Rory Harrison is a sergeant in Milford and Rory is very good with the internet security and he has a specialist qualification in relation to he does presentations and he's doing two as far as I know he's doing a cyber crime presentation on internet safety at Laredo secondary school in Milford on the 20th of February I think it's 7pm Greg I'll need to confirm that later and maybe Gronje might put it up on the facebook page and a further one then on the 22nd of February in Fulcara PCC it's aimed at parents and adults living in the community and to give them an opportunity to talk about cyber crime and also the superintendent David Kelley to talk about the policing plan you talked about earlier there and if anybody wants to make any suggestions or submissions in relation to this policing plan for 2023 he'll be present to meet the people and that's at that's at the the Fulcara PCC school on the 22nd of February I'm not sure if the superintendent is going to the Laredo school okay well we'll double check the start time because as I said we were talking about when people have an opportunity to express their points of view an ideal opportunity okay brilliant stuff one more thing Greg just now I was working at the Trucking for Chrysler event and I've been remiss of us to mention that fantastic event it was amazing Greg truly wasn't it something else? it was perfect it was great the families of some of the injured parties and the states were there and they were more than delighted with it the solidarity that was expressed by them truckers and the money I believe was a shocking amount of money raised it's not for me to say how much I don't know but I believe it was far exceeded all expectations and the amount of truckers was fantastic so hats off and they had to work well with us as well because logistically it was quite difficult for the guard it was really a place to see that my own colleagues got behind the event and we were proud to support the event and again Colin and Patrick well done and Longs and all the truckers that turned up brilliant well done Niall thank you very much for that Garda and Niall McGuire that was community Garda information for this Tuesday the 7th of February if you missed any of that we'll be tuning in it'll be available for you to listen and watch back on our social medias and on Garda Shia Khanna facebook page a little later on today we'll be back with more after the break watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highlandradio.com live at working events to milestone birthdays, anniversaries and retirement parties there's audio visual equipment integrated PA systems and even a private bar Dylan's Hotel perfectly located in Nettokennetown centre with a ward winning food and 5 star service call 911 229 007 direct from the west end and rated 5 stars by the BBC 7 Drunken Night the story of the Dubliners is the ultimate feel good show there's millenium forum on wednesday february 22nd book now at milleniumforum.co.uk or call 04871 26445 armacolor jewellers in Nettokennet are synonymous with fine jewellery quality watches and giftware with stores at main street Nettokennet and the Nettokennet shopping centre are online at armacolor.com you can choose from their quality product range and a relaxed atmosphere and their sales staff will be happy to help you make the right choice whatever the occasion armacolor jewellers making moments magical for generations at Hickey Clark and Langan insurance brokers 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was the event that I'm sure Mehmet felt the tremors Mehmet good morning and I'm sorry for what your fellow country people are going through this is just on a scale an apocalyptic scale Good morning Craig it is a big disaster here nearly 6000 buildings are destroyed and 3500 people lost their life but this number is increasing as the hours pass and 25 people 25000 people are injured it happened yesterday at 4 o'clock it was 7.7 it happened twice 7.6 it's south east where my parents lives but I'm living in Mamutlar here which is 600 kilometers away from from there and here we felt it also a little bit but there was the heavy one and many people lost their life and the removal works continue it's horrible it's horrible what happened I'm just the way life is now we're seeing and hearing the same news that you are Mehmet obviously there was the initial devastation but I'm sure you've seen those videos of buildings that looked to have survived the earthquake subsequently collapsing and people running for their lives I mean we really don't know how bad this is going to be do we yes we don't know still and people still they are scared and I spoke with yesterday and people they are afraid to go in their apartment and many people was on the street yesterday and they are still there outside and there is no electric there is no gas they stop it because for the safety and it's horrible really it's a big disaster yes is there any comfort or is it too soon to be gotten from the international response now we've got almost 50 countries offering help now it remains to be seen what level of help because words are cheap but we need to see that assistance on the ground but does Turkey for Turkey of course but also Syria affected by this can you feel that sort of solidarity from around the world Mehmet it is it is many countries they are here they send help but they are very happy and it is really we need it also we need it but our government they are also working very hard and our government will do everything for the people who lost their houses they will do everything that our government is strong and they are doing their best you mentioned you have family in Adana were you able to get confirmation that they are safe Mehmet yes thanks God that my parents they are safe they live in Osmania and it is a small town there is around 300 people lost their life there but this is increasing at our past I hope not but it is increasing I think there is an inevitability it seems inevitable that the figure has gone to be much greater we are being reported at the moment we are all thinking on you and your fellow countrymen thank you for speaking to us this morning thank you so much I mean countrymen and women I hope you understand Aaron Wolfe is a school principal from County Cork he joins us on the programme thank you very much for joining us we do appreciate it thanks for having us on good afternoon it is about half one year we are in Istanbul with a school of Rasmus and we were due to go to Malata our story really is on Sunday we were flying from Dublin to Istanbul and we were due to get a connecting flight then from Istanbul to Malata and because of a previous exchange we had just done there in December we changed our plans we missed our connecting flight because the first flight was delayed we needed a bigger time gap between it so we decided we wouldn't fly to Malata that night we would fly the next morning and as a result of that decision we missed the earthquake it doesn't bear thinking about we would have arrived in Malata at 12am our students would have gone off to live with five Turkish families and the earthquake would have struck at 3am and I mean we were just to thank God we weren't there we would be trying to track our students down and God knows what might have happened Aaron, sorry apologies for my lack of knowledge in terms of the geography how close to where the earthquake struck most severely Malata is 200km from the epicenter we're really close we got a text from one of the girls so it's an Erasmus our students go stay with other students one of the students texted and she said my town is literally gone there are so many people dead and that was the text we got yesterday morning from her she said that to a girl, Sophia Sophia sat opposite me now that's a horrible text for 15 year old girls to be sent and then Sophia sent photographs of the area that Sophia was meant to be staying in and it's level, there's nothing left it's difficult to get one's head around the scale of this Aaron isn't it what it is and what people I suppose back home what people back home aren't realizing is how cold it is in Turkey we think of Turkey, it's the sun holiday it's where you go over to summer holiday but at the moment we're in Istanbul it's 2 degrees, it's snowing but in Malata it hit minus 6 degrees last night so it's snowing on them and the Turkish rule is that they're not allowed in their buildings, they must stay outside because the aft shocks and tremors so you've got people staying outside in minus temperatures it's snowing on top of them they don't have any belongings because maybe their houses are plastic they can't go in and get things it's so horrendous I mean it really is sorry go ahead, I was going to say Aaron also too, your students would be they'd be very shook by this as well in that you have a job to sort of help them deal with this well we do I mean we woke up the deputy principal is with me as well she heard about the earthquake about 6am Turkish time so we arrived maybe 10pm Turkish time so we'd all gone to bed she heard about the earthquake then told me at 8am we just wait, we woke the students up to say look there's an earthquake, we need to get onto your parents to let them know that you're okay and make sure they know that we didn't get to Malata that we had changed our flights and yeah we were all in shock yesterday it's amazing it's so nice as well because they came so close I have one of the students here whether you want to speak, Jack O'Neill is next to me he's 15, he's happy to talk to anyone I'll just pass you over to him this is Jack O'Neill Jack it's Greg here chatting to you from Donna Gold, Jack your reaction to everything that's happened over the last 24 hours and this twist of fate that had you not travelling on to your final destination how are you feeling I have to be honest it's crazy things can change so fast Jack were you able to make contact with the student that you were due to be staying with yeah I heard I got in contact with them they're okay and they're helping with digging people out of rubble finding people to see if they're okay and just in an instant their life changed they were due to be you and all that went with that and now they're digging through rubble yeah it's crazy we're really lucky and I hope everyone's okay in Malacca how relieved were your family when you were able to contact them and tell them that you were okay maybe they heard about the earthquake from you yeah they were happy just to hear I'm okay and I'm in Istanbul okay well listen safe journey home Jack and I thought so with your host family as well and everything they're going through thank you and thanks to Aaron Wolfe your principal we really appreciate your time this morning thank you very much okay bye bye safe journey home Jack at Ulster Bank our team is continuing to close current and deposit accounts along with some of our branches at this time if your notice period and your deadline has passed all personal and business account deadlines are fast approaching you must take urgent action if you are still relying on your bank account and in need of more support please contact us immediately visit ulsterbank.ie your local branch or call 0818 210 260 call costs may vary and calls from mobiles may not be free Ulster Bank Ireland DAC is regulated by the central bank of Ireland are you tired of waiting for treatment or surgery did you know you can receive immediate treatment across the border under the new Ni planned healthcare scheme at potentially no cost Donegal patients are still being treated with us at Kingsbridge Private Hospital North West Post Brexit the process is easy and our dedicated team will help guide you through it so why wait contact us today to find out how you can skip the waiting lists and receive treatment in Northern Ireland visit kingsbridgeprivatehospital.com because life matters keep your car or van running smoothly with the service at Hegarty's Ford in Iterkenny not only will it minimize the risk if a major repair expense but it will be logged in your vehicles service handbook and help its resale value Hegarty's also offer everything from new and free owned car sales to parts and body repairs in their approved body shop book a service online this month and save 30 euro when you use the code Ford 30 you're always in good hands at Hegarty's Ford turn a mug a letter Kenny see hegarty's.com Highland radio weather updates with Ireland West Airport fly daily to London Acer with Air Lingus and connect to 80 plus destinations worldwide including Boston and New York Ireland West Airport don't just take off take it easy OK so the patchy rain and drizzle should be clearing soon to leave clearer brighter conditions for the late afternoon and evening temperatures of 8 to 11 degrees in London studio now by Robert O'Connor who is chairman of Donegal's Relay for Life Robert good morning great to have you back in and can you believe we're back in again ahead of another Relay for Life this suppose 2023 June just around the corner yep third and fourth of June just around the corner three months it'll be all over so there we are right talk to us about the importance of maybe four months sorry talk to us about the importance of Relay for Life yeah it's an important event for cancer survivors and their families in Donegal it allows them to support one another to really sort of realize they're not alone with a cancer diagnosis and they come along to really and they meet people that they've met the previous year and someone who's gone through the same thing that they've gone through and the great support for one another and the whole event it just means so much to them like you know yeah and it's about recognizing them remembering those who have gone we celebrate cancer survivorship and remember those who are no longer with us because unfortunately you know that happens every year someone you know we lose people but it's important for their family to still be able to remember them and the particular night with the candle ceremony at Relay and it really is sort of one of the highlights of the whole weekend is that cancer ceremony yeah and it's very important to a lot of people and such is the nature of life and such is the nature of this terrible disease is that there are new people that affect every single year so you see new faces yep I mean currently there are 16 people a week in Donegal hearing the words cancer I mean that's a pretty startling and frightening statistic like you know it's important that they know that there are services there by you know through their cancer society different other organizations and we're happy to support them all like the services that they're there and through our you know every second year we have a cancer conference that we invite other people along to support it and to speak at it but you know it's the money is one aspect of it but the whole education and awareness is equally important because they're kind of interconnected as well because with the awareness and the education cancer survivals to a great extent now are you know we're getting better outcomes but that also often is quite dependent on early diagnosis that's where the money for the research helps because things are improving in that regard but also the education to get people that diagnosis the earlier the better and I know it varies from cancer to cancer but it's always generally the earlier you can get that information the better so that's part of it all isn't it really? Absolutely and I'd say like unfortunately us male people we think we're invincible and we're not as good as you know checking all the symptoms as you know our female counterparts you know and one of the little things we have going in the school is a one for one challenge and it's only a euro you know we ask people to bring in to get supported like because we want people to be involved and it's a euro per family it's not even so it's not about the money but it's to get people aware and the kids will go home and maybe daddy will hear about it and think oh yeah you know I might have done that and we've had a couple of instances over the years where people have said to us yeah you know that prompted me to go along and get a check and it was good I'm just reading this leaflet it's kind of so bringing away but it's completely accurate on the back the first sentence is every family is affected by cancer yep that's the reality of it yeah yeah which is you can't escape it we all know someone and you know we've all had cancer diagnosis we've lost people in our families we have people maybe going through a journey presently or neighbors or our best friend is like you know there's nobody who doesn't know somebody who is affected by cancer of course then we do have the stories of people getting to ring the bell and yes being long term survivors yep and that's why it's important that we get those early diagnosis and check that out right so that's one for one that is going to be in schools people hear about that yes yep yep absolutely right so in terms of the importance then of the fundraising elements of freedom yeah the fundraising element is important because it supports services that you know the areas of cancer that he provided in Donegal and last year alone the total direct support from the areas of cancer for services in Donegal was 251,000 almost 252,000 like night nursing like every other night in Donegal there's an areas of cancer that a night nurse in with a family who are you know someone that is coming towards an end and you know there were 55 cancer patients with 211 nights of care last year from that alone like you know and volunteer driver service it takes people there were 62 patients taken to 480 chemotherapy treatments in Latter-Kinney hospital last year where the cancer society will arrange a driver to pick you up at your door and leave you home again that evening it makes easier for the patient but also makes it easier for the family because they don't maybe have to take as much time out of work and you know can try and get on with their lives as best they can and the knowledge that someone is looking after their loved one money spent on research as well cancelling sessions which I think is really important and we do discuss that quite a lot on this show and we talk about sort of you know maybe webinars that can empower people but this is actually cancelling directly with people there were 163 sessions for 31 patients last year in Donegal and we hope tonight that there will be someone there to talk to people afterwards about cancelling and show them you know where to get in contact with etc. It's very personal, very private but it's important that people know that it's available there and it's not just for cancer patients if their family member needs cancelling it's available free to them as well and it's not means tested in any way and so one week to Robert O'Connor it is ahead of the Relay for Life Donegal 2023 launch taking place tonight at the Mt. Aerical hotel, Lettuce Kelly at 7.30pm you're invited to come along and find out what Relay for Life is and how you can be a part of something special with other people in the same situation or you can understand the situation that they're in we had a break obviously from everything I think during Covid I don't think Relay ran through the pandemic form. We had a break in 2021 and in 2020 we had a break. We just weren't able to have to cancel it all together. The following year we had a virtual relay and then last year we got back to normal. So this is actually really number 11 but it's actually physically the 10th year that we will have been present in the LAIT. But in a way I wonder is this kind of maybe a reboot of it because we can kind of get out of routines a little bit you know I think the pandemic threw us all in different ways and then obviously we were just kind of fresh out of things for last year. So in some sort of way does this feel like 2023 is a reinvigoration of the whole thing? I think so Greg certainly from our perspective that's as a committee that's how we feel like you know that last year people were still a bit nervous. The truth is as well a lot of the people who would be affected by this might be immuno compromised or whatever or maybe didn't want to be in contact with people. So I think this is the first dare I say and not speak on your behalf but I feel this is the first post pandemic one where you can go full gusto fingers crossed. Yep we totally agree with that and as I say we're delighted even with that that we have Majella O'Donnell with us tonight launching it and you know I'd like to just extend our condolences to Daniel and Majella and Dougan family and thank them for their support and that they're allowing you know Majella to be supporting us tonight and that means a lot to us. I will join with that because obviously the O'Donnell family suffered a loss of by all accounts an amazing woman so our thoughts are with them and fair play to Majella for doing that and absolutely the O'Donnell family so that she's available tonight. So this will be her first function in her new role as a global hero of hope. No better woman? No better woman. She's good isn't she? Absolutely. She really is a top top class lady. Absolutely and we're delighted because she should not only represent Donny Gull really for life and there is Cancer City she represents global really for life. So we everyone who used to attend get back out and enjoy and I can use that word I think because such is the uniqueness of this event on the 3rd and 4th of June so clear your calendar get down to the ATU campus letter Kenny we hope to see loads of new faces as well for this event and more more more details will be available tonight. Do you want to talk about the launch a bit more specifically tonight Robert? Yep the launch is tonight at 7 30 in the Mount Arigal and we're asking people to come along and even if you have never been it really before come along and no absolutely and we will have people there you know who are seasoned relayers if you like and they will you know tell people what it means to them and hopefully encourage others who might want to get involved and sometimes people are sort of saying like you know I'll have very hard to get involved and whatever it is so we're saying this and you know maybe you're in a small town whatever maybe that town would get involved rather than one family trying to organise like you know you maybe have a team from Ballet Buffet because we do say I talk about relay life all the time right and I keep forgetting to focus on the actual relay element of it as part of the fundraising drive so if you don't you know sticking up on your Facebook page anyone in and around the Lahi area Balantrara area Karagarat area you know what I mean that would like to get involved make new friends new contacts as well absolutely and get a team together yes yep yep and I said need necessarily be one particular family who want to do it maybe three or four families can get together and make a team and it's easier to get involved but come along tonight to the launch and if you miss it we will have hopefully it on Facebook live I don't think this is the last time I've seen your face before June either Rob I think you'll might be back on with us again as well am I right hopefully hopefully thanks a million great of course you will right okay so get get the the get ready for the launch tonight at 730 in the Monterey Gold Hotel if you can't get along you can still get yourself together a team the website Facebook page for more information yep really for life done you go to gmail.com they can get us there and the Facebook page is very active so they can message us there and we can get back to them straight away on it they tuned to Highland too because of course we're behind you guys a hundred percent and we'll be speaking quite a bit over the next couple of months and we're very appreciative of the support that Highland have given us since it started in 2012 well I'll go back to that first line in the back of that leaflet it affects all of us yep Robert well done fair play to you by the way thanks a million great I don't know if you're getting off thanks thanks isn't it's not about thanks no it's not but it's important that your efforts are recognised as well so thank you on behalf of people listening today Robert O'Connor chair of Donegal's Relay for Life back with more after the break wild Atlantic way adventures await you this spring with a midweek escape to the luxury raddison blue hotel in Spa Sligo from just 120 euro with complimentary breakfast each morning indulge in afternoon tea overlooking Sligo Bay unwind with the treatment at the spa enjoy a delicious meal in the brasserie sit back and relax in waves bar or surround 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our stock we have them all starter cars family cars luxury cars or maybe i'm feeling young and want to treat myself to a two-door sports car kind of car visit our showrooms in letter kenny or malin foil company are the northwest's leading interiors paint curtain and blind interior design specialists make a statement in style and give your home or commercial premises a fresh new look this year with over 25 years experience the in-house team of interior designers and paint color consultants will make it happen this month get a free one-hour color and interior design consultation at foil company in letter kenny book now to transform any room or commercial space a 91 219 the county's number one talk show the nine till noon show on highland radio and we have another busy hour on the way do not go anywhere stay right where you are and now at 11 o'clock let's say good morning to donald cavernor for latest news update donal no i don't have the right mic up stay where you are i changed that already didn't change your back let's try it now good morning donal no and it will work now i swear thank you great good morning selta has confirmed that letter kenny university hospital is managing a data breach incident arriving from the removal of one list of patients from the hospital premises the incident's been reported to the data protection commissioner in accordance with legislation selta says the hospital is fully committed to protecting the rights to privacy and confidentiality of all patients under gdpr the bsn i and dairy says officers from their international policing unit working with the waterside neighborhood policing team have arrested a man wanted in the republic for drug offenses the man in his 20s was detained yesterday afternoon on an international extradition warrant issued in the republic he'll appear at an extradition hearing at legan side magistrates court in belfast meanwhile two men one age 38 the other age 47 have been arrested in dairy this morning under the terrorism act both have been taken to the serious crime suite at musgrave police station in belfast for interview police say the arrests are part of an ongoing investigation into the activities of the new ira including a security alert in the fawn street area of dairy on march 14th last year during which three pipe bombs and the components of a larger explosive device were found the green at malin town has been badly damaged in an overnight incident of vandalism six tractors and a forklift were stolen from a yard and brought to the green in the early hours of this morning where it appears they were driven around the green before being abandoned gar the are appealing for information and in particular dashcam footage a former of donnie gall says there needs to be a major public conversation about gar the structures in donnie gall particularly in what's now the milford gar the district null mcbryde a community activist in the meafakari gart area says the restructuring of gar the services in the county will see the areas being covered become bigger while the number of gar the covering them becomes smaller he believes there's a real risk that milford station could go from being a district headquarters to losing its 24 hour status half of children surveyed say they spent too much time online almost a quarter of children had surveyed admitted they had seen something online in the past year that they wouldn't want their parents to know about the study of 1600 eight to 12 year olds is being released to mark safer internet day and the consumers association of Ireland says price discrepancies for tourism services could damage the sector it comes as research by news talk found that hotels car rentals and tours can have different prices when quoting from within Ireland the UK or the US and we're back with news headlines again at 12 at ulster bank our team is continuing to close current and deposit accounts along with some of our branches at this time if your notice period and your deadline has passed your account is now queued for closure all personal and business account deadlines are fast approaching you must take urgent action if you are still relying on your bank account and in need of more support please contact us immediately visit ulsterbank.ie your local branch or call 0818 210 260 call costs may vary and calls from mobiles may not be free ulsterbank Ireland DAC is regulated by the central bank of Ireland okay donal thank you very much for that you're very welcome back to the program right it was announced over the weekend that the donagall person of the year uh the recipient this year is collectively the people of creasler elaine calfry is president of the uh donagall association in doblin and joins us now elaine uh thank you very much for taking the call good morning to you good morning great how are you i'm doing fine right okay now um i think this is this is great i think this is really fitting um talk talk to us about the the how we came to this point yeah no problem well i suppose friday the 7th of october was the day that donal just came to a standstill that afternoon when the news hit of the terrible tragedy that occurred in creasler but it was also the day that the creasler community went into rallying and support mode for their own people and it was just incredible how everybody came together um that was people at the scene um of the of the tragedy including the emergency services the civil service and the voluntary sector ambulance crews garrity fire brigade obviously the local clergy um the undertakers had a huge part of playing in the days following that tragedy the local business owners um how they came together people offering food to customers that were coming in that there weren't even customers or people in the area just supporting the local people doing what they could there were people assisting the scene all through the day uh all through the night and the following day some of them using machinery some of them using their own bare hands to just try to help the victims of this tragedy um later on in the days and weeks that followed then the community rallied around to get vital services up and running again in the local area um the local and national media who were on the scene had never seen anything like it they they had said uh the international media had never seen anything like this they remarked on the people of creasler how they were offering tea and sustenance to those people covering the events and everything and it was just really really remarkable how the entire community just came together supported each other through their own grief their shock and their pain but it was just astounding and we had to mark this it was just unbelievable yeah and and and and as you say a lot of it the memories come back how the the local coffee shop how they just kicked in um and then you know managing young people as well do you know what i mean that those that are working with the young people involved in sports and having to crack on in certain areas for the benefit of the children even though maybe when they weren't in necessarily in the space themselves to do it it's a catch all then the people of creasler it is the people of creas well but it's all of those people that you uh that you mentioned all of those that were there that were affected by it not necessarily from creasler but were involved in that is it is that's the people of creasler catching all of those old people and recognizing their efforts elaine exactly it's recognizing everybody's efforts and obviously not just during that the the tragedy and the cleanup and and helping with the victims and the victims families but it's since then it's the rebuild of creasler it's helping the people of creasler come through this there's still an awful lot of work being undertaken in the area and it's recognizing all of that effort as a collective you know of course uh instantly um and quite rightly so uh father john joe was everyone's uh pick for this but i don't think his modesty would have allowed him to accept this as an individual even if it were on behalf of of of everyone but i i just think it's important to lane if you if you share with me in this in that if it was about a person uh father john joe would have been in the stratosphere in terms of the popular vote yeah well i mean normally we we can't really comment on um individuals that have been nominated for a donningall person of the year for obvious reasons you know there's more there's always more than one individual nominated and it just wouldn't be fair and you have to respect people's privacy in that matter as well but in this circumstance because of the individual involved we can we can confirm that there were a huge and an unprecedented amount of nominations for that individual and rightly so i'm very very justified for the efforts that that were involved at that time um however having spoken to him he would not feel at right to accept our reward for work that he would have preferred not to have had to be done and that he was just doing his duty yes so that's a testimony to him and his character and it all makes perfect sense and i wasn't aware of that and i hope i didn't drag that out if you were lane but i know for a fact that that's what who uh everyone wanted to recognize but i also know um that uh he wouldn't allow it to be about him either uh but i think we all know uh but i think now the way it's panned out to it is it is uh it's it's perfect as well if that makes sense it's rewarding everybody involved and that includes the man himself but it also includes everybody else that really came together and they really were remarkable i mean people are still talking about it and they will continue talking to we'll continue talking about this in our lifetime you know this will never be forgotten and it's not just the disaster and how tragic it was and the shock and pain and grief that that hit the county but it really is the effort that went in afterwards and still continues to go in to just bring in a community together and it is interesting in that the association the donna gall association uh in dublin it was founded in the wake of a tragedy itself we were we were founded in 1935 as a result of the iron moor disaster where 20 people lost their lives and it was very tragic in those times in that the majority of the people who lost their lives were the breadwinners of the families on iron moor island so it really was a massive disaster for that area so a group of people who were living in dublin from donna gall came together founded the association and started fundraising to support uh the people affected on iron moor and that's really where our association is born that's where our roots are and that's where we continue to to focus on it it's we want to promote donna gall in every which way we can and that includes trying to trying to raise awareness for different causes that have to be uh that deserve to a recognition and deserve a platform but also we like to recognize and raise awareness for the individuals that do the great work in donna gall to promote the county and i suppose that's where donna gall person of the year comes in and in this year um it's donna gall persons of the year it is the community and it keeps the flag flying in dublin and further afield the donna gall flag as well because of the way things were uh noel konningham uh has been the longest reigning donna gall person of the year um and he has used that uh in a really positive way for the county in a way i don't i'm not really sure it could have fell into anyone else's hands you know the way he had to be the steward of it for longer than than perhaps uh would have ordinarily happened but um it worked out you had the perfect candidate there and he has used it as an amazing platform to promote the county he has and he has been an absolutely fantastic person of the year and it was so timely the way um his reign sort of fell during covid as well because obviously the tourism sector had a bit of a halt at that stage and he was perfectly placed with his background in tourism as well and his experience to sort of kick start that uh tourism again in donna gall and to use his platform to promote donna gall and he really was the ideal and perfect candidate we like we can't commend noel enough for everything that he's done for donna gall over the years for sure right now the event takes place in uh doblin um doesn't it talk to us about that our tickets available it is on the 15th isn't it 15th April yet tickets are available on our website donna gall association dot e or by contacting any committee member um i think we have sent on the details to yourselves as well so if you could i think you might have already shared it online but uh yeah we've issued the press release is it's in the local papers um it's donna gall association dot i either tickets are available from and we'd love to see everyone there and i believe there's accommodation offer as well too so get in there i would suggest there isn't an accommodation offer yet it's in the bonnington doblin so there is accommodation the special rate there is 140 euros for two persons bed and breakfast and 120 for a single bed and breakfast and use the code that was published as well but if you call the bonnington and advise them that you're attending the event they'll be able to reserve the room at that rate for you okay elaine uh well done to you and the the committee and um uh as i say it's it's um it is it is lovely uh i think to be able to recognize the people of creceland you've put it perfectly yourself i can't add anything to that and i'm sure it'll all be very well reflected on the night as well uh thank you elaine thanks very much very thank you take care of yourself all right elaine kafri there who is president of the donna gall association right okay i just want to let you know um that the highland fling you might be aware is taking place in glasgo from the first to the fourth of main uh we are putting on a package for you to bring you over there in luxury coach transport which is last on the list here but i actually think that's quite important beautiful coaches we've got lined up for you uh and we have accommodation in the four star crown plus a plaza hotel uh your breakfasts and your dinner are included and then there's a ton of entertainment on may the first david james and the ryan turner band deklan earley's playing on may second with brilliant guests as well uh we'll go into the guests in a bit more detailed down the line uh on may the third robert missel is playing so we take you over there return journey on the ferry you don't have to go on a plane you're on a luxury coach of course you're staying in that four star accommodation your breakfast and your dinner is sorted your bed is sorted your entertainment is sorted and there's great cracker in and around the hotel too in the bar and all that kind of stuff over the course of those number of days now the reason i want to mention this again is is that we're taking six coaches and we're on the fourth coach now there's been a huge demand for this um and you can book your seat now for a hundred quid per person and then you can pay into it as you go right if you want to do it that way uh because it's not inconsiderable it's five hundred and seventy five per person sharing but when you consider what you're getting for that the fact that you're getting out to go over to scotland you'll be able to go visit glasgow when you're downtime if you wish that's what you can do during the day if you've got friends in scotland we have tickets available for the entertainment at night so they can call over and spend the night with you enjoying the music at the crown plaza hotel if you want to reserve your seat right now okay for you and the loved one maybe it's going to be your um uh what's that thing happens on february 14th valentine's day maybe it's going to be your valentine's present for someone why not get be in their good books i guarantee you they'll be delighted get in touch with us now for any questions by the way oh seven four nine one twenty five thousand oh seven four nine one twenty five thousand but uh seats as you can imagine i wouldn't mislead you we're on our fourth well into our fourth coach of six now uh so it is going to sell out and i don't want you to miss out so if you have the hundred now get your seat booked and then you can uh pay in as you see fit then between now and close to the departure date all right so we want as many of you to come as possible of course we're going to fill the coaches it's going to be great fun i'm so envious of all of you heading over there i really i'd love to go i'd love to definitely try and get the money together if i were not working right let us take a break we'll be back with our next guest shortly you may think you know driving 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online portal i thought it would be easier to call yeah yeah no you're gonna have to log on to amend your policy thanks for calling no no wait i don't know my password get the feeling that your insurer doesn't want to talk to you at local insurance we understand your needs call today for a bespoke quote or find us online at localinsurance.ie local insurance we'll get you sorted the local insurance network dak trading's local insurance is regulated by the central bank of ireland local insurance is a tide insurance intermediary of acorn brokerage limited acorn brokerage limited trading is acorn insurance is regulated by the central bank of ireland green shoes at market square letter kenny are proud to announce that they're now stocking riker footwear riker blend fashionable styles with incredible comfort striking the perfect balance between fashion and practicality all riker shoes are made using unique anti stress and anti shock technology to provide the essential support and comfort the brand is known for try any of the new season riker shoes now at green shoes market square letter kenny there's never been a better time to go full lethal let's hear it from our customers anyone that has a big family they should be shopping in little without it they'll be they have a holiday at the end of the year go on go full lethal today okay we're joined on the program now by esther and louise uh good morning to you thank you so much for joining us good morning it's good to have both of you uh with us esther may i start with you just before we get into the the the reasons as to why we've invited you on the program uh can you talk to me uh give an always spoken before but just give listeners a brief outline um of uh uh how you've been affected by the mother and baby home scandal well it's a huge disappointment i can't believe this is happening in this day and age and i guess what's sticking for me at this point in my life is roger goorman and his government there the government are claiming that a baby can't feel anything from zero to six months nor does it remember anything from zero to six months so they're excluded from the redress scheme i'm one of the youngest mothers that are survivors from this so a lot of us have passed in the last eight years and and um holly caron said in the in the dial on saint bridgett's day you know you're waiting for us to be worn down and i was at that stage where i was worn down i was given up i'm like okay i'm done with this and when she said that i thought yeah and she said you know what you won that you got what you wanted mr goerman you wore us down so that kind of put some fight back in me and mainly i'd like louise's story to get across because she's the one that's suffering today yeah louise let's go to louise because i suppose in a way louise i don't want to put emotions uh in your mouth so to speak so you can outline it for us but i mean how is your experience any less than than someone else's i mean you know you've been through this albeit as a baby the same as everybody else has yeah um they're deciding what you know what uh who gets in and who don't and who doesn't and i think that's one of my big problems with it it seems like all the survivor groups all the experts in early childhood development all the psychologists all the human rights people are saying it matters and minister or goerman has just decided it doesn't so i'm what my real question is is where what's he basing this on i would love i feel it's almost like a court case the defense has said this is what we think is important and i feel like he needs to come with his evidence from the other side of how he made this decision and why he thinks it's a valid decision well the only way uh you could understand this decision is because it's to to uh limit the liability of the state i mean that's it it's not a it's not a it's not about care it's not about uh looking after it's a it can only be a financial decision exactly that's that's what it is i guess but you know he's not owning that um of course he's trying to come up with some nice story about how he's doing his best but excluding people it's just it's retraumatizing because most of survivors are often told in their lives well aren't you lucky you didn't end up here and aren't you lucky you didn't end up being brought up by a teenage mother who didn't want you or whatever and we can't play the what if game we can't play the well what if you know uh mothers had a had support and they didn't have to give their kids up would we be better off or if this had happened or that had happened but we can say that we do have harm from what did happen and the government is responsible for that yeah and that's i mean this is you're being retraumatized by the very people we uh entrusted to try maybe give you i don't know the word closure it's such a loose phrase but whatever whatever comfort maybe you might have gotten from this process let it put it like that the very people that we've charged to bring that to you are actually exacerbating your pain and your hurt and retraumatizing you absolutely trust has been broken there's no difference nowadays and it was 1982 if not worse gone backwards retraumatized yeah retraumatized because you know louise just got a fraction of her information birth the birth trace and information which he thinks is the greatest thing ever well it's flawed because these these adoptees are not getting all their information and that information she was missing for three weeks we can't account for where she was for three weeks louise has some issues and then she will talk about them but i believe she was using vaccine trials on consented vaccine trials along with many many many other babies that were there talk to me a bit about that louise i think your mom wants to the words to come from you i think um i don't know what happened to me in those three weeks i don't know if there were trials or not but even the fact of having a missing three weeks in your life raises anxiety anytime you have a health issue you think wait did something happen that i don't know about um you know so i don't know i'm not accusing them of doing anything to me i mean somebody might say oh you were probably just where you were in a cosh all the time being taken care of that might be true but the fact that adoptees don't know where they were that's what causes some um and i think it's very important for us who aren't affected by this to hear your words right because i think unless you've been through this people might go we'll watch you on about and i mean that with absolute respect louise i hope you understand my motivation for saying this the way i am but this is ever present for you this gap uh and ester's gonna it's gonna be different from ester than it's gonna be for you because you're two individuals and you look at this in different ways and mom will have different concerns that maybe you will and vice versa but if this were any of us like we we have to collectively try and imagine put ourselves in your position what we would be doing we'd be screaming from the rooftops as well and i think this we just need to hear your words rather just listen to them if that makes sense yeah and i think you know this is something that's been what mean my whole life when i was a kid in school you'd have school projects and you'd have to say what time were you born or what weight were you where you were born and i never knew that and it was always a thing that would constantly come back that people would say what were you like as a baby and i said well i i don't know and what's the first question you asked when you go into a doctor or a gp the first question you ask what is your what's your family that's what i had i was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia about two and a half years ago and when they were trying to figure out what it was it was all to do with does this run in your family does that run in your family have you ever been exposed to this have you ever been exposed to that and i just had to say i don't know for most of the questions and that's just appalling and then it you know it really does a trick on your mind because you start thinking well was i exposed to something was i you know did something happen to me that i don't know about so it's it's mostly the you know the kind of mental anguish that you go through you're always missing information can ask you about that three weeks do you believe there is a gap in information or does somebody know it's being withheld from you i think somebody knows um i just don't have it yet um my for example ester left when she left the home she was told i would be handed over to my adoptive parents later that day when my adoptive parents got me in november which is about three weeks after ester left they were told i had been with her until a few hours earlier so the fact that both sides the fact that both parties were lied to makes me think well what are you covering up yeah i think the information is probably somewhere i'm still waiting for my file from tesla so maybe it'll come out and it'll say that i was kept warm and cobbled all that time that would be nice to know but the fact that i don't know is enough of a worry at this point and ester unfortunately you know we're seeing it with some controversies over nursing homes at the moment disability payments there's echoes of redress schemes for defective concrete block homeowners that if you announce something you say it's great and maybe you know the majority of people might get something from it then that's the problem resolved but there's a big group of people 40 percent of people 24 000 people that are being treated very differently here they're being told that they're not as important as other people uh so we can't lose sight of the fact that this is actually inflicting more pain on a big group of people rather than maybe bringing that bit of closure or comfort to others ester we don't want to live in a world like that i don't i don't want i'm not being critical if it's it is a decision being made by a group of people primarily in dublin right so maybe it sounds like i'm being anti them that's my intention i'm pro people and i'm pro these people that are are having their wounds reopened and having insult added on top of injury ester yes i agree with you greg um it's just it's it's beyond belief it really is you couldn't make it up what what they're proposing what they're trying to do um and it is i'd be unfortunately for the majority of women like me anonymity is a big thing a lot of their families don't know they get babies up for adoption a lot of adoptees don't know they're adopted so anonymity is a big thing they're not going to come forward and march the streets or go to dublin and protests you know en masse it's you know and the government i think know this i think they're playing a game and they know this i don't i mean we watched the doll and rodrick sat there on his own like a sacrificial lamb nobody there to back him up nobody it just is this is this how government is this is not the ireland i know and i think there's a lot of very important words in uh the letter the public open letter that you've released but i think one which is actually really quite important this did not happen in the dark ages talk to me about that point you're getting across there ester because it's still happening it's still happening and this is not the dark ages and you know we've come so far ireland has come so far and it's always been open and and you know taking care of other people and think you know but they don't take care of their own and and this isn't it you know like it isn't the dark ages there is no excuse for this to be happening today you know there's still there's still nearly 900 babies yeah buried in sewage tanks and in tune and and the cat the religious orders they're like oh well we've sent them a letter this net i have a letter here that came from the religious order saying they set up a meeting with minister and and his department however the department postponed the meeting and did not reschedule it we're not getting any communication about why when they're willing to meet with them why they didn't meet why they're not answering questions and i guess that's the big thing don't keep us in the dark we're not stupid people well you see and there's a and louise too you know we're quite rightly at the moment we're talking and every issue seems to affect women you know all the big ones if you think about it and we talk about you know what we hope to do in the future and how this isn't but what what hope do young women have going forward as to how we will treat them if we can't fully uh take responsibility for what we've done for what we've done that's that's that's the point i'm trying but like really what can what is this saying to young women and young men but young women because all these things for some strange reason always seem to affect women mostly don't they but you know what i mean what kind of really i don't think i think we have a history of men running the world so you know i think it's not really that strange that most of the issue seemed to affect women and another point i'd just like to say is that it's really not about the money for me i honestly when there was talk of redress when i joined the oak consultation i honestly never thought i would see a penny and i was okay with that i didn't you know i couldn't put a figure on it and say oh they need to give me this and that would give me closure but then when i heard the proposal and it said we're giving it to them we're not giving it to you that really hurt like it hurt my feelings and i thought well why not you know it's not that i want the money but it really did reinforce that idea that i have suffered nothing according to them they have done nothing wrong to me in their eyes yeah and that's you know that's one point i want to make it's not really about the money it's about not excluding people you know and i think that that i understand why you want to clarify that but i think anyone listening to you and esther will understand that that's clearly not the the motivation it's about whatever time we have left on this planet to to have it in some level of sort of contentment or peace or with questions answered and money doesn't do that money doesn't answer the questions that use one answers to okay esther is there anything else you want to add just before and i think you might have had to get up quite early for us i don't know maybe you're an early riser anyway but with this fantastic modern technology we have now it's like you could be sitting beside each other but you're not you're speaking to us from you or can't you esther yes it's amazing isn't it really is i just want to thank you in the end for your support and carolin for her support in this because you know nobody really i suppose it's kind of an icky subject if that's the right way to put it people just don't know what to do with it but if they hear the voices and see the faces behind it i think every family in ireland at some point has been touched by this issue yeah for sure the open letter it's called the primal wound we might republish that on our on our socials so people can have a read of it and get an understanding of it i could hear it in your voice almost see it in your face esther you know what this this insults injuries is how it's affecting you so i do hope you get some comfort and peace soon if that makes sense i'm not great with words sometimes but i hope you understand the sentiment i know i know what you mean great thank you thank you so much you don't deserve it okay and same to you uh louise thank you as always for speaking to us and i hope you get the answers that you deserve this is your history this is your past you know it's yours it's no one else's it's yours and you deserve that all right thanks for your time again this morning take care of yourself all right bye bye god bless you all right take care we'll be back with more shortly watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highland radio dot com stop highland radio are going to scotland from monday the first of may to thursday the fourth of may with the very best of music and we would love for you to join us stay in at the four star crown plaza hotel in glasgow we are bringing with us some of the biggest country stars including myself david james deklin ernie and robert mezell to name a few you will enjoy luxury travel to glasgow three nights dinner bed and breakfast with music and entertainment each evening join us on the highland fling to glasgow this may for only five hundred and seventy five euro per person to book call highland radio today on zero seven four nine one twenty five thousand early booking is advisable single supplement applies at omali scanlan insurance brokers they have an exciting new opportunity for 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project in your town or community would you like to share in a one hundred thousand euro prize fund the dot i e digital town awards shine a light on the achievements of local towns for digital projects in health education tourism and community to enter the dot i e digital town awards visit we are dot i e terms of conditions apply right today is uh safe for internet day the theme of the event is hashtag silent witness awareness which will see students take the lead in promoting respect online the campaign will also focus on online bullying with advice being offered to young people as they maneuver the digital world uh philip arneal is head of education with cyber safe kids good morning to you philip thanks very much for joining us today good morning thanks for having me on uh i don't want to dilute the important issue um but you know where are the example to children also as adults uh and i just wonder if we've lost the plot on social media now i mean you know we're how can we tell children not to do this that and the other or not to treat people one way or other uh when there's so much hate uh negativity toxicity division on social media amongst the teachers well i mean i completely agree i mean i think uh it's um it's essential first of all that adults model the behavior they expect from children and that doesn't just apply to uh social media or being online that applies to things in general of course and we've launched a campaign today called same rules apply to to mark safe for internet day which has exactly that message uh which is that if you're behaving you know and and you're raising children in the offline world really in terms of digital parenting in the online world the rules should be exactly the same so you know you shouldn't be sending your kid off to the shop or off to the park and you would never dream of of letting them out there not knowing what they were doing and so the same thing really applies to online to online behavior and online activity your children need to be supervised need to be having those conversations and that's really very much the focus of our same rules apply campaign i think sometimes it's overwhelming for parents and guardians where to start because you know even having the conversation with a young person and then then pushing back and do you know what i mean it can be it can be really really difficult maybe for those who uh are bringing children through now maybe slightly easier because you can set ground rules sort of from the beginning moving forward but i think it's really tough for parents now of current eight to twelve year olds for example to sort of say actually now these are a new set of rules absolutely i mean we totally appreciate that i mean the reality is you know whether we like it or not the digital world is here there's great there's lots of benefits and positive things about it and so it is an important part of modern parenting and as part of this same rules apply campaign we've also with in association with the examiner uh we have released a digital parenting booklet which you can find on our website and actually it covers a lot of these issues you know it kind of demystifies a little bit some of these things for parents because we understand it's overwhelming we understand there's a lot we understand that the online world moves quickly but the reality is you know once again in the offline world you wouldn't you know you wouldn't hand your child car keys you wouldn't say you know off you go and teach yourself to swim and so when it comes to the online world we just simply have to have these conversations and yes there will be pushback from children you know there's a lot of peer pressure well my friends my classmates have phones you know so-and-so is on this app so-and-so is on that platform but you know not having those conversations is not going to get you anywhere so they can be tricky they can be difficult and i think this is why you know talking about the online world and making that a normal part of discussion within a family with your children is the first step because the more you do it then the more normal it becomes and then of course if obstacles do occur problems do arise then it's much easier to address those rather than perhaps than being hidden or children or young people trying to deal with them themselves and not having the resilience or perhaps the experience to tackle those issues and then you know that the problem becoming worse the way i tried to explain it is to treat the internet and in all of its guys' apps and everything as a massive shopping centre in a strange city and you don't drop your kids off at the door and say you know go and do whatever you want to do nor would you allow your your child to go up to a group of strange men for example and start hanging around with them nor would you have them walk up to a group of teenagers and start calling them names nor would you walk up to a girl and touch her inappropriately or say something inappropriate you know and to try and use that maybe more relatable real-world space and how we behave and just treat it the exact same as you would the internet they aren't because as you say it's part of our world now so we have to view it like that we do have to try and break it down in an understandable way that there is a social discourse in real life you would never dream of doing certain things and those those same rules apply in this digital space rather than trying to get into every bloody app that's there and online gaming and offline gaming and apps on the phone just try and break it down into that sort of simple premise for me anyway absolutely Greg I mean we should have had you on board I think for the campaign because you've basically encapsulated what the message is which is that the same rules do apply offline and online and actually apps will come and go platforms and popularity of games will change but really the messaging is the same you know you wouldn't dream of doing these things offline you would never allow children to do or young people to do certain things offline and so when it comes to online that same parenting that same encouragement that same supervision that same monitoring is absolutely essential because it is and for many young people and children online and offline worlds they don't see this distinction that we you know we still talk about in the real world but you know for a lot of children young people being online is part of their real world and so it's really really essential that we apply those same rules we actually have released a video as part of this campaign and it features a young boy who's online he's up in his bedroom unsupervised and then of course he's getting messages like any child wants to make friends wants to connect with people of course he goes to the door and realizes that the people who are sending the messages are not actually the people they say they're online say who they are online and by that stage of course often with children and young people it's too late so you know we're saying you know if you wouldn't let your child walk up to a stranger in the park or in the street and certainly not let them give them a photograph or an image of themselves then you know why on earth would you allow allow them to do it online so it's important to apply those same rules and to make sure that you're parenting exactly the same way they online and they offline you would hope that in that scenario I gave the shopping center scenario if an adult come up to them and said something inappropriate you would hope they tell you as soon as they run out the front doors you have to set a space where they can do that without banning them then from the shopping center I mean but no going on with this this metaphor but or if a group of lads or girls start a poll in their hair or calling them names you would expect them to relate that to you and it's creating this sort of front door out of the online space that they feel they can say that to you without you necessarily withdrawing them from that all together because that's that's gonna the communication doors are going to come down and also Philip you know if you set up a new android phone I did so a couple of years ago I'm sure it's the same with Apple I mean you can set it up lock tight in terms of when it can be used when it can't be used what apps can and can't be used all password protected if anything inappropriate's done mom or dad or guardian get an email you know in terms of the technology there we have the tools but we don't employ them I think maybe are we going to give up on that because that's not realistic we just have to go with the education yeah I think it's I think it's it's everything really so the education is absolutely key and I agree with you know banning is not really the way forward because you know if you go back say to the analogy of the car it's often the car is the only way you can get to certain places so saying well you know people have accidents in cars you can't drive one just doesn't make any sense right and the same thing goes with the phone you know or a tablet or a games console it's a part of life and often it's a part of way of communicating we saw that during the pandemic you know it was an essential way to for kids to attend school to connect with friends and family but you know there are technical restrictions and again in our digital parenting book it's part of this same rules apply campaign there's a lot of information in there you know you can go to those manufacturers websites you can find out how to lock down phones and make them safer you can look also at apps and platforms their sites often have advice on how to to change settings in order to make it safer for children if they're contacted or they get a follower request and that kind of thing so I think it's really a bigger picture it's education it's also using those technical restrictions and then as you said at the start it's also about us modelling the kind of behaviour you know having perhaps zones in the house where phones or devices aren't used have them charging in a communal area have maybe times where there's a device free time and also then even you know if you want to kind of establish like a family online family agreement within the household where you know certain rules and norms are agreed by everyone they're signed up to everyone and let's face it kids and young people there's nothing they love more than correcting their parents and guardians so you know again if you're on your phone when you shouldn't be and you're caught out and you're told off well you know you're banged to rights and again you're modelling that that that positive behaviour and also then celebrating the positive benefits and and great things that can come from being online which we all know I do understand you know what to some extent what motivates people in society at the moment to to behave and act and say what they do and none of us are you know of a clear you know don't have any blot some of our copy book kind of haven't heard that phrase in about 30 years but anyway talk about an inappropriate one we're talked about technology but you just wonder you know the sponges the the the eight to 12 year olds 12 to 18 year olds when they see what's going on around the country and maybe don't understand precisely why it's happening and I'm not talking about anything in specific I'm not trying to attribute anything by the way I hope people understand but if they do then wonder on to the online space and see how us as adults are treating and speaking to each other we all have a we all should put the children first and maybe just wonder what the consequences of that all could be and and I really want people to understand I'm not talking about anything specifically because it's across the board yeah I think this well I think this is probably the final piece of the puzzle as far as we're concerned you know on a on a societal level we need this establishment of norms you know even something as simple as you know where you use devices I lived in Japan for a long time and you know if you get on a train there no one takes calls everyone has their phone on silent and there's kind of this etiquette that has developed with with devices and similarly you know in society we've got one carriage on the we have one carriage on the train from coke to top and exactly yeah and so you know the way that we talk to each other the way that we interact online is really important and so I think you know there's a couple of things there we've got to remember things like YouTube less than 20 years old so we are always playing catch up and if you think you know cars and and those kind of vehicles were out there long before roads of the rules and things like seat belts came along but we've got to keep pushing for that and one of the things that we advocate for with the government is stronger regulation of online service providers and social media platforms because they've got to be held to account for the kind of things that are being allowed to be online and also we know from our own research you know that over 80 percent of 8 to 12 year olds already have social media accounts yeah but they're not supposed to have you see I know what you're saying but you're not supposed to be on a lot of those sites till you're at least 13 years old so I mean we can always look to big brother or sister to sort of help us but at the end of the day you know we're making these calls as parents and when I say we I mean actually me as well I I I'm finally let's talk about the tools that are available Philip because you know like if you can't right you can't help your child with their maths homework if you don't understand the maths it's as clear as that we've all done it we've been talked about homework the last couple of weeks right they've got algebra whatever it is you know you do the multiplication first and that I have a clue right but I can't assist my child with their mathematics homework if I don't have some grasp of maths okay I can't best we can't best protect our children unless we have some grasp of what apps they're using what goes on in there what to look out for right so that requires us to actually educate ourselves there's no other way around it it's impossible otherwise what tools are available uh for instance from I don't mean it's a lot out there but from you guys what's there to help us educate ourselves so we can help our kids well it's very simple I mean if you go to cybersafekids.ie for the same rules apply you'll find on there the video that I referenced and also as part of the same rules apply campaign a digital parenting booklet it was designed with uh in cooperation with the national parents council and the examiner and supported by Accenture and it's literally over 20 pages of resources for parents because we understand parents are busy parents are overwhelmed but a lot of the resources are out there and within that digital booklet it's an interactive booklet you can also download it there are two pages at the back full of resources so something like for example Peggy which you can simply go to and find out anything you need to know about games that kids are playing something like commonsensemedia.org we can also go and look up any of the apps so you know there is a responsibility also for us as parents and adults to go and find out and it's not that you have to be on TikTok you don't have to be creating viral content on social media platforms you just simply need to know you know what is the app why is it popular what can I expect to find on there and then what are the harms and risks and of course most importantly what is the recommended age for that platform so the resources are there so I'd really recommend anyone listening to go to our website cybersafekids.ie look up that digital parenting booklet and that's really the place to start and it's a springboard to a lot of different resources that can help with that very thing and you know a lot of people think and it's very important we're always talking about bullying or boobs or bums or whatever it might be that children might be exposed to but there is a worrying trend where for instance young impressionable people particularly on TikTok in these instances are taking their mental health advice from people on these platforms that don't have a background and have ulterior motives as well so you know what I mean it's not just the obvious you know over 18 stuff as well we have to make sure where they're getting their influences and if it's damaging to them as well so that's really important that we really get as much information ourselves so we can help our young people Philip well done thanks so much indeed I really appreciate your time thank you very much take care of yourself no it's our pleasure Philip Arneel the head of education with Cybersafe Kids get a great Clarins gift this week from McGee's Chemist Letter Kenny you'll receive four beauty treats and a gorgeous beauty bag when you purchase two Clarins skincare products want to be a moisturizer or serum this great Clarins offer is available while stocks last in store at McGee's Chemist Letter Kenny and online at McGee's.ie where the best costs less for any skincare advice call in and talk to the resident skincare consultants Mary or Gemma do you suffer from high cholesterol men of all symptoms digestive issues anxiety aches and pains or a lack of energy they're a highly trained team at the Natural Way Letter Kenny can provide advice on natural remedies for a number of individual health issues the Natural Way also has its own brand of herbal treatments to help fight fatigue relieve digestive discomfort maintain a healthy immune system and alleviate common menopause symptoms the Natural Way Letter Kenny Shopping Centre your one-stop health shop thinking of changing your floors why not see what Flurid Letter Kenny has to offer Flurid have a large selection of solid semi-solid and laminate click vinyl wood flooring together with a fantastic choice of parquet herringbone flooring all at incredible value don't delay call Flurid today on 087 161 7008 Highland radio weather updates with Ireland West Airport from March 26th Erlingus will operate a daily service to London Heathrow providing onward connections to any plus destinations worldwide Ireland West Airport don't just take off take it easy mostly cloudy this morning with patchy rain and drizzle clearing by afternoon but that's finished now because we're into clearer brighter conditions for the afternoon and evening temperatures of 8 to 11 degrees in near calm conditions not quite some block weather although we're told it's always some block weather but anyway you know what I mean it's nice right okay we are talking now to Avril Scali medical negligence solicitor at Lavelle Partners I hope I've the correct pronunciation Avril good morning to you good morning to you Greg and thank you for having me on your show this morning and it's on a serious matter because we're telling people that patients traveling to Turkey for cosmetic or medical procedures should check their contact as they may not actually be covered in Ireland should a botched surgery occur and this is really quite interesting because we've spoken to professionals in this part of the world recently Avril in the last couple of years and a lot of our caseload is actually aftercare or repair following people having underwent some procedures in foreign countries such as Turkey yeah absolutely and as I said by you know my way by way of background I specialise in clinical negligence claims so with the growing cosmetic industry of course I've seen a huge increasing number of cosmetic cases crossing my desk and with that obviously some of the surgeries have been performed outside the jurisdiction and unfortunately as a solicitor here practicing in Ireland I simply can't address those issues for those people for example if they're going to as you stated Turkey or anywhere outside the jurisdiction the law that applies the contracts are with the incorporated incorporated company in Turkey and therefore they have to seek redress in Turkey and so that is that is a huge problem what are typical botched surgeries because it's sort of a catchall but what kind of cases have come across your desk well we see them from anything from dental procedures going wrong gastric sleeve bands breast implants and I know there are particular surgeries that are you know getting more popular out there at the moment but I just think cosmetic surgery is a huge growing industry with the there's certainly a need for tight regulation to ensure high standards the number of clinics now providing cosmetic surgery serves to have grown considerably just to match the demand an increasing number of non-professions are also training in and providing less invasive surgery so we even see that in Ireland with Botox or any dermal you know anything to do with the skin but these all carry considerable risks if not completed in a controlled manner so what what so if if something goes wrong if the surgery was done here there's some recourse yes is it realistic to try and pursue a hospital for example in Turkey under Turkish law well absolutely Turkey of course is outside it's outside the EU and so we don't I would say to be honest that there's very little redress for people trying to bring a claim in Turkey I know probably the compensation levels I have no idea what they are but they may not be sufficient even if you do bring a claim to cover the cost of your treatment so I think it's essential for anybody considering cosmetic surgery to research the reputation of the clinic and the surgeon undertaking the work prices should never take priority over experience training and skill you should look for an expert who specialised in the area of the body that you wish to have addressed so another thing really important thing are those surgeons that are carried out carrying out the procedures are they insured you know there's a big difference between a dental practitioner you know in comparison to a dentist or sorry a orthodontist so they're very specialised areas so these you know cosmetic cosmetic surgeries are very lucrative and some of the providers may not meet the clinical and care standards that are required you know I know you're sort of more you deal with people after the fact to some extent yeah but is there any travel insurance or any type of insurance that you can get in advance that would cover these type of eventualities um not that I know I can't imagine there wouldn't be not certainly that I'm aware I mean why would why would a company indemnify surgeons in a foreign country it wouldn't make any sense I'm not surprised there isn't absolutely not these contracts are are performed outside the jurisdiction um so I I suspect that they would need to check with their own insurance but you know if these if these surgeries are available in Ireland um maybe they should be having the surgeries in Ireland because obviously if things go wrong it's going to be a lot more expensive because they require second further surgeries that requires more recovery time and we should also not to put fear into anyone either but I mean like the Department of Foreign Affairs their official advice is to to be cautious about traveling abroad for these types of procedures absolutely because I'm sure there's a recovery time these are these are huge surgery you know there's nothing nothing to be understated about their their big surgeries and there's recovery time required and the big issue I have with these is that there's no aftercare clinics in Ireland so even if there's no negligence involved or the surgeon hasn't done something wrong there's simply you know infections can happen without being any there's been any negligence but they simply don't have the aftercare clinics here in Ireland to look after these patients yeah and as I say you're actually echoing the words we've heard from people that work in this area within the public hospital system as well Avril listen thanks for your time people can get more information by googling lavel partners I'm sure thanks for your time today take care of yourself have a lovely Tuesday Avril Scali there thank you very much for listening to the show great to have you on board thanks for all of you who got in contact as well we'll be back with another program for you of course tomorrow Wednesday at 9 a.m but for me Greg Hughes and Caroline Oh who researched and produced the show have a wonderful Tuesday enjoy the bright weather and stay tuned because John Bresen is going to keep you entertained over the course of the next few hours around the northwest wet and wild is 20 years in business and would like to thank and reward our loyal customers with a massive 20 of absolutely every product purchased