 But if she will win when we get up in the morning and get about our things, that's a lurid. All right, have a good show. All right, take care, Lee. It is the 9-til-noon show now at 9 o'clock. Time for News Update. Good morning. Donald Kavanaugh. Thank you, Greg. Good morning. The UK is expected to outline proposals to remove checks on British goods destined for Northern Ireland today. It's one part of the UK government's plan to rewrite the Northern Ireland protocol if talks with the EU fail to progress. Foreign Secretary Lee's trust is also set to introduce legislation removing the European Court of Justice's power in Northern Ireland. Bill Fass telegraphs Alison Morris believes this is a tactical move by Boris Johnson. British government intend to, as I understand it, override Section 7A of the withdrawal agreement, which is the part that gives the European Court of Justice jurisdiction over Northern Ireland. And the other aspect of it is this new system for dealing with the movement of goods. Liz Truss will then say that any goods coming from GB to Northern Ireland that are labelled as being for Northern Ireland will no longer be checked. He hopes that it would help the DUP get over the line enough that they would go back into the executive and it keeps those sort of rebel-backed Bench MPs quiet and therefore then they don't threaten his future and his leadership. Complaints to the children's ombudsman's sword by 79% last year, with 2% of them coming from Donnie Gall, with more detail. Here's Donna-Marie Doherty. 2,126 complaints were made to the ombudsman for children's office into 2021. 908 of them were linked to COVID-related issues like restrictions in schools, uncertainty over the leaving cert, and supports for children with disabilities during the pandemic. 53% of complaints were related to education, with 10% of those about bullying. There were 42 complaints from Donnie Gall, 2% of the national total, the same percentage as in 2020. Ombudsman for children, Dr Niall Moldin, said while the increase can be partly attributed to a resumption of services following the blank closures of 2020, a large proportion of complaints related directly to COVID-19 issues. He concluded children are often recognised for their ability to learn, to adapt and to accept change. But in 2021, even the most resilient child was tested. Pressure is mounting on the government to clarify when this year's leaving cert results will be issued. It emerged yesterday the usual mid-August date is likely to be delayed, but the CEO of the Technological Higher Education Association says any delays will have a knock-on effect for the start of the academic year and on students trying to secure accommodation. And a four-day working week could help resolve the staffing crisis in the health service. Younger healthcare workers have been increasingly moving overseas to the likes of Canada and Australia since the COVID pandemic, in search of better pay and working conditions. Trials of a four-day working week are underway in Scotland and Spain. Dr Catherine Conlon, Senior Medical Officer in the Department of Public Health at St Finbury's in Cork, says the health sector is already teetering on the verge of breakdown. She says restructured work practices could help. Problem is trying to retain doctors, young doctors, trying to retain nurses who are currently working a three-day shift of 12 hours a day, which if that could be converted to a four-day working week where they're working, you know, the basic eight-hour day, that could make a real difference in terms of staffing. Largely, Charlie, to start today with Pachi Renan Drizzly, it'll become drier through the morning, but Scottard-Charles will develop in the late afternoon and evening, turning heavy and thundery at times. Highs of 16 or 17 degrees Celsius today in moderate to fresh southerly winds. That's Highland Radio News, back with more at 10 o'clock. COVID-19 can still cause serious illness, especially in people at higher risk. We need to keep protecting each other. So stay home if you have symptoms. Wear a mask in healthcare settings, public transport and busy places. Let fresh air in if you're meeting indoors. Keep hands clean and get a COVID-19 vaccine and booster. Let's keep looking out for each other. From the HSC, for us all. The 9 till noon show with Letter Kenny Credit Union, now offering mortgages from 40,000 to 600,000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges. Letter Kenny Credit Union, 9102127. And now it's time for the talk of the Northwest, the 9 till noon show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Hello, very good morning to you. Four minutes past nine. It's Tuesday the 17th of May. You're very welcome along to another edition of the 9 till noon show. And we have the lines open for you right now. If you want a comment on any of the items we've lined up for you, or to raise your own issues, your comments, anything at all, get in contact with us, 08 660 25000. You can see what's absent your text to that number or give us a call in 0749125,000. And your comments, comment to us via email on, as you might expect, comments at HighlandRadio.com. You can watch the show, of course, HighlandRadio.com. Check it out there. You'll see the link. Or you can watch on our social media, right? Let's get on with a look at today's front pages of the newspapers. And we'll start with Donegal People's Press. And it now appears likely that Donegal's three major road projects costing at least 500 million euro won't start until 2026 at the earliest. Early forecast costs for the N15, N13, Balaba Facer and Aller bypass, 150 to 180 million. The N56, N13, Letterkenny, Manneconningham Road between 100 and 125 million. And the N14, Manneconningham, Lifford Road between 180 and 220 million have been published. They're based on 2020 prices and no inflational program risks have been added. So given the current rising costs and external factors, such as the economy COVID and the war you crained, it's expected these costs could be much higher and it won't start for another four odd years. Important infrastructure values for the development of the county. I think we'd all agree. The Dairy Journal tells us that as bus drivers strike poise to shut down Dairy Public Transport Network for a week, it's been averted following 11th hour talks. Last night, the United and GMB unions agreed to suspend the strike after TransLink tabled a new pay offer. GMB, which had balloted for the strike alongside Unite, said it was suspending the action until workers have voted on the new offer as a gesture of goodwill. The stoppage was due to start today and would have run until May 23rd, but for the last ditch talks, which is good news for those of you using those transport services. On to the Irish Independent now and households will get 4,800 per year for hosting refugees as backdated payments are set to kick in from July. The cabinet will this morning give final approval for the 400 euro monthly payment for households that take in refugees. The Irish Independent understands that homeowners who have given their second homes to refugees will also receive the payment. It will be paid into bank accounts by the Department of Social Protection with funding provided by the Department of Children. It's understood that households will have to apply to receive the payment, which is meant to support families who take in refugees by helping to pay for costs such as food and utility bills. New laws will have to be introduced for the payment to be put in place. Senior government sources were unable to say last night how much the measure will cost as it would be demand led. However, it's believed that around 20 million to 50 million has been budgeted for the payment. Do you think this will lead to more people making parts of their homes or second homes available? Is it enough? Perhaps if it's a room, it might be inclined to cover costs there. But how big will the demand be? I wonder. I think in time just we might see that the demand wasn't great. But maybe it's something that you're looking at. If so, let us know why. If not, let us know why. 08, 6, 60, 25,000. Would you let your spare room be used by Ukrainian refugee? Now that 400 euro is to be made available from government to you. I just think a lot of people, if they had that space already, may have already decided on some other income Airbnb or such, I don't know. But what do you think anyway? The Irish Daily Mail. This is a story we've been flagging right from the very moment it was announced that hotels would be used to house refugees and that's its impact on the tourism industry. And it's only now, really, it's getting the headlines that were inevitable. The front of the Irish Daily Mail, there are fears for the tourism industry as thousands of refugees are forced to take up beds in hotels and BNBs while the government fails to house them. Around 17,200 beds in hotels, guest houses and BNBs are now home to refugees. As the country grapples with finding a solution to the greatest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War in the middle of the housing crisis. And as we heard in this program last week, of course, for some hotels, this is good news. This is guaranteed income, guaranteed occupancy throughout the course of the year. But if you're looking to come to Donegal and you search hotels or BNBs or hospitals, wherever it might be, and there's no availability, well, you go elsewhere. And then that spend from tourists doesn't come into the county and it doesn't trickle down to restaurants, bars, news agents and so on and so forth. But the paper says that this will impact staycationers and businesses as peak tourism season approaches due to a lack of beds, inflated prices and a drop in footfall, TDs and businesses groups have said. The government also faces being sued over a potential two-year loss of trade to restaurants near City West Hotel in Dublin due to its contract to house Ukrainian refugees. But as I say, that's one test case potentially in Dublin. I think we could see more elsewhere. If you're in the industry, if you have a view on that, maybe you agree or disagree for that matter. You know the numbers there, get in touch. Hard to make out really what Boris Johnson stances on the Northern Ireland protocol. It depends on which quote of his you read and how you read it. But British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has signaled that his government will begin the process of taking unilateral action to remove parts of the Northern Ireland protocol while insisting the post Brexit deal will not be scrapped but fixed. Now he's strangely in this day and age, he wants to negotiate with the EU with this insurance policy in his back pocket of a unilateral change or scrapping of the protocol. It's very unusual to go into, well, it wouldn't be maybe in a business and low level stuff, but for one country to try and go into negotiations with another block of countries threatening to take unilateral action if they don't do what you say. I don't think the EU, the European Commission can back down to that, can they? Well, Mr. Johnson travelled to the North yesterday to meet the five main political parties in a bid to restore storm and power sharing, which effectively collapsed last Friday after the DUP blocked the election of a speaker as part of its continuing protest over the protocol. Following talks in Hillsborough Castle, described by parties as tough and robust, Mr. Johnson said he tried to persuade the DUP in particular to return to governing. Britain foreign secretary Liz Tross is expected to make a statement on the UK government's plans to unilaterally override parts of the protocol, the part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, which avoided a hard border on the island of Ireland by placing a customs and regulatory border in the Irish Sea. But also, kind of, a little bit of sabre, Ratlin, because there is word coming out of Britain that they might not be able to pass that measure till next month, even though they gave a deadline of today. The circle begins to tighten on the Kinnehans and their organised crime group. More than 600 people have been banned from entering America due to their links to the Kinnehan cartel. And it's quite interesting for followers of boxing that quite a number of people who had come out in support of Daniel Kinnehan or who have YouTube news channels and inverted commas that are always quite favourable to him, they were absent from the big couple of weeks of boxing. They normally would have been in America for the likes of Katie Taylor's fights, Canalis fights, but they weren't there because, probably, they weren't allowed in there because there's been a huge ban of people with associations to Daniel Kinnehan. Some of the world's leading boxing figures fear they could be barred from the United States because of their links to mob boss and wannabe fight promoter Daniel Kinnehan. Assistant guard commissioner, John O'Driscoll, confirmed the bans while on a trip to the US with all the top cops. He said, the number of people who have been denied entry into the US has grown. It's over 600 at this stage as a consequence of the targeting of the Kinnehan organised crime group. And the senior officer said those denied entry to the States will be denied entry into other jurisdictions if they were to try and gain entry. But it will be interesting to see because there are very influential figures in boxing who would have had glowing attributes for Daniel Kinnehan, but because they are rich and because fights going ahead or not might be based on their travel plans, I wonder will those bans be flexible to allow them to continue to travel? It'll be interesting to keep an eye on that. I think it's fair to say that most of us are concerned about the rising cost of living well, seeing obviously fuel prices going up, home heating oil prices going through the roof, gas as well. It's clear now when you go shopping that there is a change in terms of how much it costs to do your weekly shop. Everywhere you turn prices are going up. So it's no surprise and it's covered in the Irish Daily Star today to read that almost all people are worried about their future finances due to the rising cost of living new finding show. Research from maskball.ie shows price hikes are causing 83% of adults to worry about their financial future. Inflation is a 22-year high with the Central Statistics Office confirming that prices rose by an average of 7% in the year to April 2022. That's across the board, but obviously in certain areas, those increases were greater. More than a quarter of people, that's 26% are struggling to meet their mortgage or rent payments while 18% feel they can't afford to socialize. Most people are worried about their future financial situations with 26% fearing they will be unable to save for a mortgage deposit and 21% worried about meeting future bills and household costs yet at the same time. And I know Tom Leo for Adcast Twitter yesterday, they're talking about our growth being double the European average or the second highest amongst the EU and that business continues to do well. Why is that not trickling down? How can we have the government able to welcome growth in the economy and things looking really quite good from that perspective? Yet it's clear to all of us that things are worsening. What, why is that gap? Anyone have an insight into that? 08, 6, 60, 25,000. A rising tide should lift all boats, shouldn't it? So if the country is doing well, if we have the second highest growth forecast for this year and great expectations for 2023, why are most of us worried about the cost of living going forward? Why are a quarter of us struggling to pay the mortgage? Why are those that do have a bit of money perhaps 20% of them concern that they can't socialize anymore. They don't have that spare money to socialize because the rising cost has been eaten into that. So where's the gap there? Obviously there must be a cohort of people that are doing really, really well while the rest of us slip further behind. That must be the case. Finally in the Irish Daily Mirror, this is a shocking story, not easy for anyone to listen to, but it's one that we can't ignore. Child killer Karen Harrington has been found guilty of the brutal murder of Todd Santina Corley. This is a case we've all been following closely. Harrington, who's 38, is now beginning a life sentence behind bars for the cruel killing of the two-year-old. A jury at the Central Criminal Court in Cork yesterday found it was she who inflicted 53, catastrophic injuries on the little girl. And I think the overwhelming majority of all of us, really what we do is we wanna protect children, don't we? We wanna make sure they're safe and we get worried if they fall over and bang their head and have a little bump and such a gap then to someone like this who could inflict such a sustained series of assaults on this beautiful young girl. But Harrington, if Lakeland's crescent in the city was on trial for a fortnight over the July 19 killing, the jury took four hours and 46 minutes to return a unanimous guilty verdict. At the time of the murder, Harrington, who was in a relationship with Santina's dad, Michael Corley, the trial was told he trusted her and had no concerns about leaving her daughter with her. The injuries, well, I won't go through the injuries because I think a lot of you are following it maybe on the nighttime news and it really is unimaginable what that little angel had to endure in the final stages of her life. Really hard to comprehend. Okay, if you have any comments on any of the stories that are making the front pages and inside the pages today, get in contact with us or if you wanna raise your own issues, I'll remind you of the text and WhatsApp number one more time for now. Oh, wait, six, 60, 25,000. The newspapers are courtesy of Kelly Centra, Mountaintop, Letter Kenny. The 90 noon show with Letter Kenny Credit Union, now offering mortgages from 40,000 to 600,000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges. Letter Kenny Credit Union, 9102127. Better Value Lives at Dunn Stores with big savings on your favorite brands. Start your day with selected Kellogg's breakfast cereals like special K-Red Berry 500 gram, now half price, or save on washing essentials like 45 pod packs of bold fairy and Ariel, now just 11 euro each. Plus, with our 10-off 50 grocery voucher, you save even more, which means every trip to Dunn Stores means better value. Dunn Stores, always better value. Terms and conditions apply. Voucher can be used on exposure shop of 50 euro or more. Is your car due as service? For the month of May, get your car serviced at iMotor's Letter Kenny and avail of a free vehicle health check and a free oil change. For more details, check out our website or Facebook. Call us today on 074-913-4567 to book in. Terms and conditions apply. Wet suit on and underwater by air. Aprons on, breakfast orders in, conversation flowing, loving every second. Every day is different. There's always new faces. It really suits me. It fits my schedule. I can see friends do my yoga, balance work with life and enjoy both. My career in tourism works for me. And mine works for me. Get a career in tourism that works for you. Visit tourismcareers.ie. Brought to you by Folger Ireland. If you fancy a lunch today and relax surroundings, a Kelly's diner in Letter Kenny you're spoiled for choice. With everything from a renowned all-day breakfast to something lighter like a chicken wrap or soup and a sandwich of your choice. Lunch specials from just 6.50 are served every Monday to Thursday from 12 to 3 and a full a la carte menu is served all day at Kelly's award-winning diner. Mountaintop, Letter Kenny. OK, some of your comments coming in early. Good morning, Greg. Regarding the payment for housing refugees, could you please find out if receipt of the phone to your payment would be considered as an income for those on a state pension or other state benefits there thereby reducing them accordingly? Thanks. It is a very good question. And one we'll try and get an answer to. My suspicion is, though, that it couldn't be seen as another income, could it? Because that would discourage people further. I didn't get my 200 euro off my ESB bill, Bill says another caller, I'm with Bored Gash. Am I the only one is there are other people who didn't get it? Thanks. Well, you're not the only Bored Gash customer who didn't get it because we had a couple of texts from people earlier in the week or towards the end of last week with that same company who also hadn't received it. Right, can you help this listener? I'm looking for an orthopedic chair for someone who's getting out of hospital and also for an over-the-bed table on wheels, which can go up and down very similar to those in the hospital. So has anyone got that gear out there? I know sometimes when we've had it in the past and I'm not sure it applies to this type of equipment, but we have had conversations with people in the past that have been given this equipment and tried to return it, but they couldn't. So maybe someone out there has an orthopedic chair or indeed one of those over-the-bed tables on wheels. You know, the ones you might see in hospital. It's for someone who is looking to care for someone at home. We've a contact number here, 08 660 25000. 08 660 25000 if you can or want to help there. Hi, Greg, just letting you know there's a scam text going around supposed to be from AIB Bank. I got the text at 7.02 at the weekend in the morning. Yeah, indeed I am being bombarded at the moment with spam callers. But again, as I said, I think I'm very lucky. My phone's really good at picking it up. I'm not sure if it's the network or the phone itself, but they are being flagged. They are being flagged as spam for me. Right, OK, so as we've been talking about on this program right since the first time it was announced that this was to happen, we are now seeing more concern being talked about this more widespread. Fears for the tourism industry as thousands of refugees are forced to take up beds in hotels and bees. Adrian Cummins is CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland. Adrian, thanks for taking the call this morning. I'm sure you've had a few increase to say the least. Sorry, line two. Sorry, you have to put Adrian through on line two, please, Mikaela, if that's OK. One more comment while we wait for Adrian to join us. I feel 6-year-old an hour for 16-year-old is a good start. This is off the back of a text we had yesterday. Someone of 16 years of age working in the hospitality industry. We all have to start somewhere. I blame adults for creating this ill feeling about wages. It will increase as they go forward. Remember back when you were 16, thank you. Enjoying your show, cheers. I appreciate it and that kind of is how I was feeling. Adrian Cummins, good morning to you. Good morning. Right, OK. I mean, I think we all agree, don't we, Adrian, that there was a very severe crisis that's ongoing and we had to react. And we would have hoped that the use of tourism accommodation would have been a short measure. Three months, it was said at the beginning. But I mean, it was clear because we have no other housing stock that this was going to roll in into the summer. And here we are. For example, we've got a very popular hotel in the heart of Lederkenny and its manager confirmed to us there towards the end of last week that they are likely to house refugees up until the end of the year. That is a huge knock on effect, Adrian. Well, let me be very clear from the very start. We fully support the government's policy around supporting the Ukrainian refugees coming into Ireland. These people have been traumatized or in a war zone and the need accommodation. One of the first war since World War II, that's devastating in the Ukrainian nation. And we've always said, and I reached out to the team folks immediately when this happened to say that the hospitality industry would support the efforts of whatever way possible. And we've done this in the past and we continue to do so. What we've seen now is that we have a number of hotels, better breakfast, guest houses, that have been used by the Department of Children for accommodation units. Certain counties have a higher portion of refugees compared to other counties. And some of those are in the Western seaboard in the tourist areas. So there will be pink points during the summer where let's say that you will not have as much bed capacity for the tourist season as we head into what we would call the post-economic recovery post-colonial. And that said, hotel accommodation is probably not the best accommodation for our refugees and we're saying to the government we need to have a longer term approach to this. But we are where we are and we do support the government's actions and we're pointing out to them very clearly that this is an issue. That being said, it's good for hotels because they are guaranteed a certain level of occupancy throughout the course of the year. Is there any ill feeling towards the whole hotel industry? They're okay if they're involved in this. But the surrounding bars and restaurants and news agents and what have your soft play areas or whatever it might be that might benefit from tourists, they're the ones that might feel that they're losing out more. Yes, and I take that point where you have, let's take a tourist town that has taken in a substantial amount of refugees, maybe one hotel, two hotels, possibly three hotels, has been recommissioned for other purposes. That means the bars, restaurants, craft centers, is their attractions. We're not seeing the level of business that did see pre-COVID. And while what I would say to the government is that here's the hospitality industry again, stepping up to the plate when the nation needs our support and we are doing this again. The big issue for us down the road, which is going to come to our pinch point again in October will be the VAT campaign, the VAT nine for our industry. I think the government should extend it to the 28th of February. I think that needs to be extended to the end of next year. And I think that would be a big close for our industry. And I think that would be, let's say the issue that needs to be solved if we rectified, but also will be something in terms of a contribution back to the hospitality industry in terms of, let's say, the loss of business that they have in certain areas. But I will go back to my initial point. We support the government 100% in their efforts. 38,000 refugees has come into the country. It is projected that it will go up as far as 80,000. We haven't seen that level of numbers yet. There is a big campaign to trying to get people moved into more permanent, not permanent, but more self-catering, compartment type accommodation. But you know as well as I do, there's not going to be a huge uptake from the general public to house people at 400 euro a month, because they might be still at last. You know also that people in terms of holiday homes, second homes, they may well choose to want to use them in the summer. And also there's just a general lack of housing. The most recent Daft report underlined that. So and also we have to also consider the reports out this morning suggesting that 18% of people now are starting to wonder, do they have enough money to socialize? And then when you take into the fact that people might be discouraged to travel to the likes of certain parts of Donegal or wherever it might be, because there's no accommodation available or the accommodation that is there is becoming very expensive because of demand, it's starting to feel to me like a perfect storm for a very negative spell for the hospitality industry. Yes, and you're correct. We are in a perfect storm. We are in a perfect storm in terms of the economic impact that the Ukrainian war is affecting us, like every other household in this country, every citizen in this country. And you know, the cost of running a business is rocketing nearly up 30% on two years about three years ago, when you were back to back in normal trading, trading levels and every household has seen the increase in home heating bills, et cetera, et cetera. And that would continue through inflation. And a lot of that is down to Ukrainian war because it's supplying demand if you went into Europe from Russia and we're trying to move towards other supplies. Of course, you know, I'm very conscious that businesses that are in tourist areas that there will be displacement. And I'm saying now, as a representative body, we are, we're trying to balance this. And I think the government has done a lot for our industry, but they can go a little bit further now, which maybe in terms of that that rate, which is sacrificing to our industry. That doesn't resolve 2022. I mean, the fact rate is in place for 2020. So maybe your members want to know, like, what are you proposing as it relates to this year? We can't have an entire industry that is being supported because it's not profitable in and of itself. It's been supported through 2020, 2021, 2022. Who's to say what the situation might be in 2023? Like, there has to be a better solution than tax breaks or business supports. And if so, I mean, do you have it? Well, I don't have that answer. I don't think any other European country across Europe has the same answer as well. When you look at Poland with 3 million Ukrainian refugees in their country, do they have the answer? No, they don't, because I'm in constant contact with my counterparts across the European Union through a representative organization in Brussels. And, you know, we're trying to get through this. And I think there has to be a bit of patience as well. I don't want to be a spokesperson for the government. Maybe I'm sounding like that. What I am saying here is that we, these people are very unfortunate and the Irish people have been very open and welcoming and we will continue to do so. And I will stand up for that. But I will also advocate as hard as I can like we did during COVID for business supports. And we will do that as well. I get where you're coming from, Adrian. And I really understand the line that you have to walk, right? And also, I also understand our responsibility. And I'm not saying we shouldn't be doing what we're doing, but I have to ask questions to try and progress the argument. But as, whilst I'm listening to your words also, I am also consciously conscious that businesses are closing, restaurants are closing, they can't stay open, there isn't the turnover for them. Your members, maybe there have been members of your association for quite some time, pubs are closing, never to open again. You know, like they might feel we need to do something more immediate right now. They're in a panic situation because they will not see the summer. And if they do, they won't make enough money to see through the winter. And they're starting to look at their business and go, what is the point here? What about me? And you're correct in saying that. And let me just, let me just, what we're trying to do here at the moment. What I'm trying to do is trying to find established where is all the refugees in what towns across the state? I don't have that answer. And I think that government should publish that in terms of what's the best capacity that's taken out of the system in county by county, county by county basis. And that will give us a very clear perspective of what the knock-on affects. And I know what county, for example, because I've done the research in just one and that's county fair. I don't, it's anecdotal, but I've done as much as I can. But we need the official data being published on this. And that will give you a fairly clear idea on what businesses will be affected in what counties. I think we can do a bespoke measure here, not for those businesses. That's what I would be calling for, at the Tourism and Hospitality Forum, which is chaired by the parish, that I'm Minister for Tourism, Captain American in a couple of weeks time, but also I'm contacting Paul Jarvin as well, which has a notice and a remit here because they register accommodation across the country. So there's the two avenues that I'm pursuing, along with the extension of that. But, you know, we need the correct data. I think we need to engage with government more so. And I think we need to have an open and honest conversation about this. Will the refugees be here for how long? What is the, what does the government know that we don't know yet? My goal is that they're here for longer than 12 months. That's my goal, looking at the pictures coming from Eastern Ukraine that's been devastated by the war. Some of those cities will never, they will never go back there because they're absolutely flattened. Like if you came from Maricol, can you imagine going back there, trying to rebuild your lives? You won't. That's not what's going to happen. So, and we have had experience of this in the past, but on a smaller scale. We did it for the Kosovo refugees during the war. We did it for the Bosnian war. And we did it for other prices as well. And we'll do it again, but this is on a larger scale. And I think we're trying to find our feet as quickly as possible. The refugees started to come in March, we're now in May. I know there was a big push to get accommodation. We've got that sorted now from terms of emergency accommodation. But we need to look at what is the longer term for this. And I agree with you, that we need to have a greater long-term approach to this. Yeah, because I mean, it's at least 10% of available accommodation is currently being taken up. And as you said, that's gone to vary from county to county, but we have a responsibility and we have to meet that as well. It's a legal binding responsibility. I think it's 2% is our share. And that's what we're doing. And I'm not against that by the way, Adrienne, but I'm just trying to get all views that might be listening out there to get the views to you. A quick word, if you don't mind, and I appreciate so much of your time. The government extending temporary laws, allowing alcohol to be served in outdoor seating areas of pubs and restaurants. How big is that for the industry, considering everything we've been talking about? It is huge for the hospitality industry. And as everybody knows, and the part of the Northwest will know this extremely well, because we're moving towards the summer season. Obviously today is kind of a change in the weather, but over the last few days, it was very much a continent of style, somewhat of embracing. People during COVID wanted outdoor hospitality. They embraced the one door of it. And this gives you the certainty for businesses. I know it's on a temporary basis for six months, and we will be looking for that to be extended on the permanent basis. Well, what it means is that if you are a hospitality business, a pub or restaurant, and you serve alcohol, you'll be able to serve to a licensed public area that you get your license from your local authority, but you'll be able to serve alcohol into that area. That means that the guards can go about their business to do other matters, but they're not going in stopping businesses from serving alcohol, which means that this gives legal certainty for them. We had an issue down in Galway last year where there wasn't legal certainty for us. Now we do. And I think it brings a full circle approach to the issue. And we welcome that, and we welcome Helen McIntee's approach to it. But we will have reform of licensing laws coming up over the next number of months. I think that means speed it up. We need the outdated. Everybody agrees with that. And I think hopefully the Iraqis will move forward and get that done as soon as they can. All right, thank you for your time, Adrian. I appreciate it. That's Adrian Cummins from the Restaurant Association of Ireland, 086625,000 for your views via WhatsApp or text on that number. A caller says, do we know if politicians have taken in any Ukrainians as they pledged? I'm not going to name their names because I did hear the pledge, but I don't know the answer to it. We'll try and find that out. Why did they not house refugees in courthouses, big government buildings, which are lying empty, says another text. But you also have to think of an acceptable level of standard of living, presumably. Right, if you want to call in your comment, by the way, feel free to do so, 0749125,000. That is the number there. The 9 till noon show with Letter Kenny Credit Union, now offering mortgages with life cover provided at no additional cost. Letter Kenny Credit Union, 9102127. They say you should have your second baby first because with your second baby, you'll have learned what to do, but not to do what's best for baby and best for you. Like the Loopy Lou range from Lidl, everything your baby needs, including award-winning nappies from only 99 cent. When you know what to do, Loopy Lou. Available exclusively at Lidl. More for you. See our full range at Lidl.ie forward slash Loopy Lou. Fly with Loganair from City of Derry to Edinburgh and immerse yourself in the live shows at Street Food of the Fringe Festival this summer with discounts for children aged 11 and under. Book now at Loganair.co.uk, 15 kilo luggage allowance as standard. The O'Neill Sportswear Massive Warehouse clearance sale is backed by popular demand. For one weekend only, county GA jerseys, leisure wear, including t-shirts, tracks at bottoms, half-sips, hoodies and jackets are all reduced to clear. Open from 9am Friday May 20th and you'll be able to buy a new pair of Lidl.ie, all reduced to clear. Open from 9am Friday May 20th and Sunday May 22nd. The sale will take place at O'Neill Sportswear warehouse off the Melmont Road roundabout Straban. Donegal County Council invites you to a public drop-in event in the initial Gateway Hotel Bonkranagh on Monday the 23rd of May from 3 until 8pm to comment on a number of plans and projects being prepared. Review of the Donegal County Development Plan 2018 to 2024. We have proposed variation to the current County Development Plan, the reparring Bonkranagh Rural Regeneration Project and Draft Preliminary Design for Bonkranagh Leisure Centre, with formal presentations at 7 from Donegal County Council and the Keherlik of Donegal County Council, Councillor Jack Murray. For more information visit DonegalDevPlan.ie and DonegalCoco.ie. Now, you may not feel this would affect you, but it may very well. Medical scientists are taking industrial action tomorrow in frustration over land standing, paying, career development issues. The action means that routine laboratory services are being withdrawn from 8pm to 8pm, which will affect routine hospital and GP services across the country. The workplace of the majority of medical sciences is at laboratories in public hospitals. Brona O'Leary is Industrial Relations Officer with the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association and joins us now. Hi, Brona. Thanks so much for having us on. No problem. Now, before we get into the issues, perhaps you could explain, because this is the type of work that goes on in the background, really important, I think, to the chain of medical care, but maybe not everyone knows or is fully aware of what's going on. So talk to us, the role of medical scientists across the country. Yes, that is indeed the case. I think nobody, unless they work in labs themselves, realises that medical laboratory diagnostics are essential and underpin almost every healthcare procedure. So you'll know if you go to your GP and have blood tests taken, they go off into the space and then they arrive back with results to your GP. But those results go to a hospital lab and are tested by highly skilled and highly trained medical scientists who are working in all sorts of disciplines, not just blood sciences, also microbiology tests. So basically any specimens that you would be giving in the hospital or in the community will go to a lab for testing. We're kind of a hidden force in the hospital and most people haven't heard of us, unless maybe for COVID testing, we've been more in the news lately. But the long-lying issues, the underlying issues in the profession have predated that. Yeah, this is going on for quite some time, isn't it? We have a 20-year claim for parity with other scientific colleagues in the department who work alongside us and perform identical work. We did have that parity awarded to us in 2001 by an expert group and then it was withdrawn. We lost it in 2002 due to benchmarking, but that was an inadvertent effect. It wasn't an actual decision of the benchmarking body that we shouldn't have parity with the biochemists. Yeah, and before we get into the nitty-gritty of it, presumably what this means over time is there's a potentially low morale frustration and that means that people either don't go into that area of work or if they are in there and they're doing great work, they go, you know what, I'm undervalued and I'm going to seek options elsewhere if they're available. I couldn't have put it better myself. Every year we have really, really high-point graduates coming into medical science courses and a lot of them then, when they come out at the end, they may work for a few years in the lab, but a lot of them see that there isn't a career progression for them and that they're undervalued and not paid enough. The starting pay in particular is not good compared to other healthcare professionals. And many of them, because they can do, they go and do medicine or they go into pharmaceuticals or other industrial or biotechnology roles and are highly sought after for those roles. Okay, so one of the key issues, medical scientists, they do the same work as other colleagues in hospital laboratories but earn on average 8% less. So who are these other group of individuals doing the same work that are better paid? Like what is the difference between the people we're talking about and the people that they work beside? There is no difference currently. There was a historic difference but the biochemists in the biochemistry section of the laboratory had science degrees and the medical scientists or medical laboratory technicians, as they were called and we're talking 20 years ago and before that, maybe even 30 years ago, didn't have science degrees. They now do all have science degrees and 70% of them have master's degrees and that is the difference. There are several disciplines in the laboratory in the biochemistry labs, there is this differential but all the other labs manage fine without having two grades of scientists but they do still need to be supported and to be paid more and to have the career progression opportunity. What is hampering the career progression for medical scientists? We've been in talks for over two years now with the Department of Health and the HSC and we felt we were pushing an open door but in all those talks and we've been talking to them directly at WWRC, we've been talking to them about sectoral bargaining clause of the public service agreement and they almost seem to be agreeing with us but we haven't made any progress either on the career progression side or on the pay side and that's why we've been forced into this action. This is a really, really big step for the MLSA. We have not gone on strike since 1969 and even then it wasn't a full work stoppage. This is all new to us and our members are really, really regret the disruption that is going to be caused by the patients and to our fellow colleagues in the health service by this action but it is going to be quite a disruption and we hope we can get into talks to make this issue go away and resolve it for the good of the laboratory service and for the Irish healthcare. What is the hold up though? Where's the blockage? Who's resisting these calls? It's hard for us to know but there is a public service agreement so the pay element we've been trying to negotiate with the HSC and the Department of Health and it seems to be maybe there the blockage is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform who are overseeing all of the pay and we understand there have to be constraints on public pay but this is a service of dying on its feet. These are burnt out members who were already had big numbers of vacancies and now have had more of a workload due to COVID and have been coping with all of that and managed to implement COVID tests and get validators and up and running and get results out to patients in record time and they can't do it anymore. They also, may I say, they provide a 24-7 service so they are there manning so after they do their day work a lot of medical science stay on to do another shift of call or weekend extra services that have developed because of the role of medical science in healthcare and they're doing all of this and they're dealing with vacancies and they need more students but they don't have the time to train the students and it's just a vicious circle that they can't take anymore and that's why the action is happening. Has it been costed, Brona, to bring people up to parity to put in place the progression that I think a lot of people who entered this line of work perhaps were assured would be there and then they're there and they're putting in the years and it's not there do we know how much reform would be required and how much it might cost to bring people up to a point whereby we could avert future action? Well, I mean I think we've estimated that it's on average an 8% pay differential so that's the sort of level we're talking about I mean I don't want to be negotiating on the airways either but we are willing to look at mechanisms to get us there and that is what our members have mandated us for when they voted for industrial action but so we are willing to talk and enter into negotiations about it but we would also add that developing the career that we could find can deliver gains to the health service and save money so while we don't have the figures for that we are absolutely sure that this can be a win-win in the end. And I don't want to be negative but the powers that we might say that people are already facing delays in the health service maybe and delays in finding the outcomes of bloods that will get through this and you know it won't really put the public up or down much in the longer. So in other words like what do you do next if this has that, if that's the attitude to this, what do you do next to further argue your points? Well, I mean I think unfortunately Greg, that has been the attitude perhaps not of the HSE but I think there's a growing realisation in talks with the HSE for the last two weeks about contingency cover because we will provide, our members will be providing an emergency service throughout their action and the level of detail we have to go into to safeguard patient safety is quite, I think it's dawning on the powers that be that a modern hospital cannot function without a laboratory service so we have one day of action this week next week will be two days of action and the following three days of action and this cumulative effect will have a huge impact on waiting lists, on GP clinics, on outpatients, all of those things every aspect of the service and I mean our members aren't going to be backing down on this so we're hoping we can avert that for everybody's sake. Obviously you're plugging away but has this been picked up politically? We believe we have had some questions raised in this oil and we're hoping that the pressure will be applied there too the minister keeps referring us back to the public service pay agreement which we've tried and tried and tried in and we need some more assistance on that because it's not working we went to the public service agreement group on this and they recommended that we would sit around the table with the HSE and talk further and we waited three weeks for a meeting which was then delayed by a week and they came back to us with nothing new and no further give so that's why we then have had to proceed with the action Okay Brona we'll see how things pan out hopefully a resolution is found sooner rather than later thank you very much indeed Thank you Greg Brona O'Leary industrial relations officer with the medical laboratory sciences association it sounds so familiar to other stories we've covered in the past doesn't it certainly elements of the school secretaries fight there and others went for a jog along Kinnigar Beach with Mullin yesterday evening absolutely stomach turning to see what looked like washed up toilet paper along the shore is this just some of the residue of sewage I don't know but that's disgusting isn't it these those who follow will work in stock and shares see the crash coming next month and will be far worse than 20 2008 believes a caller last one just before the break the government has this country destroyed they've taken these people into Ireland while their own people struggle to survive on the streets what is taking place in this world is unheard of there is a disaster coming and the people of this country will struggle to even survive in fact many many people will not survive I hope that doesn't come to pass and I don't think really it is quite as stark as you outline we will get through we always get through providing obviously things elsewhere in the world don't escalate to catastrophic levels but we're in a cycle and people that have been round long enough will have seen these cycles before there are other things that factor into it but base the basics seem to generally be the same we are part of a union and we have a responsibility it's a legal binding responsibility and I presume that's what we are fulfilling at the moment and most people out there most people out there believe it is the right thing to do and it's what we should do and you know you can choose to what news you like but if you see what some people many people in the likes of Ukraine are enduring it's absolutely horrendous okay coming up after 10 o'clock we've the latest from on Garda Sioukhana the Community Garda information item that's coming up for you with the latest appeals and information and so much more stay right where you are back after these with some more of your comments we'll do more our ambition is to create new forests, manage our existing forests for greater carbon capture and provide more habitats to enhance biodiversity we'll 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Road letter Kenny for a quote today see Facebook visit atlantictravel.ie or call 9126193 Highland Radio weather updates with stress free travel 10 minutes from car park to departures gate and a selection of 19 destinations across the UK and Europe to choose from can only be one place Ireland West airport you're flying largely cloudy to start today with patchy rain and drizzle becoming drier through the morning but scattered showers will develop this evening turning heavy or thunder at times temperatures 16 or 17 degrees in moderate to fresh southerly winds that's the weather for today morning Greg in relation to the cost of living and the of rad cars comments for a lot of us in a set wage was struggling to pay our bills for an example heating or last year 670 euro yesterday I paid 1,395 euros that is you know over 600 euro that has to be found and completely new spend and that's just in one fill electricity they say same increase before I buy food that is so with no increase in my income I have to find the money for these increases that's why so many of us are struggling some people are lucky enough that they can increase their wages to cover these costs some are but the majority of us simply aren't and it's eating in to if there's a disposable income there it's it's chewing into that and if there isn't well then it's making life even more difficult so people have to make stark choices as it relates to filling in their car to get to work or buying food that's the reality of where we're living at the moment for many people Christopher joins us on the programme now Christopher good morning to you I'm going good I'm going good right you believe that do you think we're over dependent on multinationals what you said this morning was about a kind of a two tier economy which kind of reminded me of stuff I was reading and writing about the last number of years the crux of this what I'm about to say is dependent entirely on the phrase do you believe that history repeats itself and that's really what the story is about so I might just go off key for a second but I'll explain it very quickly if you go back to Ireland hundreds of years ago we were fishing we were growing oats and we were an economy that was quite diverse you know then along comes the potato with Sir Walter Raleigh from America it was a miracle crop it was very expensive in the beginning but it suited moist with environments and that's exactly what Ireland is so we really got into the potato in a big way and so much so that we basically got rid of everything else you know then when the blight came over on the boats from America and it hit it just wiped out the Irish the Irish never recovered it was desperate you know it was million people died and many people emigrated so it was a miracle from America and unfortunately the blight came and destroyed it also came from America and I couldn't help but draw correlation between that story and what we're in today we've got we've got a situation where 51% of our corporation tax was paid by 10 American multinational companies we've got a situation where 80% of our tax corporation tax was paid by 137 companies that's very small bigger but if you back up a bar my calculation any if you do this if it's all the pins tomorrow morning if a blight if you like comes from America who knows what that could be just a policy change we're going to repatriate American companies whatever it's going to be we've lost half a tax day if I think it's as bad as that I'd love somebody to come on who's an expert in this field no I understand what you're saying but just to read Lee Overadkar's comments yesterday incredible news today from the CSO March 2020 test month on record for trade despite immense global challenges and uncertainty trade significantly increased in every market testament to strength and quality of so many business owners and workers around the country and also those published figures published showed that will show that for this year we will have the second highest growth something like 5.8% and Christopher my point wasn't you know you're talking to it and I appreciate it where is where is the benefit of all of this we the people the majority of people I think are finding themselves slipping further and further backwards right yet we are hearing tweets like that from the Tarnished and we are seeing these growth predictions right and I take your point on American companies and what have you but that's right across all sectors according to the Tarnished there who's benefitting benefiting from it because it doesn't feel like there's very many people in Donegolik for example benefiting because we're all being squeezed and squeezed so where's the money going okay well if you take the stock the shares last year like if you'd invested in Shopify or Amazon and if those companies you would have doubled your money from the beginning of the pandemic up to a few weeks ago but those shares are all crashing now basically I think what's happening here is we've got big companies are skewing the figures if you take let's say IKEA the company in Ireland the amount of product that they sell in Ireland is vastly outweighs what the domestic businesses would retail so they skew the figures nobody's doing anything wrong here it's just business they're just so big the scale is that if you add it up all the Irish businesses together and weigh them up against these huge multinationals we don't make any impact at all the true Irish economy is I hate to say it almost insignificant but we are an open economy and that is the nature of an open economy isn't it the question is how do we leverage how do we how do we on hook ourselves we're going to struggle because say for instance farming they're being forced out of it many farmers would feel they're being forced out of it so in terms of that being a traditional way of making a living and a hugely important part of rural life you'll see the fishermen are being paid to type their boats or they're catching all the fish that they can in a very short period of time then the boats are being tied up so say for instance those two industries they might say well that's one way we could diversify but they're being legislated out of business so I don't always seem to be going in the opposite direction that you suggest we should be going there's one good thing out of it I mean I hate being doom and gloom we've had an entire generation which are being like in big tech you know so there's an education there that no university could provide they're exposed to the development houses of but we've got no one to build houses we've got no one to plumb houses we've got no one to wire houses we've got no one to roof houses it's grand if everyone is sitting working remotely on their computer but society can't survive like that because we need people with all different skill sets yeah the tradesmen are very short in the country if you're there and I think it's mainly driven by the fact that to be a tradesman is very difficult to pay what effectively is a crazy mortgage rates these days all right Christopher listen I have to go for the news at 10 interesting comments from you thanks very much lovely to talk to you all right that was Christopher there we've loads coming up for you over the next two hours stay right where you are but for now we'll take a quick break for the news with Donald Kavana good morning it's 10 o'clock Donald Kavana at the news desk the British government is meeting this morning to sign off on plans to scrap parts of the post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland it's understood the proposed measures would remove checks on British goods destined for Northern Ireland and also remove the European Court of Justice jurisdiction over the north Prime Minister Boris Johnson says if something is broken it's not a problem it's not a problem Boris Johnson says if something is broken it has to be fixed I've got to do what I can to fix things to make things work for people that's my job as Prime Minister of the UK we did it before when Sinn Fein had problems with language we worked very hard to sort things out we got them back into the executive there's a problem now with the protocol it's not operating in to get to your point it's not operating the way that I wanted it's not operating the way that I thought it would operate Maria councillor says the continued delays with the Twin Towns Bypass are frustrating but Donegal County council will continue to push it and the other 210T road projects in Donegal the Letter Can a Link Road and the Manor Cunningham to Lifford Road it's after a recent meeting of the council's Road Strategic Policy Committee was told that arising costs and other issues mean it's likely to be five years before the projects actually start councillor Patrick McGowan says while there was some easing of traffic during the Covid restrictions levels are now back to their peak in Balibuffay in Stranora it's at least four days a week now in the town morning and evening you see long, long traffic jams and we know that's very frustrating for passing traffic it's very frustrating for businesses there's also extremely dangerous and frustrating for local people as well just simply on across the road they can be urgent, they need all three projects so we look like chasing the rainbow every time we get to where we thought starting at the next thing in there's another issue and it goes back we know that it would be more likely to be 2026 Complaints to the children's ombudsman soared by 79% last year with 2% of the complaints coming from Donegal. With more detail here's Donna Marie Doherty 2126 complaints were made to the ombudsman for children's office in 2021 900 native them were linked to Covid related issues like restrictions and schools, uncertainty over the leaving cert and supports for children with disabilities during the pandemic 40% of complaints were related to education with 10% of those about bullying there were 42 complaints from Donegal, 2% of the national total the same percentage as in 2020 ombudsman for children, Dr Niall Muldoon said while the increase can be partly attributed to a resumption of services following blanket closures of 2020 a large proportion of complaints relate directly to Covid-19 issues he concluded children are often recognised for their ability to learn, to adapt and to accept change but in 2021 even the most resilient child was tested it's been suggested that a four-day working week could help resolve the staffing crisis in the health service, younger healthcare workers have been increasingly moving overseas to the likes of Canada and Australia since the Covid pandemic in search of better pay and working conditions trials of a four-day working week are underway in Scotland and Spain Dr Catherine Conlon, Senior Medical Officer in the Department of Public Health at St Finnbars Hospital in Cork says the health sector is already teetering on the verge of breakdown she says restructured working practices could help a lot and looking at the weather forecast for today largely cloudy this morning with some patchy rain and drizzle but that will clear it will become increasingly drier through the morning showers will develop in the late afternoon and into this evening they'll turn heavy or thundery at times in highs of 16 or 17 degrees celsius moderate to fresh southerly winds and that's Highland Radio News we're back with news again at 11 o'clock until then from the news team good morning on Thursday morning from 11 o'clock with service at 12 noon followed by interment in Strowman Cemetery the death has occurred of Rosie McCarron, name of Grorty nine, MacNeely Villas Old Town Letter Kenny Rosie's remains will repose at her later residence from 11 o'clock this morning funeral from there on Thursday to St June's Cathedral Letter Kenny for Requiem Mass at 11 o'clock with interment afterwards in Conwall Cemetery family time please from 10 p.m. to 11 a.m. and on the morning of the funeral family flowers only please the death has taken place of James Kenneth Gallagher funeral service in Adair and Neely funeral home for the family circle and Kenneth's closest friends tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock the courtage will leave Adair and Neely at quarter to three travelling via Creve Road, Trumlocher Tyroddy, Corkamble to Crossroads Burial Ground for a private family burial family flowers only please donations if desired to Crossroads Presbyterian Church care of Mr Richard Russell 33 Creve Road, London Derry the death has occurred of Billy Moore, Creve Smith Old Town Letter Kenny funeral from outside the family home at 2 o'clock this afternoon travelling via MacNeely Villas to Gortley Cemetery arriving at approximately half past two for service in the graveyard family plot family flowers only please donations if desired to the Donegal Hospice care of any family member or Con-McDade funeral director the death has occurred of Patrick Grant, 5 Cluncule Park Bunkranna and late of Middle Illy's Balimaghan Bunkranna his remains are opposing at his home funeral from there tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock for 11 o'clock Requiem Mass in St Mary's Church Cock Hill in the Adjoining Cemetery family time please from 11 p.m. to 10 a.m. and on the morning of the funeral funeral mass can be viewed on ChurchServices.tv the death has occurred of Sadie McCain, Ney Patton 25 Ligford Road, St Robam Sadie's remains are opposing at her late home funeral from there tomorrow morning at quarter past nine for Requiem Mass at 10 o'clock in St Eugene's Church Glen Ock with interment afterwards in Glen Ock Cemetery family time please from 10.30 p.m. to 10.30 a.m. family flowers only please donations in Louis Desard to War 26 Outlaw Govan Hospital care of any family member or Charles Lynch funeral director the death has taken place of Harry Kerr, 11 Glen Even, Cluncule Bunkranna and formerly Cambridge, Scotland his remains are opposing at his residence cremation will take place tomorrow afternoon at one o'clock in Lakelands crematorium Cavern family flowers only please donations if desired to Ash Animal Rescue the death has taken place of Annie Breen Middle Door Bun-Beg her remains are opposing at St Mary's Church Derry-Beg with Requiem Mass this morning at 11 o'clock followed by interment in Mahere Gallon the funeral mass can be viewed live on Ciaran Rorty funeral director's Facebook page and on the Chuck Publwera webcam and the death has taken place of Mickey McGinley, Derry-Harrif Creasler his remains are opposing at St. Michael's Church with funeral mass this morning at 11 o'clock followed by burial in Doe Cemetery Mass can be viewed live on mcmedia.tv family flowers only please donations if desired to Donegal Pro-Life care of Annie Family Member or James Harkin funeral director for more details including Annie Family Health guidelines for wakes and funerals please go to highlandradio.com OK, you're very welcome back to the second hour of the program and it's a Tuesday so coming up after the break we'll be joined in studio by Garda Sergeant Unum Walsh with the latest appeals and information from on Garda Shia Khanna back after these it's time for NCBI Bingo on Highland Radio it's Tuesday the 17th of May you're playing on the brown sheet the reference number is S17 it's game number 20 the numbers are 71 26 73 39 2 21 32 70 70 60 and finally 79 phone your claim to 9104833 before 8 tonight leave your name, contact number and the name of the shop where you purchased your book and we'll call you back the next working day get all your NCBI Bingo information at highlandradio.com visit letterkennycu.ie don't sleep in and miss the very latest beds and mattress offers from dfibeds.ie Ireland's leading online bed and mattress retailer you'll get a comfy Irish made mattress upholstered base and headboard from an amazing 229 year old check out the full range at dfibeds.ie delivery free and guaranteed to you for the next working day get all your NCBI Bingo information at highlandradio.com delivery free and guaranteed to you within 7 working days dfi beds sleep well live well quick write this number down 9148234 Fleming Doors, you know industrial doors, garage doors, agri doors insulated doors, milking parlour doors Fleming 9148234 Donegal Baldwin your arts festival presents RT's Carol Coleman Carol will talk about her book which is a personal diary and social history of the first Covid lockdown from March to June 2020 and how it turned our lives upside down. Join us on Tuesday 17th of May at 7pm at the Central Library in Lettrakennie OK, you're very welcome back and we welcome into studio now a guard of sergeant, Yunan Walsh for the community guard item Yunan always good to have you in good morning to you, how are you? Good Greg, how's yourself? I'm doing fantastic, thank you very much. Good weather. I'm enjoying the two days of summer, it was fantastic. Be optimistic. OK, come here hopefully it improves. Right, let's get on with the appeals and we'll start with the theft of a car from High Road in Lettrakennie this very recent. Yes, Greg, yesterday evening, Monday the 16th of May, Silver Mercedes was stolen from a house on the High Road in Lettrakennie between 8.30pm and 9.30pm, the registration number 05CE 3630 so it should be fairly distinctive if anybody had seen it, 05CE 3630 the car was actually located in the early hours of this morning at approximately 3am on fire on the Balyrian Road area of Lettrakennie so we're appealing for anybody who may have seen the car in question been driven anywhere in the town or anywhere in the joining areas of Lettrakennie between those times to contact the and are also appealing to anybody who travelled on the High Road yesterday evening between 8.30pm and 9.30pm and who has dashcam to make it available to the Gardie Lettrakennie and again anybody who travelled on the Balyrian Road area of Lettrakennie this morning between 2.45am and 3.15am to make dashcam footage available so it's Silver Mercedes 05CE 3630 should be fairly distinctive. and Gardie in Lettrakennie also investigating a theft from a business, is that correct? Yes, the business premises on it's probably the town out of the whole but as known locally as the Port Road is probably adjacent to the outbound lane of the road works there at the minute last Thursday at approximately 6.50pm this Thursday the 12th an attachment for a rock breaker and a power washer were stolen from the premises and bought items of substantial value up to 5,000 euro I'm told so obviously a car or some sort of vehicle was involved and we are very interested in any sightings of a white Vauxhall Vevero, V-I-V-A-R-O van Partial Ridge, D-U-19 that's a white Vauxhall Vevero van, Partial Ridge D-U-19 it was seen in the area on the date in question so again last Thursday the 12th of May around 6.50pm and we're appealing again to road users who travelled on the Port Road as the outbound lane or maybe even the inbound lane and who has dashed camp to make it available to us or anybody who may have sightings of this Vauxhall Vevero van. Now this is commercial equipment too so it would be more easily noticed if it were to be passed on to people. Yes and possibly offered for sale at a price too good to be through Ok right now let's go to Remelton the theft at Gamble Square. Yes a time between 10pm last Saturday 14th and Sunday morning 10am Sunday morning so sometimes Saturday night Gardian Milford are investigating the theft of a set of number plates which were taken from the car which is parked at Gamble Square so maybe a busy enough time somebody may have seen something suspicious or people acting unusual in the area to contact the Gardian Milford 07491 53060 or again the confidential in Greg 1-800-6-1 I would like to use this opportunity to remind listeners of your show the importance of contacting Gardian immediately should they ever see anybody hanging about or looking in their tampering cars. Yeah because recently I was speaking to a couple of people and they'd spotted a vehicle acting suspiciously and you know no one rang it in. You know that's important you know that's the you know if you see anything suspicious or anything like that there you're not wasting the guard of time because you know yourself is out of place don't you? You still welcome those calls I think people are afraid of we don't want to be bothering the guards you know it's better to rule it out than to have to investigate something afterwards Now let me guard the criminal damage investigation on going to Yes this is a criminal damage which occurred at the business premises on the Riverside retail unit on the Neatale Brainy Road again it's actually last Saturday again between 9 p.m. Saturday night and 8.30 p.m. on Sunday morning anybody who windows were broken on the premises and again a busy time Saturday night at the McKinney anybody who may have witnessed any unusual activity in and around the Riverside retail park during the course of the Saturday night to contact the guard at the McKinney 07491 67100 Now looking for the public self in the investigation into a crash in Killy Gordon. Yes this is a collision which occurred in Killy Gordon last Friday the 13th and unfortunately it was unlucky for somebody at 11 p.m. a large white lorry which is travelling from Killy Gordon Greg towards the crossroads is believed to have collided with an oncoming silver Octavia car while passing the car on the bridge again damage was caused to the car and the impact of the collision actually caused the car to collide with the wall of the bridge there Thankfully there were no injuries the lorry continued onwards towards the crossroads following the collision and it is possible Greg that the driver the lorry was unaware of what occurred and again so we may appealing to any lorry driver who has travelled on the road on that date and time to check the lorry for any damage and come forward and speak to the guard even if only to rule themselves out and again maybe anybody in the area time who may have witnessed it or heard anything about the collision to come forward to the guard at the McKinney so that's a collision between Killy Gordon and the crossroads last Friday at the 13th between 10.45pm and 11.30pm and it's possible someone who witnessed that may now come forward with information presumably if the lorry driver didn't realise it but now does listening to you it's far better if they come forward themselves That's important Greg, yes Your colleagues down in Ballish Shannon are investigating an assault Yeah this is an assault which occurred in the main street of Pandorn in the early hours of Sunday morning the 8th of May between 12.55am and 11.10am so that had been Saturday night Sunday morning the 8th of May a male was assaulted by another man who was unknown to him the injured man had to attend hospital for treatment of his injuries none of which are believed to be life threatening so again anybody who has witnessed the incident or may have dashcam come forward to the guard at Ballish Shannon 585 to you and again appealing for taxi drivers and other drivers in the area who may have captured the incident on their footage to make it available to the guards in Ballish Shannon Alright ok, now National Bike Week takes place in fact we're in the midst of it now We see a lot of cyclists anyway but we'll probably see more Do you cycle? Small but you yourself? No, don't have a bike I might get one of those e-bikes but you're not getting any exercise I think it's cheap I think it kind of is That's my reluctance Do you want to name him? Everybody knows where he parks under the arch actually for everybody to see That's his wheels Right ok So yes we're in the middle of National Bike Week I suppose you say the longer evenings and the brighter days and the better weather we'll see more and more cyclists on our roads over the coming weeks and months and again cyclists are as entitled to use the road as people who drive cars, lorries etc and the message is if you're driving in a speed zone of over a 50 km per hour you should allow at least 1.5 meters passing distance when overtaking the cyclist and in a speed zone of under 50 km per hour allow at least 1 meter to keep their bikes in good working order and they must cycle within reasonable consideration and they also must obey the rules of the road and it's important to remember that you heard as famous the vehicle word is used by the reason we use that vehicle word is it covers a multitude of It's normally vehicle It covers a multitude I understand what you mean A bicycle is actually a vehicle under the road traffic act Now that's a legal definition It's not just what you're saying and I do take your point you talk about the driver of a vehicle's responsibility that extends to a push bike Yes, the normal offences of dangerous driving, careless driving apply to motorcyclists, drivers of bicycles as well and there are actually some fish charge notices for offences on a motor bicycle no front lamp, rear lamp, those kind of things failing to stop at a school award and saying preceding past traffic dates when the red light is eliminated So again, we're asking people on their bikes to remember that you're a vehicle under the act and the same rules of the road apply to you as other road users All right, part of National Bike Week we know, Gardie every now and again, I mean to get a lot of the they can recover a lot of stolen bikes and we see trying to get them back in touch with their owners can be a problem but you mentioned expensive bikes and you can pay anything you want to buy a lot of these bikes now in the high hundreds in the thousands but then some people might go and buy a lock for it for 20 years or something and put it on a wheel that's got quick release. Yes, the messages spend 10% to 20% of the value of your bike and your locks obviously lock your bike indoors or in well-lit areas if possible some people have a habit actually they have to come back from a long cycle to leave their bikes sitting outside and go home and have something to eat and forget about their bike obviously when you're locking your bike ensure you secure it tightly to a heavy immovable object such as a lawn mower and keep the lock off the ground always ensure yourself if your bike is in your shed always ensure your shed doors and windows are locked and again, take a photo of your bike note the serial number which is located on the underside of your bike close to the pedals and email the photo and serial number to yourself so you'll always have a record of it if your bike is stolen or lost report to TEF to guard you as soon as possible and ensure you provide your serial number if you have to and as you said many bikes recovered and cannot be returned to their owners as their serial numbers have not been recorded and here's another one for you if you're going a long cycle and you stop and you're going for something to eat you should have a lock with you to lock your bike Yeah, it makes sense too, okay and we'd love to live in a country where you don't have to but unfortunately that's just not the case just wondering would it be possible about the Mercedes reg it was a Silver Mercedes 05 CE3630 taken from a house on the High Road Letter County between 8.30pm and 9.30pm yesterday unfortunately later found burnt out okay any information to the numbers listed as you would have heard and if you're watching this on the Garda Shoe Con on Facebook page you'll see the numbers above this video or you can use that Garda Confidential line as well listen, as always, Eunice, thank you very much for your time Thank you, have a nice week you too, take care of yourself that was Garda Sargent, Eunice Walsh that was the Community Garda Information item which is back with you on the programme next Tuesday after the 10 o'clock news the Ninetal Noon Show with Letter Kenny Credit Union now offering myCU current account and debit mastercard bringing full banking features delivered with the same local trustworthy service of your credit union Mum, we're starving can we have crisps like clockwork just as they're in from school when did this become an everyday thing please sure it's only a little treat no, you're sticking to the new plan you can have cheese and crackers, yogurt or toast at 3pm on Tuesday Joanne started with healthier snacks let's go easy on the treats start with smaller ones as often to keep your family healthy find more ways to start at megastart.ie brought to you by Safe Food the HSE and Healthy Ireland interested in investing but don't know where to begin a great place to start is Bank of Ireland's new webinar series Invested you can learn about investing with live webinars guides and insights from industry experts we know you've worked hard for your money and with our expert support it can work harder for you so don't rest it invest it visit bankofarland.com invested Bank of Ireland, begin Terms and conditions apply Bank of Ireland is a tide agent of New Ireland Assurance Company PLC trading as Bank of Ireland life for life assurance and pensions business members of Bank of Ireland Group Bank of Ireland Trading as Bank of Ireland insurance and investments regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland thinking of changing your floors why not see what Florid Letter Kenny has to offer Florid have a large selection of solid semi-solid and laminate click vinyl wood Florid together with the fantastic choice of Harkay Herringbone Florid all at incredible value don't delay call Florid today on 087 161 7 008 don't just do okay in your career do great at all state don't settle sore don't procrastinate innovate don't do mediocre do magnificent at all state great work great life great people where great opportunities await search all state and I careers today is your bank charging you negative interest for holding company money at John F. 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Lowery financial services are regulated by the central bank of Ireland terms and conditions may apply okay right some of your comments coming into the program before we take a break of music or break for music at 10 30 it would be great if the government built a huge hotel for millionaires only costing 5000 euro night then use that well to help build homes for the public red brick all new homes and red brick all council older homes to make them warmer and help get rid of all these damp walls we have red brick on the outside of as many homes to warm them alright okay I'm not sure about that proposal but I understand its motivation just wondering what it was possible I did that for you that was I'm happy to do that we were talking about people working in the laboratory some of them going on strike tomorrow will have an impact on you by the way I'm sure your GP will let you know though by the way if you are getting bloodstone or whatever there could be a delay but the delay will be greater next week in the week after medical science would do a lot better and be of more value if they also become a herbal medical science as well as general medical science many patients only want herbal treatment so we should be able to get a GP based on combination medical science lab of herbal and general meds patients should have the choice with these people are analysts I think would be a catch all but I take your broader point a call yesterday walking Kinnegar beach or running it and was shocked to see effectively toilet paper washed up on the beach this caller says re-kinnegar sewage yes Irish water know full well that raw sewage is flowing out into the estuary from pipes just south of the pier in Rathmullen the council and Irish water fears about this at the same problem in downings to have done a ghost favorite breaches I regularly see human feces toilet paper and hygiene products washed up along Rathmullen beach shocking really isn't it a tristy is not giving the full 200 euro either they're giving a hundred and seventy-six euro of electricity do you know the reason why we must look into that for that listener that requires the chair and table for someone out of hospital if they would go to their public health nurse or occupation therapist they should be accommodated that comes in from Mary Mary thank you very much indeed for that information okay let's take some music here's Dermot Kennedy all right that's a Dermot Kennedy there back with our next guest on the 90 noon show after the break the 90 noon show with letter Kenny credit union now offering mortgages from 40,000 to 600,000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges letter Kenny credit union 9102127 at Lidl we do things every day to make life better for us all things like being the first retailer to work with farmers on a sustainable beef program to improve environmental impact donating over 600,000 meals in the last year through our partnership with food cloud and helping bees by doubling our number of pollinator friendly stores in 2022 decision by decision day by day taking Lidl steps to a better tomorrow join us on our journey today at Lidl steps.ie Lidl more for you if you're 65 or over or you have a weak immune system you can now get your second Covid-19 booster vaccine your vaccine is due four months after your last vaccine it will improve your protection from Covid-19 you can book a vaccination center appointment on hsc.ie or contact a participating GP or pharmacy for more information on your second booster or to book an appointment visit hsc.ie or call our team in hsc live on 1800 700 700 from the hsc for us all the government is supporting Ireland's transition to electric vehicles 100 million euro will be invested in EV charging infrastructure over the next three years but first we want to hear your views to take part in the department of transports public consultation today simply visit gov.ie forward slash EV consultation that's gov.ie forward slash EV consultation now an addiction expert has told how some people are popping dozens of painkillers a day Dr Garrett McGovern says I remember treating one man and I could see him in the waiting room from a distance he was ashen the guy was taking about 48 tablets a day he had holes burned in his stomach Dr McGovern joins us on the program now thank you very much Garrett for joining us I appreciate your time medical director at prior to medical clinic and GP specializing in addiction medicine how wide scale do you think the painkiller addiction problem is in this country it's very much under the radar now we're seeing an awful lot more of it in treatment services over the last probably over the last 10 maybe even 15 years but certainly in the last five years it's sort of intensified in terms of people coming for treatment the numbers coming for treatment I think in the article in the paper it was 10% I suspect it's even less than that to be honest with you I think there's a lot of people taking these pills fairly routinely who really be probably because they're over the counter don't maybe think that they have a problem and many end up having problems they're far more likely to end up having a consequence of that addiction rather than getting the addiction itself treated so as you highlighted at the top of the program you mentioned you know stomach ulceration bleeding these are surgical emergencies so he would have presented there with you know sorry doctor but my stomach's in bits and you go right well what could this be and then it turns out that he's going through so many of these tablets so you only see it once it manifests itself as a physical issue yeah well this particular this particular case involves somebody who had already been in the under the care of a surgeon so we're talking about this is just one of the number of cases I mean so the patient will who would tend to be their hemoglobin which is their blood count was very very low because their bleeding was trickling away in their stomach sometimes those bleeds can be catastrophic and it can be a surgical emergency or sometimes rather than cause bleeding they can cause perforation and this is just due to chronic use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories which is the component that is contained in these medications so although the person will get addicted to codeine which is the opiate the codeine doses is usually quite low but unfortunately once your habit starts to escalate your tolerance starts to go up you're going to need more and more of these tablets the problem is you don't need the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory component of them but you have to take them in order to to satisfy you know your codeine needs in terms of staving off withdrawals so that's the problem so in terms of why people might find themselves addicted do you think it's self-medication and then it just happens and they don't see the GP for a long time and it's not picked up are there gaps in the health service or in our care that people have feel they have no choice but to manage pain this way and then they become addicted or is it some combination of the both and more? Yeah no it's an excellent question I think the vast majority of people it's very very rare that people would start taking these medications to get some sort of a buzz out of the medications that's not really the way it happens usually what happens is they take them for legitimate reasons but what sometimes happens is they would take more than is recommended and when they take more that's recommended they might feel that they get some sort of feeling of well-being from those medications the problem is in those circumstances this is even far long after pain has gone these patients then will realise that they don't feel so good when they stop taking the medication so they escalate their habit and then they don't have access to them and of course that's a driver to take more of these medications Yeah and I presume the mind is such that it can sort of trick you into making you feel you need to take them Yeah but it is a physical addiction I mean it's one of the lower in terms of I mean I do have a number of obvious types of addictions obviously stronger addictions like oxycodone and then obviously we have heroin addiction so it's down the scale of it but it is very significant because unlike those other addictions those other addictions are what we call mono opiate addictions so you're just dealing with opiates you're not dealing with the physical complications of stomach ulceration and in some cases renal problems and in the case of paracetamol and codeine preparations you're talking about the liver complications of the other medications now the other issue on top of this is that a lot of people are very very and I include doctors they don't really know what the optimum treatment is for this so some people say you have an addiction you might need to go into an addiction facility the treatment for this is really really simple in many ways and really really effective and it's opiate substitution treatment so we're talking about drugs such as methadone and now in recent years they've worked very very well for this it's a drug called buprenorphine which is similar to methadone except methadone is a liquid this drug is taken under your tongue but they work really really well in dealing with your codeine needs and really people just cease taking these yeah but that has to be and I wonder are we anywhere close to being I'm not sure if you would I could call you an outlier as such but do you think there is anything or acceptance amongst our network of GPs that you know this type of addiction exists and the remedies that you've outlined there exists like are people actively being treated in surgeries in Donegal and Galway and Sligo and awfully are they being treated for these type of addictions like are GPs picking up on it? No in my opinion there is a paucity of both awareness among GPs and also treatment options for people I mean you have to remember there is another problem which is improving in recent years and that is the availability of these medications even let's just move aside painkiller problems even for people who have heroin problems opioid substitution treatment isn't widely available all over the country as well as it should be there's many examples for instance in Donegal if people have had to come down to Dublin to get treatment for that so it will be no different for this the same treatment so yeah in answer to your question no the awareness and treatment availability is just lacking it's kind of interesting because a couple of months ago we were speaking to a gentleman on this program and he rang up because he was angry at a pharmacist and I think he said I can't remember the tablet but he has a couple of drinks and he goes into the pharmacist and orders this tablet and he finds what it's best for his hangover believe it or not and you know he was offended because someone working in the pharmacy took him to one side and said what are you taking this for and questioned him along those and advised that there might be that he could potentially get addicted to it and he was so offended that he was actually going to go the next day and return the tablets and never darken the door of the pharmacy again but I presume that pharmacy was acting in good faith and it was to avoid the type of problems that we're talking about right now yeah no absolutely the pharmacist is absolutely vigilant to these issues the one where I feel sorry for pharmacists is that they're doing the right thing the problem with pharmacists is they don't really have in some regions of the country they don't have ready made options and I don't think they mention those options and a lot of people it is very daunting if you say to someone it's hard to say to someone you might need to substitute oh god that's for heroin users and people get kind of very alarmed by that sit down and work this through but we just need to create a greater awareness about this so that it's less stigmatising when people hear phrases such as opiate substitution treatment and that you know there is treatment available here's a number give it a ring and then off you go and going back to that conversation with that gentleman too though he did say that if these drugs are dangerous or addictive put them on prescription I'll use something else they're freely available over the counter which in a way you know maybe that's the conversation we need to have what should and should not be available over the counter because you know even the smallest of times of multiple pharmacies so you know if you felt that you you know there was a red flag there it would be very easy to sort of get around it and get all the medicine that you might need in inverted commas. It's a good point I would have reservations about maybe putting things on prescription like these and I'll tell you why I say that is there's no doubt that the availability of them is greater there's no question the problem with some number of scriptures the vast majority of people to be fair are actually using these sensibly and I think the idea of clogging up you know GP surgeries people having to pay for a consultation to go and get simple pain relief is probably wrong I think we need to be more inventive than that and I don't think that's fair if you're in immediate pain you need immediate relief and many people are absolutely over life for these medications when they're in acute pain. Right so then is it maybe more public information by way of adverts and I presume you know at point of sale very very good that's actually a very very good idea yeah absolutely anything that creates awareness or anything that gets the conversation going like this is brilliant today to see you know yourselves doing this because this does create awareness and people that just makes people think a little bit different well that's it I think that people may feel that they need to take some of these medicines and they might be listening to this conversation and going actually is it a physical need to relieve pain or is something else going on and I think the more conversations like this a lot of people maybe might be able to resolve this themselves and look at what medicines they're taking. Absolutely you're absolutely hit the nail on the head there that's exactly what we need and we just need to keep it alive sometimes we you know I do these little interviews from time to time and they kind of you know people create a little bit of awareness of the time and then it kind of dies down I think we need a bit more of a campaign on this I absolutely don't know what you're doing you're right. So just so we're clear I'm not sure we can mention brand names or not I don't think I mean they're readily available but what type of medicines are we talking about here? So the drugs that are on the market I want to be very clear of this and I have to stress this in the interview that I did the article is that these medications are very very good medications they have been you know well evaluated and they've been on the market for many years so we're talking about medications such as Solpidine and Neurofemplus taken as directed they are absolutely really effective medications but like any medication doesn't really matter what it is if you take too many of these these tablets you can run into trouble and the manufacturers of these things will tell you that themselves it's well established that you know a lot of caracetamol can affect your liver and in some cases where people have taken too many it can cause liver failure or fibrosis of your liver that can happen with caracetamol and the other drugs well established with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory that will be mainly ibuprofen in this case can cause problems with the kidneys if you take them in excess not in therapeutic quantities I have to stress this. But you see really at the end of the day as well there's a cancer health thing here probably going on because if you take the recommended course of these tablets and pain still persists that's an indication that you need to go and see your GP. Yeah now that's a slightly sort of separate issue it's a bit complicated if pain persists well really like everything else with pain you need to get to the underlying cause now I really talked about acute pain here this morning but there is such a thing obviously as chronic pain is very complicated that's not acute pain that's not like sprained ankle or a toothache that's where you have chronic pain you may have for instance back problems you may have other problems that are causing pain and sometimes sadly the medical side of it experts have investigated it from top to bottom and the pain still exists now that's chronic pain that can persist for many months and years and that needs to be managed and thankfully nowadays we do have pain management specialists to specialise in this area but it's very different to this issue if you know what I mean we're talking about acute pain and taking these tablets to excess. And just finally you mentioned in passing that you would see people from the Nicole that have to travel down to get the extra excellent care under you and your colleagues how significant is that and how much of a focus do we need to maybe having some of these services regionalised because I just wonder you know it could be a step too far for a lot of people well in an ideal world we should have services in all the regions of the country that are equal we don't live in that sort of society and it's unfortunate but you have to remember with acute substitution treatment that was essentially a response to the heroin epidemic in the 80s and we developed that in 90s and that was largely a Dublin problem then but of course then it expanded out and it wasn't a Dublin problem solely a Dublin problem anymore. This is different this is not nothing to do with the Dublin problem this is right across the country problem so we don't have treatment facilities than we should there are some inventive ways that we can perhaps even as an interim measure improve this we're doing a lot more telemedicine nowadays than we did before virtual clinics they do that's been really really successful in places like Canada which has a vast expanse and they're just many people living rurally that wouldn't be able to access services but they can access services through virtual consultations in local health centres. And just very finally a question on antidepressants they are they are prescribed quite widely sometimes it is for people presenting with a mental health issue also presenting because my understanding is they are very good at treating a number of things at lower dosage do we have a particular problem with the dependency on antidepressants in this country? This is a very polarising argument because doctors will always sort of stand by these medications and say no there isn't and many people say yes there is. I don't know to be honest with you the answer to that what I do know is this is that if a patient has mental health problems we should be adopting what I call a holistic approach to this so there should be more talking therapies there should be more mindfulness there should be more counselling there should be more cognitive behavioural therapy and of course medications can help if there is an over-reliance on medications but there isn't any of those other therapies then yes there are many patients that are probably stuck in antidepressants that are probably not doing them any good sometimes getting side effects from them which you need more holistic a more holistic approach to the problem very finely a listeners partner addicted to nicotine gum 20 euro a week they're spending on it it is an addiction any quick advice or something they could do can I say this right stay on the nicotine gum if you're going to stay away from cigarettes two boxes of cigarettes a week alright okay I get you listen thanks for your time Garret lovely to chat to you by the way very informative Doctor Garret McGovern Medical Director at Priority or Priority Medical Clinic and GP Specializing in Addiction Medicine Call us as one of the biggest addictions is benzodiazepines benzodiazepines such as Valium, Xanax etc and the doctors and psychiatrists think when you're on them for years like 10 or 20 years that they can just cut you down a quarter of a tablet a week and that's you off them it's dangerous doing it that quick but the withdrawal is horrendous bounce back anxiety whatever you might be suffering from as well sulfidines are a big problem so is this caller a person in my life will go from chemist to chemist to buy them how could we attempt to regulate this because as a result they get up to five boxes a week and we are so concerned I mean maybe something like that you would treat that like you might someone who has an alcoholic addiction an intervention that might be required in that regard complicated how do you do it I don't know but maybe well worth ringing some of these addiction some of these addiction services are open to the families of people that are addicted and I don't want to give any bad advice but they might give some positive advice if you're concerned about them and if they're going to those lengths to sort of satisfy their addiction then it's something really probably if you can and it's hard to get involved perhaps need to get involved in on as I say there are charities addiction charities that work with families and people who support people with addiction as well and they do a lot of work and if you can maybe dig out some of those numbers or I might try to give them a call and at least get it off your chest Deirdre very quick on Facebook thanks Deirdre the rebate for your electricity is 200 euro but less VAT it works out at 176 so they take the VAT off and in real terms 176 is what's credited to you Deirdre says The Ninetal Noon Show with letter Kenny Credit Union now offering myCU current account and debit mastercard bringing full banking features delivered with the same local trustworthy service of your credit union Drivers keep an eye out for the digital signs between junction 4 Balimon and junction 9 Red Cow on the M50 The signs will be switched on to slow traffic collision, road works poor weather or congestion Lowering your speed will help protect you other road users, emergency responders and road workers Respect the speed displayed and help keep the M50 safe A message from Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Road Safety Authority Small businesses often find it difficult to access the finance they need Microfinance Ireland the government funded not-for-profit lender can help have been unable to secure finance from banks or other lenders We provide business loans up to 25,000 euro to businesses of less than 10 employees with a turnover of up to 2 million euro For more information visit microfinanceireland.ie or talk to your local enterprise office Microfinance Ireland funding small businesses in times of recovery and opportunity For all your health and beauty needs you can always rely on McGee's chemist in letter Kenny if you need a prescription just call or order online and it will be ready for you in advance before you arrive For beauty and skin care there's all the big names of great prices in store and online and for your photo printing needs simply download the McGee's photo prints app or click on the website link McGee's Chemist Main Street Letter Kenny for all your health and beauty needs and so much more Call 911-21409 or visit McGee's.ie A collection of 19 destinations across the UK and Europe to choose from can only be one place Ireland West Airport, you're flying Now it's going to become drier throughout the morning with scattered showers developing by the evening turning heavy or thunder at times temperature is 16 or 17 degrees in moderate to fresh southerly winds and that's kind of going to be the pattern of the week but I think towards the end of the week whilst the east and south is getting heavy rain we might escape some of that Right, a caller says a mattress and a bag of rubbish was dumped at Trosk Loch outside Balbuffet last night between 9.45 and 20 past 10 A caller is appealing to the owner to please come back and get it, they say they have the registration of the vehicle and that they will contact authorities if it is not collected again, the area is used often by walkers and is a beautiful area so if you dumped that mattress and rubbish last night at Trosk Loch the caller says they have your details and they are going to pass them on Caller says Greg my electricity provider dropped the 200 euro into the middle of my bill rather than it being credited to my account it was automatically taken off my bill and as a result I was charged that the result was I lost 26 euro of the 200 furthermore I actually had the money for my bill this month I would have preferred to have banked the credit for a month where I would have been stuck OK, re-reports of sewage on the beach I certainly won't be going for a dip any time soon in Loch Swilly says a caller Chris isn't there, we'll try and get Chris back in do you need the number, you have it? OK I've just read that one Greg, the ladies leisure cycle organised by Finn Wheeler Cycling Club for Bike Week is leaving Glenside Business Park by Le Buffet this evening at 7pm for anyone that wants to join in also to make motorists aware that there will be a group out on the road, it's open to members and non-members, thank you there's a small river in Bridge End which is running straight into Inch Wild Fowl Reserve, a load of dead fish was seen floating in it a couple of days ago, right OK thanks for keeping us updated on this information Chris, good morning to you good morning to us, thanks not too bad at all, following on from our conversation there with the addictions specialist what's your point Chris yeah, that'll be one of the things I'll be really afraid of is getting addicted like I suffer from migraines and headaches like I would have it nearly every week, sometimes it goes on for 3, 4 or 5 days in the row and the only tablets that actually do work for me is the sulfolene tablets and I know you can get addicted to them so we can only take them for 3 days at the time and so on like a panazole and stuff like that like I could be taken full packet and still wouldn't do nothing for me that's the only tablets that actually do work but apparently they are very, very highly addictive tablets I just wonder when we were talking to the doctor there about addiction it's people taking tablets that they don't need I would imagine and I'm sure you're having this conversation with your GP there's a balance here isn't there it's about you getting these migraines regularly and having to be able to function in your life as best if you can these tablets being affected in their treatment and the balance between the potential for an addiction versus you know your general quality of life Chris that's the balance for you isn't it yeah, yeah this is really, really high then like you know let's say I have headaches for more than 3 days like it says in the packet that you can only take so many tablets a day and 3 days max I think it is what do I do then but you know yourself don't I mean I presume you don't need these tablets between your bouts of migraine no, no, no I think it sounds to me Chris that I can understand why you'd be worried and I would too but it sounds to me like that you've kind of got control on your pain management you know that you only take them when you have your migraine and I think the doctor was talking about people who are better but they continue to take them because they've got a dependency on the codeine I would say so yeah I suppose it's like cigarettes or alcohol like you just take it then to make yourself feel better I suppose the people who are addicted to the CIGIES you can't take a break you know you can't just smoke when you have a migraine and then not so I think it sounds to me like Chris you're on top of the situation but how hard is it to live with the migraines Chris or function with them I mean you know what I mean I don't mean live you know what I mean to do you just kind of get used to it and you just swap it on like you know when you have for example when you have your own business you just get on with it and so ahead and no so ahead and can anything be done I mean I presume you've tried to find out if there's any triggers and you've changed you died a million times and all that stuff yeah I've tried the piercing in the ear I do get sure that's actually really working for me last time okay good back a couple years ago I had the operation done with the sinus septum straighten up like and that did work for a couple months but back to the same thing again like you know so kind of at this stage you just get on with it and just try to do whatever you can alright okay and what works for you is it darkened room that type of stuff or is it just the bag no no just normally if I'll get the tablets before when I feel the head or kind of sore head coming on if I'll take two tablets it helps then like you know it doesn't last as long as not a sore but if you leave it too late it's just a dark room you sleep that's all you can do it's a tough one on you Chris listen thanks for that I appreciate it nice to speak to you okay take care of yourself maybe you're in a similar position with Chris I think many people do suffer from migraines and could no doubt about that I call it says I was on the ferry from Bunkran at Rathmollon a couple of years ago and halfway over there there was a wide line of raw sewage floating in the swilly needless to say me or my children have not been in the water there since any views on that 08 6 625 thousand it's funny one text can trigger a whole load of other texts of people thinking feeling the same thing alright you are tuned to the night till noon show here in Highland Radio this Tuesday the 17th of May we've another busy hour for you stay right where you are you won't want to miss it we want you involved as well with the usual numbers and ways of communicating with us but it's time to get an update from the world of news and 11 o'clock we say good morning now to Donald Kavanaugh thank you great good morning the Taoiseach says there is a path to resolution over the issues raised about the operation of the Northern Ireland protocol the minister prepares to bring legislation forward to scrap parts of the agreement Liz Truss will make the announcement in the House of Commons in a bid to help restore power sharing at Stormont but Micheal Martin says unilateralism does not work in terms of the Good Friday Agreement he says it's extremely important that the British Government and EU engage in dialogue Gardiner-Kennier investigating the theft of a silver Mercedes car from a house on the high road between half past 8 and half past 9 last night the car's registration number is 05 CE 3630 the car was subsequently found on fire on the Bally Rain Road shortly after 3 this morning Gardy anxious to hear from anyone who saw anything suspicious in either area or house-camp footage meanwhile Gardy say a lorry driver involved in a collision with a car near Kiligordon on Friday night last may not be aware that the incident had taken place it happened as the lorry passed a car on the bridge heading toward Crossroads there were no injuries Gardy are urging lorry drivers who may have been in the area to take their vehicles and if they notice any damage to get in touch a Liffords from Norr area councillor says the continued delays with the Twin Towns bypass are frustrating but Donegal County council will continue to push it and the other two Tenty Road projects in Donegal letter Kelly Link Road and the Manor Conningham to Lifford Road it's after a recent meeting of the council's Road Strategic Policy Committee was told that rising costs and other issues mean it's likely to be five years before the projects actually go to construction children's ombudsman's sword by 79% last year with 2% of the complaints coming from Donegal 42 in total just over 2,400 complaints from across the country it's been suggested a four-day working week could help resolve the staffing crisis in the health service younger healthcare workers have been increasingly moving overseas to the likes of Canada and Australia since the Covid pandemic in search of better pay and working conditions trials of a four-day working week are underway in Scotland and Spain and ministers are meeting today to discuss the provision of a new national maternity hospital it had been postponed for two weeks with the government aiming to provide clarity on a range of issues surrounding the project at St Vincent's there had been calls for a further delay but as he entered cabinet this morning Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said he's expecting a government decision today and we're back with news headlines again at 12 noon. Okay Donal thank you I call us this magnesium has helped my migraines greatly I'm not sure if Chris has tried that or maybe he could but magnesium helping one listener there and another responding to the person who found the mattress and says they've got the number plate of the guardie and that they'll pass that on if the person doesn't come back and lift it I don't know if they actually have it or not but they say they do but this caller believes that that person who found that mattress and rubbish should report it to the guardie ASAP immediately because the likelihood of anyone coming back now is a slim very slim they say okay back with more after this quick break the 9 till noon show with letter Kenny credit union now offering mortgages from 40,000 to 600,000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges letter Kenny credit union 9102127 getting involved in this year's bike week couldn't be easier starting on Saturday May 14th and running until Sunday the 22nd you'll find a host of events and activities in your local area to suit your level of experience so whether that's family freewheeler or a conscientious commuter click into gear and visit bikeweek.ie to learn more supported by transport for Ireland your local authorities sports partnerships and funded by the Department of Transport or McCulloch eulers in letter Kenny are synonymous with fine jewelry quality watches and wear with stores at main street letter Kenny and the letter Kenny shopping centre or online at or McCulloch.com you can choose from their quality product range and a relaxed atmosphere and their sales staff will be happy to help you make the right choice whatever the occasion or McCulloch eulers making moments magical for generations the Euro Millions jackpot is an estimated 25 million euro clear responsibly in store in app or at Lottery.ie the National Lottery it could be you if you're having any hearing difficulties at Donegal Hearing Clinic we can help if your hearing loss is slight but you want to look into it or it's got to the point where you have no other choice we'll do what it takes to resolve your problem it may be as simple as a wax removal Donegal Hearing Clinic pierce show letter Kenny and Milltown Business Park Bunkranna call us on 88-470 or visit DonegalHearingClinic.ie life sounds brilliant with Donegal Hearing Clinic letter Kenny and Bunkranna everything can we have Chris like clockwork just as they're in from school when did this become an everyday thing please sure it's only a little treat no you're sticking to the new plan guys remember what we agree no junk on weekdays you can have cheese and crackers yogurt or toast at 3pm on Tuesday Joanne started with healthier snacks let's go easy on the treats start with smaller ones as often to keep your family healthy find more ways to start at megastart.ie brought to you by Save Food the HSE and Healthy Ireland now we're joined on the programme by Lorna Siggins who's a journalist working in print and on radio former Irish Times western and marine correspondent and author of search and rescue true stories of Irish Airsea rescues and the loss of the R116 Lorna good morning to you thank you so much for joining us good morning it's great to have you on the programme the search and rescue services it's something very close to our hearts we've a great understanding and great generosity to particularly in the coastal areas of our island island country I'm not saying they don't in the Midlands but you know I'd be more aware of us here along the northwest coast of course yeah and obviously you have an awful lot of activity up there and that's very much featured in the book it's you know it starts off with the death of Katrina Lucas the Irish Coast Guard volunteer of the clear coast in September 2016 sorry and then the rescue rescue 116 of the Mayo Coast in March 2017 but then it's also looking back on the development of our Coast Guard service and the RNLI the great role played by the RNLI and we're all started up in Donegal with Joan McGinley or Joan O'Doherty who started that campaign in 1988 to improve search and rescue cover off the west coast yeah and we'll get to that but did you purposely want to discuss and cover the loss of those involved in it maybe to highlight I don't know what your motivation would be it's important that we cover it but it's not without risk and sacrifice that these people get involved in keeping our coasts and also safe as possible yes because back in 1999 for Air Corps crew also died they were returning from a rescue at night it was the first day of 24 hour helicopter cover off the south east coast and there were those four aircrew died so obviously we do remember their names but it's important to remember you know the big risks that people take when they go out and many of their professionals but then they're also volunteers with the RNLI and with the Coast Guard units yeah so I'll talk to us about the establishment of particularly I suppose the air support element of search and rescue so I suppose the book is going back to the 1960's and the arrival of helicopters and one of the first helicopters to carry out a rescue office coast was off the Donegal coast it was a navy helicopter that came from Derry to pick up a crew of a frigate that I've got stuck on a rock but then it's covering the Air Corps and how it carried out daytime search and rescue the sort of pioneering missions that they made and then it's moving on to that campaign that was run by Joan McGinley or Joan of Doherty and the decision by the government then to set up an actual Coast Guard service and initially a base in Shannon and then a base at Finner Camp which then moved to Sligo and then four bases Shannon, Sligo, Dublin and Waterford and obviously this is all very current too because contracts are being negotiated and there was a threat of us losing one of those centres as well and it's interesting that we're all aware of that because this is so much part of our life and existence and our general knowledge. Yeah I think we are all aware and we see people see the helicopters flying and the Air Corps is also involved and it's covered in the book because it's based in Aflo now and it runs an emergency medical service where it's going to carry out sort of air ambulance missions inland and one of those was a young lad who had a terrible incident with a trailer down in Capiquin and County Waterford and he wouldn't have survived his father thinks he would not have survived if the Air Corps had not been able to fly him to hospital because he wouldn't have survived the ambulance trip by road. Yeah and it's a balance isn't it to be struck here because and I want you to talk to us a little bit about how you write about the loss of the crew of Rescue 116 in March because it's not just recounting the events but it's also looking at what led to it, what was wrong what warnings were ignored what failures there were. Yeah and I suppose this is covered in the final report into the Rescue 116 crash and the fact that crew were able to talk and within the first week of that crash we had a prime time program highlighting issues with maps and with navigational equipment and then further revelations about that prime time several programs before the final report. The preliminary report identified that as one of the issues the preliminary report in April also talked about the fact that the personal locator beacons worn by the pilots were incorrectly fitted and so if there had been a chance of them surviving the crash they might not have been located at sea because the personal locator beacons weren't working properly. Yeah okay and we also learn a bit more too about the four crew that lost their lives as well and I should name them of course out of respect Dara Fitzpatrick Captain Mark Duffy, Paul Almsby and Kieran Smith. Yeah and they all loved their jobs and so the book does talk about what brought them to their work with CHC helicopters or the Irish Coast Guard and I think what's really sad is the fact that both Paul Almsby and Kieran Smith are still missing their bodies haven't been found. There was a very extensive search there was a big search by fishing vessels that came down from Donegal to participate in a day-long search to see if their bodies might be found but they're still missing five years later. In relation to that tragedy and other issues that you cover in the book certainly some failings need for improvement like do you believe with your knowledge and your research that we are learning lessons that we are putting measures in place to plug holes where they need to be and make sure as best as is possible that things that happened we won't see history repeating itself. Well I would hope so because that air accident investigation unit report is really really thorough and it's really well written for somebody I'm not an aviation expert I'm not a pilot but I think all of us would find that there are many parts of that report that we can understand explaining the technical detail but there is an issue with oversight and that's something that I suppose you know that has come up before and if you go back to the Tremor crash when the air crew died of Waterford there was also an air accident investigation unit report into that and although it was a very different situation and there are many things that are different about that there are some similarities in relation to support and oversight Yeah and you also as you mentioned you discover that and other issues and Joan or Doherty McGinley's campaign but you also pick out some other rescues, some other stories from the history of course Donagall's gone to feature in there because of you know we've such a long coast and such an active sea community and it's great rescue that the Arranmore lifeboat was involved in with Jürgen White who's now the chief investigator with the AAU but he was with the Air Corps at the time and they had to try and assist a fishing vessel that had lost power off the Donagall coast and the Arranmore lifeboat worked with the helicopter and the conditions were really really difficult and the lifeboat worked to bring the the vessel around to allow it to be because it was very very difficult to land on it in the swell so that's in there the luxury lifeboat as well the wonderful work by Charlie Kavanaugh of the Greencastle Coast Guard unit who has received a long service award and he's been there from the beginning he helped develop a system that is used by the Coast Guard Cliff units and he's been just involved in just about everything you know including the recent tragedies that you had in Bonnecrana and Rathmullen and he has also he also knew Daryfus Patrick so when rescue 116 crashed he went up to Malin and he helped the duty officers there you know he said you know even if you can just bring people a cup of tea if you're not working yourself but you can just be there and you also highlights the efforts of Winchman why those in particular are they the unsung heroes amongst the unsung heroes I suppose in you can only imagine some of the conditions you know trying to hold the helicopter safe you know maybe there's another vessel trying to you know maneuver the stranded vessel and then you've got this person you know that comes dangling down on a rope I mean it stuff would be hard to recreate we've seen it in Hollywood movie are they the unsung heroes well yeah you know they they say I hope they don't mind you know they have the phrase the dope on the rope you know and the from within certainly and you know pilots would have said to me sure we're only flying the helicopters you know they're the ones who have to go down and you know it's a team it's the Winch Operator who's also helping to fly the aircraft you know because they you know making that approach really really difficult you know in a heaving sea with this vessel that that has no power that's bouncing up and down and you know trying to instruct people you know to keep calm and to take the high line and all those sort of things so they work as a team and so they are quite extraordinary and you know Kieran Smith and Paul Ormsby were a Winch team and there's one particular one that that again it was the subject of an award for Gary Robertson with Rescue 118 in Sligo and a call came in to assist the fishermen of Armour Island in April 2016 and he's in a small vessel and at a capsized in Inishine Bay and he was tangled up in his gear so not only did Gary Robertson have to go down to Helden but he had to try and untangle all this gear as well you know so he won an award for that Billy Deacon award which is named after a Winchman who actually died in a rescue in Britain so that's a special award for Winchcrew yeah and you know on first reading of the information Lorna it felt like there could be two books here there could be one focusing on you know the awful tragedy of the loss of R116 and you know other stuff that you investigate and you highlight and then there's either stories of immense bravery and stories of rescues but then on reflection it makes perfect sense this is the story of the search and rescue that's it yeah that is it and I suppose the people who are involved you know it's calculated risk for them and they never judge them and the paddle boarders were rescued in Galway Bay there nearly two years ago you know they were apologising profusely for all the trouble they caused but it was very made very clear to them no you know you kept your cool you're alive this is what we do this is what we're here for so you know there's never any judgement about those situations nobody's going to say to you why didn't you bring your phone yeah and you know when Fennis we would cover stories of R&L rescues and some of them are false alarms but they are always quick to say do not you know presume it's what it is or it isn't something always call us and we'll go out and if it's a false alarm all well and good and it's not you could say for life listen there's even a letter in there from Taylor Swift somewhere it covers all it covers all areas I believe listen thanks for joining us I know it's going to be a huge interest the stories of Irish Airsea rescues and the loss of R116 rescue 116 it's search and rescue it's by author Lorna Siggins who we've been speaking to and Lorna I presume available in all the usual places one might expect to find it yeah it is an after costs proceeds go to the R&L I listen thank you so very much and it's been lovely speaking to you thank you for having me thank you take care of yourself 086 60 25000 Lorna there right let me see we were talking about addiction to medicine obviously we talk I discuss a wide range of topics not just from program to program but from within this call I said I've had an addiction to tramadol for 18 months when they stopped me from taking them I took sulfidine lots and lots of sulfidine had back pain had migraine the only thing that worked for migraine was migra leaf pink and yellow tablets the importance of water when taking the tablets needs to be emphasized now I take nothing I can't drink stomach is screwed liver is messed up and I have the kidney of an 80 year old ok well listen I'm sorry for everything that you've been through it's tough and hopefully your body can recover and you'll feel better hi I suffer from sinus a large cold apart works for me even though I need to take three at a time sometimes not often now I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing to do by the way so I have to just be a little bit careful I'm not giving that as a tip or an advice it's just a caller expressing what happens to them hi Greg my husband suffers the same way with migraines he found a tablet called exodrine they contain aspirin, paracetamol and a little bit of caffeine they've worked wonders for him wow that's great and it's great for you too I'm sure because it's not just the migraine suffer it's the partner and the family as well so I'm delighted that he's benefitting from that drug called exodrine I presume you can talk to your GP about that to see if it would be a fit for you if you suffer from migraines hi Greg I'm a pharmacist and I know and understand that it can irritate people when we ask the questions about codeine products before we supply them but all we want is the best care for that particular patient lots of people try to treat things on their own when really they need to be assessed by GP at the very least somewhat unfortunately and unfortunately I've had patients diagnosed with cancer for example because they were referred for an assessment instead of continuing to self-treat persistent pain with over the counter medicines your pharmacist just wants what's best for you and that's what I was saying sort of that I'm not sure the doctor picked up on the point that's what I was saying that when you finish the course of some of these tablets it probably is no harm to check with the GP and say look it's not going away and they can say yes look it's an ongoing back problem or they can say well you shouldn't have that pain there let's do a couple of tests that's the point I was trying to make and in fairness to you the pharmacist and others we didn't get an avalanche of calls from people saying we find it offensive that pharmacists ask I think most people would accept that they're doing it for the right reasons and as I say that was just one person's experience Councillor Michael McClough T sent a message in those responsible for dumping the mattress and rubbish are unlikely to come back for them to dump that mattress legally it would cost 40 euro if they're caught with that mattress now they will also receive an 80 euro on the spot fine the penalties are not adequate there needs to be an increase in the penalties to possibly three times the price to hit the pockets even more and is it annual whereby you can drop mattresses off at at some of these centres that we have around the country perhaps maybe it should be made available more often than annually you know I think there's never an excuse for an illegal dumping but I think if it's the easier it is to dispose of particularly the larger bulkier items than the less likely perhaps where we are to see illegal dumping I'm not sure what do you think, get in touch there was a monster who lived in the trees in the house that would rattle and shake in the breeze it was cold and small with a terrible leak that would drip on her head and her hands and her beak she needed it fixed and all in one batch because she had an egg that was ready to hatch so she went to the credit union for a renovation loan and got new windows insulation and extended her home monster loans from the credit union imagine more loans are subject to approval terms and conditions apply if you do not meet the repayments on your loan your account will go into arrears this may affect your credit rating which may limit your ability to access credit in the future credit unions in the Republic of Ireland are regulated by the central bank of Ireland as we move into spring it's time that we look after what is precious to us are you struggling with your hearing your hearing is an essential part of your everyday living hearing is our social sense and connects you to friends and family at connect hearing we're here for you with our clinics at courtyard shopping center letter Kenny and Joyce's sorobity clinic in Dunlop our centers are open Monday to Friday where you can avail of our hearing test wax removal and repair services connect hearing connecting you to life we can all see how conflict affects energy prices more than ever we need to be mindful of how we use energy by reducing your use you can save money and lessen the impact here's how use your timer and thermostat to heat your home and hot water to the temperature you need use appliances efficiently and where possible outside the peak hours of four to seven p.m. consider walking cycling or public transport for short journeys drive at lower speeds we're safe to do so government advice and supports are available for homes and businesses to help you meet this challenge find out more at gov.ie forward slash reduce your use brought to you by the government of Ireland okay so four more cases of a rare viral infection have been confirmed in England the infection is money pox the latest news means that there are currently seven confirmed cases in Britain diagnosed between the 6th and 15th of May now I don't know if our senses are heightened because of the pandemic we have been an arguably all going through but a lot of people have taken an interest in this so to get more information we're joined by Professor Sam McConkey infectious disease specialist at the RCSI University good morning Sam thanks for joining us thanks good morning Greg right okay so money pox it's in a family can you tell us a little bit about the type of virus it is so it's name is monkey pox I beg your pardon sorry that's my mistake we all love and are probably somehow distantly related to so it's monkey pox and it is a disease where I suppose at a clinical level it's a bit like chicken pox spots all over feeling a bit off and then a few weeks later you typically get better it's common in probably some small mammals like squirrels and monkeys very unusual in humans I've come across it I used to work in Sierra Leone for a couple years and there were some cases there when I was there so all the way around from Congo, Nigeria West Africa and East Africa it's present and the first case in London which we were told about on the 7th of May had travelled to West Africa and almost certainly caught the monkey pox fever and rash there what's very unusual about what's happened in the UK in London mostly in the last few days is that the two next cases on the 14th of May were not known to the first case on the 7th of May so that suggests that they're having ongoing unexplained community transmission in London primarily and then there were four cases announced yesterday again two of them were not connected to the previously known cases so there's almost certainly a lot more cases out there and I think quite rightly the UK Health and Security Agency is doing a lot of detailed contact tracing it's a bit like what we had with Covid Greg it's the same it's contact tracing itself isolation it's taking your temperature and then staying away from others it's spread by close contact if you touch the skin of people with this or even coughing, sneezing, breathing, touching towels, touching bedding is how it's spread the family are interesting everyone sort of heard a small pox that was eliminated it's biologically very similar to this but there's also a cow pox there's also a mouse pox, there's a buffalo pox and the one that your listeners and Donny Gall might know best there's a similar virus that causes disease called ORF ORF in sheep it's a sore mouth or scabby mouth in little lambs that don't suckle spread the herd of young lambs and again humans occasionally catch it from the lambs and get a sort of an ulcer that heals over four to six weeks on their hand so ORF in sheep very similar part of this family of the monkey pox Now medical experts in Britain are advising the general population to be aware but they seem to have put a particular focus on men who are gay and bisexual to keep an eye out for symptoms because of the nature in which it transmits So that hasn't been a feature in the past it's just social contact people who live with each other or people who come close together but you're quite right the four cases that were announced on the 16th of May all four were gay, bisexual, men of sex with men so it suggests that the networks of close contact from MSM have maybe been involved in the infectious spread of this particular instance of monkey pox outbreak but that hasn't been a widespread thing in the past that's something new and you twist about this one so it's not known typically to be a sexually transmitted you don't really need to have sex with someone if you like to transmit just breathing and touching each other is adequate so household contacts are at high risk so really household contact if there's any symptoms of fever or chills or flu like symptoms of backache, headache really have to stay at home three weeks of isolation it's longer than the COVID isolation now I don't want to sort of exaggerate it or whatever but you know yourself to some extent we're all sort of armchair epidemiologists at this point and people might say well you know what if this mixes with COVID or what if money pox there's a more transmissible variant to what have you so just to put that to better otherwise there's no risk in that regard is there there's been several small outbreaks in USA and Britain and Europe in the past of this and they just fizzle out and disappear it's not very transmissible historically there's just a handful of close contacts get it and then hopefully if they're isolating the outbreaks but so I really don't think we're in for what I would call a pandemic or even a national outbreak in Britain or even risk of spread and I don't see that as an exceptionally highly unlikely based on the previous behaviour of this monkey pox virus it generally just fizzles out if we want to get technical the R0 is less than one remember all that R0 so the R0 and monkey pox is well less than one and probably the reason why it's spreading in the MSM is just there's a network of people who have a lot of social contact a lot of close human interactions so it's more about the network density that you'll have in this group rather than actually it's not an it's not a particularly infectious virus so I would put a weight on the list in terms of worrying about diseases you know anxiety, depression back pain, neck pain these are still big issues for us but this is not a big issue Professor I'm worried with you if you don't mind on the situation in North Korea obviously given the nature of that country information is limited but they have accepted now they have not a fantastic medical system they've refused offers of help for vaccine from outside the country so they have as I say a poor health system by some reports and they have a low level of vaccination and it's clear the leaders of that country are very worried what do you think what we've learned now given the circumstances in North Korea what an outbreak of COVID could mean for that population I think they could be in big trouble it's this Omicron BA2 version of COVID that we've had here in the last four or five months is very very infectious unless you have exceptionally high levels of social distancing you can't stop at spreading throughout a population so I think it's likely to spread widely throughout the population of North Korea and a lot of the older people and immunocompromised people are likely to get quite sick with it and you know we're very fortunate the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and some of the mRNA vaccines have been exceptionally good at protecting particularly the elderly people in Ireland and Europe and you know we're very privileged to have that BioNTech company invented it in Germany a year ago but much more effective and much quicker than I ever expected and clearly North Korea and even China are not really rolling that type of mRNA technology because of course you know we have thankfully a low mortality rate death per case ratio at the beginning of this though it was really quite high I think it was around about five or six percent perhaps a little higher now we have the interventions we had access to ventilators where needed you just wonder what the death toll could be in a country like North Korea with everything against it it's really quite roaring for them it depends very much Greg on the age profile of the population it's like Bergamo in Northern Italy it's a lot of people over 60, 70, 80, 90 years of age then the death toll will be very high because the COVID death toll is very dependent on the age that you are when you catch it whereas if you're young you know most people are more or less fine I think a lot of the folk in North Korea there's still quite a young population there so I think the young will be fine but I fear that the elderly could be in difficulty I also think there's a political dimension so it is a command and control essentially I think it's a dictatorship type of political structure there and sometimes I think it's some leaders can use a pandemic and an infectious disease as a tool to consolidate and maintain their control of the population interesting they're referring to it more so as a a fever that people are suffering from a V fever than actually COVID maybe that feeds into your point and very finally Professor thankfully we're in a good weather now and we've seen what happens in the past but we know where we're at don't want to depress anyone out there listening but just what do you think as we head towards into autumn and winter that we will be dealing with? Well I was very pleased I was doing a bit of media last week about the hepatitis in small children and just off the cuff I sort of said we're at the tail end of the 19 pandemic where the words that come out of my mouth and I sort of cheered up and felt really happy about that Greg I said I'm saying this out loud it was on national television and it was just so happy to be able to say that that's where we're at right now so the question is will there be another wave there probably will be another variant of COVID because we all seen it keeps variation and coming along but I'm hopeful that I'd say about if it was a gambling land about 80% chance there's a small maybe one in five chance that the next variant could be more severe and causing more disease but I'm hoping it will be milder I'm also optimistic that Biontech and Pfizer will come up with a new version of the vaccine that's sort of updated let's call it the 2022 version of COVID-19 virus rather than the 2019 version which is what we've all been getting and we'll all be able to get that as a booster with our flu vaccine hopefully next September October to protect us from whatever what might be coming so I'm cautiously optimistic and would be happy to you know to be quoted and say we're at the tail end of a COVID-19 pandemic we do need to realize as I said about a one in five chance of something bad coming back with it but I'm hoping that the next wave will be much milder again as we've all seen with the last one and if only we had a bit more stability around the world that we could perhaps being enjoy being at the other end of it fully but anyway it is where we're at Professor Sam Mcconkey as always thank you Thanks for having me Take care of yourself he's a professor Professor Sam Mcconkey Infectious Disease Specialist at R-C-S-I okay how are you feeling out there 08-6-60 25,000 other snow give us a call 07-491-25,000 maybe you have some good news to impart a positive story that you want to share an unsung hero that you want to profile we're here for all of that too you know 07-491-25,000 you can speak to Michaela today or Donna Marie they're lifting your calls people that suffer from migraine need to go to their GP and get proper migraine medication for it more often than not ordinary pain relief medication is no good for migraine and if we're referencing Chris I get a sense that sometimes I get a sense that maybe he has spoken to his GP and that's it but listen we're none of us are infallible it is possible sometimes to go to your GP and said look I heard that such and such can be it can be useful could this be good for me and the GP might go right okay well I've read similar so we can give that a go so I think it's always good to bring information to your GP as well which is maybe a little bit of what we're doing today Greg this reminds me of a time nearly 20 years ago somebody I knew had contracted ORF, ORF commonly found in sheep they'd been to several doctors and eventually a nurse in a hospital in Northern Ireland who had a farming background identified it if that happens today I'm sure things would be much different okay interesting that we got the reference from the professor there to ORF and it resonated there with one of our listeners and one of their life experiences The 90 noon show with letter Kenny Credit Union now offering myCU current account and debit master card bringing full banking features delivered with the same local trustworthy service of your credit union at Michael Murphy sports and leisure we know a good pair of trainers mix all the difference whether you're running marathons or training we stock all the leading brands including Asics, Brux and New Balance with different styles and features to suit individual running needs call and store or shop online at Michael Murphy sports.ie The Northwest Independent Clinic is now Kingsbridge Private Hospital yes we have arrived in Bali Kelly and if you need treatment or surgery there is no need to wait at Kingsbridge Private Hospital Northwest you will have access to over 300 consultants and hundreds of treatments and services we were approved by all major insurance companies and self-pay options are available in fact treatment could cost less than you think and with guaranteed 5 star care from treatment right through to your personalized recovery plan we will be with you every step of the way so why wait visit Kingsbridge Private Hospital dot com today Century Complex is the perfect family day out treat yourself to a tasty meal at backstage bar and grill an exciting movie at Century Cinemas and explore Century Play get in touch with our team today 0749121976 or check out our website CenturyCinemas.ie for more information on Century Complex okay now we heard there are some delays as it relates to major roads infrastructure in this county the Twin Tans bypass potentially delayed till the start of 2026 not delayed as such but won't start until 2026 all the Tenty Road projects in Donegal of course the Ladder County Link Road and the Mannequin Mannequin to Lifford Road the news emerged of the time frame after a recent meeting of the Council's Road Strategic Policy Committee it was told that rising costs and other issues means it's likely to be five years before the project start Councillor Patrick McGowan joins us on this and you know Councillor McGowan I've mentioned this in the program before we're not talking about future projects necessarily here if my information is correct a lot of projects that had you know the contracts had been awarded the tender process had been going gone through but contractors pulling out of really some quite important and significant projects because there's no uplift in these contracts and they can walk away whenever they want and between the cost of everything including a simplest tarmac they're walking away so we have a crisis beyond what's planned I think there's a lot of current projects too that are going to be snowballed or mothballed sorry yeah there is and every contractor and every potential business or government everybody hasn't to go back to the drawing board on an early basis maybe even a weekly basis now they're speaking to suppliers or manufacturers steam, cement like I have a number of them around here in the area and even recently someone said that they would hurry tender for private jobs because whatever parachute you might get if you're working for a government job like you've spilt them scenarios for costs and materials and on for scenes but if you're to get on the private job and if you can't get the materials and the price of scope you're certainly very very worrying so it's hitting all sectors builders, suppliers business people just everybody supply and obviously this has been raised at the different meetings when it comes to talking about the TNT, the bypass and maybe the only good thing about that is the fact that maybe when it does delay to 2026 that maybe costs will have kind of coming back down again or something but at the moment it's not sustainable because it's not quite as cost as nobody knows but it's not just like the likes of ballot professional or bypass it's not simply just being able to get to where you're going quicker but it also sort of slows up maybe if there's less traffic the development of ballot professional or to make it more of a destination rather than just something you might drive through in, I know it already is by the way, I hope I'm not doing it any disservice but it also delays that stuff so if there were plans to make it more of a destination better outer space I wonder can they end up being deferred? As you say, at the moment now there's been a lot of thought coming to you know road crossings and residential and businesses were done with un-Balbuffin and Roder recently and you know there's big challenges there with care parks on street parking and it's very difficult to do business un-Balbuffin and Roder even to cross the road like because of the volume of traffic particularly at peak times Can I talk to you about, if you don't mind about those crossings that have been put into un-Balbuffin and Roder they are an accident waiting to happen because the pedestrian believes that they have right away I'm not sure of the situation in that regard but there are no lights and I've noticed driving through a couple of times already people walking straight across the road particularly on the dark sections if you happen to come up on it on the dark sections and they're in dark clothing they are almost invisible how do they go in there without lights? I don't think the lights would work just to illuminate the crossing like I don't mean traffic lights I want to let lights illuminate the crossing people particularly on the dark patches are invisible because they're crossing believing they've got right away and you can't see them until you're up on top of them now obviously you're driving at a responsible speed but I'm telling you Patrick it's an accident waiting to happen yeah and look this is, I'm rightly named as a pilot came and it's out there and engineers are monitoring and that was a grief from the very very start they had to come up with some some redress trying to get people over and back but can you imagine in 2022 though we're putting in zebra crossings okay with no traffic lights and no illumination yeah look there's been a difficulty there at the Bank of Ireland down there at the battle and they missed an order and normally people have been knocked out so I listen to I respect that there's a problem that needs to be solved what I'm saying is right at night time pedestrians believe that they've got the right of way walking across that road you only have the right of way I'm telling you what people might believe I've had three or four people walk out directly in front of my car I'm speaking from experience and you've got your lights dipped there's other cars coming in the other direction right but because not traffic lights but because the crossing is not lit up you literally can't see the people until you're on top of them yeah and that's why all of these issues that you and other people have enjoyed I've been getting phone calls as well saying that there was other locations that needed to be crossed and that's important that that's fair to them and that something's done about it because the mountain has to be a big high street lights there can be other kind of low level lighting there is a lot of people are not happy with these quite LED lights have gone up there's a lot of dark spots as you say between the lights and sometimes the locations for these crossings were put at what they believe are strategic places where people want to cross but I do agree the lighting and that's something the council will have to take them forward I'll hold the do so sooner rather than later you say well maybe the pedestrian doesn't have the right of way but as soon as you see black white black white black white in a built up area particularly younger people you instantly think right I've got the right away here and at night time and this was when there was no rain but with other cars coming in the other direction you can't see people in dark clothing crossing the roads and I'm really worried that someone's going to get a nasty injury there because what we've done here is we've said right there's a pedestrian crossing for you but there's nothing in place other than the markings on the road so this was for pedestrian safety and for safety of crossing I would argue my concern is cancer it's actually probably made it less safe because there's a full sense of security there Yeah we'll look at that there has been a number of accidents and about three particular places with them now with ants in order and that has been raised time and time again because of the response from the engineers and the road design it wasn't only any it's kind of what worries me but yeah okay but listen they have looked at it and they have said from the very outside when it was publicised by the council that there's a pilot scheme they have to look at it we lost road users on guinea pigs right it can be a project but we're not guinea pigs either here let's see if this work and there's no accidents we're not guinea pigs this is not like a medical test the big problem is it's the volume of it's not the bypass is all these solutions around a BID now if you could put three or four more sets it's practically in the middle of that do a pilot project of these crossings but illuminate the crossings so motorists can see the driver, the walker and I would have this here because there is an and other locations where you do and shopping centres I know there's a lot of shopping centres you do even actually around at the Chestnut Road there the Aldi shop is the exact same things there's been there for years and years it's the black and white when you come out of there and I often wonder people do forgetful they're not sure, they're confused and they just think they have the right away there are quite a few of them in the county but that doesn't excuse it it's a busier road I think in Donegal Turn they have the crossings a darker colour and that makes the motorist aware that someone might be able to cross but it also the pedestrian is cautious because they say this is not precisely so there's a bit of awareness from both and it's well lit the problem I would have with what you've put in there not you've put in there is that it's not lit up and secondly does the motorist feel they have to stop or not stop does the pedestrian feel they have to stop or not stop looking at each other that's if they see each other there's no doubt but it just worries me that this is what we're coming up as pilots do you know what I mean and who are the test who are the test subjects sadly it could be someone who walks straight across the road it's not the first time they went down but as you rightly said and the other locations we'll assume that they were easier to see they were clearer and the nice locations that can be shadows between the lights so it may not be lit up but it's clear obviously it's not a pedestrian crossing so that's where you should cross but only when the vehicle stops some texts I have to agree with Greg these crossings are very badly lit I live in Lettercanny we're waiting 40 years for a crossing at the post office on Lettercanny Main Street yet to appear in Baller Buffet another the crossing in Snorla is highly dangerous when the town is busy with traffic the person crossing until they're on top of you you can't see them another you want to come down and see the shambles at Westbrook Bridge Junction in Bonkranagh it is a nightmare so there are other issues in other towns another the new pedestrian crossing in Baller Buffet is very dangerous if they were to do it properly they should have put lights on it also to alert motorists I can see the resistance to lights but the complete lack of illumination I don't understand that at all there's another thing as well too that it's not going to go kind of council reading the local office the county council or local engineers they just can't do what they like or what they choose to do when you're on Balbflemstown because that's the national pride road that's governed by the TII and the actual other thing is to go through them and approve you do when you do go down the country you see all sorts of different road markings and different sort of traffic and you wonder why can't we get them so they do seem to to put things on different ideas and to different towns and they tell you then that there is a road safety design and you will have to go through that I'd love to see the road safety evidence that says black and white on lit on signposted black and white that they are safe there's no doubt about the contradiction that's sort of half of an incomplete pedestrian crossing pedestrian crossing no concern is it gives pedestrians whether it's right or wrong a false sense of security and motorists can't see them when are they going to put the footpath to the graveyard in Stranolle or it's very narrow and dangerous road from both approach roads just in case that come up at the meeting the graveyard I'm assuming that's up Trumbull avenue there's a new part of a footpath was built up there I'm actually hoping that because it's Trumbull avenue and it is an avenue the whole way through it's one of the nicest walks in the county they fix you up Trumbull I actually think you should be driving a speed limit not an entire avenue not just putting up a narrow footpath when you have hundreds of students walking down there three or four times a day you would need a footpath of ten times the size so even a footpath footpath is not the answer just in the avenue I'm assuming that's the one they're on about and you see the other thing is they want to take a footpath from the main street in Stranolle up to the graveyard you would have to start cutting down roads the trees along the front and I know there will be a massive kickback about interfering with the avenue we do have two or three walkways within the woods that will pick you most of the way and there is a lot of development there but to start having to cut down trees on a footpath I think they'd rather lower the speed there from 50 60, 50 kilometres down to maybe 30 because it is an avenue at the end of the day, it's well named pedestrian should have the right of way and cars then use not as a secondary road or it's a shortcut to the spoon pedestrian should have the right of way there for the entire length of it because a mountain of people walks there every day, families, children prams and everything there's hundreds and hundreds of them every day it's one of the main walks in the county and to me it's another narrow footpath by cutting trees you need the whole road should be designated as pedestrian and allowing cars to maybe crawl through very slowly I understood, listen we invited you initially to talk about the TNT road projects we wondered into another area but I think that was important too yeah, yeah well the TNT is very important to this county we've been waiting for years and years to catch up with the rest of the county we're still on the game, that's what we're told we're still on the game, we're delayed the new business case thing that will be presented and regarding the importance of the environment we're still on there, that's to be presented now to the TIE and the government before the end of the year and then we will see if we're allowed to go to compulsory purchase order and final detail design but yes engineers will tell you, it looks like now it will be more like 2026 before we get started but we need to keep pushing it's important for Donnell and for the region to take a mini clinic here why were loose stones placed in drumbow woods you can't push your pram on the stones I had to take my child out of the pram and carry them while dragging the pram they need to do something about it yeah, yeah, no, that's right and fairness between culture and the local and council staff there are upgrading and they're fixing part of them passways actually get flooded with a rubber and they get washed away I agree that would not be satisfactory to have loose stones Chancellor McGowan, thank you for your time this morning Chancellor Patrick McGowan there we will be back with a weather forecast for you after these talk about home grown success grow with Aldi in association with board Bia is now in its fifth year it throws a spotlight on new Irish producers and this year 24 more were chosen with products including apple-flavored pork sausages from meath and nut butter energy bowls from County Cork plus many more exciting new Irish products and we'll be back with a new video for you we'll be back with a new book plus many more exciting new Irish products in store from May 19 available while stocks last find out more at Aldi.ie Aldi, every day Irish every day amazing I can't stop thinking about them I keep rereading their all texts Brian, Brian, this has got to stop it's been months and they send those alerts to everyone you know that, right? look your bank is leaving this bank will be lucky to have you especially Bank of Ireland really? yeah, they've even put together a simple step-by-step guide to move on banks and have a dedicated team on hand to help, even an ending could be a new beginning to start finding your new banking partner download our step-by-step guide to move in banks search Bank of Ireland big move begin www.derristerband.com forward slash what's on forward slash Highland radio weather updates with Ireland West Airport, fancy a city break this summer? you can now fly twice weekly to beautiful cologne in Germany every Sunday and Thursday with Ryanair Ireland West Airport, you're flying okay so let's look at what the weather holds for us we had a cloudy start to the day with patchy rain and drizzle though it will now become drier through into the afternoon but Scottish will develop this evening turning heavy or thunder at times temperatures of 16 or 17 degrees in moderate to fresh southerly winds, right a quarter says why have vague road crossings where people have to guess how they work yeah indeed that's would be my point you know it's alright saying well if there's not lights then it's not a pedestrian cross and this that and other but at the end of the day you know it has to be simple because we have to think in the split second a caller says as it relates to the 10-t projects done a goal being put on the back burner again about other projects down the country go ahead in my opinion or in my yeah in my opinion is a fourth generation letter-calling person we have not progressed one bit all we're getting with the is the four lane project is road furniture what do you think about that 08 660 25,000 I can understand your frustration it will be worth monitoring what is happening down the country I suspect that it might be something that's happening nationally but we shall wait and see right stay here with your number one highland radio coming up after 12 John Breslin's here with around the north west with his usual mix of great music and guests and then it's jive time with David James bringing you through the afternoon with country and oldies and the knife is in with power hour plus and then it kicks on into our brilliant evening schedule of programs but that's where we have to leave it on this program today see you tomorrow