 save for later either. All right. First of many. Okay, thanks. It is the 9 to noon show here on Highland Radio, as we've just been mentioning and at nine o'clock it's time for news updated. It's over to Catherine Gaffney. Good morning, Greg. The widespread easing of Ireland's COVID-19 restrictions is set to be recommended by NEFA today. It's meeting this morning to assess how that should be done and when. However, a final decision on any plan will be made at Cabinet tomorrow and an announcement is expected afterwards. David Nabarro from the World Health Organization says the government should move with caution. People in Ireland need to be conscious that they can be affected by how this virus behaves anywhere in the world. And that's why a global response to the pandemic is key to preventing new variants from appearing. I can't tell you whether or not Omicron will appear with further surges in Ireland or elsewhere, but I'm expecting it will. A 31 year old man has been remanded in custody after being charged with the murder of Ashlyn Murphy. Joseph Puska of Lanalli Grove and Mucla and County Offaly appear before special sitting of Tullamore District Court last night. The court was told he replied no when the murder charge was put to him. The public expenditure minister says it would be incredibly difficult where to draw the line if the pandemic bonus is extended. Frontline health care workers are to be given a 1000 euro bonus to recognise their efforts since COVID started. But there have been calls to include the likes of GPs, pharmacists and retail workers in the scheme. Minister Michael McGrath has defended the decision to single out health care workers. That is not to say that there are not thousands of other workers across the country who went above and beyond, who worked really hard over the course of the pandemic to provide essential services to all of us because there are many thousands of those. But if you seek to go beyond core health care provision, then it gets incredibly difficult to know where to draw the line and the cost of this would completely spiral. On the letter, Kenny and Dary Chambers of Commerce say 2022 will be a crucial year for the northwest city region. Chambers on both sides of the border have met to discuss their shared priorities for the northwest over the course of the coming year. Michaela Clarke has more. The meeting comes as a chamber submit their joint response to the All Islands Strategic Reel Review, where they call for Wholesale Reel to reform to strengthen the northwest connectivity with the islands, all their economic hubs and with Brexit protocol negotiations ongoing. Both chambers expressed their desire for the protection of the northwest access to UK, Ireland and EU markets. Over the past year, the chambers have also collaborated on a master's in research program, examining cross-border clusters with a particular focus on the FinTech sector. Christine Reynolds, letter Kenny chamber president says they are looking forward to working together to tackle the key issues facing the local economy. She believes that both Storm and Dublin must work to address the regional imbalance and transport infrastructure as part of a properly funded investment program to bolster the region. Weather now mostly dry day with the odd spot of drizzle and with a mix of cloud and sunny spells in the morning, but becoming cloudier from the northwest during the late morning temperatures of six to eight degrees. We're back with more 10 o'clock until then. Good morning. 19 million euro. It's been one. Finally. Ireland's biggest ever lotto jackpot. Talk about a happy new year. The National Lottery. It could be you. Play responsible. Play for fun. The Ninetal Noon Show is brought to you by Letter Kenny Credit Union, offering low rate car loans with fast approval. Apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today. And now it's time for the talk of the Northwest. The Ninetan Noon Show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Hello. Good morning to you. Thursday the 20th of January. It's fast approaching five minutes past nine and you're very welcome along to the Ninetal Noon Show here in Highland Radio. Plenty coming up to keep you entertained and informed hopefully and we want your views and opinions and topics as well. Of course, Caroline is taking your calls right now and 07491 25,000. Or if you prefer you can text or WhatsApp or wait 60 25,000 comments come via email to comments at HighlandRadio.com and a good morning to you. Good morning, Michael. Good morning, Tracy already saying hello to us as they joined to watch on social media on Facebook forward slash Highland Radio or Highland Radio News and Sport. And if you prefer YouTube, you can hop on to Highland Radio Ireland. And if you're not on social media but you still want to watch the program, then go to our website, the first port of call HighlandRadio.com. You'll see a link for the show there. Click into that and you can watch in browser. Right. Okay. That's coming up on the program, including a look at the front of the newspaper is very shortly. But firstly, just a story that's a come across our desks this morning. And it's something we're looking into in following up. And it may be a cause for concern. And it says it relates to the breast services at letter of Kenny University Hospital and question marks, potentially. Now, this is potentially, and we have to talk about these stories at this point for fear that, you know, it goes under the radar, and then an announcement is made. And it's all too late to do anything about. Now, I think it's widely known that Dr. McGowan, the consultant radiologist at letter of Kenny University Hospital, is to retire at the end of this month. I believe that a retirement was announced a couple of years ago. And her role is seen as crucial in providing the breast services in Donegal, you know, analyzing stuff, and then an important part of the cog. Now, I don't know, they've had two years to replace Dr. McGowan. I'm not sure at what point did they start advertising that position if they have at all yet. Again, this is information that we're looking for. But we do understand that a replacement has been secured, but only for four weeks. So that would mean that that part of the breast services would continue towards the end of February. But beyond that, we don't know. So that obviously, at least the question, where does that leave breast services as a whole at letter of Kenny University Hospital? 2000 women and men in Donegal could well be affected by this. Now, we do understand, and it's no secret that the recruitment to letter Kenny University Hospital in all areas is difficult. But particularly as it relates to consultant radiologists, every hospital around the country is having difficulty in requiring, you know, positions at that level. And of course, Donegal's remoteness has always made recruitment difficult. So as it stands, that important consultant radiologist position is filled until the end of February. But beyond that, we can reveal there is uncertainty. As I say, there are questions that need to be asked as it relates to, you know, what efforts to date have been made to put in a full time replacement for Dr. McGowan post January 31st, but now of course February 27th or eighth, wouldn't it be? And also, what will this mean to breast services as a whole in Donegal? Because this is an important part of the process, which might have to be done elsewhere in Galway, for example. So as I say, it is of significance. We're highlighting it now, not to cause concern, but it's something that we are following upon and we're going to chase upon. I imagine, I hope it's going to be picked up at a political level to try and get some certainty, to get some answers, to get some time frames, because it is a vital cog in breast services in Donegal. And as it stands, Dr. McGowan's position is only covered until the end of February. So obviously we've put our inquiries into Leonard County University Hospital, into the management there, to the HSE, to Seattle Hospital Group, to try and get answers for you and try and get some certainty. But as I say, we're mentioning it now and revealing that news for the first time today, with a view to everyone being aware of what's going on and being part of maybe whatever might be required to ensure there's a continuation of those incredibly important services, not only here in Donegal, of course, but in Leonard County University Hospital. OK, we may be, well, I'm sure we'll be returning to that story today and it's something we might hear quite a bit of over the next while. But anyway, moving on to the front of the newspapers today, we'll start with the locals, of course, and the Treconal Tribune tells us that the construction of a brand new pathway leading to the picturesque Great Fanat Arch in Los Willy is now in the process of being completed for the new tourism season in Easter. This is positive news. The project is being carried out by Donegal County Council and the pathway follows an alternative route to reach the shoreline at the Arch. The original right of access had been rendered inoperable when a turnstile became inaccessible to the public. Do you remember that? That's gone back a couple of years now. And at the time we were talking about alternative routes and land and car parks and stuff. Well, it seems those hurdles have been overcome and access to that Great Arch, the Fanat Great Arch, should be available for the tourism season, starting off in earnest and also for us locals. Right, the Donegal Democrat dogs and other animals will have to be kept off 12 Donegal Blue Flag beaches or specified zones on those beaches during bathing season. If the beaches are to retain their special status, we were talking about this in the program yesterday, dogs except assistance dogs were already banned under criteria for the country's Blue Flag bathing areas. But this has been largely overlooked as it would require changes in most cases to County bylaw structures. And you can read on more in the paper today as it relates to that. Right, the Finn Valley voice, a change is on the way for the GAs women and no woman in Donegal is more aware of that change than our own GA heroine, former County Secretary Noreen Daherty of Sean McCools. As from this year, the government and Sport Ireland says that there must be 40% female representation on every NGB in the country or face financial penalties, more from Pat Holland on the front of an inside the Finn Valley voice today. The Donegal news tells us that Tata consultantry services, TCS, I think the more well known according to the paper, they're formerly Pramerica as well. It's admitted that morale within the organization is not great at the minute, and that employees are going through some very difficult times. TCS, which employs 550,000 staff worldwide, bought the letter committee branch of America Systems from Prudential Financial in November 2020. The takeover saw for America's 1500 plus workforce transition to the Asian Consulting and Business Solutions firm. But the change of ownership has not been without turbulence. An email sent to employees and provided to the Donegal news reveals discontent over pay and around staffing levels. The Dairy News this morning tells us that those who abandoned a hijacked van in one of Dairy's most densely populated housing estates, forcing a number of families to be evacuated from their homes in the middle of the night, brought nothing but disruption for local people. That's according to a former mayor. A section of Gallia Park was sealed off for most of yesterday while the white Volkswagen Caddy van was examined by ammunition technician, technical officers, that's the bomb squad. The vehicle had been hijacked in the adjacent Bracken Park at around 9pm the previous night before being abandoned several hours later in Gallia Park. Onto the nationals now and there were incredible scenes yesterday, questionable scenes too, and I'm not questioning the passion and the crowds that turned out in Tullamore at the court there, but how it was organised. Firstly, Guardi said when a court appearance was taking place and gave the time and secondly they didn't seem to have any plan to get the accused into the police van and to avoid the crowd. But a man was in custody last night charged with the murder of Ashling Murphy, 23 just outside Tullamore County awfully last Wednesday. The accused is a 31-year-old Yosef Puska. He appeared before a special sitting of Tullamore District Court. Detective Sergeant David Skavel gave evidence of the arrest, charge and caution and said Mr Puska replied no when the charge was put to him at 7.45 Inspector Cure in Keys applied to judge Catherine Staines for a remand in custody to Cloverhill Prison Dublin to a sitting of Cloverhill District Court next Wednesday. The accused man wearing a grey hoodie and trousers was assisted by a Slovakian interpreter in court. Lee Glade was granted when the court was told that Mr Puska of Lelani Grove in Mukla County Aftley was on a disability payment of 200 euro per week. Owen Lyset was assigned as his solicitor. Now that is very much that court case now and I'm not preaching or saying what anyone should do but I'm just laying out the facts is now a subjudice. So in other words, it is not allowed to be talked about. In other words, there's an awful lot of feeling and passion and people might say things right which is going to happen anyway but I'm just letting people know that if they don't know that it is subjudice so it doesn't matter whether we can't talk about whether or not someone may or may not have done it or comment on who might or may not be accused because that could compromise the trial and it could compromise the Murphy family getting justice down the line because if things are said on social media or in the mainstream media though we're heavily governed in what we can say that could be used for a defence of the jury's opinions were skewed or anything like that there. So as I say, no passions are running high and it's something we all feel very deeply but in terms of commentary on social media it could very much harm the Murphy's family chance of justice there. The Irish Independent tells us that pubs and restaurants will be permitted to open until midnight from next week under plans being considered by government. Ministers are anxiously awaiting the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team but planning is already underway to ditch the 8pm curfew for the hospitality sector as soon as possible the curfew is expected to be dropped at the latest by Friday, January 28th but could be removed even earlier next week or the restrictions that were imposed over Christmas will be lifted on a phased basis. There's also a pushing government to allow full capacity at stadiums ahead of Six Nations rugby matches and the return of the GAA National Football and Hurling Leagues but look the pressure was put on in Scotland and elsewhere you can be sure the Six Nations match will be run at full capacity and it follows confirmation there'll be an extra bank holiday this year on March 18th to remember those who died of COVID and recognise those who worked through the pandemic but you know it's controversial and we revealed it I think it was the first time it was revealed nationally on the programme yesterday through Minister Charlie McConnelogue that it's frontline health workers and that leaves a lot of people out in the cold I'm just wondering what you guys think about that you know I'm thinking particularly people like home carers you know they aren't included at this point Guardi supermarket staff they're not included in this I think people who worked in GPs and GPs offices nurses they're excluded from it they won't get this 1,000 euro bonus or maybe it should be restricted to those who worked specifically in health you know the very very very frontline in patient facing roles maybe it should be restricted to them what do you think oh wait 60, 25,000 that's your text the WhatsApp I don't think does anyone disagree with the frontline health workers getting it I would be surprised if many do but maybe you do and your comments are welcome but also in terms of whom else should qualify you know I'm thinking bus drivers remember the images right at the very start of bus drivers sitting on buses without masks and a bus absolutely wedged and everyone was up to high dough not knowing what was to come school bus drivers as well driving buses at 100% capacity when other bus drivers were driving buses at reduced capacity you know where would it end or where do you think it should be extended to a panel is being established to see if it goes beyond or can go beyond what's already been announced but it seems the message from government very clearly is is that they have to draw a line it's going to upset people but it's particularly those in front line patient facing health care and in nursing homes okay the Irish farmers journal intense farming farmer competition for rental land has pushed the price of least ground to unprecedented levels land lease prices have increased by between five and 15% on 2021 with good quality grazing ground generally making between 220 euro an acre and 270 euro this is up 20 euro on last year right on to the daily mail now and RTE has said the TV license fee system is utterly broken and not fit for purpose as it warned that it will not be able to deliver its remit without more funding it comes as license fee evasions rose to 15.2% in 2020 up 2.6 points from 2019 so you know 15 out of 100 people just aren't paying it however RTE insisted to the Irish Daily Mail yesterday that it has no plans to call for the license fee to be increased RTE Director-General Dee Forbes will appear before the OCTAS Public Accounts Committee this morning to discuss the national broadcasters accounts for 2020 Ms Forbes will tell TDs that RTE is losing losing and this is with a license fee and ad revenue 65 million euro a year due to problems with the license fee now I've some of the stuff you'd like the money the giveaway for instance obviously they pay you know they pay huge wages to their staff which is you know that's that's fine if they can get it that's all well and good but they give massive amounts of money as a way like they start a new show and they can give five grand away and I'm thinking well how many you know 180 odd euros does it take for you to just pull five grand out of the air to promote a show as part of a giveaway it's fantastic if you can do it and that's just one thing there is they do seem to confetti money around them to some extent to try and get people to watch and listen more but that is the public's own money that they're using to do that but anyway RTE has highlighted for many years that the license fee system on which Ireland's national broad public service media is reliant is utterly broken she will say evasion in 2020 reached 15.2% in addition the number of no TV homes has grown to 15.1% and RTE will argue that these users will not require to pay license free can access RTE programming online the result this results in 35 million euro being lost the broadcaster broadcaster says with an overall loss is estimated to be 65 million annually now all of that license fee money you pay by the way doesn't go to Highland Radio or Ocean FM or Galway Bay FM it all goes to RTE Virgin Media have to operate without license fee money for the most part as well any news talk any independent it's only RTE that money goes to by the way some of it goes into a fund for documentaries or something or other I'm not familiar with that but all your other media except for RTE is funded through advertisements so when we talk about the license fee it is only for RTE just to be clear on that the Irish Daily Star the Taoiseach has said he wants to provide clarity to students about the form the leaving cert will take as quickly as we possibly can taking questions from Labour leader Alan Kelly in the door yesterday he understood the stress that students were under due to the disruption caused by COVID-19 we'll rattle through these last couple here now the Irish Daily Mirror Justice Minister Helen McIntee plans to publish legislation which will include new offenses for stalking and non-fatal strangulation she made the announcement during statements in the door as violence against women in the wake of the murder of Ashley Murphy and you know politicians aren't going to agree on all things but there seems to be a unity in the door in addressing that issue and rightly so and finally internationally deadly anti-tank missiles have arrived in Ukraine amid fears Russia could invade in days this is the sun the weapons are designed to kill Russian battle tanks in the event of an invasion and equip Ukraine's or Ukrainian guerrillas who will carry on the fight it comes as the UK invited Kremlin chiefs to London for crunch talks however Russia maintained a tough posture yesterday amid the tensions over its troops build up all right that was a look at the paper slots them out today but the slots in use so no harm in that is there lots to come in the first day of the show and throughout but what we'll do is we'll take a short break and then return our courtesy of Kelly Centra Mountaintop Letterkenny The 90 noon show is brought to you by Letterkenny Credit Union with monster loans available up to 60,000 euro for all occasions visit Letterkennycu.ie Do you suffer from high cholesterol? 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Think Nissan Choose from the all new Nissan Micra, Juke, Cash Guy or all electric leaf with finance available from 0% With new vehicles in stock and ready for delivery today give us a call on 074-9134567 or visit us at iMotors.ie Highland Radio Time Checks brought to you by Letterkenny Shopping Centre the centre of shopping and dunny all free parking and shopping all under one roof Letterkenny Shopping Centre bringing you the time at 24 Minutes Past 9 You're welcome back to the programme We're joined on it now by Deputy Pierce Doherty who's Sinn Féin's spokesperson on finance Thank you very much for joining us this morning It's good to see you Thank you Right OK I mean this news we revealed this morning as I say you know we don't have all of the information but enough I think to sort of put it out into the public domain because it will be of a great concern and it's far better to try and speak about these things in advance of them coming to pass rather than sort of reacting when they have and that's the news that Dr McGowan the consultant radiologist at Letterkenny University Hospital she is set to retire at the end of this month now that is been on the cards for two full years we understand they have a replacement for four weeks but after that this crucial role in providing breast services in Donegal there are question marks now we don't know have they tried to hire anyone yet we'd hope they have but of course you know recruitment is difficult particularly in the area of consultant radiologists but this does at this point until such time as we get further information from the Hospital of the HSE it does raise serious concerns I think it's fair to say over breast services in Donegal it's something that really needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency I'd imagine Deputy absolutely and I think that the news that's coming from yourselves in Highland Radio this morning will come as a concern to many women right across the County of Donegal obviously campaigners have fought hard to retain services to increase services here in the county and the idea now that a well flagged position is to become vacant and that there's no permanent solution or no permanent position to be filled is not helpful and I think Greg that this comes at a really bad time because we've obviously are in the midst of a pandemic thankfully I think we're on the on the right side of it now and all hoping for these restrictions to be eased in the next week well and but as one of the results of the pandemic we've had delayed diagnosis we've had and delayed you know checks and breast check and all that has been affected as well so the idea that we'd try to be doing a catch up program without the necessary staff or without being able to deliver that program will be seriously worrying so yeah and I think I think the problems are underlined when we have an official statement saying that you know breast check is prioritizing symptomatic women for their service and the whole idea of breast check it's a screening service you don't prioritize I mean obviously you have to prioritize those with symptoms but the whole idea is isn't it that this is a this is a screening service that you even catch people before they're symptomatic and offer the best outcomes exactly and you know there's been a huge success in terms of breast check and in that program and that's exactly where we need to go where we can screen beforehand and detect you know the cancers before there's any symptoms obviously the outcomes are far, far greater so you know there is a big problem there's a problem right across the country in terms of catch up there has been misdiagnosis delayed treatment as a result of the pandemic but you know we've a big program of catch up to do and now to go in and try to deal with that possibly with one hand held behind or back in the form of not having this replacement for the consultant radiologist myself and Polly McLaughlin TD and Jeremy Monagle who's also on the board of the sale to group has written this morning to sale to and to Sean Murphy we've copied Sean Murphy into this in relation to finding some of the clear answers I think that we all need today you know what attempts have been made to recruit this position has there been delays or blockages at a national level because there's a terrible bureaucratic system that you have to go through to fulfill to even get approval to actually go to look for a post and what happens after the four weeks one of the things Greg you know as part of the hospital grouping that our Kenny doesn't stand in its own anymore it's part of the sale to group and so therefore there's a responsibility on sale to make sure that healthcare is provided to all of the regions in which it covers and therefore they have a responsibility to make sure that adequate cover is provided to Donegal and the solution of just well travel to Galway isn't acceptable that's not on the cards in the eye of you we need to actually make sure it's delivered here in the region Yeah and I mean we were told there was going to be deliver of a second breast surgeon is that breast surgeon actually dedicated to work in that area that's another question that perhaps needs to be answered separately I don't think anyone including yourselves would be opposed to off-front line health workers receiving this 1000 euro bonus pandemic bonus whatever one might want like like to call it obviously though there are those you know Garde for example you know those in retail family carers in particular those working in GPs and the list goes on if it were shit and feign how far would you go or do you understand that to some extent the government has to have a cut off and those on the front line of health you know really perhaps you know were the actual real front line not that's not to put anyone else down but I hope you know the point I'm trying to make I understand the question I think well first of all we argued something kind of different and you know at the start of the pandemic we argued for a hospitality voucher that is similar to what happens in the north that would be 200 euro per person and 100 euro per child and that's where you can spend money to support the hospitality sector as the pandemic went on we said well why not take that idea and give it as a bonus to everybody to help who helped us come through this pandemic and also it would help obviously the sector that would be most affected and that being tourism hospitality and all the rest so it would be type of voucher obviously the government didn't go with that and therefore we campaigned on a voucher for front line health workers and you know look let me say this everybody has pulled together there's absolutely no doubt others have gone beyond the college duty and they are in our public services you know way beyond the issue of health and what I think and you know I think it's fair enough to say that those working in our front line health services were more at risk and therefore deserve you know that special that attention and that's the reality like people went into our hospital you know known that there was COVID on the wards and known that they were at risk of infection and maybe different from today Greg where you know so many people have had COVID so many people thankfully have come through it unfortunately we've lost 9,000 people across the island but in those early days we didn't know we didn't know the impact of you know how it would affect us and all the rest and people turned up and I think it's time now to respond back you mentioned family cares family cares are frontline health workers that's my view it's the view of this party and they should be involved in this and not only that it's like family cares were left behind during this period the support that they depended on the respite support they were all taken from them and the day services were closed down and they were left to provide that support without you know to do what they always did but to do it without any of those external support so we've always recognized that they're frontline health workers well beyond that then and I mean let's just say we can broaden out to include you know that frontline health workers is a broader terminology and I think in a panel is being established to look at that so that catches in a lot of the individual groupings I've talked to you about but from your party's perspective what about the likes of ungodly Shia Khanna members what about those who were working in retail or those in you know in other areas school bus drivers they were driving 100% full buses when others were at reduced capacity would you see it extended out or would you is that why you would employ the voucher scheme in tandem? Let me be clear we're not calling for that recognition bonus to be extended to all sectors because you can go the guard you can go to those who kept our shops open those who stacked our shelves those who delivered our parcels as we were shopping from home for as we were isolating or cocooning at the earlier stage you know there's so many people who turned up to make sure that things kept going and the recognition bonus we believe does need to be targeted and targeted at health workers that are beyond as I said the definition that was announced by the government yesterday but there are other ways to to recognize the contribution made by other public sector workers and indeed private sector workers and indeed to you know people who just kept things going there's people in the community sector and Donegal our own song heroes who came together and I know them I know people like in any new public door and other groups who came together to make sure that you know food, meals essentials were delivered to people at the earlier days of this pandemic to make sure that they were isolated and like so there is a way and that's why we argued you know Greg that you would have a hospitality voucher so across the border you have this this thing of it was a hundred pound sterling for every adult over the age of 18 it was called a high street retail voucher that was basically a recognition that we came through this together and I think there was there is a way to actually recognize other workers through a type of incentive like that there that would also boost and of course the cost of it is less than the face value of it but that's what the bank holidays for does the bank holiday or the public holiday sorry I prefer to say the public holiday does that not thank all those groups that you talk of maybe they might get double paid for that day if they have to work on that day or they'll get a day in lieu I mean is that not really our version of the high street voucher you know a day in the bag Yeah look the bank holidays is welcome we've always like if you look at international comparison we've less bank holidays than our peers so you know that's something we've always argued that we should be a bank holiday to recognize the 1916 rise in something that doesn't actually that isn't there but it's now set for Lafayette Bridges so that is to be welcome and it will come as a benefit for many of those public sector workers they're gonna have to work those bank holidays they might get obviously additional pay but I think there was something else that could have been done and you know and as I said it's not just about a recognition to individuals but it also actually could have helped that sector that the sector that's probably most affected because like when you lose like what about 8 million euro people coming into your country every year through flights like that's not gonna happen there's no switch here where all of them are coming back there's gonna be hesitancy in terms of international travel I don't know I personally think and this is by the by I think as soon as people have told right you can go now they'll go now I think things will change very very quickly you know we're just waiting for it to be yeah there is pent up demand there's absolutely no doubt about it there's pent up demand but there is also there is also concern because like you know you're going to when we get out of this here you're gonna have big numbers but we always needed to get to a point where the virus was like the flu you know and every year you know if you're vulnerable if you're over a certain age you get the flu job and that protection in terms of serious illness it still means you can get the flu and that's where we need to go to hopefully that's where we're going hopefully that's where we're coming to but there'll still be reluctance on some and even if it's like 90% of the people that's still you know losing up to nearly a million international travelers you know coming to the country and that's why I'm saying that you know there's gonna be a longer tail on some sectors than others in terms of bounce back people I have no doubt will be going to the pubs will all be wanting to go to the restaurants but it's a question of you know some maybe elderly people will they be coming will they be flying across the Atlantic sometimes it's the older generation that want to go in for a hug I've noticed in you know the younger ones the younger people can be you know step back a bit but some of the older generation they're the ones that want to continue to shake hands and give you an embrace but anyway I'll not comment as to whether or not they understand the value of the hug can they embrace I'm not going to comment as to whether I accepted those or braces or not that could be the subject of an inquiry down the line listen finally and the reason we actually initially invited you on I believe was you know where we struggle enough with with public transport here and what we have and connectivity a key service provided by boss Aaron it's often on like a nice light switch see meaning what's going on here yeah there's serious problems with with the particular service in boss Aaron that's the 30 and 30x and that's the service from Dunningall town that goes to Dublin it runs numerous times during the day so it's different different different times so for example one of the the the buses leaves I said the Abbey there at one o'clock in the morning and many people would use that boss service either in Dunningall but it also travels to a cabin so people would use it there as well they use it to get to the airport to get an early flight maybe back to London or to Manchester wherever they need to go as they've returned home for a long weekend or so on support what's happened Greg is that over the last two years the the bus hasn't turned up on about on average 100 times each year so basically people are standing at the side of the road in the dark of night and the bus doesn't turn up and that's happened far too often as I said we can all understand buses breaking down maybe somebody getting sick we're in the middle of the pandemic all of that but when it happens like about 108 times one year and open till October last year it was nearly 80 times and it increased during Christmas then that's not acceptable what was the excuse for Siren gave yeah well they they they basically said it was down to drivers in the in the main illness and and and so on and on availability and the problem here is that they weren't notifying people as well so there was a serious frustration and people didn't have a second option like what do you do when you have no car and it's one o'clock in the morning your flight's going to set and I'm sure a lot of people spent a lot of money on taxis individually and and and just took the hit on that and and you know we don't hear about it because they didn't do it collectively yeah we've we've got cases here now like you know 400 500 euro to rebook a flight because they need to get to work and so on support so there was all of those issues but what was happening was Boss Aaron weren't also notifying people they weren't putting up their website that was cancelled so we met with Boss Aaron and the senior executive for myself and councillor Noel Jordan recently so there and we've been raising this in the doll over the last number of months and with it with the number of ministers including the Tisha so a couple of things have happened in the last week while which hopefully will help that first of all they've invested about 1.5 million additional in the bus fleet in Donegal so they've put three other buses in just in order which is the main depot that will help in terms of bus breakdown so they think that will alleviate that problem in terms of the bus part of it the second part of it is in terms of the driver availability now we've argued that they should employ more really drivers they're not going to do that but what they have done is they're engaging with the union in relation to a more friendly roster that they think will help that and that's up to basically the unions and management to try and work that out but we've also said well you know where it happens that somebody is sick it's last minute or the bus breaks down you need to have another option bar canceling it so they are looking at a local firm that would be able to step into the breach in those exceptional circumstances so what they've agreed to do Greg is to give myself and Councillor Jordan regular reports in relation to this to see if it's working and if it's not then we have to look at it again they're also committed to make sure that where there is a cancellation it does go up on the website and looking at things like if you have a travel pass for example you can't pre-book the bus so there's no point you know if you've pre-booked they send you an email to say it's cancelled and but if you have a travel pass which many people do then there's no way that they can contact you so they're looking at that as well okay yeah and they're committed to looking at that the long long long long time we go on this programme as well all right Deputy Peer Sir Hardy thank you very much for that he is a Sinn Féin spokesperson on finance any comments on any of what you've just heard 086625,000 WhatsApps and texts or call 07491 25,000 The 9 till noon show is brought to you by Letter Kenny Credit Union download our new app today to apply and draw down your loan wherever you are live electricity wires are always near and coming close to them can be dangerous so always ask yourself are you sure it's safe look out for electricity wires above and below you if in doubt call us on 1800 372 999 it might just save your life ESB networks stay safe and stay clear of electricity wires Demand for least land soars to new heights for more on this week's farmers journal here's Paul Mooney find out what land is making in your region MEPs devote and crucially CAV transport rules in our CAVs focus we share feeding and housing tips for farms of all sizes and as costs rise we have essential advice on how to maintain your farm income plus don't miss our contractor price guide what will you be paying your contractor for silage and slurry spending this year only inside this week's Irish farmers journal on sale now from the smallest shrub to the largest tree in an awkward place Donnelly tree services provide a complete range of tree surgery services whether you need to remove a dangerous tree or some nuisance branches Donnelly tree services have the experience and expertise to carry out tree surgery to the highest of professional standards call 083 005 9939 Donnelly tree services Donegal no job is too small no tree is too tall do you need a little extra help staying in your home at Bluebird care we offer a wide variety of Qmark approved personalized home care services across Donegal and are fully trained and committed staff will always meet your care needs with kindness compassion and dignity to get your personal home care assessment plan visit bluebirdcare.ie or call our care team today on 07491 29562 and bring care home in 1971 an elite sales team from Donegal came together with one common goal that team was Callaghan's Electrical this team quickly secured the biggest brands and the best prices the county had ever seen stocking range master aga, net, Lieber, Samsung and LG so if you need quality products from leading brands and no one else can help Callaghan's Electrical in letter Kenny and Bert will okay you're very welcome back to the program some of your comments here yeah the public holiday will definitely help the self-employed who as per usual prop up the economy and it is definitely those going to affect particularly SMEs or those without you know large profits it's going to affect them don't mind frontline healthcare workers getting it but can't understand why aren't personnel are getting it they were only directing people at vaccine centers which was good but still don't think it entitles them to a bonus another caller says I'm a healthcare worker for primary care via the HSC am I entitled to this allowance or is it just those in clinical settings I don't want to mislead anyone I'm not 100% sure the answer to that question I was just wondering I'm lost with rule changes and can't find info on the HSC website are over 40 close contact on vaccinated isolation time some tell me 14 others tell me 10 sorry for the inconvenience I believe it to be 10 you know hi Greg in relation to frontline workers getting the 1000 euro bonus what about the HSC receptionist that lives beside us that had five or six house parties during lockdown and then continued to work on the front line in the morning again these people were a major factor in outbreaks in our health system and ultimately people getting really ill so do you think that people like this person should be rewarded by getting 100k for fighting the laws of this country I think not well I mean you know like I don't know what you saw through your curtains maybe it wasn't exactly as things panned out but when they were in that hospital setting they were tested routinely for COVID so I doubt they would have been present at work if they had COVID also they probably would have been in PPE and what have you I'm not I'm not trying to contradict you here but you know the problem particularly with COVID in hospitals patients are bringing COVID into the hospital but I understand where you're coming from and you probably lived your life right according to the guidelines and that's probably what also not angers you but upsets you or whatever word you want to use is you radio okay now let's talk about the access to the great arch in Fannard as covered on the front of the Treconal Tribune today it's an issue we've covered in this program as well so it's great to see it progress Councillor Liam Blaney joins us on the program now good morning Councillor good morning Greg are you I'm good I'm good right this is good to see isn't it perhaps not as quickly as we would have hoped but it's along the lines of what yourself and myself said it wasn't me you were telling me what was possibly going to be a solution to this situation ah well look it's unfortunate took as long as it did but at the beginning there was um I suppose some some some local people down there was was off our land for for access and for care park but unfortunately they were and my opinion just started to delay the whole process and when we found that out we got on contact with new landowners and thankfully these new landowners worked with the council and the contracts took me while they get drawn up and everything but the D-Main Tourists uh the contractor moved on there about three weeks ago this is third week now in it and he had the pathway constructed to to the arch and the suspension and a lot of things to do yet on the pathway um but it started and uh hopefully that the pathway will be completed and fencing it around the end of February and then he's going to do a bit of work on the care park and hopefully the end of March the whole job will be completed in it how does access now compared to what was there before before that controversial turnstile was put in place is it a a longer walk maybe it's a better walk is it I don't know well for for anybody who went down there and didn't know what a good arch was um I went down as far as the the gate and to uh private property um you went down to that private property and it's a wide open land and you didn't know where to go and I took a bit of looking to get up but this is a an access now this takes you directly to the front of the arch and uh as we found softness we're safer for people to use and like that's an important thing and uh hopefully that um people will make great use of it now they know what had been stopped those last number of years but I think at the word out now again I have to thank then I go I've got a guy to put a little bit on it as well and to ensure and first of all that the funding was in place for Dan and they work it on to try and get the contracts signed and get everything sorted and yeah because it's quite frustrating like we went down to have a look at it during the summer um and it you know it's a beautiful thing but you could only get a glimpse of it there was no access signs everywhere sort of saying you know get out of here effectively uh and you know tourists would would be landing there as well following google maps because it's well flagged on google maps and then you'd have comments saying just ignore the signs jump the fence or you know and all this kind of stuff uh you know so if you're from outside the area coming you go well what's going on here so this is really positive isn't it this is this is part of you know people's day out they might go up and look at the lighthouse they might go here and then they'll go on have a cup of coffee somewhere else and visit another part of Donegal like it's essential isn't it that we have proper and safe access to some of these amazing uh amazing um you know natural amenities that we have that is important I think that we have safe that safe access to it and look this this access does not stop people that that continue to have a rate on on the word property uh to fight for that rate um that's an access it's going to be um easy for people to get down to the arch without any problems uh both safety and and for not trespassing on the people's ground and I think it's a very positive story and um unfortunately as you said already it took a bit of time to get this far but we are here now and hopefully come east earth that that will be the good news story spread all over the place and the word will be that uh fanators welcoming visitors to the area to come to see the great arch as well as the lighthouse and as well as no calico showed on numerous other things and across the bridge of weren't doubting since there's other access issues in that area as well is that what is that what it's working on Greg and I don't know what on parts of these give us give us an update give us an update on access to murder hole then I presume that's what you sort of suggest uh you're leaning towards is there any progress being made there the access to murder hole as uh it's like this it's uh slow slow progress and I do hope what it's going to take time I do hope through time that we will have access to it yeah as I say because you know our eyes were opened up particularly to these beautiful areas right across the and I'm thinking of the you know the beautiful waterfall down in there in the killi bags kill car direction you know uh when we were doing more visiting in our own county many of us did our eyes were opened to to what we have uh and you know the more people that can enjoy them but as well as that not to disrupt local landowners or local people that live there they have to live there 365 days a year we're striking balances and I think that's what's happened here at the arch hopefully that's what happens at murder hole and what happens at other uh you know other attractions around the county the car park incidentally well it's not incidentally it's quite important is it is a large car park that's being provided there a few spaces or yeah well I think it's supposed to hold a bit maybe roughly about 20 carers and a few buses but that's a wee bit further away it's about 500 meters back up the road from the the access down to the arch but look it is a walk it's not something that you're going to be able to dive down to so the distance away for the cat I'm packing up like and we'll see there's a problem yeah and in terms of access to the arch is it as far as you're aware is it to a good viewing point or would it be access down onto the the the the stony beach there that'll be uh good access to it great is that as okay that's a mysterious answer I'm intrigued okay listen in other words you'll get to a viewing point and what you do after that's your own problem is that it um and as you go down as well as you go down uh you'll get a great view but as you're walking down towards the bottom go back and look at it as you're walking towards it and it's going to be great access to it uh easy access to for anybody all ages whether it's bogies or or disabled or or anybody at all pretty much but I've a claim back up again but look there's a good access and I think it's great news and you know what if it took an extra season to get it right so be it we'll look forward uh Councillor Blaney thanks as always I appreciate your time thanks Greg all right take care of yourself for wait six sixty twenty five thousand what's apps and texts to that number the night till noon show with letter Kenny credit union multiple loan payments causing you stress why not talk to letter Kenny credit union today about a debt consolidation 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Finn that'd be them 07491 43942 okay so we were talking about a beautiful part of north donny goll and uh you know you would go a long way to rival the beauty even further north on the initial and palantula and certainly it has some beautiful areas and we're going to talk about one of those now with Liam good morning to you Liam good morning Greg how are you I am good right now you use the beautiful facility of that wooded area near Struggle beach now what's your experience there Liam my experience has been negative over the years there's been a lot of dumping going on over the fence on that particular road known locally as plankton road which leads to Sturgill beach Sturgill beach can be quite littered as well and a couple of us the other day went three of us did a bit of picking up litter on the beach and then a local man and his wife picked up the litter at at the at the black spot I call it on that beautiful road and there's a lot of litter picked up in including two two toolboxes and things like that but it's been gone for a number of the number of years but a year ago the local people gathered and did a a very very good little pick and gathered a lot of litter from that particular road and it was collected and I was walking on Christmas today and I was very disappointed to see it litter litter litter in it again by the beach and Liam what do you do do you believe people are pulling up in a car dumping out the household rubbish out the boot or is it lots of small amounts of littering and it just gathers up over time like what's happening as far as you can determine Liam well a lot of people are wondering how is getting there and nobody seems to be able to see anybody doing anything it could be done in the dark of night we don't know we can't establish who's actually doing it it's it's not small but to litter in it's in a little wooded area and there's a little stream that flows beside in the past things such as washing machines and you know big things were taken out of it and brought out onto the road and it looks very unsightly as you pass it pass it by I mean where are these mobile these mobile cameras the council talked of that you know you don't know where they might be they might be at Stragill Beach this week they might be in another dumping black spot another week you know where's the deterrent here it can't be up to you guys to have to go out and clean up you know or get the council to do it you know we need to be proactive here don't we Liam yeah well in that in that light Greg I'm trying to set up a little group I think the future is local groups taking charge of their own areas and in order you have to walk obviously with the council and in in collaboration with them but I have to set up a little group and I'm calling it Meher Kranaka you know initially it's small but we've set up a little WhatsApp group no people in the localities they're doing that already they have done it in that area already but no I think cameras would be one of the answer what it could be a solution that like the speed vans you don't know where they might be so in other words people don't risk it but people who are dumping it in this area near Stragill Beach be on notice the local community all working together and they are the eyes and ears and if you do it into the future you may well be spotted doing so and then face the consequences right Liam listen thanks for that thanks for highlighting it let us know in the future if you need any any further assistance to get the message out okay thanks Liam and well done to you and everyone who's trying to tackle that yourselves okay it is the 9 till noon show here on Highland Radio lots coming up on the program in the second and third hours so we want you to stay with us and we want to enjoy your company but very shortly we will be going to the news to keep you updated with what's happening from the world of news and then so much more besides all right we'll be back in a few minutes live on air online and on the Highland Radio app this is Highland Radio News thanks Greg good morning SELTA is under pressure to find an urgent solution to fill an upcoming vacancy at the Brass Clinic at Lettercanny University Hospital serious concern has been raised that when the current consultant radiologist retires in the coming weeks some of the services at the clinic could be moved to Galway it's understood that a temporary consultant radiologist will be assigned to the role for a four-week period speaking on today's 9 till noon show Donnie Gull deputy Pierre Stardie says the possibility of Donnie Gull women having to travel to Galway for treatment is totally unacceptable Lettercanny doesn't stand in its own anymore it's part of the SELTA grip and so therefore there's a responsibility on SELTA to make sure that healthcare is provided to all of the regions in which it covers and therefore they have a responsibility to make sure that adequate cover is provided to Donnie Gull and the solution of just well travel to Galway isn't acceptable that's not on the cards in the IVU we need to actually make sure it's delivered here in the region a man charged with the murder of Ashlyn Murphy in Condeauphaly is due back in court again next Wednesday 31-year-old Joseph Puska of Lanalli Grove and Mucla in Condeauphaly appear before a special setting of Tullamore District Court last night the court was told he replied no when the murder charge was put to him Michael Doyle senior news reporter with the Irish Sun says a crowd outside the courthouse quickly grew in numbers during his appearance the crowd of the 300 people has been estimated of that and they've made their way over to the courtroom they're on the foot to the steps and there was there was a visibly a lot of anger if they were he was jeered and heckled when he was eventually brought out was a really really tense atmosphere and the guard he had to perform and make a make a cordon to prevent any angry locals from getting near the man longer opening hours for pubs and restaurants and larger crowds at events are being discussed by Neff at this morning health officials are considering what recommend recommendations to make on easing measures ahead of a cabinet meeting tomorrow the country is now past the peak of the Omicron Wave with case numbers starting to fall the public expenditure minister says it would be incredibly difficult where to draw the line if the pandemic bonus is extended front line health care workers are to be given a 1000 euro bonus to recognise their efforts since COVID started but there have been calls to include the likes of GPs pharmacists and retail workers in the scheme minister Michael McGraw has defended the decision to single out health care workers that is not to say that there are not thousands of other workers across the country who went above and beyond who worked really hard over the course of the pandemic to provide essential services to all of us because there are many thousands of those but if you seek to go beyond core health care provision then it gets incredibly difficult to know where to draw the line and the cost of this would completely spiral the letter Kenny and Derry chambers of commerce say 2022 will be a crucial year for the northwest city region chambers on both sides of the border have met to discuss their shared priorities for the northwest over the course of the coming year Michaela Clark has the details the meeting comes as a chamber submit their joint response to the all island strategic rail review where they call for wholesale rail to reform to strengthen the northwest connectivity with the islands all their economic hubs and with brexit protocol negotiations ongoing both chambers expressed their desire for the protection of the northwest access to UK Ireland and EU markets over the past year the chambers have also collaborated on a masters in research program examining cross-border clusters with a particular focus on the fintech sector Christine Reynolds letter Kenny chamber president says they are looking forward to working together to tackle the key issues facing the local economy she believes that both storm and Dublin must work to address the regional imbalance in transport infrastructure as part of a properly funded investment program to bolster the region and donnie gall etb is being urged to publicise publicise itself more the organisation has a wide variety of courses and training available in various trades councillor Paul canning says there's a lot of young people in the county who don't necessarily want to go to university and would prefer to study a trade instead councillor canning says it's an excellent asset on our doorstep but what the donnie gall etb offer should be promoted on all platforms the work that the etb and the north west regional college the work that they do and the courses that they do is second in on that's excellent and the amount of people that have come through that and are very very successful career people and i think that they need to be getting at the careers teachers that whenever students are doing their leave themselves i think they need to be promoting themselves and that level of engagement weather now mostly dry day with the odd spot of drizzle and with a mix of cloud and sunny spells temperatures six to eight degrees we're back with the headlines for you at 11 o'clock until then good morning the obituary notices for this thirsty morning january the 20th the death has occurred of nullis shill's carnimoga letter kenny name agindy formerly oi island reposing atterlite residents if you're not from there on saturday going to st junan's cathedral for 11 o'clock recreation mass which can be viewed on church services dot tv and term it afterwards in the family plot and comal cemetery family chime please on the morning of the funeral family flowers only please donations of wish to the denigal hospice care of pascal blake funeral director the death has taken place of michael mcglinchie 19 o'noll and park striban and formerly of balibuffet funeral leaving his home on saturday morning at 20 past nine for recreation mass in st mary's church melmont at 10 o'clock and term it afterwards in the adjoining cemetery donations and leo flowers please to mcmillan cancer support care of quickly funeral directors houses private to family and friends only please the recreation mass can be viewed live via the parish webcam the death has occurred of vincen mcgahorn 232 time parks convoy funeral leaving his lit residents to more morning at half past 10 for recreation mass at 11 o'clock in st mary's church convoy and term it afterwards in the old cemetery the recreation mass will be streamed live via craigs media facebook page donations and leo flowers if so desired to medical forward letter kenney university hospital care of any family member house and funeral will be strictly private to family and close friends only please the death has taken place of danie mcgarregal 6 link side parks draban and formally bridge street draban funeral leaving quickly his funeral home to more morning at half past nine for recreation mass in st mary's church melmint at 10 o'clock and term it afterwards in the adjoining cemetery the house is private to family and friends only please the recreation mass can be viewed live via the parish webcam the death has taken place of brian galler brian himmish karikotaskan deri beg his remains are reposing at his residence funeral mass will take place to more morning at 11 o'clock in st mary's church deri beg formed by burial in maharagalm cemetery funeral mass will be broadcast on the chapeauble were at webcam wake will be strictly private to family close friends and neighbors the death has occurred of franka killpatrick his remains are reposing at four race course at kilma crannin cremation will take place at half past one to more afternoon in lakeland's crematorium cavern family flowers only donations of desire to the denigal hospice care of comacted and sons funeral directors and the death has taken place of pegy lafordie nayward shannon ballandrate funeral leaving her daughter morrin galler her's home doris ballandrate to more morning at 25 past 11 for recreation mass in st patrick's church murlock livered at 12 noon in term and afterwards in the adjoining cemetery donations and lay of flowers placed to st joseph's community hospital strannolar care of quigley funeral directors heist's private to family friends and neighbors only plays the recreation mass can be viewed live via the parish webcam for more details including any family health guidelines for wigs and funerals please go to highlandradio.com with all the stories that matter across the northwest it's greg hughes on the 9 to noon show on highland radio back to the program the jackpot bingo numbers are on the way stay tuned for that just want to run through a couple of your comments before we get to that there is a crossroads in killy gordon with four stop signs one of each junction can anyone explain who is the right of way on it because i use it every day and of no idea who is the right of way so there are four actual stop signs presumably you stop and you see what's happening if it's someone across the way you can both go um it sorts itself out you've confused me there now i've never seen a junction with four stop signs that i remember but you give i can't answer i don't know let me know i know i know how to drive i just can't i can't filter out the information out of my head as we speak alpha carotid town did a beach clean up on sunday lifting rubbish seems ongoing all over the place we're well done to the people of falcarian doing so sad to hear they've improved access to the arch at dobeg always thought finding and getting to the arch was more exciting than the feature itself i understand that but listen i'm a wee bit timid believe it or not and we went up to have a look at it and i saw all the signs and i was like right i don't want any confrontation or to get into any bother and i left and i think a lot of people would like that there's some people more adventurous and more they don't give one and might enjoy that adventurous side of things but for a lot of us we kind of need to know it's okay for us to to go i was wondering if you could read this out for me i'm organizing a tractor run is the boil agri tractor run for i m n d a it's motor neuron disease as my father has been diagnosed mid last year the run is taking place from the home yard erity in manna conningham i would appreciate a short shout out on the radio if possible there's a link for donation online too and that comes in from many boils so if you go to just giving and you search boil agri so go to just giving search boil agri and if you want to support mannae there in his tractor run although he doesn't say when it's happening if you want to get him back in touch with us mannae there might be others that want to join you or maybe you've already got the capacity there a caller says the head of the HSE does not care about the hospital in county donnie gall it's only a short trip to him for him too from leecher i'm sure you'd hope he would be up relatively regularly morning greg my sister works as a family support worker in the community and voluntary sector and worked all through the pandemic delivering food and clothes to families with young children in the county this sector is already underpaid and undervalued by the government and should definitely be included in this payment thank you for highlighting these important issues it's our pleasure it's not our pleasure it's our job it's what we want to do if you understand any news coming through from the donnie gall community in belarus so we've heard nothing what about our bin men they've been working longer hours and never stopped since the start of the pandemic yeah indeed you could say did they face a lot of us worked through the entire pandemic but did they face the same dangers and stresses that someone working as a frontline health worker might have i wonder access rte of rte and i've never found anything to watch on it why don't they scrap it i think in 2021 forcing people to pay for service they may or may not access to me is is outdated and it doesn't matter if it's rte the bbc or any service whatsoever i mean imagine being compelled to pay for sky for example you you would go what you know it's a choice you make and you can choose what parts of that their packages though i haven't for a long time what packages to watch do i like sport do i like movies with with with the likes of the rte and bbc they're saying you have to pay for this you have to pay huge salaries and they are huge salaries and you've no choice and this is the program like at a lump and i mean there's an advert service you're going at the moment as well i don't know if you've heard it but it says it's free you know free service it's free to you free free free and then at the end of the advert it says you must have a tv license to access it that's not free that's and it's an advert i don't know how that that got passed whoever looks at ads because something that you have to pay a license fee for to watch is not free yet they spend the whole ad saying it's free and then say you have to get a tv license and also to you know the money that's being paid to people is it's it's ridiculous i think you know paying people hundreds of thousands of euro is it's obscene for the job that they do it's an easy job okay they shouldn't be paid these amounts of money the old argument was back in the day when pat kenney was a younger man and gay burn was there and you know Ian Dempsey was a younger fellow working for rte the argument was is look if we don't pay these boys this money you know they'll be snapped up by radio island or today fm or bbc or the united states that's the argument that used to say but that's nonsense if any of the people i've mentioned were to lose their jobs tomorrow they'd struggle to get another job the next day and they would never get a job that pays the same amount of money even ryan toberley the highest paid of them all only had a fleeting experience of working in england and it was for holiday cover and and i don't think that happens any longer maybe he's too busy but you know those type of things need to be looked at and it's only in the context of us being compelled to make this payment we're compelled to we've no choice and it doesn't go to news talk it doesn't go to virgin as i said earlier it doesn't come here you know it's simply just to pay the staff and for the services at rte right okay it's time to take the bingo numbers eight grand on the line today good luck if you're playing here at the arb we're back after the break don't go anywhere it's time for ncbi bingo on highland radio it's thursday the 20th of january jackpot day you're playing for the jackpot prize of eight thousand euro on 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blue flag status there are at least going to be restrictions it seems and this is off the back of a directive from the blue flag international and on tashka they sent this these criteria is out to local authorities right cathleen joins us on the program now cathleen what do you think about this well it makes me very angry actually whenever I see it I can understand where people want to keep the beaches clean I'm all for that a hundred percent and totally behind it but they need to have an alternative so for where dogs should go because it's the only place that lots of dogs can go where they can have a bit of space to run and not get tangled and things that they're on a very long lead and things like that and you know there are other animals that use the beach too cats go down there and they put on beaches feed has come out they put on beaches birds put on I mean are all these animals supposed to disappear overnight you know quite dogs you know mainly so I know that there are a lot of dogs there are thousands of dogs must count it but they need somewhere to go as a replacement because they have nowhere to go everywhere you go it says keep your dog on a leash keep your dog on a leash and in other towns and cities there are dog parks there are places where dogs can run freely and have fun and do what dogs do but there's nothing here and it's a crying shame to be honest is it about the dog mess though because that means we've given up on people cleaning up dogfiling or you know is it about the user experience at the beach I haven't been fully able to determine that but I mean if it is about mess you make some good points as it relates to other animals but also does that mean we've given up on requesting people to clean up after themselves yeah well it's a mixture of both you make a good point there because the beach is supposed to be user friendly for everybody and people who are scared of dogs people who don't like dogs people who all kinds go to beaches and they don't want to be bothered by dogs running up to them but if somebody's down there and it's quiet time and they have a dog on maybe a 20 meter line where they can run around freely they can run onto the water and bring us out but they can't run all over the place and then you can bring them back and beside you if you see somebody coming along there's no harm in that you know there are a lot of responsible dog owners on the county but there are irresponsible people everywhere and every walk of life and there will always be irresponsible people and you do have to keep after them and ask them to you know well that's it because Kathleen the rationale apparently I see here for restricting access of domesticated animals to beaches is that amongst the most common hazards in bathing waters are microbial pathogens introduced by fecal contamination from humans and animals so surely the first option is to rigorously enforce or at least do a major publicity campaign to make sure that people take the dog poo home with them because that's quite true and they think digging a hole sorts the problems out but it doesn't Kathleen this is about retaining our blue flag status of these beaches right is it a price worth paying do you know like we still have the beaches the still beautiful people will visit but should we say right you know what if it means giving up the blue flag we want to retain these beaches for people to enjoy you know their family and their pets on them do you know what I mean should we sacrifice the blue flag status to retain what we have well that's a bigger question for other people as well because I mean I can only have my personal opinion on that but other people would say oh we can't do that we can't do that um and they would agree you're just well in LA maybe we should hold a poll on that one but you know my point really is that you know I'm all for blue flag beaches I love having clean beaches we love having you know everybody thinking that the beaches are safe to use and clean to use but it's not the case all year round because I mean people are people at the end of the day and they do what people do so some people are responsible some people are not and there should be I mean can people's police beach just to make sure that nobody is drop and put some things that can be difficult so we're we're trying to rely on people's own discretion and you know their own sense of responsibility and things like that but you know the alternative is there is nowhere else for these dogs to go and those need to roam they need to play they need to run but it needs to be a properly designed space just saying there's a beach off you go is that good enough but you know when we when we flagged this yesterday an old pun intended Kathleen it was the people that were texting in they weren't worried about necessarily the poo on the beach they were worried or the you know the the the the the status of the water it was having a fear of dogs or dogs running up to them or you know even dogs on long leads they were being put off going to the beach because of their fear of dogs you know so I think what this might end up doing is pleasing a lot of people who aren't interested really about necessarily whether the water is being contaminated they want to use the beaches without the threat of a dog because we've all seen it where someone sees their dog as a member of the family which it is they think it's harmless and it's running and they think it's cute when it runs up to people sitting on the blanket but the people sitting on the blanket are bricking it because they've got a they've got an inherent fear of dogs you know yes and a fear of dogs is an incredibly important thing for people and my heart goes out to them and it really and they do have a right to walk on that beach without being interfered with and people who let their dogs run and don't have them under control are contributing to an awful lot of backlash from people who want to enjoy the beach and they're making it hard for other dog lovers as well and dog owners who are responsible and who take good care of their dogs and keep them under control I would be very worried if we cannot come up with a solution to something like this whereby dog owners are accommodated people who fear dogs are accommodated and we maintain an acceptable quality of water if we can't fix something like this or come up with a solution without an all right ban I would worry if we actually can resolve any of our issues in our country yeah well I'm as workable and as you say if everybody gets something out of it that's great but on top of that I would still like you know there are people who live on the beach who live beside the beach who live within a half a mile walk of the beach those people go down there every day to walk their dogs usually and it's a little bit of time with the dog every day you know where do they go now I don't know do you ever watch a place in the sun Kathleen on the TV like there's people pick their houses and their location based on how it suits their dog or even their cat sometimes you know like there are people that have probably made decisions on where they live or what have you because of the importance of you know maybe somewhere to run the dog or that whole lifestyle and all that type of stuff like this is for some people incredibly incredibly important banning dogs off the beach would have a really you know significant impact on them yeah absolutely we bought this house here we are we live beside the beach all our lives or whatever we grew up here we've never had this problem before now all of a sudden we've nowhere to go and it leaves them that as you say you're going to have to walk down the road in the middle of traffic with the dog or something that maybe the dog's not even used to or you know it's not easy walking a dog in traffic because you're watching out for so many things nobody has peace nobody enjoyed it you need to be able to either go down the beach and let your dog have a lot of fun or you need to be able to let your dog run in a park somewhere or let your dog you know dogs need to run at the end of the day and people need to enjoy that and they're more relaxed and dogs are more relaxed and after what dogs have given us I mean dogs have given us so much and we can provide nothing for them I think that's an absolute disgrace Okie doke thanks very much for your comments Kathleen appreciated take care of yourself alright what do you guys think I'll wait 60, 25,000 I was on the beach on New Year's Day and had to leave because there were wait for it 37 dogs on the beach and only four on a lead I was devastated and left 37 dogs on the beach okay I thought maybe a bump into one now and again but of those 37 they spent most of New Year's Day counting and I'm not I don't mean that facetiously but 37 beaches, four on leads they had to leave the beach because they were scared or uncomfortable or whatever it might be when is this country going to stop telling people what they can and can't do this is getting out of hand it's unbelievable what's going on okay so you could say to people right do whatever you like on the beaches and then a whole swathe of other people right don't use the beach because they don't want to and then you might say well if you don't want on your beach that's fine but it has to be this feels like a little bit of a hangover from all the conversation we've been having the last couple of years have to accommodate people we can't just have a free-for-all you know where everyone does everything evoking some rule or other that suits them this we have we have shared spaces and we do have to in a modern society come up with a solution that suits all but that being said hate I dislike sorry legislative overreach okay I don't like that so I agree with you but I also recognize there's a problem that needs to be addressed what about having a designated area on the beach for dogs depending on the size well you see if you've got a fear of dogs it doesn't matter whether it's a tiny little dog and this is what I think some dog owners don't understand if you've got a little terrier or you've got a doberman if someone's afraid of dogs they can be equally afraid of both Greg enjoying your show well if in the drunken area I see people walking their dogs picking up the poo but they're throwing it over the hedge into fields where cattle and sheep are grazing this is not right if you go so far as to pick up the poo take it home I know it's not pleasant but it's your dog it's your poo take it home with you remember we had the story of people picking up poo and throwing into a graveyard they probably thought they were doing the right thing and I think after it was highlighted it stopped to some extent but if you go into the bother of picking the poo up no one wants to step in poo walk through poo push a pam poo through poo a walking stick in it you know if someone with visually impaired they might use a stick to find their way there's no need for an animal's poo to be in public spaces or chucked over a ditch into grazing areas will this be a viewing point or can you get out to the arch and Stoney Beach I asked Councillor Blaney that question you may have heard his answer and you can make up your own mind from that my understanding is you'll be able to access the actual arch The Night Till New Show is brought to you by Letter Kenny Credit Union offering low-rate car loans with fast approval apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today you have one new message hi Claire Auntie Dee here I just wanted to say a big thank you for skipping my party we had a great night and everyone was so happy you didn't come now you take care I hope to see you soon bye no one will thank you for turning up to work or anything else when you're sick stay at home and get a test to protect yourself and others from COVID-19 from the HSE for us all deal board winning 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welcome back to the nine till noon show on to it now we welcome leon ward director of community development and planning services with donagall canter council leon good morning to you good morning greg it's great to have you with us right now the council has launched a public consultation on the first ever outdoor recreational strategy for the county i mean it's great to see it but i suppose it feels like we're coming to this late but better late than never i suppose i'm not saying we didn't have some sort of a strategy but you this is new in its makeup yeah no it's still a fair point to make greg it's both where we're at at the moment is and everybody be aware that and and and certainly highlighted if you like because of the the covid pandemic is the extent to which people now enjoy the outdoors and and i suppose it's important to have facilities and infrastructure in place to allow members the public in their leisure time you know to have those facilities available to enjoy so as well the purpose of this outdoor recreation strategy is really twofold one is to to undertake an audit of the types of facilities and infrastructure that we already have in place and we're very familiar with you know the the county in terms of where we have our our walkways and and i i was listening to your earlier conversation around our beaches and that and then as a consequence of that audit then to set out or to determine well where where else do we need to go on this where else is there are gaps out there and to do that and i suppose in a in a meaningful way where we're taking the views of all the relevant people on board including the public and i know we'll come to talk about the public consultation events that are going to happen from the end of this month so as are we talking about looking after the county or does that include its people like say for instance the secret wall fall which is no longer a secret right loads of people come to visit that cars go up and park cars park in the side of the road cars park the side of the road that disrupts locals and and businesses so there's they're obviously going to be upset about that and then you've got an awful lot of traffic to an area that's not really designed for it what could be the ecological impact on it and this i'm only picking this as an example so as you know it's clear what we're talking about is that something that would be looked at would it be what's the impact on the people that live here what's the potential impact on you know the natural sort of you know nature's infrastructure it does that kind of thing fall under this this remit as well it certainly does Greg i suppose you've touched on the number of points there clearly dunny gall has an awful lot to offer in terms of the outdoor and and in the pursuit of outdoor recreation an awful lot we are we are blessed with this both the environment the landscape our coastal areas so there is there's there is so much here to offer and obviously that is something that we want to we want to make the most of but we want to do it in a sustainable manner and some of the issues that you've touched on there is around traffic management you know some of our most beautiful areas are in secluded areas that there are really off-road that are not the infrastructure is not there to accommodate large numbers of cars or indeed people people coming to see them but there are loads of other areas where that where that you know can be managed and you know and people are very much welcome to visit so i suppose yes this this is a this is a process which is very consultative in nature we have commenced with a consultation around many of the key stakeholders in the county and I suppose who have I in mind there well we're talking about you know agencies and groups that have a responsibility in this area like for example culture would be one where there's a lot of forest walks and that and there are there are numerous other agencies such as the outdoor pursuit center at at Garten just to name two and then as well as that we've had a consultation event with all our local representatives through our MD structure and I suppose the next stage in this now is going out going out to the public and I suppose to the example I give is almost like you could argue it was leading in something being prohibitive but this is also about presumably you know if we are to create you know sea swimming opportunities or new pathways or new walks or whatever that it's done in consultation presumably and we have a you know we have criteria later so we can develop and and grow but do it in a in a in a sustainable manner that's good for everyone so it's not about prohibiting stuff we can do it's about maybe enhancing opportunities as well because I don't want to come at this negative either like there's all there's a ton of opportunity here very much so and I think that the scope of the the outdoor recreation strategy is very broad and it includes includes a lot of activities like for example we've talked about walking that includes hull walking and hiking there's cycling leisure cycling there's mountain biking horse riding but as well as that there are water-based activities as well such as canoeing and kayaking and rowing and swimming and surfing and all that as well as then we we've actually included as well within the scope of the of the strategy paragliding and hand gliding which are obviously air-based so this is a very broad strategy and it is important and I suppose the key thing here is is Greg is that for the first time what we want to achieve within the county with all our partners around the table is that we have a consensus around the direction we want to travel around creating outdoor recreational infrastructure there are funding programs available through predominantly through the department of rural and community development and also through the department of transport to provide you know the funding to develop whether it's a walkway whether it's greenways whether it's active travel initiatives around our towns and villages as well so there are opportunities out here so what the trust of this strategy is first of all let us get a handle on what we have in place and how is that being managed and then secondly where are the gaps where can further development take place and how do we plan and manage that in a sustainable way so that's really what we want to achieve out of this strategy it's interesting to note as well that currently there's a there's consultation ongoing on a national strategy for the for the country as well so while we're we're out and we're we're looking after county on the gall with this particular process there is a national conversation happening as well around a national outdoor recreational strategy and obviously we would like to think that our strategy will will fit in with that as well and if anyone's listening and think that this means that everything will be very prescribed you know so if you want to have a walk you have to do it on that green way or if you want to paddle your canoe you do it in that space you know so it eliminates the the sort of that rambling element that people have or that freedom could this end up shackling us could the end game be here that you know yeah you can do everything you like but you have to do it there there there and there and it sort of goes it you know maybe that's contrary to what people might say is that outdoor life that exploring that you know yeah no it's a fair point Greg and I suppose one example which is is supposed to really deals with that issue and and and and very clearly is say take for example erigal a lot of people like to like to to walk up erigal on an annual basis loads of visitors great to see it and obviously we're working closely with the the local community down there and on louis but it's most part of the challenge for us as a local authority with our partners and is okay but loads of people walking up the mountain you know we have to protect the asset as well and if people are allowed to walk everywhere you know up the mountain and down the mountain it does get damaged over time and the asset that that is there that is that we need to protect gets damaged so what we're doing there through funding received from the department of rural community development and in consultation with the local people as well as say mountaineering Ireland and other interested parties we are now going out we actually have a contractor appointed who will be developing a pathway from the car park at the roadside up up up up by erigal so you know that the path over there people can enjoy the immunity and at the same time protect the environment as well that's that's ultimately what we want to achieve yeah and at the end of the day too this is at consultation point so you know who's to say what form it will take in in its entirety the important thing is is though that everybody has a say in this because there's no point land owners or maybe perhaps understandably taking a huge interest in this and and their voices being heavily represented and then others with an alternative point of view not being heard so there are workshops available this I'll tell you rather than me go through it maybe you can explain Liam how people between workshops and online forms and what have you can engage with this process and how long they have to do it yeah absolutely Greg and like thank you for the opportunity of getting the information out on this yeah we have a series of workshops they're based on on each of the five municipal districts so they're commencing on Monday the 31st of January so their online consultation workshops at this stage so the first is in for any shown and it's on Monday the 31st of January the following day then Tuesday the 1st of February and for Glenty's municipal district then letter Kenny Malford municipal district on Thursday the 3rd Sonari or Lifford municipal district on Tuesday the 8th of February and Donnie Gaul municipal district on Wednesday the 9th now these events are online because of the covered current public health guidelines they're running from half seven to nine p.m. and this is the initial stage of consultation so we're really out there wanting to see the seek the views of the public around this because it is a broad broad subject area so we want to see the views and what we'll be working with them we'll be taking the feedback from this consultation process and working with our consultants we have appointed outdoor recreation northern Ireland to work with us in terms of developing this strategy and they will be facilitating these online workshops and from that we will develop a draft strategy and at that stage we'll go back out to a further period of public consultation I think that's very important and as well we're all hopeful that at that point in time we will be able to have in-person events so where we'll be able to display the draft strategy invite the public in let them look at what's being proposed or what's in the draft and see how how that if you like fits in with their views and whatnot before we go to a stage of formally adopting the strategy so this is the first public consultation opportunity but there will be a second one once the draft has has been prepared okay listen thanks for that and I presume all those details are available on the council's website as well just for anyone who wants to sort of didn't catch everything we just outlined there absolutely Greg yeah it's available on our website and yeah and we really would like to get the message out there that we want to hear from everybody in this you know it is about landowners are very very key part of it absolutely and so so is you know so is everybody else who likes to enjoy the outdoors and in this county which has as I said already so much to offer yeah okay listen thanks very much for that I appreciate your time that was Liam Ward there he's director of community development and planning services with Donegal County Council and that process is open to you right now the 9 till noon show was brought to you by letter Kenny credit union download our new app today to apply and draw down your loan wherever you are at centra jumpstart your new year with great offers like centra part of jokes 1 kilo only 95 cent selected centra family meals like beef lasagna 1.2 kilo only 5 euro and centra extra lean men's twin pack 660 gram only 6 euro centra live every day central auto parts are now stocking sony a water based paint offering all up to did colors for all vehicles and selling mixed commercial the perfect paint for diggers plant and machinery buy it today at central auto parts port slink business park letter Kenny find us on facebook or call us on 07491 27491 there's a monster who lives down the glen as wide as a tree and as tall as 10 men but he squished himself into a teeny old car any time he had to travel somewhere quite far 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wrote letter Kenny for a quote today see Facebook visit atlantictravel.ie or call 9126193 in 1971 an elite sales team from Dunningall came together with one common goal that team was Callahan's Electrical this team quickly secured the biggest brands and the best prices the county had ever seen Stocking Rangemaster Aga Net Libre Samsung and LG so if you need quality products from leading brands and no one else can help Callahan's Electrical in letter Kenny and Bert will okay manless good morning to you what's your view on I suppose you know us enjoying our surroundings but I suppose at the same time trying not to do damage to them Oh absolutely I'm all for people having good recreational facilities so long that it doesn't encroach on the wilderness that we have already okay so if you take for instance we have examples of at the moment we have gravel pathways, bog roaches we call them in Dunningall how come we're not talking about utilising those for a start just until we see how things progress we had a wonderful walk on our head never was an issue Dunningall County counselling the wisdom came along and made it a designated walk we were overrun with people dogs not obeying what was laid out and the walks closed but that sounds a wee bit like the secret got out and then it became too popular for its own good yes well that was my next point as we have walkways that we would basically say people can come and use them at the moment we're going to develop those walkways and and hindsight will be saying now they're oversubscribed yeah now the problems arise with cyclists oversubscribed with walkers and dogs etc we need to be very careful then insurance starts coming into it if someone turns an ankle or a dog the lead gets wrapped up in a cyclist's front wheel or then landowners see more traffic and they're saying hold on what's my liability here this is getting a bit too hot to handle yes the the situation is we must remember tourists this is a good idea recreational ideas are very good in Dunningall tourism ideas are very good in Dunningall but the situation we must look at how much of our area must we give over to this I'm an outdoor enthusiast myself I go hell walking every weekend but there are people that seem intent on encroaching in wild areas when it shouldn't be encroached upon a typical example would be we have a disused railway and the Focara railway wonderful railway people came there to see a disused railway walking a disused railway and now we have a greenway we have plenty of rural power roads without making greenways through rural places I'm all for greenway but can I say Manas they have their place but Manas can I say and I mean this with absolute respect to me you you like to walk where you want to walk where it's nice and quiet and you can enjoy everything and and you know you can do whatever you you can do it but you then sort of say well if lots of people want to do the same thing I'm doing that's not positive they can walk on the road and I'm not trying to I'm not trying to be argumentative Manas but it does feel a little bit like that do you know what I mean that you want to keep it on the low low down let locals and yourself use it but don't let anyone else have access no nothing could be further from the throat I was one of the very first people that instigated the opening of the Focara railway but it had to be done to a reasonable and sensible degree not rhinestyle fencing not tarmac it had to be kept in line with where it was basically set do you understand where I'm coming from the same thing applies to people wanting to enjoy the countryside the countryside has to be enjoyed but we must respect what we're doing to it there's no point in making walkways where we have walkways we have a multitude of bog roads that are beautiful in rural areas they can be utilized yeah okay I get you you know what I'm saying no I do 100% I do and what we do then is we maintain perhaps what attracts us to it in the first place what we have we can use without encroaching on the wild yeah we must keep in mind you know there's a tales development officer involved with the county council but we must keep in mind the fact that we have to figure out as to what we're doing with these areas that are sustainable yeah and I think you know I think the lockdown has accelerated this conversation a little bit because what we're not a secret anymore nationally and I think we this summer I predict in Donegal is going to be absolutely huge because all those that came up during lockdown are going to want to come back when there aren't restrictions and then the rest of us Manus you're well experienced at it but others like me are starting to say you know what I live here the clock is ticking and I'm not getting out there and seeing what's all around me so I I think everything's been pushed on Manus with the course of the last couple of years yes and I agree I mean I think it's wonderful I think it's wonderful for Donegal to have such a good what would you say recreational areas and everything else but we need to be very careful and with apparently at the moment we don't seem to have we don't want to kill the goose that laid we don't want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg Manus situation run headlong headlong into it and love to regret it uh lovely saying air on the caution excellent okay lovely to speak to you Manus thank you very much indeed bye bye all right you tune to the number one local radio station you're number one local radio station it is Highland radio this is the nine till noon show with me Greg Hughes and it is time for an update on the news at 11 o'clock we say good morning now to Catherine Gaffney good morning Greg Celta is under increasing pressure to find an urgent solution to fill an upcoming vacancy at the Breast Clinic at Lettercanny University Hospital serious concern has been raised that when the current consultant radiologist retires in the coming weeks some of the services at the clinic could be moved to Galway a man charged with the murder of Ashley Murphy in Conde Offaly is due back in court again next Wednesday 31-year-old Joseph Puska of Linale Grove and Mucla in Conde Offaly appear before a special sitting of Tullamore District Court last night the court was told he replied no when the murder charge was put to him longer opening hours for pubs and restaurants and larger crowds at events are being discussed by Neffat this morning health officials are considering what recommendations to make on easing measures ahead of a cabinet meeting tomorrow GPs, Guardi and retail workers are calling for the pandemic bonus to be extended to them the scheme will cover frontline health care workers with a 1000-year-old payment to recognize their efforts the government says it would be hard to know where to draw the line if more workers were eligible there were 54 people awaiting admission to Letter Kenney University Hospital this morning according to the INMO it's the second most overcrowded hospital in Ireland today working a new pathway leading to the great fanatarch is nearing completion ahead of the summer period the project is being carried out by Donegal County Council and the pathway follows an alternative route to reach the shoreline at the arch and the Letter Kenney and Derry Chambers of Commerce say 2022 will be a crucial year for the northwest city region Chambers on both sides of the border have met to discuss their shared priorities for the northwest over the course of the coming year that's it for now we're back with an update for you at 12 noon okay Catherine thank you very much indeed back after the break the nightly noon show with Letter Kenney Credit Union multiple loan payments causing you stress why not talk to Letter Kenney Credit Union today about a debt consolidation loan homeland fuel offers keeping you warm for less 20 kg super therm by five bags get one bag of hardwood logs free 10 kg wood pellets by 10 get 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week's farmers journal here's Paul Mooney find out what land is making in your region MEPs devote and Crucial Calf Transport rules in our calves focus we share feeding and housing tips for farms of all sizes and as costs rise we have essential advice on how to maintain your farm income plus don't miss our contractor price guide what will you be paying your contractor for silage and slurry spending this year only inside this week's Irish farmers journal on sale now discover the Dunstores app and put better value at your fingertips tap to browse all our latest grocery offers see all your 10 off 50 grocery vouchers stored in one place and scan your value club card to earn points all within the app saving you time and money plus download the app today and you'll receive a one-time 10 off 30 welcome voucher Dunstores always better value terms and conditions apply welcome voucher can be used on the grocery shop of 30 euro or more okay so we're going to stay on the issue of how we explore our beautiful region and we're joined on the program now by a caller who's the your name's not there so we're talking up beside my apologies Caroline Caroline sorry Karen a beg your pardon Karen I'll have your name now right you're saying that a footpath where do you think it needs to be provided Karen sorry I beg I beg I beg your pardon we're talking about rubbish on the beaches right I've picked up the wrong thing here you're saying a bigger issue Karen is littering on the beaches now I have you on track I have myself on track let's go Karen all right no worries yeah like I mean I'm not getting into the thing about dogs yeah I mean dogs can't speak for themselves and that's human beings really at the end of the day because we have a bigger issue majority of people look after the dogs they don't want their dogs to annoy anybody else the dogs are part of the family so that's like just saying oh I'm going to walk on the beach but we're leaving you we're leaving one of the kids at home you know because the dog becomes another child in the house but the bigger issue like I'm not getting into all that okay take your dogs away from the beach there's a bigger issue human beings human beings don't do what they're supposed to do they don't pick up their doggy poo they don't pick up their own rubbish and you go for walks on beaches and the rubbish at the time you're into your walk you're finding rubbish you could gather rubbish in a bag if you had a bag and like there's people there's sewage problems there are pollutants going into the sea still and you know then very mental very mental thing so we have a beautiful county and you know it's one of the most beautiful counties in ireland it's one of the most beautiful counties in the world one of the most beautiful places in the world but we before we do anything we have to up the ante on the pollution and the litter and we have to get some major deterrents like fines that people take their own rubbish home they come to a beautiful place and they should leave it like that and Karen is it a case that really that when we start talking about the dogs it's an important aspect but that's almost a distraction this is a human problem and all roads lead back to us when you talk about fines though you see the problem is that we have the most equal most blue flag beaches we have the most beaches of any county and we simply don't have the resources to police also before I get you to answer that have we given up on appealing to people please love and respect your surroundings whether it's dumping dumping on a back road on a bog or dumping in the beach or throwing your cigarette butts down in the beach are you chewing them have we given up on appealing to people yeah I think there's always going to be yeah I think that's gone everybody should know that anyway like you know it needs to be zero tolerance now I mean you know they need to up the ante they have to have to imply people if they have to put up a big mass of fines like fines will be given out and it's a terrible thing to say but if they say you know we don't want to report anybody but like I mean and they're probably going to do it when you're not looking like anyway but I don't know what way you're going to up the ante here but we could be talking this conversation every single year yeah and you know we're kind of a little bit conditioned with how we've been speaking about the pandemic the environment is going to be the next big one that's going to be the big money maker for those who want to retain it who are motivated by money and for those also who want to oppose it that is going to be the next thing so we're going to have we're going to struggle to have this conversation even more so I think in the in the few years in advance because this is where everyone who's currently speaking about other issues this is where they're going to go to next and it's going to become very very very divisive Sarah I predict oh Karen sorry yeah if everybody did the right thing and it's not hard you know it's not hard to do the right thing well if we all were individually responsible we wouldn't be having this conversation because there'd be nothing to worry about we wouldn't be having this conversation yeah exactly yeah so you know forget about blaming that's so blaming that like you know this is the bigger there'll be the issue of the times yeah I'm afraid to say all right okay listen thanks very much for your time it's been lovely speaking to you my apologies for the little bit of confusion at the start you you you worked through it very well better than I did so I appreciate it okay Karen thanks very much all right and keep enjoying our beautiful county and our beautiful region okay our next guest coming on to the show in just a minute the night till noon show is brought to you by letter Kenny credit union offering low-rate car loans with fast approval apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today there's not a minute to lose when you want your home to be as safe as houses so get safe and save too with a big 40 euro reward and great value home insurance cover all it takes is one big click or call just visit supervalue.ie slash insurance or call 0818-010101 and our super value team will save the day now let's get moving terms and conditions apply 40 euro in rewards includes two 10 euro or 40 euro vouchers plus 2000 real rewards points equivalent to 20 euro offer excludes contents only policies and is valid until 28th February 2022 this home insurance is underwritten by AXA insurance DAC super value financial services DAC trading super value insurance is regulated by the central bank of Ireland okay you're very welcome back to the night till noon show they had break finishing a little quicker than I thought it might right we're joined on the program now by Anthony Duganou's principle of Moville Community School good morning to you and thank you so much for joining us Anthony good morning it's great to have you with us and it's actually great to speak to you because you're in a great position to actually see the impact Micah has had across a whole age cohort you know across our young people and you've been moved so much to the point where you've written an open letter on the issue so tell us what you felt the need to write an open letter what were you seeing what needs to be done I've noticed in my staff and in my school since last May the conversation has completely changed and the whole issue of Micah has become front and center in the staff room conversations and when we when we looked we noticed that there's some people being very vocal that they that their homes are affected by Micah but when I actually went and did some research there's actually over a quarter about 20 members of my staff have homes affected by Micah and in the community in Moville because we're in one of the most affected areas that translates into possibly between 100 and 200 students that are affected so we're I'm very concerned about the the mental health of both staff and students and how this is going to affect them because many some students have other houses already demolished some have moved out and are living in rented property while their houses are crumbling as we speak and then there are many others who face that prospect in the next year two years three years or five years and it's difficult for all of them because you know if me or Martin stood up in the door two day and said right this is the scheme that everyone wants it's ready to go there you are all a lot all a lot of the challenges remain in other words say for instance a young person everything they've known in terms of their bedroom and their house take home taken away from them that the potentially long and arduous process of moving out demolish rebuild moving back in this is you know best case scenario it's a medium term problem for everyone affected even if there was that the scheme that everybody wanted Anthony doesn't fix everything we have to deal with this into the medium term at least yeah there there's the logistical issue of actually how do we cope with accommodating so many houses in Donegal that have to be demolished and finding accommodation for those people in a managed way and in a planned way and separately we have to manage the mental health of these people particularly my staff and students who are going to go through all of this torture so they're already worried and have high levels of anxiety and in some cases depression so before before before they possibly don't even have got have a report get because the issue of actually getting on an engineer's list to get up to get at their houses checked is now becoming an issue there have waiting lists for a year and most engineers around here now have waiting lists for a year and that causes its own mental unrest and mental difficulties for people so I'm really concerned about the level of anxiety and we're asking we as a school are asked to provide a professional service and we do that and we do that very well but how we move forward to make ensure that that continues with all so many teachers having to have the distraction of having their houses cracking crumbling falling up being demolished being rebuilt and at the same time provide a professional service to the students I have to be concerned about that I also have to be concerned about how the students are facing this when their parents are talking constantly about mica and this here is affecting them within their in their home so they come to school and it's actually a place where they can escape from the conversation and it's a safe place so I want to put services in place that allows them you know to do their homework in a safe and a safe environment put on additional facilities after school so that we can ensure that they can get lots of other activities done whether it be homework whether it be social activities whether it be games whether it be sport music whatever so is that almost like mental rest bite from the from the crisis that is a very good way of putting it that we give people the rest bite from the situation that they have to live 24-7 in their homes and give them the opportunity to you know put on a summer camp for them so that they can actually just escape and have fun with their with their peers rather than have them talk about mica the whole time or maybe more accurately listen to a conversation about mica the whole time yeah and then with every all the other challenges layered on top of that these are brilliant young people but they're having to deal with with with with too much especially through a pandemic yeah and like we're talking all of this anxiety on top of all the pressures of covid but we're also talking about their future plans and their life chances we're talking about people whose opportunities to succeed in most cases here they have if they want to go on to third level education they've got to move out of this area you know they'll be going to Dublin that might be living in letter Kenny's Sligo Galway Dublin Belfast parents have made plans for that they've started the savings program for that and now those savings are at risk of being completely re diverted so that the opportunities for the students here are going to be diminished because they don't have the wherewithal in terms of financial resources in order to to progress to college straight after school and it might be at best delayed and possibly even deprived modern it's it's it is a very like it's a real learning curve listening to this anthony because it really shows for those who may not be aware the reach this crisis has into people's lives and then potentially what it might have going into the future is it unfair for unfair to me to ask if if you can see the impact this is having on people in terms of their their ability to learn I don't know through through tests or what have you or you trying to trying to get in early having already seen the signs like do you know this is affecting people in their studies oh it most certainly is I mean I have English and Irish teachers telling me that their conversations and essays you know are coming back about Micah that would never have happened before that's not what an ordinary child in an in a ordinary secondary school actually discusses in their in their English essay or their Irish essay that's there's all of these conversations and there's people what's what I'm even more concerned about is the people who are quiet and aren't haven't got the confidence to speak about it and haven't got the language to be able to express their feelings about it so I'm really concerned that those people who are in a place where they are almost in denial or and can't progress in relation to Micah but it also it's also depriving the opportunity of progressing in other areas of their academic success or practical class success where they're being distracted by these thoughts all the time yeah and and that does feed then into anxiety you know circulating thoughts in your mind and then if it's not one thing then it gets replaced by another and we can't medicate our way out of this either you know and I'm not suggesting that that's what's happening but you know that's often our first port of call Anthony obviously very clearly you're identifying what's going on here but I mean this is a problem no other school not affected by with students not affected by this would have to do with you can't do all this yourself though do you need more supports from say for instance the Department of Education or other arms of the of the state to to facilitate some of the things that you've been talking about this morning yeah I made representations last early June to Donegal E.T.B and pointed out the situation in my school and made a series of requests to provide and you know and say we'd need an additional guidance counselor we'd need an additional homeschool community liaison for a period of perhaps five years we want to put on additional facilities for students to be able to do their homework and do their studies and to socialize in a safe place so we'd be happy to keep the school open to five half five but we need to get the children home safe so there's money for buses required there's after school clubs funding needed and we're prepared to do that and we'd also like to do say a summer program say a summer camp for people who are affected so just to give people as you said a bit of respite all of those things are requested yeah and I think what we need to expect is that that this is looked at from outside as a problem that's been identified but not for it to be grouped into MICA so that if we raise questions they don't say well we are supporting a service in the area to help people who are having difficulties with MICA this has to be dealt with separately I presume and resource separately the issue is MICA but the problems MICA is created it has to be looked at and targeted and funded I think and maybe I don't know correct me if I'm wrong sort of separate to the whole MICA redress conversation for example we're already working as a school intern in a disadvantage area and we're dealing with school completion programs and jesh programs and so on so on separately there is the the action group that are seeking there arguing finances I'm arguing community mental health I'm arguing for providing to try and assuage the mental health and mental health difficulties that are affecting my community both staff and students and by extension the families of the students who attend the school in order to try and create you know a better society and a more caring society for them at this incredibly difficult few years in their lives okay and as well as that too your letter obviously it's quite clear that you have a very strong point of view and a very detailed read on the crisis as it relates to you know if you're a homeowner and who's responsible and who's to pay for this and the whole conversation around that yeah the whole well the question is who's responsible and you know there are many different people who are walking away from the responsibility whether it be the producer of the product whether it be the people who built the houses to the insurance companies the banks the mortgages people are now paying mortgages they can't get any more money because their asset was their home and then separately I'm thinking like this isn't about somebody's house this is about somebody's forever home so it's much much more emotional than just money and I'm not it's for other people I'm not affected directly personally because so I'm the money factor is not an issue for me personally but professionally I can see a huge amount of effects happening to my staff and my students and it's the whole emotional thing that we must also address and it's for somebody else to argue the case for how much is sufficient I understand finally I mean there has to come a point where you're concerned about staffing levels maybe your staff being out for one reason or another or if they decide to move on recruitment we're not at that point yet are we or do you fear that could be an issue down the line no well at the moment we're in the throes of a massive absenteeism of staff due to COVID but there will be effects on the effectiveness of staff and the effect of students to learn and staff members to teach and we need to be able to provide the the supports that allow staff the what would you call it to give them the counseling to give them the the support that they need in order to be able to box that off so that when they go into the classroom they're delivering their professional service and so that we I'm looking for additional counseling support for the staff as well as for the students and is it possible that if a scheme is announced in February and that campaign element of it which was was hugely important and hopefully hugely successful that we might move to another stage where obviously the problems are there and people have to deal with them individually but it might be less all consuming that that in a way may sort of help to diffuse a little bit of this stress and anxiety finally Anthony if we have a clear and coherent plan that caters for everybody or the vast majority that can sign up to that their plan then obviously stress levels will reduce what I'd be most afraid of is that every individual home owner is left to to do all their negotiations themselves yeah yeah that's a very good point as well listen it's been very interesting and educational as well Anthony talking to you together an insight into do you know how deep the roots of this this problem can go and where they can go so thank you very much for that it's greatly appreciated and keep up the great work thank you you're very welcome take care of yourself okay wasn't that interesting people acutely aware who are living it but but Anthony sees the impact when something is so widespread amongst the community its impact on on the teachers the teaching cohort and and not only those that are directly affected but of course then you know that sort of see through those to those of course who are not directly affected and and the essays and work coming back from students as it relates to you know English essays essays in Irish and Micah Micah Micah keeps coming up you know it's really interesting and I hope they get he gets the support because he's proactive that's a pillar of the community there by the way he's been proactive in saying look we need to sort out a bit of mental respite in the evenings summer camps something to look forward to something else all right okay listen that's interesting back after these Space Hub and Derry can provide you with your own virtual office or mailbox have your post and parcels delivered to Space Hub and collected your convenience also brand new 20-foot shipping containers now in stock ideal for all your storage needs at our springtime and co more depots find us on facebook or spacehubderry.com or call 04871 878077 for details the land is making in your region MEPs devote and Crucially Calf Transport rules in our calves focus we share feeding and housing tips for farms of all sizes and as costs rise we have essential advice on how to maintain your farm income plus don't miss our contractor price guide what will you be paying your contractor for silage and slurry spending this year only inside this week's Irish Farmers Journal on sale now training bodies such as NPTC City and Gills QQI LANDRA and ABA International courses include all land-based services such as chainsaw tree climbing and rescue pesticides working in heights and ATV training other courses offered include first aid responder manual handling and building safety to name but a few for a full list of training courses and availability contact Northwest Forestry Services Bali Buffay on 0749132033 Highland Radio Time Checks brought to you by Leto Kenney Shopping Centre the centre of shopping in Donegal free parking and shopping all under one roof Leto Kenney Shopping Centre bringing you the time at 11.28 now anyone who was on social media yesterday or indeed for the last number of days would know that obviously people are very deeply and emotionally affected by the awful murder of Ashleen Murphy and of course in terms of a process someone being arrested being charged or appearing in court we are have to follow very very strict guidelines in that regard and the reason those guidelines are laid down and I'm going to be joined by a barista who could probably explain it better than I is to ensure due process to ensure that people get a fair trial or even the family of victims that they also get a fair trial in the right outcome coming to pass on social media you know so due to say I believe and Peter Nolan will correct me if I'm wrong also extends to social media and what we write online can actually have an impact on on the trial and it's outcome Peter Nolan barista good morning to you thanks for joining me morning Greg how are you right talk to me about so due to say what what is it what where does it cover and what's it for as you said in your opening the process of due process of law which is a process that has been in place for hundreds of years that balances the rights of the accused with the rights of the prosecutor and that certain things can be said certain things cannot be said so for example in our jurisdiction the name of the person is given but that's it in in Britain before somebody is arrested for example they give the name our system it might be with far far safer now you saw in this particular case an individual was was arrested and all kinds of things were assumed that the first person was arrested was assumed about that person which turned out to be incorrect the second person that's been arrested he's now been charged which puts him in a different category he's now charged within the fence and therefore in due process the media and other people are allowed to to mention his name and that's about it and where he resides that's all right and now they mention anything else after that and I want to say and now you don't you don't use social media much Peter but in terms of of I don't want this to all be about social media the mainstream media themselves who who must abide by the strict guidelines that I mentioned earlier when there was an initial person arrested let themselves down very very greatly in the press someone come out to the defense very much in the wrong because it were they that whipped up speculation I couldn't agree more so sorry Peter I just wanted to make sure so people understand that I recognise that this the mainstream media in inverted commas let themselves down and their colleagues and people like me who wouldn't have done what they did they let them down by whipping up public anger right so on to I agree with you but the problem with that is just I won't go off the point the person who was the subject matter of that whipping up has no right of reply that person goes off and the media have said whatever they've said now is out there he's down I have no doubt that that individual is considered to be somewhat of a pariah now and Tulum or Asher there's no smoke without fire sure you know Asher this that's the that's the damage it does to somebody who has no right of reply and no comeback there was no defamatory thing said about that man but he was put in a position to where there was implications and speculation and an aura placed around him which he can never escape from after the media have done that and that's my huge huge concern that's why we have due process that's why we have the limitations we have on reporting for that very reason and further to that widely circulated image on Facebook and speculation on Facebook as to a second party not the one that's been charged and their role on it who had no actual part in this at all either now Peter people could be listening and going how could you defend this person okay we'll wait until the find out what comes of the trial this is not about defending an individual is it Peter this is about defending the process and this is really more to ensure that whatever happens or whomever is found responsible that the Murphy family get get justice this is about protecting protecting justice for them this isn't about necessarily protecting an individual yeah the worst thing that could happen here if a trial proceeded on the basis of emotion and total sympathy without looking at the facts and the rational aspects of it and the basis of the laws of evidence were not applied the Murphy family then would find themselves facing an appeal and various other things that would occur I'm sure the same question was asked of Gareth Pierce well how are you defending these bombers these Birmingham Sixth how could you possibly defend these people was no doubt asked of her and she defended them and was vindicated and if there's one false conviction that to me the system cannot have that everybody has to have faith in the system that due process has been applied that the laws of evidence and the laws of trial have been applied now my own experience and I do a lot of criminal trials the judge now has to warn the jury and he does warn the jury about social media do not google this man's name so John O'Brien for example is accused and he warns the jury when they leave for the first day that not to do that now there's no control over that so for example if John O'Brien has previous convictions it may come up on Google it may come up and I you have to understand something about me I have absolutely no time for what I call on social media it's it's not social media it's on social I have no time for Facebook I have no time for Twitter or all of these pointless money making applications and I get that Peter but in its defense it is an opportunity for people to drive their own news agenda to have their say and and you know it has given people a voice and a platform there's a lot of toxicity on there but there's a lot of good there but I fully respect where you're coming from but Peter when there is something like this that is so apparent that that is as angered the public on such a deep level right yep there has to be some latitude doesn't there I mean people are going to comment and speak on social media there has to be a presumed that the system can flex to to accommodate the inevitable which is what people are doing they're saying this is a disgrace you know I hope they throw the book blah blah blah I don't want to be part of it I'm choosing my words pretty carefully but I'm trying to give examples of what people might say in scenarios like this it's going to happen Doctor just to leave it to leave it to the legal process to do its job and I can assure you the legal process will do its job the investigative process is what started the legal process hasn't started all we have at the moment is an investigation over the crime a book of evidence will be produced and then the legal process will start based on that book of evidence at the moment the guards are the investigative arm of the state they are carrying out their duties carrying them out very well it would seem to me in this case but that's so as such they have their job to do they will do their job they will pass it on to the DPP and then the legal aspects will will start to roll then so the system has been there all these years now people turning up outside a police station all the rest of life I've had this in my own experience in Donegal famous case a murder case years ago where people turned up outside the district court in Donegal town myself and my sister Mr Dorian who God rest him who died recently were literally Spaffat verbally abused the guards protected us as best they could and this was only for the arrival of this individual who was charged with the murder of his wife for the purposes of reminding him in custody and I attended for that purpose because it was a murder case so the situation is that is to me unforgivable that's mob mob rule yes but but Peter there's the emotion though like say for instance the scenes we saw last evening and I hope anyone that knows me who listens to this program regularly will know I'm not defending any individual right but the guardie advertised what time and the location of that court appearance what was to happen was inevitable passions were running incredibly incredibly high they didn't seem to plan how to get people in and out of that court building you know so at the end of the day you know people are so so passionate sorry they're gonna express that and you saw that first hand and unfortunately what you experienced but hey they could have handled this differently to avoid that scenario I agree with you but the thing is you know the way it has to work is that you have to assume that persons are innocent of the proven guilty and that's the basis of our system whether you like it or not and most most of the time that assumption if a jury trial is thought a lot of the time that assumption is set aside that the person is not innocent but just in fairness to them again that can I go to the mainstream media here in advance of this person being charged everything was out other than his name his condition where he was located the fact that he required a lift the fact that there was DNA evidence the fact that there was injuries the fact that how many children he had his place of birth all of that information had been put out bar his name by the mainstream media out there so in other words someone could look at what look at last night and be of the opinion going by the media the mainstream media coverage that the case was closed that's correct so there for sure that's at the end of it because it's a media trial trial by media as such now also the other question I think and I'm not going off the point here is where did the media get that information from they don't get it from the accused where do they get it from and that's another thing I'd be very anxious to look at in all of these high profile cases the media seem extremely well informed and never give the source of their sources there's only one source I can see where it comes from which is not permitted well the only people that know all of these facts at that particular time and how the guard has she gone but there are that is not guardy are precluded by law passing on that information I know that but that's why I'm saying I'd be very anxious to know where the media got it from well I think you know you've solved that case Peter you know what I'm saying it's just that there needs to be some restrictions on that too look I have the greatest sympathy for this that a beautiful young girl's life snuffed out for no reason whatsoever it seems to me and the greatest sympathy for her family and anybody connected to her and that particular girl and it affected me emotionally as well I have a daughter I don't know how I would face that but the thing the thing is as a lawyer we have a system in place that we have a thing called due process we have a court of law we have 12 people are going to sit in the jury if it ever gets to a jury and if that because the problem with murder is if you plead guilty to murder it's a mandatory life sentence if you give nothing to lose by fighting a case of murder something might go wrong you know how might the defence how might the defence use public commentary in a defence in any given case will not be too specific only if prejudice can be shown you know would that be in terms of jury jury selection or how would one try and sort of her system again is you cannot you might watch American law shows where they question jurors not that is not allowed here what you get here is the name of the juror the occupation of the juror and the address of the juror in a list that's it and you have seven objections to that juror without cause in other words you don't have to show any cause and seven with cause in other words if you know for example the juror was on in the newspaper last week talking about certain things that are important in the case but that's all you have whereas in America they actually quiz the jurors about for example what do you think of foreign nationals you know things like they could ask all those questions and then on the basis of the answers they receive it takes weeks to pick a jury for a major case in America it takes 45 to minutes to an hour in Ireland so that's all you have but I'm sorry if I'm borrowing from the programs that you reference I don't watch too much of them but in terms of an appeal right which would prolong the victim's family's turmoil could an argument be made even after that that we'll listen you know because of the public conversation that was happening the jury pool was you know was contaminated absolutely okay and that's what we're trying to avoid then yeah but that's the point that has happened and that has been as you well know there has been issues like that there has been the famous unfortunately case again of the young Caribbean murdered in in Lucan names were pretty all of these things the social media now I actually have no access to social media purposely I don't want access to it I'm nothing no I don't I'm not in I'm not connected in any way to us so I can't really comment on what what's on social media but I can say is that that there should be no comments that would indicate the guilt concerning the guilt or innocence of of a particular accused I have no problem with comments of sympathy towards the family of the of the unfortunate victim I have no problems with any of that and and indicating they're discussed that the the the situation no problems with that but when it's particularised and focused on a particular individual who may or may not be guilty of this this offence I have a huge problem with that just I noticed just on on social media from from will use national media for example from the likes of RG you know news talk all the national media they've posted the story and they've left comments on and then obviously underneath that the story it's a free for all of people saying whatever they wish to say I'm surprised at that what what is the the the legal responsibility I wonder or do you know Peter in terms of what's the word in terms of policing I suppose you could say the response is underneath a post like that on social media I I don't think any but that the legal responsibilities in this whole area are extremely opaque it seems to me that Facebook and the and the providers of these services will spare the brunt of any legal responsibility in relation to defamation dissemination of false information etc now there's already an issue of that I believe in certain inquiries into Facebook in America and some whistleblowers from Facebook are indicating that that they promoted this kind of situation to allow people onto social media to make comments of which they have absolutely no knowledge of it's the same sitting on a bus listening to some fellow talking about the match next hour working here it doesn't make any sense all it is is a valve for these people to vent whatever spleen they may have in relation to a particular accused person now I've no problem people on social media to as I said before to indicate their sympathy to indicate their support for the family of the of the mortal gellets I've no problem with any of that but it's when persons use a particular situation for their own agenda which is either a racist or sexist or misogynistic or whatever that's a huge problem with and that's the level unfortunately of the base on I am aware of on social media that point that is not the base that is not forwarding and that is just gossip of the lowest and purient kind that if I heard somebody saying it from face to face I would tell them to shut up and keep quiet okay Peter Nolan listen to that on social media unfortunately thank you as always for your insight I appreciate it thank you Greg Peter Nolan bars to there and just to be absolutely clear and I hope it is clear the purpose of that conversation is to ensure as best as we can our personal responsibility is to ensure that the Murphy family get justice and that justice then their agony their agony is eternal but the agony of the trial and reliving that is not then extended you know by way of giving grants for an appeal or whatever it might be and that's the function of that conversation so we all understand I understand what the consequences of posting a presumed conclusion might have on social media at 1-800-111-888 anytime our team will tell you which supports and services are near you where they are located and how you can access them you can also visit yourmentalhealth.ie for more information on mental health for you or for people you 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call 086102281 or innovating.ie to find out more Okay now let's get to some of your comments here this is an important one actually from Margaret and I was talking yesterday about we're talking about reopening it's fantastic and it's not taken away from any sector but there's very important things like cash on the call which provides a very important service for its service users and their families which is still closed okay these are the things we also need to be talking about opening living with and getting these places open but Margaret says still no sign of cash on the call opening those who are classed as priority getting their service but unfortunately for the rest of the people who attend this service are being discriminated against and not allowed to attend instead the HSC send the parents 10 euro an hour to pay somebody to take the disabled son or daughter for a couple of hours a day how are people with disabilities being so ignored when the rest of the country seems to be able to get back to normal it's shameless and I think I would have to agree another Mary says when is cash on the call learning disability centre going to reopen the HSC and neglecting their responsibility to all the people who attended we are getting on to the HSC and chasing them up to try and get an answer for you what about a footpath between Don Fanny to Port Nabila and Downings to Carrot Guard very busy tourist areas in the summer with lots of people walking on the roadside between the locations what about road safety that comes in from Charlie well there is now a roadway a walkway sorry that has been okayed between Downings and Carrot Guard I can't talk really to Don Fanny and Port Nabila but half of your concerns are being addressed there dogfirling who's going to police this there's no one policing the issue of dogs off their leads either on the beaches or in the tans it's I don't know how do we sort it out hopefully that new pathway will be finished to a better standard than the footpath at Ilistra into the mountain top it is yeah I've drove past that and locked in and I was surprised to see that that was it finished um I don't want to upset anyone but I'm not going to lie to you that was my I thought right okay that's it that's it finished okay to home helps qualify for vote for the 1000 euro bonus home helps are people who care for people in the community I'm not sure about that and I'm not sure everything has been announced in relation to that so I don't want to yay or nay it no mention of the childcare workers who had to look after children doing during the pandemic I made some comments yesterday about how we judge a school's success as it relates to you know their students going on to third level or whatever but this caller says Greg I couldn't agree with you more about snobbery in schools and jobs my son left school at 16 much to the disgust of some of his teachers he's now a lorry driver and while talking to one of those teachers recently he discovered he's earning nearly 200 euro more than them each week so education isn't everything but he is educated education in the traditional sense isn't I think we are agreeing in that you know he got his basics in school perhaps even more than that and then went on to do an important job the lorry driving everything relies on that everything it's a hugely important job and they're in huge demand and I think their salaries are reflecting that as well at least in some cases I'm self-employed and I have six people employed while this might be great news this is the bank holiday for employees where am I as the employer going to get the money to pay these men this extra money there is no supports for me to do this so while I had budgeted to allow for one day in March now I have to eat into my minimal profit again to pay another one businesses once businesses have taken a massive hit this last two years now we get another blow I can exactly see where you're coming from and I did allude to the SMEs in particular that solicitor needs to move with the times and accept that social media rightly or wrongly is here to stay I think it's I think it is in its current form Facebook its users are dropping off people are going to Instagram where it's more picture-based and less opinion and those then who really want to express opinions but feel that they're hindered in doing so by social by social media going to the likes of Telegram I'm not quite so sure that social media as we know it right now is here to stay I think people are being as I say I think people are feeling bombarded with a negativity on social media and that's why they're going to the likes of Instagram and TikTok where it's more light-hearted and then those that have very strong views that go outside the likes of Facebook's guidelines they're leaving as well and they're going to the likes of Instagram Telegram so I don't know I think that's a separate point to what Peter was saying and what you're saying but I actually think we're going to see some quite significant changes in social media pretty soon punishment and fines won't work re-robish and dog poo on beaches put more bins at the beaches and make it easier for people to do the right thing that's a really good point you know what we can look at people and blame people but we have to have the infrastructure there to allow them to do the right thing the problem with rubbish and dog litter on the beaches is down to our Irish attitude to enforcement we know there's no effective enforcement when Irish people go abroad on holidays they pick up their litter and out and put it in the bins provided which are empty daily try leaving the rubbish behind on a Majorcan beach and see how far you get we need enforcement to force a change in attitude an interesting point I visit this fan and beach regularly often see people enjoying their dogs destroying birds nests some of these birds are rare plus dogs soon we will have none shame on the council won't do anything because the most of them have dogs all right listen more comments it was a very busy show in terms of you taking part comments wise we'll get to them tomorrow any I didn't get to our friday panel we've a lot to discuss between nine and ten with our friday panel tomorrow don't we we also talk entertainment with Finula and Michael between eleven and twelve and much more besides so rejoin us tomorrow at nine stay tuned today for John Breslin coming up around the north west after twelve but for me Greg and Caroline enjoy the rest of your thursday the nine till noon show is brought to you by letter Kenny Credit Union with monster loans available up to sixty thousand euro for all occasions visit letterkennycu.ie as you start rediscovering northern ireland again we want you to explore with confidence that's why we've introduced that we're good to go industry standard for tourism and hospitality businesses so you know they've agreed to follow COVID-19 safety guidelines like social 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