 Talk to you bright and early 6.30 tomorrow morning. It's Friday. We'll talk to you then. Up next here's Greg with the 9 till noon show. Morning, Greg. Thank you, Rory. Enjoy your Thursday. It is 9 o'clock time for the news and it's over to Makayla Clark. Thanks, Greg. Good morning. New government initiatives could be on the way to alleviate the spiralling cost of living. Both the Taoiseach and Tonnister indicated at the parliamentary party meetings last night that further measures are being considered. There are thoughts to include an increase to the 100-year-old energy credit next month and a reduction in government charges. Junior Minister Niall Collins says further announcements to help people with rising prices are expected in the coming weeks. Government recognises that the 100-year-old voucher towards the cost of energy isn't going to defray the entire increases that families and individuals have experienced. More needs to be done. We have taken on board a number of measures following the budget through taxation, through social welfare increases in fuel allowance, but other measures also have to be actively considered over the next number of weeks by government and will be acted on. The Agriculture and Marine Minister has been told there is blind anger on fury over how fishermen are treated. Speaking in the door last evening on the Sea Fisheries Amendment Bill, Donnie Gold Deputy Podger McLaughlin relayed his concern that fishermen are being criminalised by current surrounding the penalty points system. Deputy McLaughlin, who is Sinn Féin's spokesperson on fisheries and the marine, believes it is second-class citizenship for those in the sector and an attack on the rights to be considered innocent until proven guilty. He told Minister Charlie McConn that there needs to be an urgent change in the legislation. I'm appealing to you tonight, get rid of this offensive language, this lower threshold, because every citizen, I'm going to say it again, has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. That is natural justice, natural justice, but that's not what's in this legislation. And do you know what tells me, Minister, and tells me that the people who drafted this legislation and who are writing your briefing notes in the Department of the Marine still don't get it. And finally, parents in Donnie Gold are being encouraged to get their applications for school transport in early. Applications are open for the school year starting this coming September with the deadline for applications April 29. It applies to new applicants only that are seeking primary or post primary school transport for 2022-23. Answer Paul Canning says issues arise each year, so it's important to apply in good time. The rural setting of Donnie Gold, people tend to go where their sisters or brothers have went before and maybe that is not the closest school to them. That is slowly changing and people are starting to realise how it works. People need to be aware now that anybody that is going from the primary school to their secondary school, they need to get their application done for that bus, because maybe they were never using a bus before. Whether I'm mostly cloudy and becoming windy today, persistent on heavy rain will move in later this afternoon and evening with highest temperatures of 10-12 degrees. That's all from Highland Radio News for now. We'll be back with news again at 10 o'clock. Until then, good morning. This is an important announcement from the Department of Social Protection. If you have been in receipt of the COVID-19 pandemic unemployment payment and are now returning to work, this message is for you. You must ensure that you stop your payment on your first day back at work. The simplest way to do this is online at www.mywelfare.ie. For more information, visit www.gov.ie forward slash dsp COVID-19 brought to you by the Government of Ireland. Bluebird Care are hiring nurses and carers across Donegal. Call 911 29562. Bluebird Care are sponsors of today's show. And now it's time for the talk of the Northwest, The 9th and New Show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Good morning to you. Four minutes past nine Thursday, the third of February 2022. How are you? I hope you're well. Hope you're a good night's sleep or if you're just coming back in for work. Hope that went well for you. It is the 9th till noon show. A busy show as always between now and noon. Please stay with us. Lots to keep you entertained and get involved of course. Your WhatsApps and texts to 08 660 25000. You can call us. Caroline taking your calls on 07 491 25000. If you want to watch the show, we'd record viewership yesterday on the program for this year so far. You can watch on our website highlandradio.com. Click through the links there and watch in your browser. Or if you want to watch on YouTube, Highland Radio Ireland or on Facebook, Highland Radio News and Sport or Highland Radio. All right, lots of papers out for this Thursday morning as always. So let's crack on having a look at the front pages starting with the Chicano Tribune. And John McIntyre writes that with inflation now digging deeply into the building trade, a leading construction company in Donegal has revealed they'd had to abandon two public work contracts in Bunkrana and Sligo. Donal Boyle of Boyle Construction, based in that, or Kenny told the tribunal this week, that inflation has now forced them to withdraw from processing a major school project in Bunkrana after it emerged that costs had escalated by another two million. They'd escalated by two million. He said they'd had no alternative but to withdraw from the process and a similar situation developed with their contract for the new multi-storey car park at Sligo University Hospital. Significant increases there. The Donegal news tells us that a standoff at the aura is expected on Monday afternoon after Councillor Frank McBurty's indicated his intention to attend the reconvened council meeting despite a call from Cahiloc Jack Murray for him to stay away during a day of chaos and disruption. Councillor McBurty was handed a one month suspension at Monday's Donegal County Council meeting which prohibits him from attending all council meetings. The meeting is set to resume on Monday at 1.30am. Councillor McBurty said he intends to be there and raise a motion on corruption as is right to do so as a democratically elected member of local government in the 26 counties. The Donegal Democrat this morning tells us that a 10-year-old boy has been recognised for his bravery in the part he played in the rescue of his father after he fell off a cliff. Owen Cunningham from Kilcar raised the alarm after his father Shamus sustained injuries when he fell off a cliff on November 16th last year while working on farm fencing. We're going to be speaking to both Owen and Shamus not too long away now on this programme so stay tuned if you want to hear that story how it planned out and what this award means to the young lad. The dairy news this morning those behind a number of bomb hoaxes in dairy in the past week have been branded cowards. Fourside shopping centre was evacuated on Tuesday afternoon after police had been informed. A bomb had been left in the centre earlier in the day. Police also carried out a search at Fountain Primary School both were declared hoaxes and the incidents follow a bomb scared the offices of SDLP foil emulation aide McLaughlin on Spencer Road on Thursday last. So we used to make a phone call it has to be responded to but it creates such disruption to business as well you know whatever if it was politically motivated but to disrupt people trying to make a living especially given the couple of years they've put in makes very little sense doesn't it. The Irish Independent tells us that tourism recovery is at risk because simply they can't get the staff. There are fears of chronic skills shortage will hamper the tourism industry's recovery as 40,000 job vacancies remain unfilled in the sector. 40,000. Fulcher Ireland will publish the figures next week when it unveils its most comprehensive research to date on tourism and hospitality labour market. It's expected to estimate that there are 40,000 vacancies across the industry with 24% at senior level. There are shortages of chefs waiting staff and restaurant and bar managers. Many middle and senior level managers in hotels have moved into retail as a result of the pandemic while coach operators have lost drivers big obviously demand on a limited pool of drivers. The research shows many businesses have cut services including curtailing menus while others have reduced opening hours but maybe some listening today would see as an opportunity to go into that industry now. The Irish Times tells us and you heard it in the news here that a wide range of expanded cost of living supports will be examined by the government as it seeks to offset the impact of rampant inflation and insulate itself from political damage on the issue. Senior coalition sources acknowledged that the cost of living was the most pressing issue faced by the government and the threat of COVID remained suppressed. Everyone agrees it's the burning issue one senior source said with a strong feeling we need to do more. While a 100 euro support for utility bills has already been announced there is a desire to go further. Multiple sources confirmed with scoping exercises planned for the coming days. We're casting the net as wide as possible. Possibly can to look at the options. A second senior source said considerations will be given to the full range of costs and charges that people face to see what can be done. Would you have any of confidence though that any decisions made will make a difference? We'll wait and see. Fingers crossed let's hope they do. One person is not worried about inflation. Well I suppose it all depends on your outgoings but you would need some hefty outgoings to be worried about money if you were the secretary general of the Department of Health. This is in the Irish Daily Mail. Mr. What Robert what he's in line for. When was the last time you got a pay rise? I wonder. I would say for many people listening it's probably never. They'd be afraid to ask for a pay rise for fear of losing their job. Well he's had four pay rises. He's getting a fourth sorry. He's had three pay rises in 10 months and another on the way. Mr. What salary of close to 300,000 euro has increased three times by more than 86,000 euro since he moved from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform last year. While at public expenditure and reform Mr. What earned a salary of 211,000 euro the upper ceiling for secretary generals. He then received an 81,000 euro salary increase when he took up the new role in the Department of Health in April of last year. And what has he done? What has he achieved? This is not nothing personal against Mr. What but sorry to sorry to labour this point right. But most of us in work you know there are things that we have to achieve to justify our wages. What has he done in the Department of Health to justify an 81,000 euro salary? You know it's it's it's horrific really. He's in line for another pay rise in October as part of the building. Let's see what's he for building momentum civil service pay agreement. The fourth salary increase in October if accepted by Mr. What would push his salary to 300,847 euro. Meanwhile, by the way, swallow those corn flakes. The chief executive Paul Reed, his salary, his package. Now this would be a person by the way Paul Reed okay. And again no harm no harm to Paul Reed. But you know there's there's between 60 and 80,000 people listening between this show or over the course of the day to Highland Radio okay. And many of you contribute to his 412,000 euro a year salary. Okay 412,000 euro salary a year. But do you know what? See if there's an issue like the Brandon report or the situation at Latter Kenney University Hospital or whatever. Paul Reed is only down in Letram. He would not come on this program to speak to you or to answer your questions. He would not come on this program to do an interview simply wouldn't is on 412,000 euro a year. You pay your his wages. It doesn't matter whether you're working and up every thing that you and every penny you spend is taxed. You pay his wages and he wouldn't come on a program like this to answer questions not about his salary, but about controversy controversy a controversy like the Brandon report. Now he will take a you know a handy interview on Morning Ireland or something whereby you would swear it's a very easy interview. Let me just say it like that. But you're paying his wages and there's no way we would have access to him. How how what's he doing for the 100 412 euro if you won't speak to the people you know on different platforms. Anyway I that's just that's just the way it is. Maybe he shouldn't have to there are people listening to say well why should he okay that's ground. The Irish Farmers Journal. There is mounting anger among dairy farmers that the industry is being corralled by the government into cutting count numbers or accepting an effective return to milk quotas. A new food vision diary dairy group has been tasked by Minister for Agriculture Charlie Mcconnellog with producing an action plan for stabilizing and reducing carbon emissions from the industry. However farm organizations have warned ahead of a crunch meeting of the group next Monday that they will not have any hand actual part in measures which could impact on dairy farm incomes. Right on to the star this morning and this is an interesting one it's ongoing at the moment out in Belfast. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the decision to halt NI protocol checks would be a breach of international law but as far as we're aware they're going ahead. He made his comment after Stormland Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots ordered a halt to agri-food checks at ports in the north the DUP Minister who officials are responsible for carrying out protocol checks said last night that he had ordered his permanent secretary to stop them at midnight but as I say it seems like they're ongoing at the moment. We're keeping an eye on that and we will have an update for you later on in the program. I'm not sure this has affected anyone in this part of the world yet but you can only imagine it's a matter of time in the sun today. Guardi suspect one organized crime gang is behind a spate of thefts of telephone cables across the country. A major operation involving investigators from the Guardi's Cavern and Monaghan Division is now underway to catch the mob. In the most recent incident telephone cables were stolen in Bellturbet in County Cavern on January 22 and over the last six months there have been 66 instances of cable thefts with the gang striking in Cavern, Monaghan, Lath and Meath. Now they're looking for the copper in the cables. The copper is incredibly valuable so they're stripping that out so if they're trying it there it's only a matter before they try it elsewhere but what's happening is is people are being left without broadband and internet for days on end and very finally and very sadly in the Irish Daily Mirror nearly 300 unwanted Christmas dogs were given up before the end of last month some because their owners claimed they were dog fish. It's disgusting tone of phrase but what effectively it means is they thought they were getting a beautiful what they would perceive as a beautiful dog and when they got it it didn't look quite as beautiful as they wanted so they gave it up isn't that sad? The puppies were given were given to charity workers at Dogs Trust Ireland at a rate of eight a day. Foster homes are now urgently needed for the 297 animals as a result of a 33% spike in post-Christmas deliveries. There were 172 unwanted pooches given to the Trust last year between Christmas day 2020 and the end of January last year. It's really sad massive increase in dogs being given back but this whole notion that they're given back because they don't look a certain way. If that's what you're basing your dog ownership on perhaps maybe you shouldn't be allowed to own a dog at all at all. Back shortly. visit bluebirdcare.ie and bring care home. The newspapers are courtesy of Kelly Centra, mountaintop, letter Kelly. If you've got magic moments or great memories captured on your smartphone now is a great time to have them printed at McGee's.ie simply upload your favorite photos choose your size and finish and McGee's will take care of the rest with the results delivered to your door. 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When your insurance comes up for renewal contact O'Malley's Scanlon insurance at their Ballabuffet office on 9131020 or they're done low office on 95 Treble 206. O'Malley's Scanlon is regulated by the central bank. I joined Bluebird care as a healthcare assistant. It's so rewarding that at 70 I'm still here. I love my job and it fits around my lifestyle. The training and support I received is superb. It doesn't feel like I'm working. Visit bluebirdcarecarecareers.ie to find out how you can join our expanding team of healthcare assistants. My only regret is that I didn't join sooner. This is not just a career in care. This is a career with Bluebird Care. Highland Radio Time Checks brought to you by Letter Kenny Shopping Centre, the centre of shopping in Dunny All. Free parking and shopping all under one roof. Letter Kenny Shopping Centre bringing you the time at 918. Now we welcome on to the programme, Seamus and Owen Cunningham. A very good morning to both of you. Thank you so much for joining us. Great to see you. Good morning. And how are you, Owen? Hello. I think you're better at raising the alarm maybe than saying hello to me but sure listen we'll get to that in a moment. Owen just relax and I'll look after you. Right. Tell us about what happened back in November 2021. Well for me it was a morning like any other morning. I just done some farming. Unfortunately my mother-in-law was buried on the Monday and we were off that week so I didn't get time to check the cattle and the sheep. So I got up that morning and Owen decided to come with me as he always does and we went down to check the sheep but there's a little bit of fencing was broken. We kept saying we had to fix it so we decided to fix it five-minute job and unfortunately it was a lot longer than that. I just was fixing the wire. I stepped back onto a rock and the rock just gave way under me and unfortunately I fell about I'm told about 15 foot onto a ledge and that was the start of it basically. The pain was just phenomenal but lucky for me that day Owen was there and I was conscious at the time I was about to tell him to try and raise the alarm. So he didn't really hesitate. I told him he needed to go up to the house to get my wife Martina and his mother and his brother Darn. He did that without hesitation. He left, went to the house, didn't seem that long. He didn't seem to be gone that long. He came back and he said to me daddy I'm back again and I said I remember saying Owen did you go to the house because I thought he wasn't away that long and he said yeah I raised the alarm. I told mommy and she's bringing the emergency services and they're on their way down and I said but how come you're down quicker? Are you sure you went to Gotham and he said well I took the bicycle from the garage and I cycled down faster. I knew by there quicker so he was there and kept me going until the rest of them arrived and the emergency services then was alerted. Yeah Owen was it scary at the time? Yeah. And you had no phone so you knew you had to get running just as soon as you can then what made you decide to get the bike? Are you always a quick thinker? So I got my bag and I go out and cycle going. And presumably you wanted to get back to make sure your dad was okay as soon as possible? Yeah. And were you able to stay calm? It looks like you were you were calm young lad on the day? Yeah. Okay and then when the emergency services arrived, shame is how did they manage to get you back up on to a you know a space that they could work on you? Yeah well they weren't really able to get me on to a space. Luckily for me I landed on a ledge that was there so Decton that's there as well. Decton morning his team arrived in the local Coast Guard and I knew in my own head that I was in a bad I wasn't I don't knew it was in a bad way but I also knew that that I was in a bad area. I knew they well and I knew it was steep terrain to get up out of and I knew it was going to be a very difficult task to try and get out of there. So the local Coast Guard and Decton and the emergency services were there and among themselves they decided that the helicopter rescue 118 was needed so I lifted their hands after that. Yeah and we'll hear about the rescue but in terms of the ledge that you landed on like was there another fall beyond that ledge? Yes. Yeah and lucky for me I fell on to that ledge because if I the ledge was was only about two or three foot wide it was long enough but it wasn't that wide but if I had rolled another I rolled in towards the bank as we say if I had rolled the other way I would have dropped down into the rocks and the sea below which would probably been another 10 foot or so of a drop so I would say that the outcome of that would not have been good. Yeah all right. You mentioned Declan Moran he's advanced paramedic for Killy Beggs with the National Ambulance Service. Good morning to you Declan. Morning Greg how are you? I'm not too bad at all so describe this rescue from your perspective how you go about making sure that Seamus is is recovered and safely because of course it's access it's getting him treatment but you don't want to do anything particularly with a fall that could maybe make any injuries worse so it's complicated. It was complicated because of the location Greg more than anything we'd often have people with injuries similar to Seamus that may have a fall maybe on a building site or somewhere that's a lot more easily accessible but where Seamus fell he fell in a very inaccessible area. I suppose the closest we could get to Seamus was about a hundred hundred and fifty metres away in the ambulance carrying a lot of equipment over rough terrain stone ditches and then getting down to Seamus where he was I'd say more like 20 feet maybe below where we were so we got ourselves lower down with the assistant of the Killy Beggs Coast Guard which were great to have there we got lower down got our equipment down beside him. I think Seamus might be underestimating the drop below the ledge it was another at least 20 to 30 feet below where he landed thank god he landed in the ledge that he did because if you missed that ledge it was a long drop down to the shore and with the tide coming but for a more point of view naturally we wouldn't move anybody and Seamus said he broke his hip naturally with a big injury like that he could have injured his spine as well and he might not realize because there was so much pain coming from his hip so we were very careful about the way we were going to extricate him so taking him up the embankment from that ledge would have been a lot more risky for Seamus the actual safest way was to lift him with the helicopter because it's a direct lift onto their stretcher and a direct lift up and we had him fully immobilized and treated for the pain before we moved him at all you know and tell us about Owen and his role in this because it was you guys see an awful lot but you saw an off on that day to say right you know what Owen did deserve recognition absolutely Greg we see so many different situations people with great experience and of a lot older age than what Owen is so and we see people stage fright panic get scared a serious traumatic incident and they just can't think clearly and that's a natural human reaction different we're trained for these things so it comes a bit different us plus you don't have the emotional aspect of it being a family member so Owen being 10 years of age to have that quick acting quick thinking new to get the alarm raised right away Owen had a big distance that I would guess approximately 800 meters back to the house I'd say you see him bolt would have had bother beating him back to the house that night by going by Seamus the ground to cover it so he got up to the house raised the alarm very quickly and then the quick thinking to jump on his bike and get back down to Seamus and at the time we didn't realize at the time and his aunt Julie told me afterwards that Owen knelt above us and prayed for Seamus the whole time we were there which is a nice thing like yeah it is especially there's a very very scary experience for him and even for such a scary traumatic experience for him he didn't delay it any time he knew what had to be done and it got it done very quickly and he was absolutely fantastic on the day um Owen what does it feel like to to to get this award for for your role in and helping your dad and helping emergency services too and getting them to the scene quickly a role you make it's jealous so what's the story yeah because at the same time you know there was a lot of activity there do you remember the helicopter coming in and all that kind of stuff like how did that feel because obviously you're worried about your dad but to see you know this big helicopter up up close and personal too good well that's understandable that's understandable and uh Seamus how are you keeping now um because you did suffer quite an injury it's not that long ago yeah do you know okay now still on crutches um as we said that I was taken to Sligo hospital I spent a month in the hospital two weeks and two and a half weeks in Sligo and then I was transferred to Tallah hospital for um for the operation it was a joint called Ace Tabner joint so it's a specialized operation so I think there's only two surgeons that I'm aware of that uh does it in Ireland that's why I had to go to Tallah for that operation so uh got the operation and then was transferred back to to uh Sligo so kept in Sligo for another week and then I just got home there before Christmas so it was it was it was a tough month I had a lot of pain a lot of soreness but you know you have to battle on and every every week every especially now every month you feel you're coming on a lot so a lot of fuzzio to do now and and uh in the coming weeks and months so um but I'm getting there I'm definitely getting there and I feel a lot stronger and a lot a lot better in myself now all right brilliant stuff and Owen does this make you maybe want to get involved I mean you're already in the rescue services effectively would this make you want to do something like this when you get a bit older or if you're seen enough of it now with everything that happened to dad yeah excellent stuff there's a a new volunteer for you Declan when the time's right absolutely he has all the characteristics that are required for the emergency services yesterday we had him convinced to join the ambulance service when we were at this when we were at the school but he was hijacked on us when we got down to the football field and he got in behind the cockpit of the helicopter we lost him to the coast guard I think is that a fact Owen or your mind's not made up yet I don't know okay all right listen thank you very much shameless no one shameless it's good to hear you're on well on the road to recovery and fair play to you Owen it's a superb achievement and you look back on it throughout your life um with obviously with your dad's safe now but with what you did it's a brilliant thing thanks Owen yeah thank you very much and just what I want to just like just like to thank you again I did it yesterday but just all the emergency service Declan and his team in our local coast guard and their team Michael Love he's from the area he heads it up and and of course Rescue One One Eight just for all the support and help bring services and everybody was brilliant on the day and even yesterday for Owen's presentation everybody was excellent and it was a great day out for us as a family we enjoyed it and and a great honour for Owen as well as something for a behalf in the future yeah it is brilliant and speaking to a few people to shame us in similar situations than this they can be a wee bit embarrassed of with all the fuss that they caused did you have a bit of that yourself well and the first it's only the last couple of days was with the warden that there's a lot of people you know at the time when it happens you're in so much pain that yeah of course yeah that used to what's going on but as time went on you know yeah there's so many people are so good even you know all my neighbours friends everyone texting and ringing and and you know you're you're everybody's checking in and you see how you're doing and all that and you're you know yesterday really the whole thing sank in when the helicopter and everything was there and you think that it caused a lot of with all the media attention there's a lot of it caused a lot of hassle at the time but it was all worth it anyway yesterday for only nicknames no you know I don't think so not that I've heard of there could be but I haven't heard of them yet anyway but you play a bit of golf don't don't you a bit of golf surely yeah I heard your driving is a little bit like the rescue on 180 can cover great distances but land anywhere I could land anywhere on hills or anything listen well well done Declan keep up the great work thanks so much for joining us no bother thanks all right take care of yourself thank you and also thank you very much Owen and Seamus as well it's a lovely story and a reward very much a reward very much um it justified there for Owen and Seamus a lovely family as well and Declan and the crew doing fantastic work all right we'll be back with more shortly up to 50 percent of everything in store all kitchen and bathroom tiles all wood flooring all bathware all cladding everything's reduced it's our biggest ever sale the right price tiles and wood flooring half price january sale stores nationwide sale extended until sunday if your child is aged five to eleven you could now register for their free covid-19 vaccine covid-19 usually causes mild to moderate illness in this age group but it can cause more severe illness all vaccines used in Ireland are tested before they're approved by the european medicines agency to find out more or to register go to hsc.ie or call hsc live on 1800 700 700 from the hsc you know it's time you've been thinking about it talking about it and dreaming about it it's time for a new car come visit iMotors in malin and letter kenny for a fantastic range of new and pre-loved vehicles iMotors your home for kia and nissan in dunigal there's more furniture than ever on display at mcginley's furniture in letter kenny with extra floor space there's more suites beds dining room and occasional furniture also more rugs mirrors and lamps all available for immediate delivery if you'd like to make a beautiful addition to your home there's more furniture than ever to choose from at mcginley's furniture on the joe boner link road letter kenny and at mcginley's furniture dot com great news from hyunday the hyunday twosan is once again the best-selling car in dunigal and in ireland for january thank you for your continued support divvers have yet another consignment of twosans arriving at the end of the month so call today and take a test drive at divvers hyunday canal road letter kenny telephone 074 9122 600 i practice mixology it's like biology only with more gen andy bartender i am a caffeine delivery technician sharon barista i use my experience to make yours better stanley tourism experience manager they've all been explaining their jobs in their own words on behalf of northern ireland's tourism and hospitality industries discover hundreds of amazing opportunities in tourism and hospitality right now when you search careerscope dot uk dot net forward slash n i explain them anywhere you want now we were talking earlier on it's covered in the newspapers today and it'll be the subject of a report but which has been a little bit leaked and that's the difficulty in hiring staff into the tourism stroke hospitality sector linda from fusion bistro and food truck joins us on the program now linda thanks very much for joining us good morning gregg how are you not too bad at all now there was always i think well pre-pandemic there definitely was a shortage of of chefs wasn't there and and that situation hasn't just stayed the same it seemingly has gotten worse yeah definitely i think even before covid it was becoming increasingly difficult to find chefs a lot of people had left were leaving the industry or thinking about leaving the industry but now they just can't be got it's just at the minute everybody every single business that i know of are looking for staff and chefs are definitely the biggest problem at the minute you know from our own perspective we have a kitchen i call me chefs it helps us out two days a week that's all she can work and other than that gary is on the kitchen on his own and we were speaking actually to me whole knocked it earlier in the week he supposed that you know particularly maybe with kitchen work that people have you know been out of the the pressure of the kitchen for a while maybe retrain move into different industries it's a tough way to earn a living like and people are maybe are just making lifestyle choices yeah i think definitely you know covid has taught us all a bit of a lesson to slow down and you know rethink how busy we look like scared i think you know and hospitality as a hard industry to work on without a doubt and you know i've said it before until we get more staff it's very hard and hard to make it a better work-life balance you need you need numbers and staff to allow people to you know alternate weekends alternate nights all you know and at the moment it's just not possible like we're daytime please and we can't get stuff yeah and and do people contact you i'm not going to ask any personal personal stuff linda but are you getting people that would say yes i'd be interested but i'd need such and such which you on you know wouldn't be risk realistically it wouldn't be realistic for you to match or you just get no bites at all no we've had a couple but for their own different reasons have decided to stay where they are or you know at the moment it's not it's not even coming down how much it's going to cost yeah yeah of course you're not getting that far but just in case anyone's listening um you're offering a job for a chef no night work no sundays excellent pay it's not a you know what when i was in the kitchen going back some time now it can be a uh a hectic place to work yours is calm and respectful uh and i think that's a big thing you know the day of roaring and shouting and you know giving out has gone or at least should be gone you know you want to have a happy workplace we all want to be happy and our work and myself included and i you know it's trying to get people to maybe come on and you know even if they've left the industry that maybe find a love for it again and give them a bit of freedom and creativity and that might entice people back you know i wonder are there many people in the likes of you know kitty bags and and wherever else i think a lot of people are doing these courses but aren't doing it with a view to becoming chefs in restaurants i think they're doing it to obskill or to scratch an itch that's been there um or maybe even to do a bit of work in their own business i mean are we i wonder producing new qualified chefs out of the likes of the the the college in kitty bags and elsewhere yeah i think you know there's a lot of the tiktok trends and all this kind of stuff i've really kicked off and a lot of young chefs are you know making excellent careers for themselves out of it and i don't have to necessarily work in the kitchen you know i'm good for them it's all of me i'm not a tiktok person i don't i don't even have it but it's you know it's it's changing and it's going to be very hard you know there's 40 000 jobs and hospitality in the country at the minute not being filled 40 percent of businesses have to have had to reduce or will have to reduce their opening times if they can't get i remember seeing a couple of advertisements on on business pages saying we aren't doing launches this week because we don't have the staff and you know until i did a bit of research on it of course and fully understood it i looked at it sort of as if they are come on seriously and but it is the truth and it's a reality that's dawning and we're heading in to hopefully a bumper tourism season with lots of people doing the staycation after they learn to love that during the restrictions and also you know tourists coming into the country the northern island market seems strong for this year as well yeah won't it be frustrating if we've all of these customers and not the staff to to service it yeah that's you know it's even a simple thing like somebody being sick or having one of their children sick and can't come to work a business has to shut because there's that little staff available well we got this text in and i was expecting it along these lines as you probably were as well it says it's no wonder chefs are turning away from the business my son worked as a chef pre-pandemic he was doing 60 hours very little overtime pay and the company took all tips for breakages no one to blame for this crisis but themselves now that doesn't apply to your business but can you see that point oh definitely you know it's hospitality has been notorious for years for not looking after staff you know and it's there's definitely areas like even this new legislation towards tips and how they're allocated and should be given to staff it's completely you know it's completely right and it's it should have happened years ago yeah um and like you know when you are a young person that's maybe only starting out of 19 or 20 and if you're not being treated properly of course they're not going to stay but maybe the balance is tipping now from the employer to the employee and that's been a long time coming it'll take a while to work its way through but maybe that's the way that being said you know what happens though and this is where the public who aren't involved start feeling it the price of a pint goes up the price of a dessert goes up the price of a starter goes up the price of socialising goes up that's part of it this is what inflation is all about yeah like even since the first of January like across our dry goods that we would buy on a regular basis the cost increase across the board is an average of 12 percent you know your electricity is going up your gas is going up so you know obviously businesses are going to have to take this hit and incorporate it into their menus the price 11 for everybody is going through the roof so will people you know going out is going to become really a treat not you know it's all it's all a huge worry at the moment for everybody I think yeah yeah but the country a lot of people are working too so I I know where you're coming from I'd be hopefully hopeful that that maybe you know we will see a good couple of years but I'm not directly involved in it and you know better than I do Linda if anyone's interested in this is it based in Kilkar or kitty bags or no it's it's based in Kelly bags and it's a Sunday off every week guaranteed and then another day off month and it's like I say you won't be working later than six o'clock in the evening excellent pay taps are done properly um holiday pay bank holidays everything is done above board and correctly and we'd love to hear from somebody who might be interested I'm tempted careful what you watch for I'll tell you I'll tell you at Fusion Kilkar on Twitter if you want to send a DM to to Linda and crew listen thanks very much I hope you get sorted and I hope you have a wedged year I really do thank you all right take care thanks very much no no it's nice to speak to you take care Linda 08 6 60 25 000 what's up some text to that number comments on the way and more guests bluebird care are hiring nurses and carers across Donegal call 9 1 2 9 5 6 2 bluebird care are sponsors of today's show Michael Murphy sports and leisure has everything 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pankrana we're on your phone call or email away highland radio weather updates with ireland west airport thinking of a sun holiday this summer with a family flight to alicante malaga faro mayorka and malan with ryan air ireland west airport you're flying okay so let's have a look at that weather forecast and i can tell you that a few bright spells this morning and early afternoon but mostly cloudy and dry apart from a few spots of light rain and drizzle though it'll get more wet as the day wears on we'll tell you more about that as the morning wears on right now checks on goods along the irish sea border are expected to stop on thursday that's the day of course after democratic unionist party minister edwin poots called for a inspections of products from great britain into northern ireland to be stopped no it's not fully clear at this time if that's happening but we can talk about that it's a turbulent uh some turbulence in politics in northern ireland because we also learned this morning that northern ireland's first minister paul given intends to announce his resignation later today there has been no official statement from mr given's d up party but sources told the bbc that announcement is expected and the way power sharing is set up in northern ireland that move would mean that deputy first minister michelle o'neill also loses her position the roles of first and deputy first minister are a joint office so we'll talk about that of course as that develops senator now blaney spokesperson on northern ireland and member of the good friday agreement committee uh with his party fina fall right okay um can you understand what edwin poots is trying to achieve in calling for these inspections to stop now no i couldn't say i understand what he's trying to achieve great um although then maybe analyze what has maybe been called for by the d up and up to now there were there were efforts made by the party to have article 16 important to being uh that hasn't happened um there has been threats of taking down the power sharing agreement and um i suppose this could be deemed as another escalation of efforts by the d up in relation to the protocol um there's a i suppose a a few things that that needs to be taken into context first of all trade northern ireland has never been better the um bell fast port has never been does here so from the point of view of the interest of the people of northern ireland trade um has never been in a better place than currently is so the protocol is working um not just to everybody's liking um but as far as i'm going to say that is the most important thing that the protocol is working but it puts put staff into a bit of a bind doesn't it because you know he says he's got legal advice but there is other legal advice out there that says um that ending these checks would breach international law it puts his staff in an awkward position i presume just because they're directed to do something and i think they've ignored a similar direction in the past it wouldn't indemnify them from you know effectively being seen to be breaking the law or perhaps it would so i mean it's good this could backfire quite severely on mr putz i'd imagine yeah well i'm aware of some mlas it's done questions in store max um to the extent that that it has happened what are the consequences and the reply from his own office uh actually uh stepped out the consequences uh and the consequences as as you've just said um there's an obligation on the british government to ensure that the checks and balances take this um but the storm and may well end up coughing up in relation to us after our any cases taken by the was treating us not in relation to protecting the the checks and balances that are nested in relation to the the obligations and agreements they have entered into uh with the u um but as you did say earlier it's not just clear yet if um checks and balances are still taking place or not yeah but also you know i mean obviously there's the european context there's the irish-british context but there's also the political situation in northern arland which is you know could go either way at any stage you know uh and this um undermines the power sharing agreement as well this is not a decision really can be taken unilaterally is it this is a decision that should be taken um you know amongst all parties uh in the power sharing executive i'm not sure if that's linked with the news that the uh first minister paul given intends to resign that speculation at the moment well i might say it's pretty good speculation if the truth be told yeah and as i said earlier um the dup have been threatened to take down the power sharing agreement um we've had three years and we're not two days in the past whereby that was the case and it really messed up the workings of of the six countries um completely on their own undesirable situation and that's the last thing you'd wish for and you'd hope it's not going to happen um but unfortunately it's it's been it's been muted and it may happen but the one thing that that we have to have in context here is that whoever is in government the responsibility to look after their life and the workings of northern ireland is never been working better from a trade perspective so the motives have to be calling the question and there is an election on the corner in may in may and i would say that um i don't see how the how the people of northern ireland no matter what persuasion you are um we can't see this as a positive move okay well we'll see how the day develops senator nar blaney spokesperson uh for fear to fall on northern ireland a member of the good friday agreement committee thank you very much for joining us now yesterday we were speaking to anthony he was the parent of a child at skol mora um now a a group of special needs students were moved out of the school because of covid were told and into a lake house it's called locally they say it's not fit for purpose that the four is in part seems unstable that there's damp inside we were contacted by other parents who said that they share the concerns okay and others with students starting in september wondering will they be in the main building or out in this house now uh we were told by the school that the reason uh this decision was made was because of covid and that um the decision will be reviewed once guidelines are reviewed but we were also told by others that two rooms that we used for these students have been turned into a library and an re room we haven't been able to get a statement from the school further to that to try and find out what's going on here because we want to make sure and i'm not making any accusations but we want to make sure that you know what were the reasons for this decision being made has the space for these students because apparently it was about space been designed redesigned to be used for something else and if so why and also really you know what would it take as it relates to a change of guidelines to get these students back into schools because we heard from parents as well whose children uh that the interaction the integration is actually more important than the academic uh element so we are still chasing that up still looking for answers we got this contact from a parent that says i only heard the playback of the parent talking about his son in school by the way caroline did we get anything back from the school in relation to our further inquiries we still have nothing back okay they obviously they're very very busy but uh it was only a couple of relatively simple questions so we it'd be nice to get some answers okay i'm also a parent whose son attends the school and has special needs and his first year he got on great in the unit on the school grounds however i wanted to say also that the school had never once contacted me to inform me of his transition to the house i agree with the other parent the house isn't suitable for the students and the staff also to be honest for example even though it's a short distance walk from the school it still requires staff making numerous walks over and back to the house with the students and with our weather most days they be soaked or cold they can't all drive over and back with students due to insurance policies and the parking outside the house isn't great because it's on a busy road i'm furious to learn that the unit on the school grounds is being used for a library that's not considering some students are wheelchair users here they're missing out on the large space they had in the unit plus for students and staff also missing out on the bus in the school and the social interactions with students and other stuff so this is another listener stating that this space that these has been uh has been transferred has been converted into a library now i've never i pretty much read all the hsc uh covid guidelines never heard a tell of anything like that but anyway they go fair enough they're waiting on a fantastic new facility but when is that due to come the staff with our children in the house are absolutely fantastic and they're there and they're at their job and go beyond their job to make them all happy every day they are a godsend and a huge asset to the school my worry is if other students would you start in the new term where will they fit and how will this affect the students and staff already there thanks from another special needs child parent okay another one there as I say it's we're not looking this is not um this is not prime time investigates here by the way we're just looking for answers for parents to a couple of very simple questions uh that text is exactly right not only this is working as a chef not only long hours and per wage is no respect and in a lot of kitchens bullying by staff that have had too much power for too long i as i say i've worked in that environment i wouldn't have called it bullying because it's some time ago and maybe we've got new words for what went on but it was uh where i was a couple of kitchens i worked there were tough places to work gregg can you ask your listeners if you know what the two things are that were flying low in the sky at nine twenty this morning up near pramerica it was a bizarre sight at first i thought it was two drones but they didn't move like drones they moved slow and had lights all ran bizarre bizarre strange times and strange things it's very much it could be drones um you know a lot of these drones if they're being used by professionals they do have these ring lights they can move slow you can program what they do maybe a promotional video was being shot but anyway maybe it's aliens i don't know what it might be but anyway did you see this bizarre did you a lot of people sitting in traffic there did you see this bizarre sight in the sky around twenty past nine this morning up near pramerica in letter kenny it was two things uh they had lights around them and the caller says bizarre bizarre strange times and strange things so if you saw them uh and you have any insight into what they are please get in touch and let us know reluctance of those on basic pubp payments to return to work in the service sector highlights how overworked and underpaid they are yeah there's there's a point to that as well okay it is the nine till noon show stay with us uh hour two and three as busy as hour one lots more to keep uh you entertained and informed we'll be back with more after the news uh and obituary notices the nine till noon show with bluebird care providing home care services for all ages in dunagall visit bluebirdcare.ie and bring care home need a new part for your Ford car or van why not call to oms auto parts in boncran with a matter of stock of four parts you're sure to get the part you need free next day delivery on orders over 50 euro call zero seven four nine three six one nine two four or shop online at omsautoparts.ie at electric arland electric vehicle drivers can enjoy up to seven and a half thousand kilometers of free at home electric vehicle charging with 100 green electricity that's up to seven and a half thousand kilometers of possibilities from seeing friends and family to taking road trips and making memories visit electric arland.ie slash green ev to switch today electric arland we're brighter together estimated annual bill one thousand two hundred and twenty five euro new customers on one-year residential green electricity plan discounted unit rate standing charge and pso levy see electric arland.ie slash green ev for terms and conditions farmers banned from burning bushes for more and this week's farmers journal is paul mooney the burning of agricultural waste such as bushes and hedge cuttings is now banned on farms growing concerns that a new department group could cap cow numbers we reveal how irish fertilizer prices are amongst the highest in the world and share tips for reducing costs and farmers warn not to sell carbon credits outside of the sector plus we share tips for dealing with carving difficulties only inside this week's irish farmers journal on sale now beat the cost of brexit and no customs charges do you need a uk address for your limited company or personal use space hub and dairy can provide you with your own virtual office or mailbox have your post and parcels delivered to space up and collected your convenience also brand new 20-foot shipping containers now in stock ideal for all your storage needs at our springtime and comore depots find us on facebook or spacehubdairy.com or call 04871 it's 7807 for details live on air online and on the highland radio app this is highland radio news good morning it's ten o'clock donal kavna at the news desk the bbc is reporting this morning that northern ireland's first minister paul given intends to submit his resignation today as part of the d up's protest against the northern ireland protocol that would see w first minister michelle o'neill also lose her position meanwhile the british government says it's not intervening over the suspension of some post brexit checks at ports in northern ireland agriculture minister edwin poots ordered officials to halt the process last night although it's not clear if those orders are being followed lorries are still being received at a checking facility in belfast port this morning according to local reports adan connelly director of the northern ireland retail consortium says his organization is advising members to continue filling out their paperwork these checks are just one part of the gb to ni process that was agreed between the uk government and the a u as well as customs there's still a responsibility and traders moving goods to complete paperwork under the stammy agri food scheme if they wish to continue being part of that scheme the tourism sector is undergoing a complete rebuild which could take a number of years that's according to tourism ireland as the industry tries to fill 40 000 vacant positions around 30 of staff have left the sector since the beginning of the pandemic and tourism ireland's managing director nyle gibbons says it could be some time before it recovers fully it's a complete rebuild of the industry that's going to happen over the next sort of a number of years really our colleagues in forge ireland have got responsibility and i've got a big program in place to help rebuild the sector here at home for tourism ireland really it's about the marketing of ireland abroad where we have a very good reputation we've done a lot of research and we are already on top of what consumers are looking for in their holidays in 2022 parents in donnie gall are being encouraged to get their applications for school transport in early applications are open for the school year starting this coming september with the deadline april 29th it applies to new applicants only seeking primary or post primary school transport for the 2022-23 academic year councillor paul canning says there can be issues each year so it's important that people apply in good time the rural setting of donnie gall people tend to go where their their sisters or brothers have went before and maybe that is not the closest school to them that is slowly changing and people are starting to realize how it works people need to be aware now that anybody that is going from the primary school to their secondary school they need to get their application in for that boss because maybe they were never using a boss before significant progress has been made on a 12 million euro project to upgrade the water treatment plant in let your mega ward irish water has confirmed the construction contract for the work has been signed with more here's kathryn gaffney the 12 million euro upgrade project aims to support economic social development and tourism in the litter mac award area while reducing the risk of supply interruptions and ensuring compliance with eu drinking water regulations as well as providing a safer more reliable water supply for homes and businesses work on the project is expected to begin in the coming months and will take around two years to complete john mackawain asset delivery regional lead with irish water says the project will involve an upgrade to the existing water treatment plant at the litter mac award site as well as increasing water storage onsite the construction of a new water main from derrick moorlach to the water treatment plant is also said to be another important element of the project improvements to the network are also being undertaken with the construction of two booster pumping stations which will serve the port new ross bag dremla dridge and dairy drill and maharie areas the agriculture and marine minister has been told there is blind anger and fury over how fishermen are treated in the door last evening speaking on the sea fisheries amendment build on the gold deputy podrick mclaughlin repeated his belief that fishermen are being criminalized by current legislation surrounding a penalty points system he told minister trolley mcconnellog in the doll there needs to be urgent changes i'm appealing to you tonight get rid of this offensive language this lower threshold because every citizen i'm going to say it again it's a right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty that is natural justice natural justice that's not what's in this legislation and you know it tells me minister and tells me that the people who drafted this legislation and who are writing your briefing notes in the department of the marine still don't get it one of our cast mostly cloudy and becoming windy today dry for a time apart from a few spots of light rain and drizzle persistent and heavy squally rain will move down from the northwest later this afternoon and evening with a clearance pushing into the northwest later mild for much of the day with highest temperatures of 10 to 12 degrees celsius turning colder later and that's island radio news we're back with news headlines again at 11 o'clock until then from the news team good morning the obituary notice says for this thursday morning february the third the death has occurred of bridey dawdy minkvallad burton porch her remains will be reposing in mcglenn's funeral home to jay from four until seven o'clock with rosary at half past six fall by a private removal to her late residents funeral mass tomorrow at 12 noon in st mary's church kinkashla with interment afterwards in bell crutch cemetery house private two family and friends only on the morning of the funeral the death has occurred of james dawdy karg namanna killie gordon remains reposing at his home this evening from six o'clock funeral leaving his home on saturday morning at half past 10 for 11 o'clock recreation mass in sim patrick's church crossroads killie gordon interment afterwards in the adjoining churchyard the recreation mass will be streamed live via sim patrick's church crossroads killie gordon a facebook page donations and leo flowers if so desired to kree house at golway care of any family member the death has taken place of lucasen colmore dairy house private unrestricted two immediate family only please family and friends are welcome to pay their respects at wj o brian and son's funeral home this evening from six until eight o'clock recreation mass will be celebrated in our lady of lurch church steels time dairy at 12 noon on saturday fall by interment afterwards in this city's cemetery family flowers only please donations and leo flowers if wished to the maybrook day center and mary's males the death has occurred of bobby fulerton 18 less on avenue boncrona remains are opposing at his mother sarah anna fulerton's residents hill crest are revin boncrona removal from the funeral home is strictly for family only removal on saturday morning at quarter past nine going to sip mary's oratory boncrona for recreation mass at 10 o'clock fall by interment in st mary's cemetery cock hill bobby's recreation mass can be viewed on church services dot tv family time please from 11 p.m. until 11 a.m. family flowers only please donations in lieu of desire to white oak center care of any family member or murphy funeral directors the death has taken place of mary team mcconnagley dobeg fanid funeral arrangements to be confirmed later the death has taken place of theriza broadley barnes termin her remains are opposing at her home requiem mass tomorrow morning at 11 o'clock in st clumbage church termin with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery the death has taken place of patrick mcgeary paddy shan dunley kidor his remains are opposing at his late residence funeral will take place in the sacred heart chapel dunley at 12 noon tomorrow with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery rosary tonight at 9 o'clock with highs private from after the rosary until 11 a.m. funeral mass can be viewed on cure and rotate funeral director facebook page the death has occurred of john burns 61 cunney road funeral evening his home tomorrow morning at 20 past nine going to the sacred heart church moth for requiem mass at 10 o'clock and term it afterwards in the adjoining cemetery eyes private for family from 9 p.m. until 1 p.m. and the death has taken place in the shetland islands of moraine robertson and a gamble formerly from the reek hand on it county dunney gall funeral will take place later in inst shetland for more details including any family health guidelines for wigs and funerals please go to hinderedio.com mom why did i call it scottish cheese it's cottage cheese honey and i'm not sure the dogs in other countries speak different languages yeah i think so when will we get there well we've got to fix the car first but there's someone coming to help us is it the man from geneva not geneva he's from a viva oh there's the van now for car insurance with breakdown rescue it takes a viva visit a viva.ie to say 15% acceptance criteria terms and conditions apply minimum premium of 310 euro 15% discount applies to new policies bought online see a viva.ie for details car insurance is underwritten by a viva insurance arland dak a viva direct arland limited is regulated by the central bank of ireland with all the stories that matter across the northwest it's greg hughes on the nine to noon show on highland radio all right welcome back to the second hour of the program still no update on what might be flying through the skies of letter kenny at 20 plus nine this morning um caller thought they were drones turns out uh he doesn't believe they're drones now also interesting footage appearing online of um funny things flying through the skies of belfast completely unrelated um apparently may be a plane flying over arland had to make an emergency landing at belfast international airport just seeing videos emerging of it nothing catastrophic or anything just don't be worrying but just another strange occurrence in the sky hi greg is it true that the smart meters that esb are installing in homes emit electromagnetic magnetic radiation causing cancer can you update if you don't want this installed in your house um listen there are people that have particular for some reason objections to smart meters um and they've been described as having all manner of things they're just the same as anything else um i don't know anything about electromagnetic radiation i would doubt it very very much indeed uh john from the fin valley club uh flying club here breaking news and aviation grapevine grapevine i'm just referencing that belfast situation thanks john we not sure what it is just yet but uh thank you for that update we'll see what emerges there uh the sheep loose on the road at the dry arch roundabout clan re approach with care okay that's a hectic enough joint junction there without sheep being out and about um couple of things facebook uh there a lot of uh the value of facebook has been wiped off their shares today they've suffered the first fall in daily active users for 18 years can you imagine they're worried that younger people are moving away from uh the likes of facebook on to tiktok and other platforms maybe people don't like the censorship as well that could be a factor but the share prices have taken a massive hit billions wiped off the value of that company also advertisers moving away from facebook clearly seeing that it's not quite um the the golden ticket that maybe it's been made out to be uh you still can't beat the traditional ways of advertising if you want to call our advertising team by the way this is just by the way 07491 25000 and actually reach the years of people that will be buying your product but also too this is an interesting one uh and no harm to this they've uh or are providing an update on messenger you know lots of people use facebook messenger that will let you know when someone has screen captured your chat um people who use snapchat would be well used to that that happens with that platform but also with uh facebook so i think that's a good thing that you know if people are uh screenshot in the conversation there are other ways to capture it without uh there's other ways to capture it though without notifying the um the other person on the other end but still i think it's uh to be welcomed right okay coming up very shortly we're going to be doing uh a conversation we were supposed to do it yesterday but we ran over uh and it's as a relation it's it's brian mooney he's a guidance counsellor and we're going to be finding out what the situation is what are the implications of this final decision that's been made as it relates to the leaving sort and junior certs by the way so maybe you are a younger person who's doing a leaving circle maybe an older person but maybe you have people in the family have you any questions as it relates to the announcement that has been made um or what you should or should not be doing as it relates to preparing for your leaving cert and your life beyond brian mooney he's been at this for years he knows everything about uh guidance counselling and what have you in education he's going to be joining us very shortly to answer your questions or my questions but i'm saying if you've got any questions you would like me to put to brian mooney get them into us now because we'll be going to him after the bingo numbers and a quick break it's time for ncbi bingo on highland radio it's thursday the third of february jackpot day you're playing for the jackpot prize of eight thousand four hundred euro on the pink sheet the reference number is s4 it's game number five the jackpot number is 26 this number can come out in any position from the next 10 numbers drawn and now here are your daily numbers 35 32 19 37 54 nine 38 two 36 and finally 76 phone your claim to nine one zero four eight double three before eight tonight leaving your name contact number and the name of the shop where you purchased your book and we'll call you back the next working day get all your ncbi bingo information at highland radio dot com the nine till noon show with bluebird care providing home care services for all ages and done it all visit bluebird care dot ie and bring care home it's back the holy in the sun september 26 to october third contact cassidy travel dublin or visit deck the nerdy dot com fuse box gone haywire water pressure too weak boiler finally gone kaput ah the good news is there's a local hero for that boilers plumbing electrics locks and drainage take the hassle out of home repairs with local heroes dot ie our online service connects you with trusted trades people in your area and all work comes with a 12 month guarantee backed by board gosh energy get a quote in minutes at local heroes dot ie terms and conditions apply dunagall hearing clinic now open up your short letter kenny and bunkranna now offering state of the art rechargeable hearing aids free with your prsi also pain free micro suction wax removal services 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and shopping all under one roof letter kenny shopping center bringing you the time at the time is sixteen minutes past ten now minister for educational mafoli said her department is not in a position to offer students the same leaving start options as last year where students could choose between being awarded accredited grades or sitting an exam instead the minister confirmed that the leaving sir will go ahead in june as an exam only miss foley said students will get considerable choice with less content required to be studied and minister foley said students would be offered even greater choice in their exams this year compared to 2019 and 2018 with papers that were radically different okay brian mooney guidance counsellor and irish times education columnist joins us now i suppose now the dust is beginning to settle brian is it a case that this really was the best and only option really available when you think about it obviously the students were treat were facing a very unfair scenario and you know they made huge representations and you know the likes of charlie mcconnellog and you know joe mcqueen and other good government representatives were inundated with kind of representations and they were heard the problem was giving them the assessed grades which they students of 2021 got was impossible because it was based on standardizing every applicant's application you know on the basis of whatever their junior cert result was as a base 25 percent of this year's leaving sir didn't do transition year and therefore there is no junior cert results so there was no national standardization base so what they basically ask themselves is how can we give them what last year's students got without actually going through the success grade process so what they decided to do was to make the papers as easy as it possible is to make them when they are marked they will then have a bell curve and that bell curve will be moved up till it equates to exactly the bell curve for 2021 and everybody's every student's mark within that bell curve will be will be moved up accordingly until we get to that so they've got exactly what they were looking for equality with the highly inflated grades of 2021 so so what does that mean this is something I haven't been able to figure out so if I don't bother studying right and I go in I do my leaving cert and I scrape through okay I pass all subjects yeah on an individual basis my marks aren't elevated to match last year are they they're they will be elevated but they'll be well elevated wherever you got your result so if we have to bring everybody up 3% to get to next to last year your very basic pass which of course Greg you would never get you'd obviously get a very good result didn't say it but go on will be brought up 3% yes because at the end of the day there are a finite number of places on every course in whatever you're applying for and the top 100 students within the grid will get those 100 places if it was only this year students who are applying then we wouldn't have to do any of these adjustments but only 60% of the applicants to the CAO are this year students there are at least 10,000 students from last year applying which is why we have to do this maybe two and a half three thousand students from 2020 a couple of thousand maybe from 2019 etc and you have adults and you have students from Northern Ireland and more importantly for the last in last year we'd nearly 6,000 students from Europe who would have traditionally gone to England but because they're now international students in England they're now coming here so effectively all of that pool of candidates are competing for the places if there's 100 places on offer it's the best 100 set of points get in so if you only you know get a modest leaving search you won't get the place even if you're brought up do you believe and I want to get to the fifth year's because if I was a fifth year now I'd be going oh boy here we go but we'll catch that in a moment is it will this bell curve work in a way that students this year will not be disadvantaged against those that got the inflated grades last year and those that carried over from the year before because there is not an unlimited amount of spaces who loses out if anyone okay let's see who loses out nobody from this year will lose out because they will get the maximum possible score possible it will equate to those who got the results from last year so the 10,000 from last year who would have had an advantage in relation to this year's students have now lost that advantage the ones who are losing out maybe the ones from 2020 who got a bump on the 2019 but not to the extent of last year and the real losers are the ones from 2019 and previously but if you're over 23 years of age and you're applying to the CAO you are treated as an adult and therefore your application is not based on your CAO points but on your life experience up to 20 or up to 23 years of age so it's that tiny cohort probably between 23 and 19 or 20 who have points from 19 or 18 and basically the points are you know only a fraction of what the students are now getting the problem we're not we're not going to worry about this year and maybe next but eventually presumably we'd have to worry about it is this is a permanent inflation of grades then is it we can't it's just it's just it's just for 2022 yes but we can't dump all this now on fifth years because that's the problem this is the big problem with this solution you have now given the class of 2022 who very effectively to their student representatives and by going and see their TDs who got thousands of representations from around the country they got what they wanted but the fifth years are now stuck but they're going to have the full exam no concession on papers as of now and no inflation of grades so effectively if you have a cohort of students from 2022 and some from 21 etc sitting waiting to apply next year they are going to literally dominate the places in relation to the class of 23 so what they have now said is we're going to have to sit down and figure out starting with the base we have for 2022 how do we take down this grade inflation how many years are we going to do it over are we going to do it over two or three or five or seven so that effectively we're not disadvantageing a huge group of students you know on the basis that they are going to be disadvantaged by the previous year's applicants but I would say one thing to you Greg at the end of the day this is a really interesting conversation between you as you and me as two adults but as I said previously to you every single place in college will be fought over and you know it's a competitive process so students need to realize the parliamentary parties took meeting took place last night this issue is off the political agenda it's seen as being solved you have your mocks coming up next week it is time now to focus for you on preparing for those orals which take place over Easter the written exams taking place in June the mock papers may not correspond exactly to what you're getting in June because they won't have been adjusted but the experience of the mock particularly for the 25 percent of students who've never done a formal exam ever in their life because they didn't do the junior term they need to use this as an emotional experience as an experience of how do you do timing around exams how what do you read the paper when you get in do you prepare your answers in rough work at the beginning so that your brain is kind of filtering stuff as you're going through do you use the last few minutes at the end of your exam to go back over your paper to get that extra few marks by spotting things you could add if you do that in the mocks and then take that experience forward prepare for the exam to the best of your ability as I'm sure you would have done in your day then effectively in the competition for places on specific courses you will do as best as you can possibly do okay so it's time to get down to business then and I suppose that's a message for students but us also as parents and guardians we can say it's not fair this that the other but this is where we're at what we need to do is get our head in the game now and say we've got you know maybe preparation wasn't fantastic but we've got a window of opportunity here now and we have to throw the kitchen sink at it throw the kitchen sink because every course has 60 places or 80 places and at the end of the day it'll be the 60 students with the highest points so it doesn't matter if your points go up 10 percent in adjustment you're never going to go up in relation to where you stand in relation to everybody else's results so you need to compete for whatever it is you're looking for in september and get your head down now and prepare for it yeah okay and what is your your your message to parents and guardians and how you support in that I mean is it a case of you know saying right what we have this conversation the background noise we have to ignore that now we have to sort of get in get into the zone at the end of the day what parents can say is the solution that the adults in the room the politicians in the room came up with was to ensure that if you're doing the leaving start this year you will get the maximum points that have ever been given which was 2021 based on a profile but within your own group within the group of this year six years also competing with students from last year who'd have the equivalent points and some from previous years who will have less of an advantage than you have it is a competition for whatever course that or career you're aiming for and you will only get that place if you give it whatever sucks over the next four months and do your best you can only do as well as you can but ultimately it's about preparing for those orals next week preparing for the sorry the mucks next week the orals over Easter the written exams in June and forget about all this white noise and politics stuff it's over yeah exactly and you made a really good point as it relates to the parliamentary party meetings last night it didn't come up as such you know what I mean that's not what was being leaked and if it's not being leaked from that it's off the news cycle for them uh a caller son wants to join the army after doing their leaving search and the question is what should I do now I'm not sure they're asking that question what should I do to support them or what should I do to discourage them but obviously you know there are opposition you go ahead there are two entry routes obviously there is the entry route at troop level which is you know based on you getting your leaving search etc and and you can apply through the Irish Defence Forces website if you're talking about cadetship there is a specific application process for cadetship it used to be based on you know you'd get your leaving search you'd get into the cadets you would be it actually put through the university mostly in Galway and you know to do an undergraduate degree but nowadays the the cadetships have become so competitive that a lot of people who have already got university degrees are applying so effectively you know you've got a pool of people even with ma's applying for cadetships and they may be in their early 20s as opposed to school leavers so that could be but there's nothing stopping you getting in it's just it's become more competitive so basically go on the Defence Forces website the address which I don't have off the top of my head I can get that yeah yeah and effectively go in and look at the application processes because obviously you know the cadetships then you will have the various arms of the Defence Forces and they are recruiting actively all the time can we talk about those now that are you know not everyone wants to go to all of the college but maybe they have to go to where they want to be but they're looking at we're in the middle of a housing boom a building boom yes with everything that's going on that's there's going to be a huge demand for skilled workers in in in construction be it you know plumbers electricians whatever it might be there's going to be an awful lot of work for the foreseeable future I'd imagine what's your advice to a parent or if they're listening now someone in fifth or sixth year and they want to pursue a career in that industry what is the best path okay there is a there is a huge expansion in the whole apprenticeship system right and it has started you know gradually over the last number of years the traditional apprenticeships as you refer to in construction have come back and they're coming back very very strongly the key message is that ultimately you have to be taken on by somebody who has a recognised qualification as a plumber carpenter etc an apprenticeship is over seven phases over four years and effectively you have to be with somebody who legitimately has that those those qualifications and obviously in dunny gall you're likely to have a lot of construction going on over the next number of years because of issues that you're only too familiar with and obviously from that perspective you know students need to approach somebody who is prepared to commit to them and they too that that particular qualified tradesperson for that period and they will be registered through sulless but within sulless you now have 62 apprenticeship programs of everything from farm chem to insurance and it sligo to basically in financial services the the whole area of apprenticeship where you are paid and from this year students the employer is now getting 2000 a year for each apprentice which obviously enables them to give a payment to the apprentice in the non-core they always got it in the construction in the motor industry but in the newer apprenticeships that there was no guarantee they would actually be paid when they were in college they were obviously paid when they were actually working so effectively for people who'd be looking at the financial cost of education apprenticeship whether it's in construction or whether it is in the newer apprenticeships is a wonderful way forward and obviously we all know the kind of salaries and wages that people in the trades are now earning so it's a very very attractive prospect not you but do we and not me talking off about those options for people do you know like what is it six out of ten end up going on to the third level I mean it's a massive cohort of people that not on this program but elsewhere might be called unskilled or semi-skilled we don't use those phrases here but yeah should we be talking more about that because there is a massive need and there's probably massive hunger for information yeah minister harris actually this year has done something quite symbolic that on the homepage of the co website when you went in to apply instead of seeing one particular box you saw three one of them was your traditional co apprenticeship which you clicked on and went on to the normal processes you then had a further education box which took you into a website called fetch now to be honest with you I believe that should have been into qualifax because qualifax has every single further education course fetch has a mix and gather them up of all courses up at further education not necessarily level five but you also had a third box which took you would you clicked on apprenticeship and they took you into the apprenticeship sites on solace now how meaningful is that it's there it's on the website but it's it's a symbolic statement saying that here you have three options you can go directly to the ceo you can spend a year or two years mainly one year at further education which as we've discussed before Greg there are reserve places on many of the high point courses in the ceo for students who have that one year further education qualification so if you're not going to get really high points in your seat in your leaving cert you could use maybe a further education qualification to get in by the reserve places and you now have the apprenticeship route but basically that will just take you to the solace website which will give you details about all of the apprenticeships including construction but at the end of the day apprenticeships are based on working with a trades person recognized by solace and holding the full qualification and you have to find somebody who's prepared to commit to you for four years and you to them that's the difficult okay a couple of quick questions just on that a caller asks why don't they bring back proper in inverted commas apprenticeships through a technical college for the building sector like ly it or slide go it but the point is when a student is taken on by a trades person there are seven phases in their training half of them are with the the trades person on site the other half are in the colleges so we're doing that that's what we are doing and that's where they get their training it's every second phase is in college out of college okay right so that's there okay that's good and finally um do we know what happens if a student is unable to sit there leaving cert due to having covid or being a close contact now in terms of close contact i think that whole system will be changed before then where i don't think close contacts will be a thing and i don't think anyone i think not everyone's going to be being tested for uh covid pretty soon so i'm not sure where we'll be at time of leaving cert so it's a wait and see or is there an answer there is an answer minister joe mckew when he was minister for education did something quite compassionate and he brought in a system whereby if somebody had a bereavement during the actual leaving cert process they were allowed to step back for three days to enable them to to mourn a direct family member um a parent a sibling possibly a grandparent i can't remember exactly what the criteria were for the full amount of people obviously for the last two and those exams took place in and around that loan i think in the month of july after the leaving cert finished at the end of june for the last two years that couldn't happen because of covid but now that is being reintroduced so this year if there is somebody who has covid cannot attend the exam or has a bereavement there will be a full resetting of the leaving cert with alternate papers which will take place uh a month following or whatever dates will be made available um where it will be nationally all of that will be worked out but ultimately somebody who misses an exam for a reason which is within the criteria will be fully accommodated okay another interview passed with uh full marks thank you so thank you kreg no need for accreditation thank you very much indeed brilliant as always brian thank you thanks a million greg all right take care brian mooney guidance cancer and Irish times education columnist now can you play a request for john and brydie farron lower keel drum gortel hall cool be celebrating their diamond wedding 60 years anniversary today can you play the homes of donnie gall by brydie gallaghert love from your children katharine bernie john maureen and claire your grandchildren paul katey shawn patrick joseph daniel una rory charlotte elina larina and great grandchild koa i believe it is koa beautiful name it looks beautiful koa okay right now uh i can't play that song for you but hopefully you'll enjoy this one because we've selected a special song for um well a request came in from connell mcburtey and he says my aunt is uh in a nursing home in donnie gall and will be 106 on thursday that's today um she lives in aris guido nursing home in derri beg she was born in dunlow but spent many years in cladbank scotland could you please play a request for her this morning which we're delighted to do so a very special song selected for you um our listener in aris guido nursing home born and spent much time in dunlow um and uh lived many a year in scotland and she wants to hear this song okay there he is the man himself daniel o donnell all right uh we were trying to find out what was flying over letter kenny uh early ronah koala says i think it must be the russians that were flying about letter kenny this morning could it be could vlad be playing an invasion perhaps hi greg if the person that was asking about the smart meters doesn't want one they can opt out just contact the esb and tell them you don't want it thanks greg yeah indeed uh i think there's there's a lot of people uh and i understand it and and i was engaging with someone on on uh on on twitter this morning um just to try and find out a bit more information that really hit deep into stuff you know um like picking two random dates and saying there's 666 days between them and it must be a sign and that's where how decisions are being made and and and you know and that's fine if people want to think that but it um the the meters are just smart meters like your smart plugs your smart uh speakers and everything else but if you want to opt out of them do i would again as i say i would like to know my electricity usage all the time and i hope one of those meters might be able to allow me to do that uh right okay more of your comments here greg it's a pity now blaney is not able to call a spade a spade the dup hanging on by their fingertips to remain in power within the north the dup still believes that anyone who's not a unionist is a second-class citizen it's time they realize they're living in the 21st century not the dark ages and it's time they were called out for it uh right okay that's one uh opinion a caller says apprenticeships uh taking longer now my son started in october 2020 he should have been in college after the first six months but still hasn't and doesn't know when he will he thinks he'll never he'll be near six years before he actually qualifies okay i wasn't aware of that right now just before we take a break um we've got a note in here to say we are a young social innovators transition year group from loretto second every school in letter kenny uh this was paddy divver referenced this yesterday by the way we're holding a mica student stance demonstration inside our school premises solely for the students of loretto the mica action group tds media and yourself we're hoping that we can unite the donagall schools together by having them do something similar to we're inviting you to school to the school at 330 to join us in solidarity and help raise awareness for students affected by mica on friday the fourth of february you're more than welcome to give a quick speech to the attendees um i'm not sure this was directed at me um but they're having in in that school they're having a protest at half one they're asking others now we would love to have spoken to them we reached out unfortunately they've been as far as we can determine prohibited from speaking to us about that which i think it's a fantastic initiative and these people directly affected by it i understand i suppose it's on it's within the confines of the schools so the school has uh the say on that but um i'd love to have chatted to them but unfortunately i don't believe they can um but maybe maybe i don't know we'll see um so that's in that school and maybe others as well we'll get some clarity on that oh wait six sixty twenty five thousand uh shocking the reputation of the uk on the protocol is important anyone who cares about the uk should feel the shame this morning the d upia definitely finished in northern arland now says a caller uh greg i listened to dirgery yesterday and i realized that he should have made a complaint about my father's treatment in there long ago she gave me the courage to take pen to paper last night i hope others do the same something has to change dirgery grant told us a story over 25 30 minutes yesterday of her experience in hospital and what she witnessed i tell you what i'm going to do later on i'm going to cut that interview out and stick the video up on uh the socials and on our website as well for those of you who may have heard about it but didn't hear it it's powerful stuff and i've had these conversations with all the people in the past but for obvious reasons they were reluctant to speak out dirgery did uh and i think it started an important conversation and a good conversation for the health service as well that perhaps need to be had out in public the nine till noon show brought to you by bluebird care providing nurse led home care services in dunnig all call bluebird care 91 29562 and bring care home if i learned one thing in the last year it's that falling into debt can happen to anyone luckily i heard about the isi the insolvency service of ireland their professional advisors can help you restructure or even write off your debt the first thing they said to me was every debt problem has a 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show and we welcome back into studio nikki bradley how are you nikki i'm good how are you i'm good indeed right now the last time you spoke to us was before christmas and it was around the time that you were told um or or it was advised you well how does that work do they recommend an amputation or do these they say you have to have it how does so it actually was my decision this time um i went over to birmingham a few times in the last few months and a couple of options were presented to me one was a full leg amputation which is called a hind quarter amputation and the other one was 3d printing for another hip and then the last option was a rotation plastic um i'd been told about a rotation plastic a number of years ago and when i went home and googled it and saw what it actually was i instantly said no um but when we went home and talked through the options this time around we realized in terms of infection um the rotation plastic was probably the least likely to get infected obviously if i went for a full amputation then it's kind of problem solved but that's obviously the you know that's the end of the line that's what we're trying to avoid um so the 3d printed hip is still metal going into the area therefore the chance of infection and because i've had an infection in that area before were too high and it just wasn't worth the risk so suddenly the thing that was very much off the table went back onto the table um and i started looking past how the rotation plastic looked um didn't think of the cosmetic side of it and thought of more down the line what it would mean for me and we eventually came to the decision so i let my surgeons know before christmas and then this month i got my date last month i got my date for the 7th of february which is this coming monday and that is you've opted for the full amputation no i've opted for the rotation rotation okay and what does that involve or what does that mean to you it's quite hard to explain so what i would recommend to your listeners is is to google it as i'm talking um so basically it's it's a form of amputation so in my case they'll be removing my hip joint and they'll be removing my leg up until my knee um and then the lower leg from the knee up will be brought up and attached up at the hips so essentially my knee joint will become my hip joint and my ankle joint will act as my knee joint um and in term in in order for that to be able to happen they have to rotate um the leg because the joints will now have to work in a different way and in three to six months if everything goes well i should be able to wear prosthetic which will be honestly life changing it'll bring bring my legs back to evil equal length obviously this will be the prosthetic and my current my real leg um at the moment i have 10 centimeters of a leg difference and that day to day is very difficult even just in terms of balance so that's one of the things i'm really looking forward to however there's six months before that can happen so for basically from now until you know the end of the summer i will have to get on with life as an amputee and get around with my crutches and you know set the house up to make sure that it's safe and stuff like that so that's what we've been doing in the lead up to the surgery yeah and and there's no right time for it either it's a case of just getting it done now yeah and that's why i was in the position to make the decision so in any of my past surgeries i've always it's always been an emergency you know it started with cancer then my hip got infected this that and the other so i was never given a choice this is the first time i've actually been given first of all options and second of all a choice the way i think about it is i'm getting a little bit older i won't reveal my but um i'm starting to think down the line and you know there's no right time to have surgery this big the actual surgery on monday will take the entire day i'll be probably the only person on my surgeon's list um i'll then be in icu for at least three days afterwards so it's a huge thing um just to get it done and it's obviously terrifying so big part of my brain was saying put it off put it off but the other side of me was the pain was starting since the pandemic my pain has gone through the roof i'm back on pain medication i'm not able to train the way i used to make my quality of life has gone down considerably and that was what pushed me to the decision i i feel that i'm still young enough to bounce back i still want to do my adventuring you know in 10 years time maybe i won't want to do that anymore and then i'll come out the other side of surgery and not have that motivation and that drive to get as better as i will now but despite the the regression uh during the pandemic your age and your general fitness that you've built up is in your advantage to do it now absolutely and it's that's it's also part of it i've been without realizing that i've been training for this for years and now is the time when i'm in good health in in every other way and also that my head is in the right place because that's a huge part of the recovery afterwards and the rehabilitation so it just seemed like the right time but it's scary oh it's definitely scary and not just for me it's scary for my entire family you know this has been it's all well and good and anybody that's been the person that's having a treatment will will resonate with this when you're the person going through it it's often easier because you're the one that's been in your own head at night thinking everything through and when you come to the decision um you know you have done that that's been an action on your part but when then i had to share all of that information with my family and see how it affected them and see how visibly upset they became as a result that sense of guilt just floors you so it took a lot for us to you know i had to almost convince them that this is the right thing and thankfully they're all on board and my now fiance is definitely on board congratulations thank you thank you that was relatively recent that was um yeah the weekend of my birthday and also the day i got the date for surgery so that one weekend the weekend of the 23rd it was a big one a memorable one i think that's uh if you if you google the word roller coaster that weekend might just quite just might appear and i think it might but it was do you know what it was it was perfectly times and it was you know instead of me thinking of the 21st of january as the date i got my surgery i'll now think of it as the date we got engaged and obviously it was a big date for the surgery but it won't be the only thing that happened that day and it was just amazing and we went then and picked the ring together and it's just been honestly so exciting since and also a huge distraction for for what's coming it's lovely that you picked the ring together is that a bit of a cop out from him no because he used to make it was actually i'm so glad we did this because he can make jewellery and he can he can do great great things with glass work and i had these visions of him coming up with this like piece of some sort of weirdness that he may think and i would fall in love with it so now i'm delighted that we picked it together okay now it sounds absolutely and listen that the uh hope uh is uh all the happiness uh that is deserved um can we before we talk about the the the surgery what will pick up that conversation you started speaking publicly right from the beginning about this to raise awareness of of um of of your condition so it'd be remiss of me not to ask you about that because people might be coming to your store in you for the first time so can you tell us about ewing's yeah so ewing's sarcoma is a rare form of bone cancer that i was diagnosed with when i was 16 i feel like that sentence itself i've said so many times um but the the actual cancer and the treatment was very like i was 16 it was absolutely donkeys ago now um but the treatment itself is what's led to me dealing with what i'm dealing with right now so it was specifically the radiotherapy six weeks of daily radiotherapy 20 minutes a day was the least invasive part of my entire treatment caused the most damage so if this had affected another part of your body we probably wouldn't be sitting having this conversation now well the fact that the thing about both the thing about ewing's is that um it's a bone cancer so i was really lucky in that it was localized however the other thing about ewing's is a it's extremely rare and b that there the survival rate for the first year and a half isn't great so if you get out through that you're in a much better position so i'm one of a select few people that did get out the other side and i thank my lucky stars that that happened um you mentioned a bit speak in public i didn't start that until 2013 so you know a huge period of time passed where i just i i was sick i got better and my goals were more educational based so i had this goal to get to third level and to do some traveling and every time i got a few steps forward i was hit with a huge setback the first being um my hip collapsing and needing um my first hip replacement then a few years later i needed a second which happened in australia i was over backpacking with friends at the time um so there's been huge up and down ups and downs and it wasn't until 2013 when i set up my campaign fighting fit for ewing's that i made the decision from there forward that i would share everything and and i think too because you know uh you're so brave and put on a brave face and doing so much it perhaps doesn't tell the full story of what you've been through you've been through the mill since the age of 16 physically and emotionally like what we see is and i know you share but it doesn't tell the full story you've had it tough i have and and what's coming will likely be the toughest thing i've faced so far which is saying a lot considering what i have been through but at the same time i don't know exactly when but i i had a moment when i started and that's why i'm so grateful that i did start speaking publicly because it didn't just help others it really helped me and i think it was like a sense of just acceptance as cheesy as that sounds i stopped getting scared when i was having surgery i stopped overthinking it as much and mainly because i've been very lucky yes i've been unlucky that i'd had to go through all of this but i'd also been incredibly lucky that i'd come out the other side each time and every time i come out the other side i just felt a bit more confident that it'll i'll continue with that you know that that things will continue to work out now i feel like i'm jinxing myself saying that but um it's it helped me be a bit braver and like what i put on my social media is true and my friends would would agree with that that i'm not putting stuff out and then sitting at home crying yeah yeah when i need to cry i talk about that too and you know even the likes of i was speaking to somebody yesterday about the importance of speaking to professionals when you need to um and that you know in ireland unfortunately we still have that stigma attached to counselling and and especially talking about the fact that you're in counselling i just got rid of that in i can't even remember it was i think it was about 19 or 20 i had i just broke down in tears one day knew that i had reached my limit for what i myself could deal with and i spoke to a professional and i think the first session i literally just cried i don't even know if i gave her my name i just needed to physically get it out and i left that day feeling completely different and from then i felt like i understood the value of it so and i speak publicly about that that it's not all roses it's it's yeah and that's that's why the story's real though because you know this is no criticism of of any one else but you know it has to be a realistic and achievable which is is what what your story is so in terms of you know this surgery that you're going through can you or do you allow yourself to say and i know you kind of said this a little earlier on in the interview you know that this actually will be a huge step forward you know that this is you know something that needs to be done and your life will be better for you afterwards well the thing is there's no guarantees so even though i've made this decision and it's a huge it's kind of a gamble and i've been it's been made very clear to me by my surgeon that there's no guarantees that this will work in fact i had to sign a consent form that if something goes wrong during surgery that he has permission to take the whole leg so what's scaring me the most going into this surgery is i won't know what way i'll be waking up um but at same time you know i if it happens it happens i'll just have to figure it out um it's i don't know it's it's it's terrifying but it's something that has to happen to make life in the future better and i mean that even if they do have to take to take the whole leg because pain day to day like even sitting in this chair if this interview went on for half an hour longer i would my leg would be completely dead when i went to go to stand up i would have you know i'd have to wait a couple of seconds and it's it's those small things that you're dealing with every day affect your mental health and when that started happening happening during the pandemic that's what led me to this decision just do it now and see what happens afterwards okay so the operation is all going well next it's on Monday so you travel over soon uh traveling on Saturday night uh flight Sunday morning and admitted Sunday afternoon and then yeah so this time next week it'll hopefully all be over and you'll have your spell in and um this ICU that you're going after yeah so it'll be nice to you for the first few days with the Royal Orthopedic Hospital in Birmingham i'll be in so roughly about two to three weeks um over there and once i'm cleared to fly back home for rehabilitation then so yeah and as you said you've been preparing for this yeah yeah even in terms of what i'm packing like a couple of friends have given me jigsaws and i've i've loved doing water colour so i have you should see the size of the suitcase they're gonna be like where does this one thing she's going you might look like an arts and crafts teacher or something it's where to go but do you know what it whatever it takes to keep me busy because that one of the biggest things that happened last week one of the most disappointing things due to covid was i found out that i can't have any visitors the entire time i'm in there um i really hoped that because we're kind of so far forward and everybody's vaccinated that i would be at least allowed one person in um because in any of the hospital visits i've had before i've always had visitors and it's the small things it's my mum or dad or my my partner bringing in a coffee i know you say it's small but it's big you know just at that time when you need someone to lean on a wee bit so thank god for zoom because i'll be using it a lot and all my crafts and i'll just have my room filled with stuff but it'll keep me going and yeah okay well listen safe journey and i hope everything goes according to plan i mean you trust these people you've had to trust them in the past and you're putting your trust in them in them again yeah exactly and i just want to say if anybody does want to follow it's instagram will be where i'll be keeping up to date the most my friend you probably know where i'm a boiling we're doing my social media so that's about a woman for that that's um nicky bradley speaks um is my instagram if anybody does want to follow on because as i said i am going to be completely transparent not just for other people but for myself i want to be able to look back on this time and actually remember how i felt in the moment i've never done that before um so it's yeah hopefully you know all right and we'll share share out the links as well too listen to say that the very best of uh the very best of everything i wouldn't say the best of luck it seems inappropriate but uh oh i'll need luck i'll take it yeah okay well look look then okay all right i'm not sure that's wood well oh no listen thanks very much nicky we hope to speak to you again in the future and to get an update and just remind people why they can follow you on instagram yeah so it's nicky nikki underscore bradley underscore speaks brilliant stuff and the best look with everything chat to you soon all right it is 11 o'clock which means it's time for a news update and we say good morning at two minutes past 11 to mikaela clark hi mikaela thanks greg good morning paul given will resign as the first minister of northern ireland later today according to the bbc it would trigger the departure of michelle o'neill as the deputy first minister meanwhile the move to suspend checks on goods arriving into northern arnan port from britain could be another escalation of efforts by the dup against the protocol that's according to dunigal senator nyle blaney who is a member of the good friday agreement committee and finafall spokesperson on northern arnan the suspension of checks came into effect overnight falling in order by the north's agriculture minister edwin putz although it's not clear if those orders are being followed the government is examining giving households a further energy credit later in the year on reducing taxes and charges both the t-shock and tonnage have suggested further measures are being considered to combat the rising cost of living the higher education minister has also announced an extra 1.3 million euro in funding to help third level students deal with the cost of living simon harris says it will be made available through the student assistance fund there's been a huge jump in the number of people waiting on a trolley at letter kenny university hospital today 51 people are waiting on a bed at the hospital according to the iron most latest trolley watch report it's the second most overcrowded hospital in the country today parents in dunigal are being encouraged to get their applications for school transport in early applications are open for the school year starting this coming september with the deadline april 29th it applies to new applicants only that are seeking primary or post primary skill transport for 2022 23 and significant progress has been made on a 12 million euro project to upgrade the water treatment plant in lecce mac award irish water has confirmed that the construction contract for the work has been signed those and the latest headlines will be back with an update again at 12 noon okay makeda thank you very much back after the break bluebird care are hiring nurses and carers across dunigal call 91 29562 bluebird care are sponsors of today's show homeland fuel offers keeping you warm for less 20 kg super therm by five bags get one bag of hardwood logs for a 10 kg wood pellets by 10 get one free for namona briquette by three for 16 euro shop in store or online at homeland dot ie ireland is leaving diesel behind and kelly's toyota is leading the way with our incredible range of self-charging hybrid electric cars we've amazing offers including contributions and trading boosters and with 46 years of experience here in dunigal you can trust us to help you on your electric journey you'll never take a wrong turn with toyota ireland's best-selling car brand visit kelly's toyota mount charles or letter kenny today toyota built for a better world terms conditions apply you are sitting on a busy train an elderly woman got on and even though you were tired you gave her your seat because it's in your nature you know who you are but we don't please get in touch and become an svp volunteer today visit svp dot ie thank you farmers banned from burning bushes for more on this week's farmers journal is paul mooney the burning of agricultural waste such as bushes and hedge cuttings is now banned on farms growing concerns that a new department group could cap cow numbers we reveal how irish fertilizer prices are amongst the highest in the world and share tips for reducing costs and farmers wore not to sell carbon credits outside of the sector plus we share tips for dealing with carving difficulties only inside this week's irish farmers journal on sale now with everything from pedal and electric ride-ons to go karts and scooters there's loads of fun guaranteed all year around at tinnies toys if you the kids birthday coming up tinnies toys can help make it special or get snow ready with a sleigh visit tinnies toys on lec road letter kenny or shop online for express delivery at tinnies toys dot com tinnies toys with so much more than just farm toys island radio weather updates with ireland west airport rinaldo de brunia cabane you can now see both manchester teams in action with ryan air's twice weekly service to manchester ireland west airport you're flying already into the last hour of the program hard to believe but the weather anyway a few bright spells this morning and early afternoon mostly cloudy and dry apart from a few spots of light rain though in the afternoon and evening a band of more persistent rain will cross this region right now tyke daily is chief executive of nursing homes island he joins us now good morning to you tyke thanks very much for taking the call you're welcome great good morning to you right now we have in our hands revised visiting guidance for nursing homes and i don't need to tell you the difficulty this is causing for people who live in nursing homes or those that want to have access to them it's been awful over the last couple of years what are what's going to change now yeah look obviously as you said the backdrop to this is that you know covid has had a disproportionate effect on our health service but particularly in nursing homes so what we're moving to thankfully under the revised guidance by the health protection surveillance center is what we would term i suppose a move to a pre-covid environment and more normalized visiting so from uh tuesday next day of of february the revised guidance is basically saying that um you know would there be much more open access to nursing home care while we remain vigilant obviously because there are still a large number of outbreaks across the country here before a person had to be vaccinated before they visited um we're still encouraging people to use antigen testing before they visit and clearly if they haven't um honestly have symptoms rather of covid they shouldn't be visiting the other i suppose significant change is that each resident would have what is termed a nominated support person so that there would be one person identified as a family member who would have i suppose visiting on a regular basis and would undergo the same rules and regulations if you like as a staff person in terms of pcr testing in terms of covid precautions all right so the minimum level of visiting should be daily visits by up to two people at one time the introduction of a nominated support person for each residents who should normally have regular and unrestricted visiting access and there will no longer be a need for visitors to show immunity through vaccination and previous infection right okay those are the guidelines guidelines it can be very different depending on each nursing home i mean are our managers of nursing homes obliged unless there's very good reason to allow this type of access as outlined in these guidelines yeah but it's ultimately the priority for everybody here greg is to ensure the safety and welfare of all residents and staff so in some cases where there are large outbreaks for example and walking closely with public health it may be necessary to have a variation of the the national guidelines it may be but you might get also one manager who's happens to be more cautious than another uh so you know i mean are they obliged to allow unless there is very good reason this level of access yeah i mean what we're looking at here is a move to a more normalized visiting ultimately and communication is key here look to vast vast majority of people who visit nursing homes understand the risk that's there so on the one hand it's about balancing the risk associated with infection and covid generally with also with the well-being of residents and families so you know this is a bumpy road and we're still not out of covid and that's what that's the tricky balance for us all in society on the one hand restrictions in society generally are lifted but there are still restrictions for example in the acute hospital the maternity services what we're trying to do in the nursing home sector is is moved to a more open visiting procedure but at the same time remain vigilant because look nobody wants to introduce covid into a nursing home we've got to be clear as well that sometimes it may be necessary to restrict numbers not not restrict visiting but restrict numbers so you know if you have a large number of people coming in at any one time clearly you don't want large numbers congregating in the day rooms or indeed in the person's own room so look what we'd ask people to do with us over the next couple of weeks is walk with the the nursing home whether it's public private or voluntary as we I suppose navigate our way out of covid hopefully and you know we'll be back to what we would term a more normalized pre-covid environment and I think an important an important element of this is is is the public in that you know you mentioned covid symptoms you know that could be flu symptoms and cold symptoms you know it doesn't necessarily have to be everything that's covid in other words if there's any risk at all defer the visit if you can do antigen tests ideally yes because that means if you only get one line you're going in there with the least possible chance of either you know infecting your loved one who may be particularly vulnerable all those around them a bit of sort of staying on board with some of the messaging voluntarily yeah absolutely and I think look everybody understands that that you know given the the threat that covid poses particularly to those that are vulnerable or immunosuppressed for example that the last thing we need now is to introduce covid into a setting like that I mean there are still a large number of outbreaks across the country I suppose the other side of it though is the good news is that you know people aren't as sick as they were here before and you know clearly the vaccine is so so effective so you know what I'm hearing from members across the country is that those that have covid either residents or staff in the main are presenting with a lower level of illness and you know it could be something like a bad cold or a flu so that's the positive on it but you know we can't lose sight either that you know we need to suppose as I say move cautiously and vigilantly as we navigate away out of this because we don't know what's coming down the road this time last or you know last year we were in a much different place so thankfully we're in a much much better place now and you know we need to take every precaution in in part our you know ultimately risky settings at the end of the day and walking with people and communication is the key all right listen thank you very much indeed Ty Daly there so this is important information for you by the way this is the criteria for those that provide these services so unless specifically advised by public health at an early stage of outbreak the nominated support person should continue to have access to some part of each day if a resident does not have a nominated support person visiting should generally not be less than two visits per week by one person during an outbreak limitations on visiting should be justified by an up-to-date risk assessment and should be reassessed twice each week so that's something that you could seek to have access to I'm not saying there'll be any resistance to this okay I just know that the people I've spoken with publicly and privately this is why I'm giving this information there should be no restrictions on movement of residents within the nursing home after going on outings or visits outside of the nursing home unless a significant exposure risks occur during the outing there will no longer be a need for visitors to show immunity through vaccination or previous infection no need and in line with established guidance there remains no infection prevention and control requirement to restrict window visits all right so there you have it I think that's positive news keep us up to date in terms of if you have the the access that has been outlined when do they come into effect is it the seventh let me just double check when these new guidance comes into effect because that's an important part of this it's from the 8th of February it's very possible it might be introduced softly before then but from the 8th of February those new rules apply then I until noon show with bluebird care providing home care services for all ages and done it all visit bluebirdcare.ie and bring care home if you're buying new tires contact auto fast-fit in leather kelly get great grip and great brands at prices to suit every budget tow bars also supplied and fitted for cars and commercial vehicles auto fast-fit pierce road letter kelly call 911 2174 wet and wild is a local family business fully stocked with waterproof jackets walking pants walking boots goth aches trainers and merino socks to keep you warm dry and looking great in the dunnegull outdoors with friendly staff to assist you get yourself out now at wet and wild and enjoy the dunnegull outdoors beat the cost of brexit and no customs 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day between drivers and older pedestrians like me when we catch each other's eye to say do you see me or i'm crossing but when people don't look out for each other those connections can be missed and so can i too many older pedestrians are being killed on our roads when we look out for each other we keep each other safe please look out for older pedestrians from the road safety authority visit or sa dot ie mom why did i call it scottish cheese it's cottage cheese honey and i'm not sure the dogs in other countries speak different languages yeah i think so when we get there well we've got to fix the car first but there's someone coming to help us is it the man from geneva not geneva he's from a viva oh there's a van now for car insurance with breakdown rescue it takes a viva visit a viva dot ie to say 15 acceptance criteria terms and conditions apply minimum premium of 310 euro 15 discount applies to new policies bought online see a viva dot ie for details car insurance is underwritten by a viva insurance arland dak a viva direct arland limited is regulated by the central bank of ireland okay joined on the program now by adam canning hi adam hi great gradient nice to chat to you right so tell us what did you spot in the skies over belfast this morning uh so i was driving up the end to this morning edmund work uh belfast and i looked up and i just seen what can i really describe is like a ball of freemes falling from the sky and like obviously like an orange peel behind it and i know a lot of people who says it was paper trails and that's what i am pretty certain i know what paper trails of an airplane look like and this was completely different um as this is and did it appear that i mean was it clear that there was an airplane that was involved in this or could it have been something like a meteorite or something uh could have possibly been a meteorite or a comet or something obviously my first thing was i think it was an airplane like it looks it looked honestly it looked like an airplane um that was on fire coming out of the sky um that's what it looked like to me and in terms of its descent it was descending it was like it was cleared that was definitely descending very very quickly i was going like a very steep downwards angle and did it fall beyond the skyline did you see it actually sort of you know where it you know either disappeared behind something or landed well if you've if you've seen the video that opposed to this morning um you can see the kind of fell in behind like dark clouds um once i went behind the dark clouds i couldn't really see anything else but i did see it falling from above the clouds and fallen down behind the clouds if you know what i mean yeah have you been able to i mean obviously instantly if you post something on social media people are going to say that you you created it or whatever it might be but have you seen has anyone given you any information suggest what it might actually have been um not to this point to be honest i got to help us there and i once i started working about eight o'clock and i'm only really getting the break now just to be seen strongly so yeah actually we've just got a note here on the on the wires that we have access to uh it was a plane um an engine on fire and had to make an emergency landing at belfast international airport so it was an airplane you were spot on that's what you captured there you go there you go all right so uh hopefully it landed and everyone's safe yeah i hope so i know oh well it's good to hear yeah okay um all right okay that's interesting uh i definitely knew it wasn't like normal paper trails are mine i knew i knew it wasn't yeah you can see from your video it's it's it's it's almost like more disruptive it's hard to describe yeah you know vapor trails are quite fluid this was a this was disruptive kind of a trail like like smoke yeah yeah okay adam listen thanks for sharing that have a have a good rest of the day appreciate it greatly okay no problem thank you take care that's adam canning who captured what now turns out to have been an emergency landing at an aeroplane uh an engine caught fire seemingly uh and we had to be careful a little earlier on because we weren't sure what it was but other people had contacted us saying that they were tracking it also on the the likes of those flight radar websites so we'll get an update for you as soon as we can i'm not sure if its destination was belfast or if it was diverted to belfast or it was flying uh you know across these islands and and happened to make a landing there but as soon as we get an update as to uh the nature of the landing and um what kind of plane it was and all that type of business we'll bring that to you just as soon as we get it but just as i was speaking to adam their confirmation uh on the wires that in fact it was a plane uh which had an engine on fire performing an emergency landing we wish everyone everyone is safe the nine till noon show brought to you by bluebird care providing nurse led home care services in dunagall call bluebird care 91 29562 and bring care home if your child is aged five to 11 you could now register for their free covid 19 vaccine covid 19 usually causes mild to moderate illness in this age group but it can cause more severe illness all vaccines used in ireland are tested before they're approved by the european medicines agency to find out more or to register go to hsc.ie or call hsc live on 1800 700 700 from the hsc i am making my holy community year i'm going to make fun of it i got everything i needed my dress tiara bag and cheese i had an amazing time so many beautiful dresses and mom was able to pay a deposit for the perfect union dress for your union day go to mackahummies bye in harsh winter weather once and higher have all you need to stay safe and keep warm there's great deals on coal color gas firewood and heating oil with free local delivery also electric fan halogen and oil filled heaters see in 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taco and cpc route and fleet training will be provided for further information and to apply online go to bus air and dot i e forward slash jobs highland radio time checks brought to you by letter kenny shopping center the center of shopping in donny yall free parking and shopping all under one roof letter kenny shopping center bringing you the time as good morning to you at 24 minutes past 11 welcoming into studio now mary o brian irish language officer with the rosses good morning to you imagine why okay right now we're talking about a new body seat that has been installed um it's important port isn't yes it is kair carges column killer we call it or st column kills body seat um the idea came to us as i'm the irish language planning officer in the rosses and we promote encourage and support initiatives through irish in the hold of the rosses from let your muck award to kerry town and that's my area which i covered there are 26 language planning officers in the gaelish of ireland and i'm just one of them so um we were to celebrate um st column kill um earlier this year but due to covet that had to be put back um as the boarding port centre was used as a vaccination centre so i got permission from udris in a gaelish to uh have this event to celebrate this event um last sunday okay and it's a simple initiative isn't it yes it's a simple initiative the best ideas are the most simple yes but it did take us some time so uh we started planning this back in 2021 with the support of people like david alcorn and people in the community we try to involve the schools um the the local primary schools as well and the whole of the community so we started our you know get-togethers and our brainstormings and our meetings way back in 2021 so uh father pat very kindly offered us part of his garden uh to um erect the body seat um in memory of st column kill um so that it would be a place where people could come um and sit together um and rest a while chat for a while and we're delighted that this is now going to become an even bigger um idea in that we're going to have a sensory garden in father pat's garden and there's something to and we'll talk more about that the plans in the future but i suppose in a way with it being deferred there's something uh you know even more fitting in that it's a maybe it's a place for people to reconnect you know if if some of those connections were you've heard now listen people uh the the the nephit if you've been following them religiously they're saying now go out and live your lives that's what they're saying to you uh so even the most caution of cautious of people who've been following that advice they're saying go out obviously be cautious but go out and live your lives visit your family meet your friends go to the dancing go to the bingo go and sit in the body seat never chat yes i i agree with you and i was listening to um the radio this morning um what i was um driving in um and you were talking widely about the leaving surgeon as a parent myself um i really feel for our young people who have not been able to get together um so from the young to the not so young um please god and people will be able to get together come together um the centre in bordenport has been a place where people have come together played football um done various classes and last Sunday was the first time that we were able to get together as a community and have that cup on te and as father pat says be able to um keep in contact get in contact with people again we really missed that and we're a nation of social beings we're genetically disposed to doing so so talk to me then now about this becoming an even bigger idea with this sensory garden well our local councillor knowin migari who works tirelessly quietly in our area and she is actually a member of our committee for the plan al tanga um she is going to continue this project um and we hope that we will have a hexagon shaped um garden um sensory garden where people can get together as you'll see from the pictures this morning in the dunagall news and thanks to olma garvin to beaters for taking um for taking the pictures you'll also see that we have three stones of hope dohas solas and bisha so that was all around being positive wellness uh you know sort of being at peace with yourself and being able to get together so father pat has said has given us his garden we we'll erect a hedge dolti boil has been down you know making the area safe and it's hoped that it will be a place where people can get together and meet and be together and be at peace because it's so true and particularly since covid is far and plenty not and plenty our health is our wealth and i was like listening to nicky clark clark this morning as well and she was talking about her health and i think nicky badly sorry um that it's something we've definitely learned through covid may we never see it again is that our health is the most important part of of our wellness and it's only one of the projects that the plan ol chang and the rosson um has done throughout covid and we've done many many wonderful projects one was our gail car program where we set uh we have a a mentor and a learner who uh learned irish together through covid and daniel o'Donnell did a fantastic video for us in the gail talked the the whole out in chrono shallock that's now become our motorway where uh the people were able to online do a video which won them a thousand euros through the gail car program other initiatives that we have in the schools is promoting the kukpluk falkal through uh macklain the mesa student of the month so we have many many projects running it's a seven-year plan it is and it's an important plan on one we've talked of and you've an important role as an irish language officer what kind of strides are we making in terms of you know in the past a lot of the conversation might have been that people may have been reluctant to use irish if they weren't very good at it for fear of you know for fear of someone saying or them feeling that they had put a foot out of place like i'm not saying that is a barrier but you know are we overcoming things like that there where people feel more comfortable at having a go definitely mollanoige agus chukkishad our youth in the rossus just one of the areas uh like we've set up a club oige right for young people and i was amazed they started out in september with kukpluk falkal and they did part of their exam before christmas i was amazed at the progress they were doing and then that is then going into our homes and the children are speaking the language in our homes and they're singing songs and they're doing their dances and they're in conversation with each other and again i'll say as a parent of many leaven search students having helped children through the leaven search i speak regularly to my sons one in boss and one in vancouver and they say that ownership of irish is something that we are now taking on as a nation and also too there was a silly thing it was it wasn't silly but there's a massive appetite for written pride in the language right but i don't think really we maybe we didn't like something silly is that did you see the video recently of a couple of guys arguing in irish okay like it went completely viral the only reason it did is because they were having this exchange that's gay to go that's it that's the only reason uh but people loved it because it's like that's us that's what do you know what i mean and if you could if we can sort of capture so that pride and and why people want a platform that you know half the battle's won i think absolutely and i also think that if we can marry the old and the new so for example you know that our children that stories are being handed down from you know grandparents to our children and vice versa of what they remember of our irish and our young people are then bringing their stories of what they're now doing in irish i think we will have successful um irish program um i think that it would become very natural um it is recognized as an international language and we should take pride we should not fear speaking the coup de focale um and enjoy it for what it is and our leave and search are now going to be setting the leave and search that they hadn't done since 2019 and that they should try their best in all subjects but in the irish language so that it becomes part and parcel of our heritage our doing this and do their best and everyone's best is different everybody's best is different and i could thank many people for the success of the project where's the seat in bordenport but i'm trying to figure out where about okay so uh i'm sure you're familiar with the center in bordenport okay so the seat is actually looking at the the center okay so it's in father pat's garden we will erect a hedge and we have plans as i said through the county council and through nowhere macarvy to develop this as a place and we now hope that the kair carges plan that we will have a kair carges in every balafaren so in every small area um from lecimac award to moladou and to karik finn and to kerri town and bradjan i hope i'm not leaving anywhere and of course dunlow because dunlow is also being recognized as a bala service which is a town services development and i hope that in the next couple of weeks there will be another language planning officer and that we will all make strides to promote the coup le facul your first language is irish it is yes so i do you think in your head in irish i do i do and i didn't have irish from home greg okay i went to scolnyf doey in anagre and may god rest charlie ball was my principal and as a very small girl he had me down the back of the classroom with a book on my head and my reciting schlucked us and let your knee paul the rear knee bone and it was through the love of the language and everything we did sport etc so do you find as you speak and many many people with with two languages whatever they are will will already know this but for those that don't certainly in terms of how you might want to express certain things or certain words that you have to translate from irish into english as you go yes but with you know but for people who don't there are apps like duelingo i'm no i'm no i'm just fine it really quite interesting that's all yeah but then i've i've always um thought in irish yes okay um do you dream in irish i don't know i better ask somebody else that question you know better ask somebody else but our dream and our vision and it is a seven year plan yeah okay that i'm involved with our dream and our vision is that we will increase and it may seem small the spoken word by two percent well dare i say if you could if you could stall the decline i think that would be an achievement at this point but you're going beyond that so i actually find i feel the two percent is actually quite significant absolutely really significant and um a friend of mine brie car from brie car music she actually finished off the day in the center with a song that she herself had written called mean and iskara okay the the daughter of the fisherman um and it was particularly fitting with the regeneration program for bortenport um we'll have the regeneration program for dunlow as well and we hope that in 2022 when you come to the rosses for the merry from dunlow which we haven't had again for two years that um you know we i'm not sure i'll get an invite for 2022 well we're going to give you an invite well i'm on about yeah exactly okay that's okay because i enjoyed i can't remember what year it was well earlier this century 2019 was the last although we were very lucky this year that we actually ran the merry from dunlow virtually no it's fantastic and i think i think it was brilliant and i i think you know like lots of things there might be a hybrid approach going forward you know because there's more access but it will be great to see it back yes the streets thronged the crack was great yeah and alana mclinn uh represented plan al chang and the ross in during the virtual merry from dunlow and i still remember the heading in the paper when she won which said uh lore alana gaelic e re in the shard in you she spoke irish throughout the week and welcomed everybody to the rosses virtually okay because we should also remember and and you know a big part of of of our economy is tourism and that is what if you come if you if i if i go to another country right and i want to you know i want to absorb the culture and feel like i'm in the heart of spain or portugal or italy or wherever it might be you know that's people come here that's what they want they want the history they want to to go even if they're only here for a weekend break they want to be able to go and tell a story about the area okay it's not all about the flashing lights and the booze and the restaurants they want to be to feel a connection with the area and then it lasts but they also want to feel the culture and what represents our culture as much as our language because we have the music and everything and and that's what they want in fact tourists get on to us and say why are the signs in english we're not going to get into that one at the moment but they want to translate or use google maps and see you know what ireland is and we we don't want to lose sight of that and i think we would like the initiative that's running at the moment we're helping to stem that yes i agree with you and that's um i could speak to you for weeks about this and i hope i'll be invited back again but that was one of the reasons you brought a gift if you bring gifts you're guaranteed to come back in again i'm easily bold perfect well that again one of the the reasons for the body seat and written on the body seat is okay and sean boner our local solicitor who gave um who talked about saying column kill on the day helped me put that uh that piece together so we hope that throughout the rosses that we will have body seats like this car or car just like this with the coupla focal on them um and that will encourage people will see the language then they will speak the language and it will become very uh popular to um to continue and they'll take a picture of the language of the sign of the sign representing it exactly right column kill treasure hunt are you involved in that i am indeed yes uh yes please so that again uh that noreen magarvy and eugen magarvy um put the treasure hunt together um and that treasure hunt is running until this Sunday coming um the treasure hunt can be found in the maple shop in bordenport the prizes are wonderful the prizes are for local cafe um vouchers so which means then that you go into the local cafe with your voucher and you speak the coupla focal so it's all it's all entwined or they're all we try to promote um our local um shops our local um industries um for example on my top today was sponsored by bc embroidery and it's cream the rosson which is another competition we're running to speak the coupla focal where you can uh write something about kushland the rosson which is the heartbeat of the rossons or cream the rosson um something that is near and dear to you so again the treasure hunt is running until the sixth the cream rosson um competition i've had some wonderful writings from the primary schools about what they enjoy about the rossus so let's speak the coupla focal let's be proud of it i saw a lovely sign coming into letter kenny today um and it says um see our chango uh so let's say that means um that we take ownership of our language and that we're proud of our language and that we don't fear speaking the coupla focal because cheer gan annum cheer gan tanga go to meal mike thank you very much for joining us and we will see you again uh and keep up the great work and i look forward seeing the body seat the friend seat uh in the not too distant future thanks mary back after these bluebird care are hiring nurses and carers across donnie gall call 91 29562 bluebird care are sponsors of today's show arland's biggest ever tribute weekend is coming back to donnie gall true bash 2022 is taking place at the clanry hotel letter kenny on the 11th and 12th of february the nation's leading tribute acts take to the stage with a fantastic award-winning johnny cash and june carter tribute show cash returns the amazing jim the king brown as elvis the one and only abba tribute the björn identity and the show stopping queen tribute limited tickets available now at the hotel reception and online at eventbrite.ie tribute bash 2022 at the clanry hotel letter kenny your ideal valentine's weekend there are many reasons people switched to clear mobile serious deal simple as customer service is a one great coverage there you go unlimited calls text and data with 99 4g population coverage for 14 99 a month you clear they are clear mobile everything you need nothing you don't switch today at clear mobile 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read this summer with reiner's three times weekly service stunning architecture endless winding streets and an awe-inspiring castle ireland west airport you're flying okay so heading into this afternoon rain will be more persistent and heavy a clearance that will nudge into the northwest before the end of the day becoming windy with southwest winds increasing fresh to strong and gusty i would hope on this program that we interview more young people and have more young people on the show and contributing to it than most others do i hope we do because that's what we try and do but listen it's easy when you've got guests like the likes of alice keen to join us hi alice hi how are you i am grand how are you getting on i'm doing well thank you excellent stuff now you are part of the young social innovators transition year group and fair play to the management of loretto secondary school in letter kenny they are facilitating you guys holding a demonstration tomorrow tell us about it yeah that's right so we're part of no place like home ysi we're a ysi group from loretto letter kenny as you said we're doing a student dance demonstration tomorrow for students we're really just trying to raise awareness for the micah campaign that's happening and obviously there's very devastating effects around johnny gall and we just really want to support the families and students around us that are affected and we really just want to highlight the plight that micah's caused to families and a lot of staff in our school as well um so brilliant stuff and and it's it's for students and staff at the school only and i can understand that because you don't want the likes of me landing down there uh shoving my big head into it but it's still incredibly important jennifer's with you isn't she yeah yeah i'm here hello hi jennifer because you know uh the reason why it's good that user doing this is because we've been talking about school and disruption at school and exams and all that kind of stuff that's really really tough to deal with but on top of all of that there's many young people in donagall have also been dealing with the stress of living in a house with micah which makes everything worse that's right that is one of the main reasons we are doing this project and just to support the students in our school and spread productivity we've been posting regularly on our social media it's no place like home ysi on instagram and to encourage students to keep going and really just make sure that they feel like they're supported in our school community and i mean you've come up you've got great brains and i don't mean that in a way patronizing because we were speaking to students from the avs and they uh that one of their projects is as it relates to the environment and they are using the social media handle of commotion in the ocean which is very catchy and it also uh it also gets the point across the same with no place like home it hits the nail on the head jennifer it it you know and and people no place like home but there are people facing losing their homes or having to move out of their bedroom and the rest of the house that's right um it's just dev state really um i was wrote the song actually about the dev station it's cause if you want to speak about that yeah go on stick it back on i don't need a producer when i've got you jennifer keeping right fair play to you yeah so hopefully uh for the demonstration tomorrow we're going to have lots of tds and people speaking but i've also written a song of the same title no place like home i'm really hoping that it just talks about how we're all united no matter if you're not affected by mica you still have people you know who you can support with that and i hope the song really just inspires people i hope it's uplifting and that we can all stand together even in these unprecedented times of covid still we can just stand together virtually hopefully and make a change yeah and i hope to get a copy of it so i can play it out alice at some point you're going to sort that out i think caroline was talking to you about that yeah definitely hopefully uh you can get it on next week and it'll be all over our social media as well as saying again no place like home ysi on instagram and facebook yeah and how is this for the two this project being uh because you know at the same time it's a heavy it's a heavy subject to be involved in and you're doing fantastic work in trying to get the message out there to show solidarity for those who are affected by this it's a big it's a big undertaking for you yes it definitely is and we actually have had a lot of support from the mica action group and from local tv and we're really grateful for our skill management as well and our ty team they've been absolutely incredible they've supported us the full way we really could not have done the project we're doing without them all right listen we know that so many people in our school students and staff alike are so hardly affected and we really are so grateful for all the support that we've gotten from the whole school and we're hopefully going to have a great turn at tomorrow even online of just we've had such a great intake of support for the project and we really appreciate it well done well done all of you involved how many of you are in the school involved in this uh young social innovators group so it's that ty class there's 25 of us who are involved in the project and yeah all right brilliant stuff hopefully is grow quickly get into power and and get this sorted as soon as possible alice and jennifer well done to you again fantastic stuff well done thank you so much okay take care nice to speak to you and alice get that song into us and well done again to the management and staff at loretto school for uh encouraging and supporting children and giving them the voice uh to be able to speak so passionately about it's amazing isn't it they are fantastic and i'm not just saying that the genuinely are i'm they're i'm blown away by the young people in the sense uh and the points that they make they're fantastic so uh quite a transition to an old hat at this stage independent deputy thomas pringle good morning to you deputy morning the future is bright talking to young people here now coming through and i'm only joking uh you're a young man still of course debony pringle we were talking earlier on we were talking earlier on about the salaries robert watt salary the department of health secretary general his uh he's getting another pay rise over 300 euro he's going to be earning in october uh paul reed uh head of the hsc it was i thought earlier on you know many people everyone listening to this show are paying his wages and do you think we can get an interview with him to talk about the brandon report or to talk about other serious issues in donagall not a chance i don't know what he's doing with the money but it's certainly not making him himself available to radio stations like ours in this day and age in any day and age are these salaries in any way justifiable no i don't believe you know maybe maybe they could be justifiable if these people were accountable and the problem is that they're not as far as i know there's there's actually no way that robert watt could be sacked uh at all and said and that's that's the problem like so we're paying robert watt over 300 000 euro a year and whoever it is the head of the department of health and there is no accountability at all and that's that's the shocking part of it i mean do we know what do we know what they do because uh again i don't want to come across as this is being populist but i would find very few people could disagree like in any private company if you don't perform you're penalized okay uh if the if the the operation that you're overseeing is not working you're penalized or replaced there's key performance indicators all of that kind of stuff right there's a lot good in the health service but a lot of that is down to the least paid in that system like what are these people actually getting paid to do what does paul read or uh mr what do on a day-to-day basis to justify this salary other than taking heat from the government uh to be honest with you i don't know i mean i think they should be embarrassed presiding over health services that allows the likes of the brand brand and report to go on publics but also allows that to happen under their watch um allows the what we have seen in relation to cams and carry and this is because there is no accountability and that is that is the problem like because we you can have a cams situation and carry in every county in ireland and robert watt will still be getting his money and so be there presiding over it and paul read will still be there coming out and given half apologies and and public and that's a height of it and then they can't publish a report in relation to anything that's going on and that and that's wrong we pay this we pay their salaries and not to mention that if the s hits the fan it takes so long to actually find someone accountable that people in certain positions i'm not talking about mr watt or mr read go on to work somewhere else and then are no longer able to be sanctioned yeah that's right or or will retire and go out and fold paints and or whatever and that's that's what happens and that's not that shouldn't be the case um you know they they should be held accountable they should after making decisions and they're making these decisions they should be able to stand over them now people could say oh well that's all right thomas pringle you know he's had so many pay rises okay uh i'm not saying they're justified but the difference is here um the difference is here is that in a couple of years people can have a make a decision whether or not to put you back in your job right so i'm not going to get into the the td salary side of things but my point is is that there isn't a level of accountability it might not be enough for some but in other words you go before the people at the most every five years yeah the people we're talking about here there is not that level of accountability so would it you know i'm not putting anyone off texting but they're not the same situation no i mean and even if you if you like to use the the tds as a comparison make your rates they get in the last 10 i've been a td for 10 years um twice i have put myself up for my accountability has been called into quite requesting and rightly so and i've been reelected now you could take that as being the fact that people are happy with what i have done and i continue on to do that and at the next election they will have the opposite option again of getting rid of me but we have no option anywhere of actually removing any of the paul reed or robert water any senior civil servant at any stage and no matter what happens and that's the problem i think the salary itself is way over the top and shouldn't be considered but even at that there is no accountability and that's what people deserve and people need to see that and you know there's been many a nurse or a doctor or or a carer that's driven between jobs or driven home from work absolutely exhausted maybe they shouldn't have but they had no choice they did not get a bmw and a driver from the army to assist them in that regard epoxy five euro increase in the pension which has been gobbled up numerous times by inflation and and on other rises which we do have some control over you know this is insulting to people it's actually hurtful it's it's almost gaslighting and i don't want to misuse that word because it's a it can be a very powerful word and is but that's how it must feel well i know how it feels because i'm a member of the public yeah yeah and you know the idea that we're so-called all and that's together we're actually not i mean we're all in this and we're way more above you than you and and you can be on your own make and that's the reality of the situation and that's we can't continue to get this and we can't we have to bring in some level of accountability has to be brought in there and now that's not to say that we're going to be looking to try and sack people that's right in the centre all the time or any get there but there has to be some protection that if they aren't in the job properly if they're not satisfied with the job that they actually will be removed and can be removed deputy thomas pringle thank you very much for joining us i appreciate your time have a good day we're back with you tomorrow morning at nine o'clock with our friday panel michael and fenula and loads more besides uh bud it is time to go have a great day gene's on the way around the northwest after the news at 12