 What do you call the boys things that again? I think it's Huey Lewis in the news. That's Huey down the road and once it's beside Mary across. Hi, Mary Lewis is the problem. McGuffin, do you ever call him? Well, her, she's great. She's the best buddy. She's sister-in-law of Maggie Louie and the news. Is that she relation to Maggie? Yeah. Didn't know that. She married the fella... No. I was at the wedding. Well, yeah. I played the fiddle. That's a great story. Are you glad to be back? That's nice to be back. Yeah, I got a couple of days off to do a few things there. You know, so... Because I take it that I presume you're all set for Christmas now. Yeah, good as. Good, good, good enough. And if you've got about a half her present? No. No? No. Why not? Just... What are you going to get her? Air fryer. Really? 21. 21? Yeah. She thinks you can do the substance. Is that the good stuff? Oh, maybe you could get her a dishwasher or something. No, too expensive. Too expensive. Why are you getting her an air fryer? Does she want an air fryer? No, she doesn't. We have one. I'm not even joking. We don't really need... Do you know what all I want for Christmas is just to be healthy and everybody well? That's good. But what does she want for Christmas? Obviously she wants to probably be the same, but then, you know what I mean? I don't know. We all want the same, but we also want something. What would you like for Christmas? Like, I don't... Like, you have a nice watch. You have a phone that does everything. Do you know what I mean? What do you need? Do you know what I tell you what you need? You need to buy yourself a decent pair of headphones. Yeah. You're too tight. You're not buying them. You want somebody else to buy them for you? Yeah. All right, then. So that's it. No one's getting anything for Christmas. Happy Christmas, good show. Oh, no. No. See you tomorrow. Big feed. Sure. That's what I want for Christmas. I came home last night and I bought gluten-free stuffing in the shop. I spotted it and I was super excited. What's not in... What is not in gluten-free stuffing? Well, like, what is gluten? It's to do with wheat. Daddy, I don't know. It's to do with wheat. Can you do anything with wheat? Like, is it flour? Yeah, okay. Wheat. Wheat. So, there's wheat in everything. There can be wheat in vinegar, wheat and sauce. So, wheat and bits would be just, like, the worst. God help you. Yeah. So, flour or a base of bread? Wheat-based. Wheat. Wheat. Anything. There's more wheat in stuff than you would realise. So, flour comes from wheat, though. So, all the stuff comes from wheat? Yeah. The stuff that has wheat in it. Okay. Like, you think you buy a bag of frozen chips. You think I'll really have some frozen chips or... But there's wheat in frozen chips. Oh, is there? Okay. Okay. You know that kind of stuff. But it's all doable and stuff. But do you know yourself? It's much better now than it was a couple of years ago. It is, yeah. So, wheat have gluten-free breads and treats and stuff. Yes. And the sugary sweets, they're very sugary. And do you know, they wouldn't probably... I'm sure they're not the most healthiest for you. Do you know? It's a payoff, isn't it? Yeah. But it's all good. All right, good stuff. Let me have a good show, right? Lee, see you tomorrow for the shortest week you've ever had. It is just after nine now. Let's get a news update, and it's over to Michaela Clark. Thanks, Greg. Good morning. The bishop of Raphos says he is deeply saddened and ashamed by the sexual abuse carried out by a former Donegal priest. Eamon Crossin at Donegal Circuit Court yesterday pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse of a minor in the 1990s. He was a priest in the Diocese of Raphos from 1976 and was removed from the ministry in 1998 on reception of an earlier complaint for which he served time in prison for. In a statement, Bishop Al McGockey apologized to the victim and his family for the abuse he had to endure at the hands of a priest in a position of sacred trust. A Donegal deputy has demanded a special debate on how to be held before the doll rises for Christmas recess today. This week, Deputy Pierce Doherty told the T Shock that patients and staff continue to suffer due to severe overcrowding in hospitals. He says it's a disgrace that the situation has been in line to reach the crisis point it has. We have elderly patients in my own hospital in Donegal who have been unable to get a hospital bed, forced to wait for 36 hours in a hard chair without a second of sleep during that period. And all the while, the CEO of the HSE, the most senior civil servant in the Department of Health and even the Fiscal Council have warned that our health service has been underfunded by your government for next year. It is absolutely disgraceful. It is a crisis point. Well, responding, Leo Vratker, why not agreeing to Deputy Doherty's request for a debate instead outlined additional funding that has been announced for health? Deputy Darlene asked for a debate on health and raised the issue of health funding. I would just like to mention that Cabinet approved the revised estimate of vote and has allocated an additional £92 million to health which will include funding for new drugs in 2024 and also funding for the fair deal to make sure that we don't see an increase in delayed transfers of care within our hospitals. And that's in addition to the supplementary agreed only a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, T. Shock Leo Vratker is visiting Brussels today for a major summit where several heads of state are expected to face off with the Hungarian Prime Minister. Viktor Orban has threatened to veto a major aid package for Ukraine. He also intends to block proposals to begin talks in relation to Ukraine's EU membership. Leaders will vote on whether to begin these talks during the two-day summit. Weather night cloudy with patches of light re-indrizzle and mist this morning. This will clear later, leaving a mostly dry day with some sunny intervals developing, highest temperatures of 8 to 10 degrees. That's all from Highland Radio News for now. We'll be back with news again at 10 o'clock. Until then, good morning. Give a gift of choice this Christmas with a gift card that supports Irish retail. Accepted in thousands of outlets nationwide and online with participating retailers, the One For All gift card is a perfect gift for loved ones. Pick up a One For All gift card at your local post office and make Christmas shopping easier this year. The One For All gift card is issued by GVS Pre-Pay-Dior of Limited. GVS Pre-Pay-Dior of Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. How are you keeping? Great to have you on the show this morning. It's dark out there this morning, isn't it? But we're getting very close to the shortest day of the year. And in this month, we start to see a stretch in the evenings, which is nice, isn't it? Well, anyway, we're going to keep your day nice and bright here on the program for the next three hours and throughout the day here on your number one, Highland Radio. The lines are open for you right now. Lots of interesting guests and topics for you to get involved in. Raise your own, pass on your own stories, if you want to talk about or share. 08 660 25,000 is the WhatsApp and text number, as you know. 08 660 25,000 or give us a call on 07 491 25,000. And of course, if you wish to email us, it's comments at highlandradio.com. And you can watch the program every morning. Good morning to Dolores. Good morning to Annie there amongst the hundreds of you across our various platforms that join us on a daily basis to watch the show. We're on YouTube, Highland Radio Ireland, so you can watch us on your big smart TV. Most TVs now are smart TVs. They have the YouTube app with them or your Firestick. Many of you out there have your Firesticks as well, so you can watch the show on your big screen or across all your mobile devices. It's a Thursday morning, so that means there's lots of papers out, of course. And we'll start with Dieter Connell Tribune. When the tricolor was finally removed from the Shane McGowan's coffin inside the church in Nina on Friday, it revealed an intricate pattern of willow that was hand-crafted and woven in the heart of the Fannet Gale Tocked. The casket was handmade in Fannet by Colin McAteer and his Green Coffin Company. He said he watched the funeral with great interest, and he was really proud of the skills of his weavers and that of the engraver, Martin Clinton, Craig Naran, who's also based in Fannet. But never in his wildest dreams did he expect to see the Hollywood actor Johnny Depp carrying a coffin that was crafted in Fannet as the breathtaking farewell became quite the gig for the dreamers and the believers. The funeral service morphed into an afternoon where the music spoke to the generations in St. Mary's... St. Mary of the... Hi, I'm so picky, sorry. St. Mary's of the Rosary Church and the coffin stood in silent offer. Honour to a man who in life, we love dearly and in death even more so. It's a great picture and beautifully written as always there. The Donegal... I'm in the Chirconal Tribune today as well. There's a picture in it as well. Thanks, John and team. The Donegal Democrat this morning, a former parish priest from Donegal who was charged with almost 100 historic sexual offences against a male victim has pleaded guilty. Former cleric Eamon Croson appeared before Donegal Circuit Court this week where he faced 96 counts of indecent assaults and sexual assault. The 72-year-old Croson pleaded guilty to nine sample charges out of the 96. The court heard that these were representative counts and guilty pleas were tendered on a full-facts basis. This was accepted by Barrister for the state, Mr. Donal Keane BL. The Donegal News this morning, a lovely picture of a family meeting at Santa Claus, two-week-old baby AJ with big sister, seven-year-old Keeley, meeting the man himself at Collins Christmas Grotto in the courtyard shopping centre. Below that, the owners of a Donegal pub which suffered major damage in a fire last week say they've been overwhelmed by the support and goodwill of the local community. Catherine and Paul Coyle, who run the popular Chaktasi in Minolet, Crawley say they're just thankful that nobody was hurt in the blaze which engulfed the pub and their home upstairs. They said the rapid response of fire personnel to last Wednesday's incident ensured that the fire was brought under control and the building was saved. On to the Derry News this morning. There are concerns over a drugs epidemic. Concerns have been raised about Derry's ongoing drugs epidemic. On Tuesday, a local judge asked the PSNI in the city to give him a comprehensive update on the seriousness of the drugs problem in the city. The recorder of Derry, Judge Neil Rafferty KC, made the request after he sentenced two men for drugs offences, one of them for three years and the other for 18 months suspended for two years. He said the drugs issue in the city is one that concerns me most deeply at the moment and I would like the facts and figures put before me. I've read on many of the papers put before me of people being taken out in the Galvan hospital such as their state of unconsciousness because of drugs just how bad is the problem and it's at epidemic levels. Of course it's worrying right across the region but it's right across the country now as we try and highlight on this program on a regular basis. The Irish Farmers Journal this morning Fallen Animals Row escalates over cost of rendering. That is their headline this morning. The dispute between knackerees and renderers over recent significant hikes in rendering costs continues. Knackeree operators have cut back on animal collections from farms and some are refusing to facilitate BSc testing. It's estimated that up to 2,000 cows aged over 48 months have not been tested for BSc at knackerees due to the strike. Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConnell has not yet intervened in the standoff but is advising knackerees to deliver Fallen stock to Northern Ireland for rendering at their own expense. OK, time now to go to the national newspapers this morning. And we'll start with the Irish Independent and I wonder how many men might be inclined to go down this route? How many women might trust men to do it? I don't know. But a group of British men are the first in the world to test a new hormone-free male contraceptive pill. Scientists hope that if the tests are successful the daily pill could broaden shared responsibility for contraception between the sexes. Men can currently only use condoms or have a vasectomy while there's a vast array of contraceptives for women including the pill, the coil of contraceptive injection and use of diaphragms or female condoms among other options. The new male pill is a hormone-free drug unlike the female pill. Guys out there, would you take it? Would you take it every day? And I suppose your partners, would you like to handle for that responsibility to the fellas? Let us know. 086625000 086625000 The Irish Times. Broad global welcome for COP 28 fossil fuel deal. Now that's if you completely and utterly ignore the countries in the world that are most susceptible to climate change. If you ignore them, then there's a broad global welcome. I just find it really interesting and I know there's a climate crisis and all things are changing and I know some of you disagree with me, OK? But I do... I feel it's quite evident that's what's happening. But what I don't feel is evident is that really the powers that be are making any decisions that cost them anything. All the decisions they make seem to cost us. There's been 28 of these COP meetings now with people from all over the world, flying from all over the world into some luxurious place or other to be whined and dying for two or three weeks. Look, people in the oil and coal business use these events to actually lobby for more favourable agreements. And then what happens is it's all done and dusted and then they try and sell it to us, don't they? They try and say, look, isn't this amazing? We've made a historic announcement but what in reality does it mean? It doesn't really mean for me anyway. Someone hasn't related it to me where it feels like what they did over in Dubai has any consequences for the earth or for me. And I don't mean me in a selfish way. You don't want to say me, I mean us. Well, a landmark agreement reached at COP 28 calling on countries to accelerate a global shift away from fossil fuels this decade has been broadly welcomed throughout the world. The compromise deal reached at the UN climate talks in Dubai also calls on countries to scale up cuts in carbon emissions and to quit adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere entirely by mid-century. Natural gas, of course, natural gas. You can keep using that, that's a good fuel, apparently even though it releases green although it releases toxins for the world. The Irish Daily Mail this morning ministers have been told to bring forward plans to start spending a war chest of almost 2.5 billion on capital projects that the government faces into three major polls. Work on new flood relief schemes, roads, cycleways, hospitals and school projects that will be held within with windfall taxes will be started next year. The coalition is also set to launch a pre-election assault on Sinn Féin with the opposition party struggling in opinion polls in recent months. One government TD told the Irish Daily Mail that officially the war chest move is to put shape on the capital spending programme but in reality it is the firing of the election starting gun. Local and European elections are due to take place next June with a general election predicted to be held around November and finally after the budget. There is no point in building up billions of euro through careful management of the public finances only to let Sinn Féin spend it. A fitting LTD told the Mail. Now I've heard representatives suggest as much. You know, we'll start it, let them finish it. But anyway, interesting 2.5 billion if you got things like the Barnagy link sorted and the hospital sorted would you be complaining, Ether, I don't know. The Irish Daily Star today, Minister Anne Rabbit, she was on this programme she's been on the show a number of times she does shoot from the hip. Junior Minister Anne Rabbit said her experience of being a widow with three young children prompted her concerns about changes to support for Ukrainian refugees. On Tuesday she told TIP FM that changes agreed by cabinet following proposals from integration minister Roderick O'Gorman were unpalatable and that she found that it a difficult one to swallow. It was agreed that from early in the new year accommodation for newly arrived Ukrainian refugees would be limited to 90 days while they are in state accommodation the social welfare allowance will be cut to 3880 a week down from the 220 an addition of 2980 will be given per child but she says in her experience she doesn't really feel it's fair. I wonder is this something that business owners across the North West are experiencing? It's in the sun today. Gangs of shoplifting teens who believe they are above the law causing mayhem nationwide at all committee heard. Shop owners say the boom in robberies costs the retail industry 1.6 billion a year. The Eroctor's business committee yesterday heard how organised criminals are even sending their children into shoplift because they believe there's no punishment for underage children who get caught robbing. TDs and senators heard how around 1,000 instance of shoplifting are reported every day with robberies on the rise. I wonder is this something that business owners across the North West are witnessing as well? Because individually it might be seen as petty I'm not suggesting it's petty crime don't get me wrong but if it's happening lots and lots then obviously it's very, very significant and I just thought I'd mention this out of the Irish Daily Mirror because there's often times issues where there's a big hoohar loads and loads of conversation people have their views one way or other and then it kind of slips in and people wonder well when did that happen so I just thought I'd reference this for the record Justice Minister Helen McIntyre has received Cabinet approval to draft legislation to allow Guardi to use facial recognition technology so despite all the concerns that were out there the Cabinet has agreed to draft legislation that will allow it. FRT has been a source of contention in the coalition with Green Party TDs expressing concern about previous plans to legislate without full scrutiny they also had concerns of it being coupled with body-worn cameras so that's changed so they're happy enough it's been suggested it will save thousands of Guardi hours by allowing the use of biometric identification to retrospectively search CCTV TV and of course it was all fast-tracked following those riots in Dublin last month and because everyone's really worried about the riots the Cabinet have got it over the line so to speak so that's going to be a thing going forward alright that was a run through the papers we're going to be speaking to Mary Coughlin shortly she made history becoming the first female chairperson of Donegal GAA she's going to be joining us on the program in the not-too-distant future and the new Amarok The Three Amigos Jimmy Buckley, Robert Mazzell and Patrick Feeney are back on tour with their award-winning live show See The Three Amigos Live Conry Hotel Letter Kenny Tuesday January 23rd Tickets priced 35 euro are now on sale at the Hotel Reception and Ticketmaster.ie where extra charges may apply Happy Christmas from The Three Amigos House to Home, Bridge End, Donegal Our modest front door opens onto two floors of Irish-made furniture, suites, beds, mattresses dining and occasional furniture Step into our showroom and see how we can transform your house into a home House to Home furniture, flooring, slide robes and interiors, Bridge End, Donegal To help with the cost of heating your home during the winter months the fuel allowance scheme is now available This allowance is paid at a rate of 33 euro a week for 28 weeks To find out more and check your eligibility visit gov.ie forward slash fuel allowance The quickest and easiest way to apply is online at mywelfare.ie One payment per household A Government of Ireland initiative brought to you by the Department of Social Protection For all your party nights this Christmas visit me and Tovrafo Men's half-sibs, jackets, chinos and stocking shirts up to five XL There's also a large range of fleeces and hoodies with slim, straight, stretch and bootcut jeans Admiens offer fold, gift vouchers available Highland Radio time checks with Expressway Travel Route 32 from Letty Kennedy Dublin when you book online and travel for less Expressway, bringing you the time, ass The time now is 9.22 And we say congratulations to Mary Coughlin after her confirmation in the role of Donegal's GEA chairperson Good morning to you Mary, thanks for joining us Good morning Greg, how are you? I know what I wanted to say but it didn't quite come out as I planned Mary, there's just absolutely no doubt that you've achieved an awful lot in your life and there's an awful lot of highs in there Just curious as to where this ranks in, I suppose, becoming the chairperson of Donegal GEA and how significant is your first woman to become chair of Donegal GEA Well I suppose, I'd prefer if this wasn't about me because this is about a collective of the GEA and the committee But I've always been a GEA person as you know and the GEA is very much part of where I come from in the parish of Edinburgh and I've had huge associations with the GEA and unfortunately in my time I wasn't allowed to play football but everybody else in the house did and people would have known the GEA circles My uncle Austin would have been very involved even at county level and have a young fellow who still plays for St. Noll So you know I've been always very much part of it and it's part of who you are and it's about belonging and it's a voluntary organisation at the end of the day which some people forget So it's something we all enjoy you know there's fun in it and there's enthusiasm and there's competitiveness and enjoyment and for a lot of people it also provides an opportunity for people to meet up you know people that might be on their own enjoy football and can have something to talk about and it's just very much part of who we are and it's embedded in who we are as Irish people as well as our language and our tradition So that's where I've always come from and it's always been part of my life and it's very much part of my household now So I was asked some time ago as you probably would have heard at the convention if I would put my name forward and at the time I thought look at I haven't had enough experience I enjoyed being in the club and learning the ropes and it was after this tumultuous year and when the present chairman had decided to step down of which I have to publicly thank because he did a huge amount of work and I'm sorry that he didn't feel he was able to continue on but I think he can certainly hold his head high about what he has done and achieved as chairman over a very very difficult year but all of that being said I suppose a lot of people had come to me and asked me would I put my name forward people were looking for a bit of change and certainly I think we're all probably guilty of this but once we're in roles we can stay there for a long time or sometimes we're left too long and you know I think change is good it's not that we know it all and there's a great balance there now in the committee between those with experience and those who are new and equally I think it's important to say we're going to have five women at the top table which is great we are as you say and you reference Fergus McGee there he had an awful lot on his plate because it has been a tough old year a turbulent 12 months to some extent maybe that tide has already begun to turn what else do you think that you need to achieve over your 10 year at Mary? Well I suppose there were financial concerns and there's debt to be dealt with and at the end of the day it's an organisation that must meet its legal requirements those have been embedded now with new governance and new methods by which there's accounting done and we have a new auditor who has performed very well he's only had a very short period of time and I think the clubs are very anxious to have the openness and transparency of what is actually going on and that they're kept informed on a regular basis and that would be hopeful I would be hopeful that the treasures now will be able to put that in hand the reality is Greg and there's no point in sugarcoating it as one might say there's a huge amount of money to run a club it costs even more to run a county and those costs are based on the fact that there's greater regard now for the volunteers who are our players and the supports that they all need at all levels, at underage level and all the way through we have a very good hurling opportunity now I must say and listening to what's been happening with the time to going well and do equally as well at the weekend that's tremendous to see so we have so many young people that have to be cared for and I think that is the biggest thing that has to be dealt with now is that we get back into a very robust structure for our academy and that we're working there in supporting our young people to help them develop not everyone is going to be a county player but at the same time they all should be afforded the opportunity to have a little bit more intensity in their coaching and training and give them that opportunity if they don't make it that they would actually lead their clubs and the clubs need leadership as well on and off the field and that's what is hugely, hugely important to me so if we can work together and I think that's, as I said last night if everyone who is elected works to the best of their ability and everyone who's employed would do likewise then certainly I would hope that we would be in the headlines for the right reason Yeah and you talked about the academy and the turbulent 12 months really kicked off I suppose with Carl Lacey's decision to quit his role as chief of Donagall's academy you talked about the importance of GEA but it survives with the future and there's so many competing sports out there now soccer, rugby, whatever it might be it's really important that there is a strong well-organised academy there that can, you know, maximise the potential we always have to have an eye on the future don't we Well that's hugely important and all the clubs are trying to do the same and I think it's very important that we in County Donagall would have a structure a coaching structure that ties in very much and works very smoothly between your underage, a lot of clubs even like yourselves have very young children now starting on their skills moving that through all the way into County and into County and if we can get that right it's very obvious from other counties but that is what works very well now it takes a lot of talent and it takes a lot of support and, you know, we have the ATU now in Nettokennie and we have Finn Valley College who are doing a huge amount of work in the sports field and sports sciences and everything so I would hope that the people who are attending those colleges would revert back to their own clubs and use that opportunity and use that knowledge and use that opportunity to develop our young people and their skills base and the other thing about the GA some people are kind of feel it's an alien organization it's a very open organization and regardless of your ability you are welcome and that's the ethos of our go games that's the ethos of our underage and people can play a part in their club in any way and take enjoyment out of it and I would be asking that we would see a greater increase in their membership within the county and also our volunteers and you're quite right in saying that there are all our sports and sport is great sport is so so good for people it's so good for their mental health it's so good for everything, their socialization and we also have to include and we do that in a lot of clubs those who perhaps don't have the physicality that is necessary but can still participate and that is the ethos of the GA it is about a sense of belonging a belonging to a club or a parish or whatever and that there are opportunities for everyone within the organization and off the field you have score which is hugely important we also would need to look at handball a fantastic skill that has you know there's only a few clubs that provide handball now you know all of these games rounders for example you know that all includes people we have our mothers and others you have dads and lads so that is that inclusiveness and an openness to all of the community and any type of sport I'm not here anybody who participates in any type of sport is hugely hugely beneficial to the athleticism and the mental health of our people and of course even people who don't play any form of GA often benefit from the infrastructure in a community that the GA provides as well it's a reason to go to a game it's a reason to go to a game you become interested, you meet people you know you get a cup of tea you have something to talk about people who might be living on their own love to go maybe a couple of people together sometimes they might have their tea out of they're going to a big game it's all about a sense of belonging and looking after each other and looking after the people that are our members and you know we have people from abroad as well to our county and I'm going to speak of Mike our county a huge resource to us and they've done huge amounts of work all over the world and we are a worldwide organisation the GA and we see a lot of our young people the first thing they do when they go away is they join the GA club because they know they're welcome and they know they belong yeah for sure sometimes it feels like and you can correct me if I'm wrong sometimes it feels like some of the biggest detractors of Donegal GA to me not necessarily from out of the county sometimes it can feel like you've got you know Corinth or former people involved in it pulling in different directions do you recognise there is something there and that we all need to try and get on the same direction and be you know with the Donegal Sheraton so to speak you know from Bundor and to Malin and Stronauler to Burton Port well that's in every organisation I might add no no no no dad about that they have the same problem and like this is not a perfect science and people are not always happy and people have different opinions about how things should be done and I'm not an expert in any of this but you know you just have to get to a balance and people are entitled to say what they think but we have to listen to what they have to say too and you know I've had experience of being in political life and you've had the them and us whatever they say in Dublin you know up in the headquarters they're always given out about the same about Crow Park you know but some of that is lack of communication within all of the organisations that people don't you know say organisations go on and sometimes you're not as informed as you should be about what's going on or don't maybe necessarily have the same interest but I think that's what should be important that we have that line of communication that members excuse me are informed about what's going on excuse me what the development plans are you know for the next five or six years in the development of games so that's in every organisation and you know there are people who played football for us who didn't have the same resources and supports that our people have now in the same for our horrors and they would say oh where are they running now you know we were hardly we cycled to the game we played the game without my milk couch you know you get that plus the fact that you have to have all of the supports and to reach the athleticism that is necessary now in order to be able to be competitive so you know you have a span from there to the here and that you know it's very hard to fill in that gap but everybody has a point and at the end of the journey it's all about supporting people and we didn't have success and we didn't have success at a national level for a long long time in this county but we still were very proud county people and very supportive of our clubs and our underage and it's by moving it up that next step and that next step that you get up to the top level of achievement and Ulster has always been very competitive and that has helped us because of that competitive nature that you see in other parts they find the lack of competitiveness has kind of almost drained them from that needs within the respective county and everybody likes to see people doing well on the positive as you say off the pitch the ship is being steady turning in the right direction the academy getting sorted on the pitch in fairness to Jim McGinnis's predecessors you could see an upward tick in terms of he's taking over in an upward mode that's how I feel anyway but talking of Jim McGinnis there's something even though he's back you're in there for the first time there's a freshness not phrasing it well but we're heading into 2024 with optimism with right to be optimistic about what's coming down the line and we are hopeful and we are anxious that things will work out but like we're not going to win on all Ireland tomorrow so we have to build on this you Thomas you're delivering all Ireland the next day Mary Cockton Jim McGinnis and his team and the under 21 people and our minors and all our underage people they are all part of a team a thought process I'm not going to be interfering in it nor anybody else our job is to make sure that the organisation is run well and that we are in a position to support the needs and the talents of our teams and that's exactly what we're going to do and there is that optimism out there Jim and his team are very driven but he'd have no team if he didn't have the talents and we have to build on that talent and support the people that are going to go out and put on the jerseys for us I presume the first game that you'll be attending it's a short wee trip down to Father Turney Park it's a charity game, Donegal V Roscommon and the charity partner for that is the North West Hospice ten-year-old for adults five-year-old for older people students five-year-old tickets can be bought online any views about that hold I'm not going to be controversial realise you can pay cash for league games that the GEA century gave a dispensation but they got about 50 or 60 grand back no one took them up on it but in terms of inclusivity is there anything you can do about accessibility so older people yes they can pay five euro for that game but they have to get the ticket online and I know there are some partnerships with shops but you know coming from a rural part of the world as well Mary that that doesn't suit anyone is there anything anything for 2024 within your gift that we can sort of at least maybe even have one turnstile cash for games or is there anything you can do there or do you think anything needs looking at this is where you have the balance of governance where you have to have accountability for people who go through the gate and that is as you can appreciate hugely important and I you know I've heard of this now what we do in our club is we have a tap so you tap your card or the other thing I might just now take the opportunity our season tickets are open great opportunity to buy a present for someone there will be club passes available which equally would be a lovely present for someone where you could buy all your county games and then all you have to have is your little card but look I do appreciate there is a view and an issue out there and we see what we can do to smooth it out but I have to say that one of the governance issues was about the fact that the use of cash poses its own difficulties from an accounting point of view but I do appreciate what you are saying and look we are doing as much as we can to be as inclusive so let's take the opportunity now on Highland Radio to say to people if you have an older person in the house why don't you buy them a club card as a present which is something then they won't have to be concerned about if they want to go to a game anywhere and also don't forget they will do once around Saturday and Satanta are playing in Nuri on Sunday as well and a huge opportunity for them from an intermediate semifinal so there is plenty going on even though it is the back end of the season who said split season would slow things down Mary Coughlin thanks for your time best of luck in your new position thank you very much for your time that's Mary Coughlin of course but now Donagall GEA's first female chair person ok back with more after these this Christmas let TFI local link help you get into the festive spirit and bring you where you need to go use our regular rural and door to door services to connect with friends and family throughout the Christmas season with many routes offering evening and weekend services too so if you are interested in what you need to do make sure to check out our website www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org www.tfi.org Looking for real choice? 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Treat a loved one this Christmas at McGee's Camus Main Street Letterkenny or online at McGee's.ie. OK, the December Fisheries Council, at which next year's quotas for Irish fishers were due to be set, has finished in Brussels, a bit of a mixed bag, I suppose you could say, for Ireland in terms of pelagic stocks. There has been an increase in mackerel, but it's kind of like a reduction if you take into account the Brexit effect. 23% increase in blue whiting, 20% increase in burrfish, 20% increase in northwest herring, 17% increase in tuna, and finally a 23% reduction in atlanto-scandia herring. OK, Aidol Donald is CEO of the Irish Fish Processors Organisation. What do you think of that, Deeson? Thanks for having me on. No, it's our pleasure. Next bag is for the Northwest. The key species of interest for our processors and vessels are mackerel blue whiting, herring to a certain extent, and horse mackerel. We have some increases in mackerel, but they've been offset by significant losses because of the Brexit transfer. We're all aware of the fact that the EU gave 25% of its quotas to Britain as part of Brexit, and incredibly 40% of the value of this transfer came from Ireland. So we're still suffering from this. We're still suffering from a flawed common fisheries policy, and these things need to be addressed if we're going to have a sustainable fishery into the future. And you believe this type, the type of increases we're talking of, 60% in haddock, ETC, and what other stuff we've mentioned. You don't believe that is a positive sign for the future of the industry? Well, it's the mackerel transfer from Denmark. It's a positive sign. It's a first step. It's a part of what we need to do in the future. We need to work together. We need to have a strategy to reverse the decline of the sector. We have an amazing resource. We have a marine space that's seven times our landmass. We have a very sustainable stock out there, but unfortunately Ireland only gets 15% of this by volume. So that's not a fair deal. That's a deal that needs to be addressed. We have a situation of decline, continuous decline, failure of effective policy, essentially. And worse still, and unbelievably, we have in the middle of all of this access to foreign fleets from Norway, but are not the... All right, that... Three times our quota in our waters. Are we investing out there? Okay. The connection just broke down a little bit there. So no, that's fine. We'll bear with it. So you talked of the decline and we can put that into numbers as well. This is not just fear mongering, if you pardon the expression. You know, we can actually see where we're at and concerns that, you know, the worst is yet to come in the not-too-distant future aid. Yeah, the problem we have is that the Brexit situation is not going away. But we have another series of cuts this year in our quarters because of the crisis. The reality is our sector is only grown by about 1% in GDP over a five-year period. Whereas the Norwegians, for example, have grown theirs multiple times. At that level, and we really need to get our act together and form a strategy and a policy to reverse the decline. Yeah, okay. Well, listen, thank you very much, Jeff, for that. I do appreciate your time. That's Ado Donald there, CEO of the Irish Fish Processors Organisation. As I say, it is a bit of a mixed bag. There is some good news in there. Very interested as well to speak to others from within the fishing industry. Hi, Greg. Can you please ask Mary what's being done to properly train coaches at club level? Every single underage team is managed and coached by parents. Should parents be coaching or managing their own children to the detriment of other children? The win at all costs at underage is not developing real talent, but at underage is there, I mean, you know, at the very young age there isn't really winning as such as there. I get where you're coming from. I just don't know who else does it, you know, and I see it myself. It's the parents that have that passion and come in and it's not perfect, of course, but in small communities, you know, we know the communities that we're talking of. Who else is going to come in and give all the time that they do and boss people back and forward and make sure everyone's there and kitted out and all that type of stuff. I get where you're coming from, but if it's not the parents, who is it going to be, especially in the smaller clubs? OK. Right, let us take a quick break. The 9 till noon show with McGee's Camus Main Street Letter canny, offering a great range of digital cameras and binoculars for Christmas. McGee's, the photographic experts, were the best, cost less. Free 2024 glossy farming calendar. It's one of the farming favorites of the year. Get your free IFA calendar only inside this week's Irish Farmers Journal. For more in this week's paper, here's Paul Mooney. Thousands of farmers to miss out on acres places, row over fallen animals, escalates, radical cut to fertilizer use proposed, and ICBF open store for suckler scheme changes. This week's Irish Farmers Journal with your free glossy farming calendar and Mochra Magazine is on sale now. You can't afford to miss it. Stay warm for less this winter with Homeland. Willow warm eco-brickettes, 100% renewable, 100% Irish wood. Buy three bills, get two far logs free. Nationwide delivery available. Shop in store or online at homeland.ie. Millionaire raffle from the National Lottery is back. With one millionaire guaranteed and over 6.3 million euro in cash prizes to be won, it's the biggest ever. The draw is on New Year's Eve and tickets are limited to 600,000. The National Lottery. It could be them. Gift responsibly. Join Barney's Tractor Run this Sunday, 17th, starting Avagadigan's travel in Dremor, Letterkenny. Registration opens at 12 noon and the run kicks off at 2 pm sharp. Followed by refreshments, music, raffles and more at the Lennon Lodge, Remelton. Entry is 20 euro per tractor with proceeds to Barney Gibbons Rehabilitation Fund. This ad is sponsored by the Northwest Truck Fest. I've been looking after mum for a good few years now. It's been hard at times. It's been difficult to find time for myself. I've even had to stop work. You've worked hard caring for others. Now the state pension can work for you. If you've spent 20 years or more caring for a loved one who couldn't care for themselves, you can now use the time spent caring to qualify for a contributory state pension. Terms and conditions apply. Find out more at Gov.ie forward slash pension. A government of island initiative brought to you by the Department of Social Protection. Whatever the weather this December, Letterkenny will bring a warm front to your shopping and great value for your pocket. Highland weather forecast brought to you by ShopLK. OK, patches of light rain and drizzle and mist will clear later this morning, leaving a mostly dry day with some sunny spells, some sunny intervals developing. A few isolated charts are possible. Temperatures 8 to 10 degrees today. Now a deal has been secured that will house a number of international protection applicants in temporary accommodation at Cavangarden Bed and Breakfast located just off the N15. Now Cavangarden is, I don't know, maybe five or six kilometres the north side of Bali Shannon. 91 refugees, as I mentioned, described as adult male international protection applicants will be housed in 29 rooms. We don't know how long they're going to be there, but we know there is a one year contract to begin with, signed with the provider. Independent Deputy Marion Harkin joins us on the show now. Thanks for your time, Marion. I do really appreciate it. What's your reaction to this news? My initial reaction is that this is a very, you know, it's a very rural part of the county, much of the county is, but anyway, do you have any concerns or do you welcome this move? Well, it was myself who brought this to the attention of the public through yourselves and Ocean FM. As soon as I received the information yesterday afternoon, I made a call immediately to check if there had been any community engagement. If anybody had been informed about this and I was told that no, that there hadn't been. So I thought the best way to bring it to the attention of the public, because I believe it should be and it needs to be, is to alert the local radio stations, which is precisely what I've done. So that people know, because we had a situation in Bali recently, a couple of weeks back, about four or five weeks ago, where it was brought to the attention of all of the local public representatives that I think it was 18 or 20 young men arrived in Boyle into a building and that nobody knew they arrived at night and nobody knew anything about it. And people were annoyed that they weren't aware that this was happening. And when I got the notice then about Bali Shannon, about Kevin Garden, I thought the best idea was to let people know what the department have planned. And I believe, though I don't want to say this because I haven't been officially informed, but I've heard on the red find that there may be a meeting tonight. And if there is certainly, I will attend that to listen to people, to hear what they have to say, to hear their concerns, because I've attended such meetings in a number of locations recently and tried to work with people, tried to work with community engagement teams so that people are not left feeling as if they have, you know, no proper information and that nobody consults them in any way. What reaction have you been getting since you made this public? As you mentioned, you believe there is a meeting this evening. You know what are the concerns? Because I understand why you feel it's important to get it out there, but you know, obviously, there's going to be an awful lot of people that will jump on this and there may not even be people from the local area. I've already seen this flagged down as far as Cork and Dublin and this is it. This is the plantation. This is what's happening in your area. And instantly, as soon as that information was out there, people are using it. Some might say abusing it. I don't know. That's up for individuals to make up their own mind. But were you conscious of that? You have to balance it up. Do you have to say, well, what's in the public interest versus a potential negative fallout? Absolutely. And I think one of the best quotes I've heard in recent times was a quote used very recently in The Doll, that this issue is being discussed in every house in the country except Lenster House. And three weeks ago, I, on leaders' questions, spoke very frankly to the Taoiseach. And I asked him, as leader of the country, to speak about this, to open up the debate, to let people know the reality of what is happening. Because people don't know. And it's in a situation like that that lies and mistrudes and other things can flourish. But the question, I suppose, comes down to, do the people of Cavangarden, Bally Shannon, the local area, have a right to know beforehand if a number of asylum seekers are going to be located in their area? And my answer to that is very much yes. Because at the end of the day, if 1991 people are arriving next Tuesday, a week after, a month after, three months after, the community of that area are the people who will have to manage with this situation, live with it, try to find ways of managing it. Not say the keyboard warriors from elsewhere or those who say that anybody who puts this information into the public domain is trying to start up trouble. The last thing anybody wants is that. But the very least that any community deserves, in my view, is consultation information. And I think if you read through the information as far as I can see what this scheme is, that you come here as an international protection applicant, these fellows will be given a PPSN number and able to work in six months. We know even if your application is refused, there's no obligation on you to leave. You can just stay here. They say, right, you've been refused, but the majority seems to stay. I mean, what is actually our system here? Because it seems you come here, you can work after six months, and even if you're refused, you just crack on. And in the meantime, you get accommodation, you get a limited payment, but you can start working in six months. So what is our actual, what is the actual system? It seems to be pretty much just come here, and that's it. We have a system that is broken, and nobody is speaking about it, nobody is talking about it. And part of the reason for that is that as soon as you say that, you have people immediately saying, oh, trying to start up trouble, far right, all of these kind of phrases. When what we're trying to look at is a phenomenon that's been in other European countries for many years. I certainly seen that when I was in Brussels for 15 years. I saw the impact of it, and now we're seeing it in Ireland. We have a system, as you said, that doesn't work. I put in questions to the minister there recently about numbers arriving each year, how many were refused asylum, and how many of those were decorted. And the figure actually is just under 8% of those who were refused leave to remain were actually deported. And nobody could give me any further information regarding... Like is the PPSN number revoked at that point? Are they, are we still taking tax if they do happen to work? Are we still taking tax or providing benefits to people who know... Again, I just got to the point that they're all figures. I mean, when you get figures, then after that you start to ask other questions, and I presume it is revoked, so I again would have to check that. But it's just that those... We just don't know what is happening. And the part of the problem is, in my view, that the conventions that we have in place for asylum seekers are in place after World War II when refugees came with barely the toes on their back walking hundreds, thousands of miles sometimes trying to get to safety. That's a very different situation where people were flying some of the time with documents, some of the time without, some of the time they have documents before they arrive. Well, they can't get on the plane, they can't get on a plane or a boat without documents. At some point between A and B, they're lost. Okay, listen, we might come back to you on this after the public meeting as well, but I do have to take a break for the news. We do appreciate you speaking to us. But I think there are basic questions that anyone's entitled to know. Like, for instance, there's no other part of society where we don't have knowledge of, except this really. I think if you lose the right to stay here, you're refused. Like, is your PPSN number taken off you? Or is it not? Or what? I know. Listen, thank you for your time as always. Take care of yourself. That was Independent Deputy Marion Harkin. The news is going to be a minute late. My apologies. We'll be back with more after the news and obituary notices. The news is going to be a minute late. We're going to be back with more after the news. We're going to be back with more after the news. We're going to be back with more after the news. You're welcome. The news is going to be a minute late. We're going to be back with more after the news. We're going to be back with more after the news. We're going to be back with more after the news. The news is going to be a minute late. Christmas decor, in-store and online at Homeland. That's 50% of all lights, 50% of artificial trees, 50% of garlands, wreaths, burbles and more. While stocks last, shop in-store or online at homeland.ie. We've gone mad here at Highland Radio. Enter our car draw for a chance to win 1,000 euro every day in our grand-a-day giveaway from December the 11th to 22nd. You'll be dialing your number. All you have to do is answer and you could be walking away with a cool 1,000 euro. But here's the twist. If the prize isn't won on a particular day, it rolls over to the next day. It's a call you don't want to miss. Get your ticket at HighlandRadio.com now to begin with a chance to win. Grab your ticket for only 10 euro today. Lie on air, online and on the Highland Radio app. This is Highland Radio News. Good morning. I'm Akilah Clark with the news at 10 o'clock. The Bishop of Raffaulah McGuckian has apologized for the sexual abuse carried out by a former Donegal priest. Eamon Croson at Donegal Circuit Court yesterday pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse of a minor in the 1990s. Stephanie Rohan has more. Eamon Croson was a priest in the diocese of Raffaulah from 1976 and was removed from the ministry in 1998 with the exception of an earlier complaint for which he served time in prison for. Yesterday he then pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse of a minor in the 1990s. In a statement, the Bishop of Raffaulah says he's deeply saddened and ashamed that an innocent child had to endure such abuse, especially at the hands of a priest who was in a position of sacred trust. He added that no words of his can atone for the suffering caused to an innocent person and to his family. Bishop McGuckian has apologized to the victim and his family. Anyone who has a concern or complaint currently or relating to the past is encouraged by the Bishop to contact the diocese and statutory authorities. A Donegal deputy has demanded a special debate on health be held before the doll rises for Christmas recess today. This week Deputy Pierce Doherty told the T Shock that patients and staff continue to suffer due to severe overcrowding in hospitals. He says it's a disgrace that the situation has been allowed to reach the crisis point it has. We have elderly patients in my own hospital in Donegal who have been unable to get a hospital bed, forced to wait for 36 hours in a hard chair without a second of sleep during that period. And all the while the CEO of the HSE, the most senior civil servant in the Department of Health and even the fiscal council have warned that our health service has been underfunded by your government for next year. It is absolutely disgraceful. It is a crisis point. While responding, Leo Radker will not agree to Deputy Doherty's request for a debate instead outlining the recent funding announced for health. Deputy Doherty has asked for a debate on health and raised the issue of health funding. We would just like to mention that Cabinet approved the revised estimate of vote and has allocated an additional £92 million to health which will include funding for new drugs in 2024 and also funding for the fair deal to make sure that we don't see an increase in delayed transfers of care within our hospitals. And that's in addition to the supplementary agreed only a few weeks ago. The number of cases of RSV remains quite high. Almost 1,000 cases were reported last week and 800 this week. The HSE is worried about the number of cases in newborns and children aged 4 or under. Dr Cara Martin from the HSE is urging people to be mindful around babies. So for parents, they probably won't be bringing their babies out to crowded places. But if you're visiting people over Christmas and they have a small baby, you know, respect what the parents ask you. Don't, we all want to kiss and cuddle babies. But if you've a cough or cold, at all, don't and always wash your hands before you pick them up. A Denegal Funeral Director has warned of a deeply insensitive scam doing the rhymes. Scammers have begun setting up fake social media pages, reporting to provide access to a funeral live stream. However, to access the stream, people are being requested to submit a credit card details. Sean Murphy from Innisfone Funeral Services says he has been contacted by people as far away as Australia who have come across the fake pages. He says charges will never apply to access at funeral streamings. I'd be asking people to be very vigilant. If it's not on the funeral director's page or the likes of RAP.de or the website or the hiding radio, that's not legit. It's an absolute disgrace. And as I say, treatment is always free. Nobody asks for credit card details in any chapel or anything they get there. It's just the lowest, the lowest. But the reality of the thing is, we don't know where this is coming from. It could be anywhere in the globe. And it's getting very regular now. A motion to twin dairy with Bethlehem is to come before Dairy City and Straban District Council. Councillor Catherine McDade says the proposal is intended to show solidarity with the people in Bethlehem and victims of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. She says Dairy and Bethlehem share many similarities as both cities are no strangers to conflict. I'm sure everyone would agree, Dairy, as the study of civil rights. And I think that we have come through so much and come so far that we should be standing up for other studies and towns and communities going through similar experiences. Whether or not I collide you with patches of light, rain, drizzle and mist this morning, this will clear leaving a mostly dry day with some sunny intervals developing, highest temperatures of 8 to 10 degrees. That's all from Highland Radio News for now. We'll be back with an update again at 11 o'clock. Until then, you can keep up to date with the latest local news on our website highlandradio.com. Good morning. The obituary notice is for this Thursday morning, December the 14th. The death has taken place of Dennis McElroy, 109 Ernie Road, Sturban, formerly of Lower Main Street, Sturban, reposing at his home today from 3 o'clock to half past 9. Puna leaving his home tomorrow morning at 20 past 9 for recreation mass in St. Mary's Church, Malmite, at 10 o'clock, followed by interment in the adjoining cemetery. The recreation mass can be viewed on malmiteparish.com. The death has occurred of Mary McEw, Nate Donovan, Dreenin, Bali Buffay. Her remains are reposing at her late residence. Puna leaving from there to more morning at half past 10 for recreation mass in St. Patrick's Church, Crossroads, Killing Gordon, at 11 o'clock, followed by interment in the adjoining churchyard. The recreation mass will be streamed live on the Parish YouTube channel. Donations in Lee Off-Floor, if so desired, to the Irish Heart Foundation of Ireland, care of any family member. Family time from 9 o'clock until 11 o'clock and on the morning of the funeral. The death has taken place of Neil Toland, 11 Milbrae Meadows-Carnedona, formerly of Coventry, England. His remains are reposing at his late home. Puna leaving there to more morning at half past 10, going to the Church of the Sacred Heart, Carnedona for recreation mass at 11 o'clock. Interment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Family time from 11 o'clock to 10 o'clock, highest private on the morning of the funeral. Funeral can be viewed on churchmedia.tv. The death has taken place of Paddy McGrath, scribbly, letter Kenny, formerly Straban. Paddy's remains will be reposing at his late residence today from 2 o'clock until 10 o'clock with rosary tonight at 9 o'clock. Puna from there to more afternoon at half past 12, going to St Junans Cathedral letter Kenny for 1 o'clock recreation mass, which can be viewed on churchservices.tv. Interment afterwards in New Lakes Cemetery. Family time on the morning of the funeral please. Family flowers only please. Donations in Louis of Flowers if desired. To the friends of letter Kenny University Hospital, care of any family member. And the death has taken place of Katie McConaughe, Nailong, 558 Arch McHul Stronauler. Katie's remains will be reposing at her late residence today from 11 o'clock until 10 o'clock with rosary tonight at 9 o'clock. Funeral from there to more morning at half past 10, going to the Church of Mary and Maclet Stronauler for 11 o'clock recreation mass, which can be viewed on churchservices.tv. Interment afterwards in the Old Cemetery Stronauler. Family time on the morning of the funeral please. Family flowers only please. Donations in Louis of Flowers if desired. To Brindley Manor Patients Comfort Fund, care of any family member. For family information and more details regarding WICS and funerals, please go to highlandradial.com. This Christmas at Super Value, we have great offers to help you share the magic light. Signature taste fresh Irish hamster ham fillet, 1.4 kilo only $10.99. Selected fruit and veg like carrots and Brussels sprouts, $0.49 each. Plus get money off vouchers every week on the Real Rewards App too. Share the magic this Christmas with Super Value in store online. The county's number one talk show, The Nine Till Noon Show on Highland Radio. And you're very welcome back to the programme. Thank you very much. If you're after joining us as well, write our competition today. Of course, all this week it's an association with our friends at McGee's Chemist. It's one for the boys. Today we're giving away 50 milliliters of Christian Dior Savage, Savage EDT spray. And of course, the daily winner goes into the draw tomorrow for a hamper worth over 500 euro. Courtesy, as I mentioned, of McGee's Chemist in Lether Kenny. And at www.mcgese.ie. Now the hamper up for grabs tomorrow contains Clarence Christmas hamper, a blank canvas 12 piece gold maker brush set, a large blank canvas purple three piece gift set, a B perfect muted palette, Jimmy Shoe ladies fragrance and a 20 by 16 gallery wrapped canvas. So you can have your favourite photo wrapped in canvas and ready to hang on your wall. So we have three daily qualifiers already. We want our fourth today. The daily prize is a 50 millilitre Christian Dior Savage EDT spray. Now if you want to be with a chance to come on air and answer a simple question, and if it's not simple to you, I will try my best to make sure you win. Wink, wink. All you have to do is send your name, where you're from and your number to 086625000. Now you can do that on WhatsApp or you can do it on text. So if you want to come on and answer our question, it's a piece of music that you have to unravel with a Christmas theme. Then just send your name, where you're from and your number right now to 086625000. WhatsApp or text, whichever you prefer. One of you will be selected completely at random to come on air, answer the question, and you will win 50 millilitres Christian Dior Savage EDT spray, and then you'll be in the draw tomorrow with a one in five chance to win that brilliant hamper well worth over 500 euro. Check out McGee's.ie by the way for their ideas for Christmas. Let me see, right, I know which one I'm going to pick today. It's a very famous Christmas song, arguably the most famous. But anyway, later on today, someone is going to get a call if they bought a ticket for our car draw. Everyone who bought a ticket, of course, is in the draw for that car, but also just as a thank you, as an addition. We are also giving away a thousand euro a day. We've got a bit of a rollover going because we had two unanswered calls. It's three grand later today. So if you can have your phone ready, answer the call, and it's as simple as that, you win 3K. So that's coming up at some stage later on today. Right, so let's get to some comments here before we go to Thursday's bingo numbers. I know a lot of you waiting because it is Jackpot Day. A caller says, I'm not far right and I'm sick of being called it, but we want our tans and hotels back. The anger amongst ordinary people is rising. The government is changing the culture of this country forever. Allow us the respect of consultation. If it's a busload of young male asylum seekers, then they will likely be Algerian as that seems to be the normal trend nowadays in Ireland. But there is no war in Algeria, so why are they coming as refugees? We, the Irish people, do feel that we're being replaced by foreign nationals refugees. Why is our government so keen to implement this EU scheme? Why are they betraying the Irish people? Why will no one answer the question, why is it all young males? Where are the women and children? We're all made feel guilty about great having a meeting after the decision is made. Well, listen, primarily it seems that obviously if people are coming from Ukraine, it's women and children. If they're international applicants, then they're most likely to be young men. It's easier for them to travel. We're told it's harder for older people for single women or women with children. It's harder for them to travel, so that's why we see young males. That's what we've been told. I'm not a racist, and I see the need to take people fleeing from war into our country, but putting 150 people into a small village like Drom Kieran completely erodes the Irish culture of the area. Our culture and way of life in rural Ireland is what we are renowned for by tourists. Once that's gone, it's lost forever. Distribution of immigrants must be in proportion to the area into which they are being placed. The current government policy will only stir up on rest and play into the hands of those with more ulterior motives, but is there an ulterior policy? Good morning. Greg Lee of Radcar said that if they have consultation with the community, he said, but they aren't asking for permission, so basically, they do as they please. And, you know, I've heard Roderker Gorman say something very similar to that, that we have these people coming in. We do have to accommodate them, because that's what we signed up for, and that means that they are going to be placed in every corner of the country. That's effectively what he said. There was no apologies in relation to that. Greg, where are all the jobs in rural Balai Shannon for these men? I don't know the answer to that question. Yesterday on RT News, when discussing the topic of carbon emissions, we should ditch the petrol and diesel cars and buy an EV. The commentator said that the average price of an electric car is now 30 grand. Is this true? Because any cars I've seen are at least 40. Where are these cheap EVs? There are cheap EVs. You see them advertised for around about 29, 30 grand. That seems to be the price of a new car petrol or diesel, so I don't know. I don't know what the story is. It's not something I know enough of to comment, and I generally tend, if I don't feel like I know something to not say anything. This is an interesting one here, just before the break. My son was on holiday in Gran Canaria last week. His son, who was three, lost his cochlear implant, and that's a hearing aid. It was found at the airport Las Palmas. Is anyone in the Donegal area that is flying to Gran Canaria able to connect it? The desk is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. So there's a cochlear implant. It is a hearing aid, effectively. It's been left in Gran Canaria. Anyone out there going over there and coming back or even over there at the moment that would be able to pick it up? It's at the desk, which is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Everyone knows Flight Crew, who fly to Las Palmas, who could get it to Dublin or Belfast, and we could collect it from there. Any help would be greatly appreciated. That comes in from Geraldine. It's a random one, and listen, maybe we'll hit on someone. Do you know any Flight Crew that go in and out of Las Palmas? Are you or someone you know over there at the moment? This young child needs, obviously, their hearing aid back, and it's not easily switched out from one to the other. Okay, so as I say, it's random. We might hit on someone, but please, if you can help, get in touch with us, and we will pass your details or put you in contact with that person. We've got some live music coming up, by the way, for you at half 10. Stay tuned for that a little after half 10. There, there, but that's all on the way, but first, we take a break for the bingo. It's time for NCBI Bingo on Highland Radio. It's Thursday, the 14th of December, jackpot day you're playing for the jackpot prize of 6,600 euro won the pink sheet. The reference number is S9. It's game number 50. The jackpot number is 85. This number can come out in any position from the next 10 numbers drawn. And now, here are your daily numbers. 43. 23. 72. And finally, 4. Phone your claim tonight. 104833 before 8 tonight. Leave in 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 HighlandRidio.com. That magical time of year, once more, with minced pies and pudding and treats galore, taking pride of place by the twinkling tree. All you need to know about the season's TV, a world of entertainment wrapped up inside, Christmas begins with the RTE guide. There's something about this time of year that makes you want to be near all the things that remind you of your favorite Christmas. When you get that warm and fuzzy feeling, you want to be near the people you love and the things you love. So we're better to get that Christmas feeling than Lettuce Kenny Shopping Centre. There's free parking, extended opening hours, and great gifts for everyone on your list. Add in a visit to Santa, you'll have Christmas all wrapped up. Lettuce Kenny Shopping Centre. Christmas just around the corner. If you're doing some shopping today and fancy taking the weight off your feet or forgetting about having to cook when you get home, take a seat at Kelly's award-winning diner in Lettuce Kenny. And select from a menu that's packed with great value, family favorite choices. Relax over a coffee and sandwich, maybe a bite of lunch, something for dinner or a treat from the dessert menu. Great food and great service every day. At Kelly's diner, Mountaintop Lettuce Kenny. Looking for the best place in the northwest to get a bed or mattress? Rest X Beds and Mountaintop Lettuce Kenny has a great selection and great prices. Rest X Beds has everything you need for a good night's sleep. Visit them today and sleep better tonight. Think outside the box with your photos this Christmas for canvas prints, insta-blocks, mugs and photo books at McGee's.ie. McGee's Camus Lettuce Kenny. Sponsors of today's 9 till noon show. Welcome back. We go to the chair of the Falkhara Tourism Traders Association Manus Kelly. Manus, good morning to you. Good morning, Greg. You are struggling out there, aren't you? Water off again. What's going on and what impact is it having on the local community, Manus? Well, that's what we're trying to find out and we're getting no answers. That said, it was obviously a morning now. It's on in Falkhara today, but there's certain areas it's not on. It is a big effect on. I went through this a couple of years ago and it was off for the businesses and a lot of them just had to close because you get to tea, coffee, restaurants, pubs. You know, the bars couldn't do dishwashers and all that type of thing. It has a massive effect on businesses. Thank God today is back on again in Falkhara and for the high areas it's off and it is affecting people and their domestic houses now. Is this a problem that comes and goes or is just a one-off recently? I know you referenced an issue some time ago, Manus. Yes, it was off some time ago, a number of years ago, but the new system in Arch Bay and the water treatment area there and it cost millions and this is the last thing we expected and this is the second time it has been off. This is the last month as well and we get no answer from Archwater. They're not coming back to us and we just don't know what's happening and above all times this time of year businesses are nervous because when it was off now it really has a big effect on them. Of course it does. This is a really, really important trading time. It's a very important trading time. It's important any time of the year and at times coming up to Christmas you know, barbers and restaurants and that has a massive effect on them. It's a simple tea and coffee and petrol stations and all that. It has an effect on them as well. For sure. Listen Manus, thanks for that. We're going to stay with the issue though. We're going to go to local councillor Michael McClafarty. Good morning to you. As we heard there from Manus who put it really, really well, Michael we have some water back in some areas today. What is the story? Are you getting any information as an elected rep as to what's going on? Morning Greg. Morning Mr. Manus. No, I'm getting nothing. I'm getting nothing at all. It's satisfactory to be quite honest with you. Nothing, Greg. And this is the problem. Manus is quite right there what he's saying. It's on to the orate as they understand. We can carry it out. We've got to go to Horktown as he says himself and that's true. But the higher areas then on any word high growing then it's not happening. Not happening at all. So they are effectively going up to at this stage. They're going to do almost 48 hours this Greg without any water. This is totally, totally unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. They're on their second day without water. There's home health going around there. There's difficulty. They're still sick. There's usual stuff going on. Domestic stuff going on. Small kids so on. There's children going to school. Can't get no access to water. This isn't acceptable. An Irish water once again are not going forward. Not going out of the shadows seeing what's going on as such. As Manus referenced there are millions of spent on that plant to go to Hork. And I'll come back to it again. I'll say it how it is. That plant to go to Hork is not functioning as it is properly and this is what is causing the problem. The, for example, the 29th of November, the one after as well on the 29th of November. Actually the reason for that happening where it was on the 28th of November the plant apparently started giving trouble which was the day before and obviously. So as a result then with the plant not functioning properly people were still able to get a certain amount of water just free flowing and so on where it was. And that resulted in the reservoir then running dry. This is crazy in 2023 that these kind of situations can happen. This is happening now again this morning or this last two days now and we're a second day now without water for many people there. And Manus is right. Everybody's nervous, right? I'm a nervous wreck myself because I don't know what the next phone call is going to bring. But anyway, layers of water are blanking me. They're not acknowledging what to mean apart from sending a text message to me there in the last week which I never got before. So just to be clear outside of the area so this seems to be stemming from technical issues at a new plant. Yes, at a new plant that millions have spent on. If you recall Greg you're on this last year too at the time. It was Christmas in the year last year as well. The same situation was going on. At that time there were parts of missing for the plant. There was talked in and actually the party was the case. So some of the parts will take months and months to get. This is crazy stuff. I remember now. Yeah, exactly. I do remember clearly. The lack of communication though that you see, I mean, you know, whatever about individuals people do go out and vote for local representatives like yourself and the rest in the area. And they would expect and you would expect to be a link between a service a public service really or at least partly public service like Irish Water Esca Aaron and the general population. It's not really acceptable. I don't think the lack of apparent lack of communication with the likes of yourself and others who could disseminate that information to the wider population. You know, I think the public deserve deserve answers here and Irish Water need to explain why they're not providing those answers. 100% right, Greg. And the public elected me and five others in the area to do that actual job represent them. And as we said at the moment I'm certainly second. I cannot represent the people around the area myself because I'm not getting information to pass on to them. It's not acceptable. I've had many conversations with Irish Water on the phone and so on the last two days with this email and so on and we're just getting nowhere. But the big thing is here as well you talk with the communication. The problem is as well between Irish Water at the local rep support desk and the local teams here and Donegal. There's a communication there problem as well. The good fact November time it was just I just got again back in November when I was on to them. They were actually making contact to the engineer on the ground at the time that they couldn't get. The engineer on the ground at the time, Greg, was off and still is off on his own respective business on long term leave. So the local rep support desk were not notified that the engineer in the Fulcara area at that time was off on his own private business and he's off for some time on second leave whatever the case may be and he's off and they're not aware of that and they're telling me you can't get the engineer that's what you couldn't get him. This is how ridiculous it is and this is where there's clearly a break down communication. I've asked as well since last August for a meeting with Irish Water what the officials in relation to Fulcara tell in particular Godhawk in particular they are kill off kill off and around that area there what breaks down quickly it's problematic as well around the glass houses there as well and to all care ongoing business as well there but again the water is hampering things as well to them. I think that's what I understand about it. Yeah, it's just like I see you go ahead please Michael I just need to move it on but I sorry I don't want to cut across you go ahead. Sorry, so we started asking for this I started asking for this meeting back in August I got a call then Tuesday morning I'm going to talk Tuesday morning for my Irish Water rep support desk and I still want the meeting to go ahead like the days of Christmas as requested we're back in August the bottom line is great sorry to hold up things that Irish Water management point blank I refuse to meet with myself and my five college year and this is the problem we want face-to-face meeting with themselves not them not emails not others we want a face-to-face meeting and to the room and Fulcara telling somewhere of their choice and see what is going on and particularly see what is going on on this water the thing that concerns me is that unless I'm missing something is that they've announced they'll announce water bursts they'll announce low pressure for repair works but I see no reference to Fulcara at all on Irish Water's website to suggest that there is no water there so why not so why do the announce problems in Balai Shannon problems in Keeley Beggs let's see where else there are issues in the Balabuffet area but I don't see any reference to the area that you're talking of for Fulcara so why why when the water goes out there why is there no information at all as I say they've posted about Balai Keeley Beggs Balabuffet other areas in the last two days but nothing about this problem why what's unique about this problem that there's no information at all very strange what's unique about here as I was saying to Caroline there before but to yourself there the problem is every time that they record a bush pipe or a water outage in Fulcara and I say this time that the plant itself has given the trouble every time they record a water outage creek that gives a reason then gives more levers to me myself then and my colleagues then there's Fulcara let's make a word to push in for more funding and this is the reason why a rep outside the county for me is what they told me that a stack up of breakdowns or no water to get pushed up the ladder for the funding so while Fulcara is not mentioned on the website there's no record of it there's whatever the reason there's no record no problem so in other words it's not prioritized listen in relation to that anyone affected by these water outages should be logging an issue or complaint with Irish water and then we can sort of if we got a sense that 20 people had and there was still no record of it we'd know some things and the councillor Michael McClaff to keep us informed of course Manus Cully thank you very much both of you indeed for that watch the show live now on YouTube Facebook and at Highland Radio .com Chanel Flare Bomb Longcom Giorgio Manny Paco Rabanne where else but at Mckee's Camist Letter Kenny this Christmas sponsors of today's for Glossy Farming Calendar. It's one of the farming favorites of the year. Get your free IFA calendar only inside this week's Irish Farmers Journal. For more in this week's paper, please call Mooney. Thousands of farmers to miss out on acres places, row over fallen animals escalates, radical cut to fertilizer use proposed, and ICBF open store for suckler scheme changes. This week's Irish Farmers Journal with your free Glossy Farming Calendar and Mocra Magazine is on sale now. You can't afford to miss it. The Three Amigos! Jimmy Buckley, Robert Moselle, and Patrick Feeney are back on tour with their award-winning live show. See The Three Amigos Live! Conry Hotel Letter Kenny, Tuesday, January 23rd. Tickets priced 35 euro are now on sale at the Hotel Reception and Ticketmaster.ie where extra charges may apply. Happy Christmas from The Three Amigos! Everyone loves going to the cinema. That's why an Eclipse Cinema's gift voucher is the perfect Christmas present. They aren't just for kids, but all the family. Even little miss hard to buy for. We all have one of them. And when you buy an Eclipse Cinema's gift voucher, you now get 10% extra free. Available on our Bondorin and Liberty Strapin cinemas or at eclipsecinemas.com. Vouchers don't expire and can even be used for dining screen options and VIP cinema experiences. There's no show like a Joe show. And now the Dolan family bring their spectacular Joe Dolan night to the Villa Rose Hotel on December 28th. Sensational Tribute Acts, Bruce Springsteen and Abba take place on January 19th and 20th. Tickets from Hotel Reception and online at VillaRose.ie. Guidore and Glenn Swally will contest the Donegal Under-21A Football Championship Final this Saturday. Join us on Highland from the 2.30 through 1 at the Adonal Park in Letterkenny for full live match commentary. Coverage from the Donegal Under-21 Football Final is in association with Gilday Farm Butchers, Old Town Road Letterkenny. Cook in the Bag Turkey Breast with pop-up cooking timer now available to order. Hugo Boss, Victor and Rolf, Dior, Mark Jacobs and Carlina Herrera, where else? But at McGee's Camus Letterkenny where you'll find the biggest names in Perfume and aftershave this Christmas. The sponsors of today's Ninetown News Show. We're helping you become more Christmas. Mix and match with three for two and hundreds of meats and cheeses like Tesco Finest Barrel-Aged Feta. Don't forget the crackers. Our board B-approved, finest-certified Irish Angus centre-cut Phillip Barrel now have price. That's a mouthful. And wine worth a toast to the host like Oyster Base Avignon Blanc, now 10 euro. Tesco, every little helps. Clubcard required subject to availability, cheapest product free, available in most stores, prices varying express stores. See Tesco.ie. Enjoy alcohol responsibly. Back Rock Dublin. Home store and more. A happy home. Could you train the next generation of skilled workers? If you're a qualified tradesperson, you could become an apprenticeship instructor. Join an ETB team who share your passion and will get you up and running with opportunities nationwide across construction, electrical, engineering, motor industry and more. And with flexible work-life balance and a very competitive salary, why not apply today at apprenticeship.online.com IE. An initiative of the Government of Ireland. Whatever the weather, Christmas shopping and lettering Kenny will brighten your December. The Highland Weather Forecast, brought to you by ShopLK. See ShopLK.ie or like us on Facebook. Righty-o. Early this morning, we'll be cloudy with patches of light rain, drizzle and mist. This will clear south eastwards later this morning, leaving a mostly dry day with some sunny spells. A few isolated showers are possible. Temperatures today around 8 to 10 degrees. It's live music time because we have a great young band in studio with us. They are Keir Zoo, Keirzo. Keir, help me out here. Keirzo, yeah. Keirzo, that's what I said, isn't it? Yeah, Keirzo, yeah, yeah. Yeah, okay. Listen, it's good because it's memorable. Yeah. You know what I mean? Once you remember it, no, but once you remember it, you won't forget it, all right? Yeah. So, we've got Keir and Doyle. You all that sing a song, right? You're on guitar. We have a Cajar Doyle on drums. You're never out of the place, Cajar. You're a regular now. This is Carl Warner, lead guitarist. Good morning to you. Thanks very much for joining us. How long have you been playing together, Carl? Well, I started playing. You used to play at first with... I'm reading them. Yeah, it was a couple of months ago. Yeah, we were on Snugfest and then we signed up, Kyle, as well. Good stuff. I started playing a lot. To be part of the band. You'd found each other, all right. We're also in studio with Frank Key, my gravy, who's our generation manager with the Donagall Youth Service. Talk to us about how you ended up working with these guys on this project, Frank Key. Well, we ended up working with these guys last year. Well, it might even have been earlier than that, but a year and a half ago. First time I met them was just out of lockdown, and they were on their way to go and see Oasis play. Liam Gallagher and Belfast, and they told me they couldn't play party in the park because they had to go watch Liam Gallagher and, as well, you can do both. So they ended up playing party in the park in the morning and going to see Liam Gallagher in the evening. That was the aphades. But Keyron here, he's a big brother of Kyle, and then Kyle together, so there's a mix between the aphades and between Keyron. But last year, Keyron wrote an amazing song called Anxiety, and we were like, you know what, that would really work as a project for you. I think we had that live on this show as well. You did. So we worked in partnership with the Connecting for Life project, which is a project connected with the HSE directly into the National Office for Suicide Protection, so that mental health element. So the idea is that we get that message out around helping young people deal with their mental health, and it's obviously when it comes naturally from the voices of young people themselves, it makes it much more powerful. Well, it's relatable too. It's not insignificant where the message comes from. Exactly. Very important of how it lands. You hear the voices from your peers, and so it's a natural partnership between Donegal Youth Service, the Connecting for Life project, and these guys. Because no matter how it looks, you know, everyone goes through times where things are a bit, you know what, do you know what I mean? It's just how you cope with them. Definitely. Definitely. And these guys get it, you know, and they're the most important element of that partnership that I've been talking about. Right. So we'll chat a bit more. We're going to be doing two, Keazoo. So what should we do first? Do you want to do the track we're talking about, or something else? Yes, so we're going to start with Stay and Play. It's a song about going through a tough time and about basically the messages that it's okay to talk about your feelings. It's okay to put yourself out there. And again, with the success last year, as Frankie said, with anxiety, Connecting for Life and Donegal Youth Services have asked us again to record a song with them through Paul Mini Studios. So it's a fantastic opportunity, and we really appreciate it. And like, for me, my music helps me with my mental health, and I want to help other people by putting it out there and showing that it's okay to talk about it. And as a songwriter, you can just put it down, and that's cathartic, isn't it? Yeah, it's very therapeutic. All right, go ahead, then. Let's see what you have. Yeah, so your Stay and Play. Stay and Play. What's that one called again? That one's called Stay and Play. Very good. And that is the song that was commissioned, of course, by the Donegal Youth Service. And I hate to see, you must be delighted with that, Frankie. Oh, it's absolutely incredible, animism of it, and the natural songwriting style, and, of course, the backup of the boys, you know? And the single itself has been recorded by Mini, Paul Mini up in Mini Studios in Remelton. Mini Sounds, it's called. And so, you know, I'd love to send Business His Way, any young bands or any bands at all. I'm interested in getting their music recorded. He's first class. Yeah, it's fantastic. You'll know all about it, and he records our stuff too, so I know all about it. Yeah, it's really easy to work with, and that song is actually on Spotify and Apple Music and everything now, as of today, so it's nice to get on here whenever it's out. Yeah, and it's really quite exciting, isn't it? To be part of a creative process and then having it there, it's just there. For evermore then. Yeah. In 10 years it might go on and on, but I don't think you will. No, it's incredible. At least it's there now. It's such an achievement to be able to have that access to a global market, and you just never know. You'll end up sort of checking the stats and getting random peaks in South Korea or something like that. That's the kind of stuff that happens, isn't it? He was telling me he got paid 25 Euro by Spotify last year, so he must be one of the only people in the world who's ever been paid by Spotify. It's a very impressed room. I was watching an interview with Snoop Dogg, and he's had over a billion streams, and he got 40k. I know, it's ridiculous. The amount of money those boys are making, and he's got someone like Snoop who's on every track and writing credits on so many tracks, and he got 40,000 Euro. I know, it is. So, 10-25 quid. I wouldn't cash it. I wouldn't cash it. I wouldn't be putting that in a frame. Yeah, favorite app. Whatever it didn't quite come in the past, I wouldn't be putting that in a frame. Yeah, favorite app. Whatever it didn't quite come in the past, like an old school check, but you know yourself. Right, so we'll get a bonus track out, and you might as well squeeze another one. What do you want to do, Kieran? Yeah, so this next song is a song that we've released as well a few months ago. It's called Pierre the Teddy Bear, and it's another song about mental health, about how somebody can look happy like a teddy bear and not always feel that way inside. Which is cool. Because a lot of artists now, if you've noticed, a lot of male artists, even if you lose Capaldi and others, a lot of conversations to be about we've split up, but you know, I'm still around. Don't forget me. Yeah, I've had some big coercive, a lot of the stuff that's out there too. That's a bit random, but if you listen to the tracks, Dermot Candy stuff, a lot of it is, I don't want you to get over me, or I'm still, you know, in the background, which I think is a little bit. But anyway, that's besides the point. Your stuff is far more productive. And you know what, our mental health is everything anyway. Anything you write about is always sort of interconnected in this whole way or the other, isn't it? Right. OK. So what did you say it's called again? It's called Pierre the Teddy Bear. And it's also on a Spotify as well. All right. Ciaran Dahl, Cajar Dahl, Carl Warner, take it away lads, when you're ready. That's very good. Thank you very much. Very good. Thank you guys. It's a good song. Right. So the stay and play, the song that was commissioned, so what's the mechanic here, if you know what I mean, it's great that it's there, it's been released and all that, but what are you... What's the mechanics as well? So is it just to get the message out there? Yeah. Or is there, you know, somewhere you're pointing people, or what's the crack, Frankie? Well, we're pointing people towards the Connecting for Life project in general. They're offering out-suicide awareness training across the board, so the CEO wanted me to mention that. Also, the Donegal Youth Service itself, our mental health resilience programs that are there. You mentioned I was the R-generation manager. That project's just finished up, a manager at the Donegal Youth Service. And out of the R-generation project came the Illuminate project, which is also a suite of mental health programs that we're offering to school-aged children and to parents in key contacts. So just anyone out there listening who maybe has young people who are struggling with their mental health or even themselves as adults, they can get in contact with Donegal Youth Service and we can organize training and we can organize one-to-one help through our listening or service. So just in relation to that, because after what happens is you have someone maybe listening at home and they have a teenager in the house and they've noticed a change in them or they're just not connecting the same way. And maybe they have communicated that they're struggling a little bit. Are your services for people like that? Yes, absolutely. Because I think that's really valuable because you can feel so helpless as a parent sometimes because you want to do everything, but then sometimes you wonder, well, what actually can I do? Yeah, well, our intervention initially is to listen to your service. That's it, yeah. So it's just being there to hear the stories, to hear the stories of the parents initially sometimes and to build that relationship and then to hear the stories from the young people directly. And now since we've been doing that for 20 years, but in the last three years we have diversified in that we also offer cognitive behavior therapy. So there's six trained therapists within the Donegal Youth Service, I'm one of them. And we can offer that eight to 10-week protocol where we take them through the CBT or our program. Which is to bring people up to deal with stuff, isn't it really? Yeah, they have to be their own, they train them up to be their own therapist. To empower them. So they have the tools and after eight weeks they head off and I've just finished off with a client there yesterday and it's a great feeling and when they look in the eye and they say, yes, I'll be okay now, I have the tools. Thank you. And Ciaran and Cajar and Kyle, but Ciaran, I'll ask you the mics in front of you. In terms of performing and what have you, what are you doing, anything coming up that people can look out for? Well, we have a gig coming up in the bridge-in on the 28th of December, so... Where's that? It's in Dunlowe. Dunlowe bridge-in in Dunlowe. Okay, I see it. So yes, I know it. It's good to spot that. Yeah, so it's a band called The Notions that have organized it. Both the Ciarzo band and the Fades are both supporting for The Notions there and I said, it'll be a great gig and follow great, fun live music all surrounding about mental health and whatnot and just having fun. There's great places like the Bridge Bar and there are many other supporting it to and giving a platform and a space as well. But then we're blessed in that there is some genuinely brilliant talent out there. You use it well amongst them as well. All right, listen, it's been lovely having you in. A strong message. Good to get the info from you as well, Frankie. Ciarzo. Ciarzo, yeah. Ciarzo. I know. Oh, good. But it's just one of those things that once I've said it wrong once, that's made me... I completely understand. C-I-R-Z-O, by the way, if you're looking for them on Spotify, let's see if we can get them up to 30-year-olds. Yeah, exactly. This time next year we'll be laughing at it. We'll be laughing at it. Well, it's onwards. It's a catch-up when they start it. Ciarzo, thanks very much. Well done. Clearly very talented. As is Kahi here, of course, as you know, and Carl doing the lead guitar there as well. That is Classless League guitar, is it? I suppose it is. It is. All right, good stuff. All right, thanks very much. It's not Monday night sessions. I'm bluffing here. All right, listen, thanks. Oh, they're bluffing themselves, let's be honest. And Frankie McGreevy, thank you very much indeed as well. OK, that is it for now. Back with more after a break. Come along to the Isis Centre on the Donegal Dairy border. We are providing something special and something different. Right next door is our Celtic prayer garden. Walk around and enjoy the peace. The children love it. Then come over to the Isis Centre and try some of our delicious food. We have an organic farm and plenty of events planned on the run-up to Christmas. The Isis Centre will really put the heart in your Christmas. The Isis Centre will really put the heart in your Christmas. Do you need a UK address? Save hundreds of euros on custom charges shopping online with Space Hub Dairy. We provide a full virtual address mailbox service for all your business and personal use. Save hundreds, possibly thousands, on custom charges with Space Hub Dairy. Call 048-71-87-8077 or online spacehubdairy.com for more details. At Centra, we've got amazing Christmas cracker offers from now until the big man arrives. Centra Fish are smoked or unsmoked Hanfilets 1.82 kilo 10 euro each inspired by Centra chilled party food 2 for 8 euro and Eagle Hawk selected wine 8 euro each. Perfect for Christmas. Shop smart, feel festive at Centra. Enjoy alcohol sensibly. The season of giving is here. Why not treat yourself or someone special to a used car at iMotors? With the largest range of used cars over 25 brands to choose from and up to 12 months warranty on all our vehicles. Visit our showroom today in Drum Cane or Mallon and Test Drive in a car. Open 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 4pm on Saturdays or visit iMotors.ie Can you put in a request for Peter O'Toole, Sinead O'Toole and their son James O'Toole who are in the car heading to Lapland excited to meet Santa Happy Christmas to everyone. Wow, what an experience. I hope you're still within earshot of us. Have a wonderful safe trip. What an experience. I think it's on lots of people's bucket lists. Excuse me. Hi Greg, any chance you could play My Generations version of Last Christmas by one please? We're coming in to play it live with you on the 22nd. We'll leave it with me. I think next week we're going to be introducing a little bit more music to the program as we ease. Well I'm trying to convince Caroline that we want to chill a bit, don't we? So we'll be switching up the conversations obviously if anything needs to be covered we'll be covering it, playing a little bit of music and so on and so forth. So hey, I'm looking forward to the My Generation crew coming in to see us so leave that with us. Right, the 21st Christmas hamper drawing aid of the Little Blue Heroes has taken place this Friday. Margaret Coyle who's been doing an amazing job on the raffle as she does every year will be in the Letcher Kenny Shopping Centre today from 10am to 4pm. She's in there now. Hopefully you're listening. Margaret, hello, and if you see Margaret will you tell her that you heard her name mentioned on Highland Radio. She's in there selling tickets between 10am and 4pm. I'm sure the wonderful people down at the Shopping Centre will look after her. There are some fantastic prices to win while supporting a very good cause. It's the Little Blue Heroes, they do amazing stuff. We know that, don't we? So Margaret calls down there in the Letcher Kenny Shopping Centre. She's there till 4pm. Buy a ticket if you can. Tell her we all said hello. OK, that's good. And I've done that request there as well. Let me see. Great interview with Mary Cochlan. Very well spoken, very clear. And to the point, thank you. Thank you very much for your feedback on that. It's appreciated. The government says no to farming, no to fishing, no to free speech, no to protesting, no to diesel petrol. I don't think it's quite as dire as you make out, but then again, who am I to say that's your opinion and you're more than one. And now, in Rose 2023. OK, it is 11 o'clock. It's time for a news update and it's good morning once again to Michaela Clark. Thanks Greg, good morning. Today marks the first anniversary of private Sean Rooney's death in Lebanon. The 23-year-old was killed during the early and peacekeeping duties. A wreath laying ceremony took place on Sunday in Newshank, Cunningham to mark a year since private Rooney's death. The trial of Mohammed Ayad, who has been accused of the killing of private Rooney, is due to get underway tomorrow. The lack of community engagement over the housing of asylum seekers in Ireland has come in for criticism once again. 91 asylum seekers are due to be housed in 29 rooms in Cavan Garden near Bali-Shanan. Leaders from across the European Union are arriving in Brussels for a major two-day summit. T-Shock Lear-Vadkar is among them, with Gaza and Ukraine high on the agenda. Hungary has strongly resisted Kiev's bid to join the EU and its pleas for it. A denigled deputy has demanded a special debate on how to be held before the dull rises for Christmas recess today. This week, Deputy Pierce Doherty told the T-Shock that patients and staff continue to be held accountable due to severe overcrowding in hospitals. He says it's a disgrace that the situation has been a light to reach the crisis point it has. A denigled funeral director has warned of a deeply insensitive scam doing the rounds. Scammers have begun setting up fake social media pages purporting to provide access to a funeral live stream. However, to access the stream, people are being requested to submit a credit card details. This week, Deputy Pierce Doherty has made a statement from the establishment of an agri-food regulator. The regulator was set up to bring fairness and transparency to the agricultural and food supply chain. And a motion to twin Derry with Bethlehem is to come before Derry City and Straban District Council. Councillor Catherine McDade says the proposal is intended to show solidarity with people in Bethlehem and the victims of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Those are the latest news. Thank you very much indeed. The podcast went out last night. Didn't get a chance to listen to it morning, try after work today. Went out live but it's available now to listen. Back to online. Playback. Is it called listen back or playback? Playback. You upload to every day. You know yourself when you do it every day. The last episode was the untold stories of Donegal women during the revolutionary period. So we talk about the likes of Ethnic Oil, how her campaign went on in Donegal and the women that were kind of going about their everyday lives and like were subject to kidnappings, head-shaving for being associated with a cause. Yeah, very interesting. The work that Caroline put in is unreal. Fantastic stuff. All right listen it's available for you now in the next section of our website. Okay, very short break. We'll be right back with more. Betty Morgan talks about her son. Amy was one of life's givers. When he had a sudden brain hemorrhage and sadly died, his organ donation helped two people transform their lives. It's consoled us so often. Amy was a giver in life and to now he's giver of life. Organ donors save lives. Be an organ donor and let your family know your wishes. For more visit hse.ie forward slash organ donation from the HSE. Okay the Agri Food Regulator has been established and it promises the promise to Donegal families, farmers and food producers is that they'll get the protection necessary to ensure they get a fair deal further for their work through the regulator. Neve Lennahan is food food regulator CEO. I don't know why I keep saying food food regulator CEO. Neve, good morning to you. Thank you so much for joining us. Can you hear me, Neve? Morning, thanks so much for the advice. Okay, thank you. That'll settle itself down. There's a slight delay so I'll know to leave a gap. Okay, so talk to me about the function of the Agri Food Regulator. Well, again, thank you for the advice here and this morning on a topic that's of interest of course to all listeners in terms of, you know, our understanding of the Agri Food Supply Chain. So, on really only Agri Via or the Agri Food Regulator was set up to promote fairness and transparency all along our Agri Food Supply Chain. So we're going to do that in two main ways. In the first instance, we have a price and market analysis and reporting function and essentially that means shining a light on the Agri Food Chain about how it works, etc. I'm producing reports on that and in that way, enabling a particular producer and farmers to inform their decision-making. And second of all we have an enforcement function in terms of enforcing unfair trading law. So overseeing compliance with unfair trading practices. So just an example, if I produce potatoes, right, and I'm not happy with the amount of money I'm getting for them, I believe that they're, that I should be paid more yet at the same time they're being used by a local supermarket chain as a lost leader. They're being sold for what I'm being paid for them just to get people in through the door. Is that something the regulator could look at and how might it look at it? Or if you want to pick a better example, feel free to do so. Thank you. Yes, well, our role is, as I said promote fairness and transparency. So we're shining a light on how the agri-food chain works and I suppose in particular how the price formation mechanisms work. So as I said, we will be publishing reports, etc. on that with the direction, of course, of the agri-food regulator board. But I suppose if I may talk about the unfair trading practices, I suppose in particular, so there are 16 of these. There are 10 that are prohibited in all circumstances and these relate, for example, to delayed payment for agri-food products. So in general perishable products must be paid for within 30 days, non-perishable 60 days. There are other practices that are prohibited such as unilateral changes in contracts. So, you know, breaking a contract or changing a contract at short notice, etc. And then there are other items that are prohibited unless expressly agreed between the supplier and the buyer in advance. So examples of that include payment for promotion, marketing, advertising. So we are the body set up to oversee these compliance with unfair trading practices. To be clear, so how in layman's terms, sorry because I'm just so I can get it, how do you make sure that farming families, as is promised in this press release, get a fair deal? I would have thought a fair deal means proper payment for what they produce. So how do you ensure or do you have the remit to ensure that that happens? Yeah, well, we are going to undertake the remit that we were given through these two functions. So it's about adding fairness and transparency or promoting fairness and transparency. So for example, from what you're saying there, the whole idea of the regulator is to shine the light on that agri-food supply chain, how it operates, as I said, the price formation mechanisms at each stage. So there's a number of stages between the producer and the consumer and there is quite a lot of information at the production side, unless so as you go through the different stages, for example towards the consumer. So our job is to shine the light, fill those gaps, so obviously engage extensively with actors in the food chain, as I said, to fill those gaps and that is the way that transparency and fairness will be promoted in the chain. All right, so we will know, say for instance, if I produce a product it costs me a euro to produce it and it's sold in a shop for eight euro you're going to shine the light, so we know how that money is broken down, whether a factory is involved or a third party is involved, you're going to show us that, how does that help the producer? Yes, so the idea is that, as you say, it's shining a light on each stage of the food chain. Well, of course the producer, in terms of informing their decisions. So I mean, it's necessarily a chain so all of the links in the chain need to be sustainable in their own right and it has to be fair, obviously, to be sustainable all along the chain and there's interdependencies here obviously all along the chain so by shining a light and increasing the amount of market information that there is across the chain all businesses will be better informed in terms of their decisions and that's the whole purpose of the office in increasing transparency. Yeah, okay, now and also to other sort of all the protections in place, right? So say, for instance, I'm a producer and I don't want to be frozen out, okay because I won't do a deal with a retailer that's a disadvantage to me. Do you know what I mean? So in other words, at the moment people might be doing deals that keeps their head above the water, but they're not good deals for them in terms of what cut they're getting of the overall price. So how do we ensure that these regulators don't actually make it more difficult for some of these producers if they won't play ball with the next link up the chain or the top of the chain are there any further protections in there to make sure that this won't have a counterintuitive effect? Well, what we have at the moment are these 16 unfair trading practices and essentially in a nutshell they are there to help balance the bargaining power between buyers and suppliers so suppliers have protection in terms of where their turnover is less than that of the buyer and the buyer's turnover is over 2 million. So these suppliers actually have the protection of these unfair trading practices. The AgriFood regulator in turn has significant powers in terms of investigation powers but also it doesn't have to be essentially on the basis of a complaint. The AgriFood regulator can and will have boots on the ground in terms of these also. And just one other question and I know it's early days and things are being teased out but part of the aim of this is to ensure that producers get fair reward and a fair price. So is there anything in there that you so they say that is to happen there's nothing in there that means that it won't get passed on to me for instance as a customer or maybe a supermarket might absorb more of that that's just up to the market to decide is it there's no you don't have any regulatory authority in that regard? So as you say our job is not to do with setting crisis our job is to promote fairness and transparency across the AgriFood supply chain as I said increasing the amount of information that's available and in doing so inform businesses of providing more information for businesses and on which to make those decisions. And do you see any role having any impact say for instance on the reintroduction of a below cost selling ban? We don't have any it was certainly something that was spoken about as the legislation was going through the legislative process our remit is not to do with below cost selling but as I said in terms of the transparency side of this and providing more information on the AgriFood chain there will be more understanding with this information of the challenges that are present within the AgriFood supply chain today. Again I'm not picking holes in it because I'm just curious how that helps the Donagore farm families farmers and food producers that we might have more awareness like I know already that there are people producing products that are a sale down the road for less than they're getting paid for just curious as to how all of this and all of the people that are employed to do it means that that person producing that product gets more money. Well as I said we're not involved in the setting of prices but obviously the main benefit here is that there is more information available on which decisions are made so our job and we're set up to promote fairness and transparency and there are other items that we haven't talked about that are in the act as well such as codes of practice and guidelines and those sort of tools that can help to increase the understanding of challenges along the food chain and so these are yet to be explored and they will be explored in conjunction obviously with the strategy that will be set in the coming months through the board. So just finally in your position as has been outlined you're confident that at the moment if Donegal Farm families aren't getting a fair reward and aren't getting a fair price for the massive work that they do that in the future because of the establishment of this regulator they will start to get a fair reward and a fair price. No I am confident that the Agro Food Regulator will promote fairness and transparency in the Agri Food Chain. You will ensure as per the press release though no? Well Yes it's promoting fairness and transparency and in doing so increasing the fairness along the food chain it has to be understood as well that in terms of Irish produce we're an exporting nation in terms of much of our Agri Food products you know when you talk about price it's not only what happens within these borders obviously we have significant export markets that impact on the price as well but we can look at those price formation mechanisms and understand them better and that's what our job is. And I suppose our job as consumers as well is to make decisions you know with that information that you talk of and I'm not I hope you don't think of being argumentative I just want to really have an understanding of it we're right at the beginning of this and then I have this information for going forward but I mean at the end of the day we'll have we have to make decisions as consumers as whether we support or shop local whatever it might be that helps promote the fairness and the reward. OK listen it's been lovely speaking to you at Neve thank you very much for talking to us so early in this process we really do appreciate it maybe we can come back in the future when everything's bedded in a little bit more and we have you know we've seen play out and what have you I look forward to that chat as well is that OK Neve? Absolutely and thank you very much for the invite No thank you for accepting that's Neve Lenehan their food regulator CEO The Counties number one talk show The 9 till noon show on Highland Radio It's time to transform your smile with the help of Blue Poppy Dental Letter Kenny and Donegal Town their expert team offer orthodontics, teeth whitening implants and composite bonding all in house start your journey by calling 074 97 40404 or easily book your appointment online at a time that suits you through their user friendly patient portal available anytime anywhere at bluepoppydental.com and orthodontics Letter Kenny and Donegal Town give vouchers available We Dora and Glenn Swolley will contest the Donegal Under 21a football championship final this Saturday Join us on Highland from the 233 one at the Adonal Park in Letter Kenny for full live match commentary Coverage from the Donegal Under 21 football final is in association with Gilday Farm Butchers Old Town Road Letter Kenny taking orders for Christmas turkeys and hams Hi it's Declan Ernie here bringing our mighty nationwide concert tour with my special guest John Hogan and Owen Mack on Green in Theatre Letter Kenny Saturday December 30th This Christmas at Super Value we have great offers to help you share the magic like Super Value Smoke Salmon 300g half price and 19 crime soft block only 8 euro plus get money off vouchers every week on the real rewards app too Share the magic this Christmas with Super Value in store or online Enjoy alcohol responsibly T's and C's apply You could own a brand new car with 30,000 euro Someone will get a call from Greg Hughes on the 9 to noon show under some of the 22nd Simply go to highlandradio.com Click on the car link Answer an easy question and buy a ticket for 10 euro 6 for 50 euro or 10 for 80 euro Highland Radio's great car giveaway Highland Radio's great car giveaway Highland Radio's great car giveaway Highland Radio's time checks with Expressway Travel Route 32 from Letter Kenny to Dublin when you book online and travel for less Expressway, bringing you the time, Art Ok Doug, the time is 11 19. Now, as it's written in the papers today, I'll read it Groups of feral youth and organised gangs have caused an explosion in crimes against retailers This was what was heard at an Arachto's committee to make a plague of locusts and rob to order Tara Buckley, the director general of retail grocery, dairy and allied traders association, which represents over 3,500 local shops said and Tara Buckley's with us now Tara, that's incredibly strong language feral youths a plague of locusts but it obviously must be pretty serious to be using that terminology Unfortunately, Greg it is and that's one of the reasons as we survey our members who are supermarkets and convenience stores all over the country every year and we have noted that year in year out the problem is getting bigger and worse and the people that they're dealing with who are only a tiny percentage I have to emphasise of their customers I mean most of our members are local community shops and their local community are fantastic customers and appreciate them and our members really appreciate the customers and their staff and they want to make their shops a safe place for people to come and enjoy the experience and for staff to enjoy working in the stores but we've had a problem over the last number of years particularly since Covid where we seem to be dealing with a very small minority of really angry people and they are making life very uncomfortable and stressful for the workers in the stores and for the other customers Do you think this is culture I don't know what the right word is but there seems to have been a breaking down of respect for things like among certain people the guarder ambulance, fire service, retail do you think they're all sort of interconnected that it is post kind of Covid that you know you go in there and you can sort of say whatever you like and you know they can like it or lump it Well there's definitely a certain age group who seem to think they're completely untouchable and I certainly believe that for them when they come into shops and steal things they do it very openly they abuse the staff if they confront them so and even though it's a small minority if it's happening in your store every day it's very stressful for everybody working in the store and for the other customers So they obviously are fearless they don't fear being challenged on the premises and clearly obviously they don't fear being apprehended or taken before the courts or facing so what is the solution then Well we believe that because given that there's serial shoplifters who are adults and what we need with them is we need the sentences to be carried out we believe that serial offenders should see prison sentences for their offences so we would like to see that to be carried out in the courts and then for the young people we believe it requires probably a type of a task force between education, justice, social protection and enterprise to look at what are the reasons why these kids have got out of control and what can be done collectively to address the issues and causes and make you know turn them into nice model citizens which the rest of their community are I mean I'm sure you've heard the argument and it's the easiest one in the world to make is to sort of flip it to the cost of living crisis or these are just people that can't feed themselves and they're desperate and that's why they're doing this do you subscribe to that at all do you think that's a driver in any of this I mean I presume we're not talking about baby milk and nappies being stolen here Greg the three retailers who were at the committee yesterday said that the reality is what's been stolen is nothing to do with cost of living crisis alcohol, cigarettes, personal care high worth items and that's just from the stores I represent who are food and convenience what's been stolen are mobile phones, fancy runners, jewellery in the other types of retail setting and it's adding up to 1.6 billion in terms of cost to the retail sector so and this has been happening since you know for the last number of years it's just been growing year in out so we don't believe it's anything to do with any cost of living crisis I think in any society whatever it is we need to have respect for each other because once that is gone once there's no fear, once that retail and the workers primarily would be my concern of course once they're seen as fair game or it's almost like a victimless crime you start to see the breakdown there of something that could have far reaching implications across all of society and I know you're quick to point out it is a minority but you know yourself these things can take hold if not contrary certainly in a city or a part of a city or what have you Yes and the other concerning thing for our members is that they see some of these people starting in their stores as very young children and they watch and they see them grow and it may start off as robbing some a few things and then it escalates to arriving in the store or a weapon so they believe that if this could be nipped in the bud and tackled at a very when they started at a very young age it could actually help them not to go down a pathway of crime and go down a better pathway and that's really what their motivation is. I presume there's frustration in that listen we know the guard here under resourced they land after the fact you know CCT someone with a hood I don't know you know it could be really quite easy to say well this is very difficult to please also do we really need the the the the prisons or whatever it might be full of people that are involved in this activity you need really a Drew Harris it's his job really or the justice minister whomever to come up with a solution to this an appropriate punishment a deterrent to break the cycle clearly because there's a cycle I do it I say hey it's handy I tell my mate he does it and then I'm thinking well why should I miss that I do it so you need something from Drew Harris and his team really to take this seriously say this is one point six bill which is more than we way more than we sees in drugs for instance in this country right across the country annually you need a plan of action from Drew Harris I take it we need a plan of action from Drew Harris we need a plan of action and I'll be very honest right around the country or G data members are you know they're very supportive of their local guards because we're all dealing with the same angry aggressive people so we understand how frustrating it is for the guards as well as much as it's frustrating for the shopkeepers and their staff so so we are very supportive of anything that can be done to improve the resources for the guards visibility of guard D is hugely important every member of ours who operates in towns and villages cities if there are guards around everyone feels fine and how simply that works is if you believe there could be guard D on a main street someone leaves the store a member of staff just steps outside the door it's a fantasy now at this point but there is a couple of guards or a guard a hundred meters up the street they give chase in other words that would be a deterrent you can see very quickly how that that would break a cycle but without that visual presence of on guard as she kind of the they're gone before guard even lands absolutely and then the other frustration for the guards as they put together a case our members help them we put the CCTV footage we make the statements we take a day off work to go down and stay down at the courts and the judge may give them a slap on the wrist or probation or you know bail or whatever and they just walk out and they quit back in the shop robbing it later the same day so that's frustration for for the guards and the shopkeepers that we would like to see the courts address we also think that it does require something extra for the younger offenders those who are underage we believe that that requires something and a bit of torque put into that now there was a suggestion at the committee yesterday that there was a system put up in place in the states like a community court system which was something where you could be brought the next day to a local community court where you would be and it would be dealt with very quickly so there wouldn't be the long delays you have between putting a case together writhing in court and having the you know it's it's it's a long process and it's quite a complicated and time-consuming process we believe something quicker more more impactful and it doesn't mean it's not we're talking about going to prison but what we're saying is that the crime has a consequence well look I mean at the end of the day if someone is on a wrong path you know we have a moral obligation not necessarily to to call them scumbags and finger them for the rest of the lives but to put them on a better path to say that's not acceptable do you know what I mean because we don't want this to be the behaviour for the rest of their lives they deserve a bit of guidance I think we owe them a bit of guidance that might be lacking in their lives Tara Buckley director general of the police thank you have a good day take care yourself again is that a problem for you out there if you're a retailer a shop owner a petrol station drive-offs as well I'm sure is is an issue as well sometimes we do it by accident other times maybe not could you give a mention to Cockill school for the great show they put on in the Inichon Gateway hotel last night a great production of the Lion King the children were all fantastic and a thank you to Elizabeth there's two things going on there people like Elizabeth O'Donnell putting in the hard work and the amazing talent we have right across this county and country the young people give them a chance and they know how to do it we've had three young lads in here I mean they're not spring chickens anymore but in singing you have to give them a platform and an opportunity to perform and it's great to see you morning Greg could you give a mention to Daniel Kearney who turns 91 this weekend he's an avid listener to you thank you so much for listening and it's great to have you on board and turning 91 it's not so bad is it okay Daniel if you ever want to chat on air come on give us a ring we can have a talk as well don't just listen to the show Daniel be the show is there an update on the little girl in Dublin how is her health yes there is in fact her mother said that she's a battler and they hope to have her off intensive care before the end of the year and she's I mean she was gravely ill suffered very severe a tiny little body of her stabbed it's absolutely heartbreaking but apparently this girl is a fighter and her mother was optimistic that she would be out of intensive care by out of tense intensive care by the end of the year so we fingers crossed that that turns out to be the case right Kilger joins us on the program now I think it is Kilger good morning to you I'm doing fantastic right your comment on our last topic there which we're still on of course about crime young people in crime yeah consequences there is no I don't know if you know I probably I worked as a guard reserve for 12 years but there's no consequences for kids anymore I mean they don't seem to and I know for a fact because I've been there they don't care they know nothing's going to happen to them they don't care and I would put it down to parents I mean do the parents should they have consequences if anybody under 18 doesn't have any consequences apart from a slap not even a slap on the wrist they don't do that again and that's it you get a warning they get warning after warning and they don't care and it's the same unfortunately people can turn around and say this that no it was the same ones all the time yeah and it's the lack of fear of consequences and to the point too and I've seen it whereby they've been in court their picture coming out of the court it might be on Donagall daily or Donagall news or the democrat or wherever it might be and there's no shame it's almost for some obviously it's almost like a badge of honour you know whereas to you or to me it would feel at least for a time that you know everything was over do you know that sort of a way where does your mind have to be that you'd see that as years I've made it you know what I mean so scary I find it scary worrying I find it worrying it is worrying but maybe this is just a suggestion maybe as I say if anybody under 18 basically doesn't have to have to worry because nothing's going to happen to them maybe their parents there and maybe it should be financial because in this day and age I'm afraid the only thing that people seem to money talks and if you make parents financially responsible and it comes out I don't care what where where people say all people are on the bread line they can't afford it if I get a fine it doesn't mean to say I can afford it I don't disagree with you right but I think you know I think I always would favour a carrot and steak if we were to do that I wouldn't be opposed to it because I think it would be a good idea but we also then have to support parents okay so say for instance we go to the parents of a child that's doing this behaviour and they're like they're desperate themselves or whatever it might be that we also have supports for them and I mean in other words like work with them to say if the child needs to be on a programme or something or maybe they've got issues in their life and they're not able to focus on the raring of their child or whatever it might be I know what you're saying and it would be you would imagine it would be a short sharp fix blame the parents but I think at the same time too sometimes where it would be appropriate you need to also have supports in there to support parents maybe because you don't you know if you're driving a car you do 12 courses you know you have to go through a couple of tests to get your car right there's no training for having a child or for when it turns into a teenager you're sort of left to your own devices am I being too wishy washy what's your favourite girl group part of me part of me understands exactly what you're saying but there's a big part of me inside like I had nothing apart from what my parents taught me I raised two kids never were in trouble in their life never had trouble with them because they knew if there was going to be trouble they would have me transferred to them their mother more than anything but I never had to I absolutely understand they always respected you I bet you Kilgar they always respected you though so if you said something they go right okay dad or if your mother did so you would have established that respect from an early age that they wouldn't want to disappoint you or upset you and I think that's a great currency in trying to discipline children is if they understand the impact their actions might have on you or their relationship with you but you do go like I have been to parents and we have gone and talked to the parents and the parents don't give a fiddler's elbow for right or wrong for right or wrong and I'm not blaming anyone okay but for right or wrong there's an awful lot of criticism of the Guardian and their authority and I'll do what I like and I can do whatever I want and in fairness a lot of it's coming from adults and as they say I know where that's coming from and I'm not in the blame game but there are younger people that hear that that are influenced by that and go well maybe that's just the way it is maybe the guards are useless maybe they're you know the arm of a state maybe I don't need to respect them and I just think maybe sometimes as adults we have to understand that you know even whilst we might be campaigning for something we're important to there is a next generation and a generation after that consequence sometimes again maybe I'm down a rabbit hole there but I just think a lot of this seems to stem from the disrespect from Guardian when they were forced to win polls a lot of the Covid restrictions for an example well I have to say again I worked during Covid and all that and I never there was always the same section of people that always had the hassle a very very small minority most most kids are fantastic there's no problem as far as being with the guards no hassle as far as being at night time when there's no problems at all it was always the same section of people for some reason seemed to give the hassle and as I say I worked with guards and I mean I have to say an awful lot of them went out of their way to try and help kids but you might as well have been talking to a wall between the parents and everything else they just didn't want to know they didn't want to know I used to work in a pub and we used to say you'd get children that come in and I used to say they're free range the parents would let them run all over the place and you had to tell them be careful of this be careful of that and then you'd get all the ones they looked after the kids they kept them beside them yeah no matter what you would say to these people there are certain people they just don't seem to get it and I genuinely think that parents and it has unless we change something to do with under 18s I don't know if that would work but parents have to pay the price a lot of the conversation now is and it's very justified and that's what we platform it is about the threat and the fear of what could come into this country and I just wonder if maybe if it suits us sometimes to turn a blind eye as to what's happening in this country not by people that have just come here but by people that live here all the time I'm not saying one replaces the other don't get me wrong but like we seem to when you look at the amount of children that are seeking support through Childline and the awful cases of abuse and people being caught out trying to meet kids and abuse them and how women are being beaten in the home and how men are being coercively controlled in the home and all that kind of stuff and how some of our young people are acting out and we don't talk about that it kind of doesn't suit us to talk about that we find it far more easy to talk about a perceived threat than the reality that's on the ground again I'm not trying to be controversial I'm just trying to tease out a conversation if it's worthy of being had Kilger there is an awful lot that has gone on but I genuinely think and I know it was in Garda Chicana in particular between domestic violence and abuse they are really going out of their way to focus on it but it doesn't seem to matter what they do they're being condemned left right and centre I actually I would love if some of these people that are condemned in the Garda done what I done went out not just for one day or two days went out for a while at different times to see what these young men and women have to contend with and I mean they're not trained for it that's for sure maybe they should be trained better but I mean some of the things that you have to listen to you have to do and again if they go out and they see it's always the same people and it's people I'm not, I don't want to put that most of it's Irish people that are doing all the hassle if you know what I mean it's not people that are I'm sure there is everything there's not people coming into the conference there's bad people if you get 100 people if you get 100 people there's a sort of turn to them they're going to be bad now it's a low percentage but it doesn't matter where you come from whatever you get a random 100 people and if you look at safe well I won't get into it I don't want to be confident but let's say for instance the prison population of Ireland if you look at the prison population of Ireland it's actually proportionate to the breakdown of Irish versus non-Irish versus you know a lot of the non-Irish or English for example but if you look at the percentage say for instance of those incarcerated around I think it's around about 14% are non-Irish a lot of people have been saying oh that's disproportionate blah blah blah but if you look at the percentage of the population that's non-Irish it's actually 17% so the prison population very slightly under represents if that makes sense but if you take the 14% in isolation as the prison population it seems like a shocker right but if you then can actually compare it to the population of Ireland at 17% and non-Irish most of them are English actually rather than from anywhere else it just talks to my point that you get 100 people no matter where they're from there's going to be a certain percentage of them are not going to be good people or going to be alright Kilger, thanks for that appreciate a lot of some people agreeing with you it seems quite obvious but anyway listen we'll get more comments as the morning wears on thanks for your time appreciate it take care of yourself offering a great range of digital cameras and binoculars for Christmas McGee's the photographic experts with the best cost less this week's Irish farmers journal with your free glossy farming calendar and mock-up magazine is on sale now you can't afford to miss it at Aldi we've got cracking Christmas offers throughout the store 20% off all specially selected wines and super savings every day with Aldi's super 6 fresh fruit and veg now from only 39 cent both from December 7th there's 40,000 euro worth of Aldi gift cards to be won with Holly Lane Christmas Mini Bites and fresh old Irish turkeys for an incredible 8.99 on sale this week and we'll see you next week thanks for watching an incredible 8.99 on sale December 20th so what are you waiting for? Aldi share the love this Christmas terms apply visit aldi.ie for details get the facts be drink aware of visit drinkware.ie and secure your 2 for 1 today Harkins have been providing customers with quality fireplaces, stoves and electric fires for over 30 years and now you can experience the elegance of luxurious work top from Harkins their experience craftsmen can fabricate marble quartz or granite work tops cure specification so if you're planning a new kitchen or bathroom or upgrading your existing one Harkin Fireplaces can provide a quote for your quartz marble or granite work top visit their showroom in Ballywogan Lifford 9141109 or visit them online at Harkinfireplaces.ie rocking around the Christmas ok we're back right so ok it's time for our competition in association with McGee's chemist on this week's show we've got a hamper worth over 500 euro to be won courtesy of McGee's chemist and McGee's.ie in it a Clarence Christmas hamper a blank canvas 12 piece gold brush set a large blank canvas purple three piece gift set and be perfect muted palette and a 20 by 16 gallery wrap canvas so you can shove your mug on it and stick it on the wall that's tomorrow every day though this week we're giving away a lovely perfume or a spray today it is a 50 milliliter Christian Dior Sauvage EDT spray and who's going to take part in the competition today I think it's going to be in Manor Cunningham and we'll go to Mary Sweeney and Rusky good morning to Mary hi Greg how are you feeling Mary how are you getting on yeah grand grand do you be on the radio much Mary or is this your first time or no not really no very good and what are you doing today Mary may I ask just getting Christmas ready here getting everything organized here getting presents wrap and different stuff probably the only time you get a bit of peace and quiet to do it is it that tight everybody's away exactly all right okay well listen don't wrap mine too tight because I don't want to be too long on wrapping it on Christmas morning all right Mary so just don't go over the top good stuff all right now come here I'm going to play you a little bit of a song it's kind of backwards right but I'm not going to leave you hanging here if you don't get it I'll try and help all right okay so and you'd be winning this 50 milliliter Christian Dior Sauvage EDT spray which is for fellas it's for men but I mean women can wear it too so I don't know if you've got someone that you might give it to yeah yeah I have very good well we'll say no more than we're keeping your cards close to your chest all right listen have a listen have a listen to this Mary see if you recognize this track my god I haven't a clue what that is have you do you have any idea it's a rock and roll in the Christmas tree wow well done Mary exactly who it is yeah from Brenda Lee nice one how did you get that I don't know I just recognized the lyrics some of the lyrics I know the word backwards you are a genius you are a genius Mary Sweeney now come here you have you have that you have got that 50 milliliter Christian Dior EDT spray oh sorry that's for fellas no that's for fellas oh it is I said that already didn't I well what's he got what's he already has that one yeah it's almost done okay well there you go hopefully he's not listening and you can stick it in the Christmas box all right listen Mary you're also in the draw for this hamper tomorrow so you have a one in five chance so tune in for that but you don't have to tune in we'll call you if you win but I would prefer if you tune in obviously every listener can you have a one in five chance to collect in that tomorrow so well done Mary I'll let you back to it okay have a good one Mary take care Mary Sweeney there cleaning the house wrapping the presents having a bit of crack okay we're going to be joined by our next guest Union if you don't mind holding I do have to take a very quick break and I'll be back to you in a sec fill your stocking this Christmas from all the great gift ideas at McGee's Camus Letter Canny sponsors of today's 9 till noon show see McGee's.ie or like McGee's on Facebook for a chance to win some great prizes make Christmas magical with so many festive delights at Lidl and the best for your rich taste of Tipperary our award winning deluxe Irish Casual Blue only $329 and breakout the nice glasses with up to 25% off across our Christmas wine sale like De Lux, Sauvignon Blanc now $8.99 wishing you a magical Christmas with Lidl get the facts for Drinkerware with a Drinkerware.ie please support the St. Vincent de Paul annual appeal donate today at svp.ie or call 0818-176-176 thank you this December cozy up your home with a warmth of timeless furniture pieces from Foyan Company, Letter Kenny and Ballet Buffet stores. If you're looking for the perfect sofa to gather around with your loved ones, or maybe a dining table to host an unforgettable holiday dinner. And the best part are special offers, with reductions on selected items in both stores. Foyan Company, where style meets comfort, making your house a home this winter. The Moto-Mader Clist is the place where you plan to make your own electric garland oil freshener. You'll find out more about it in the next video. And now, let's find out more about the Foyan Company. In one hour, you'll find out more about it. You'll find out more about it, and you'll find out more about it. The plan to make your own electric garland oil freshener. The big games keep coming for the hurlers of Satanta. The Donegal and Ulster champions take on Tomas Town of Kilkenny and the All Ireland Intermediate Club semi-final in Uri this Sunday afternoon. And it will be live on Highland. Join us for full match commentary from the 2 o'clock start at Park Eszler in association with top line McCreary's Kiligordon for all your building and home improvement needs. Clare Clothing Letter Kenny. We can help you with your Christmas gifting this year. Jewelry, gift vouchers and 30% discount off Naya. Wishing you a peaceful and happy Christmas from Clare and Lisa. And now the Highland forecast, brought to you by ShopLK. Whitespread Christmas shopping this December in Letter Kenny. See ShopLK.ie or like us on Facebook. All right, a mostly dry day with some sunny intervals developing. A few isolated showers are possible, highest temperatures of 8 to 10 degrees in light to moderate west to south west wind. So, you know, a lot of us know, either directly or indirectly, the hassle of getting to a test now or getting your test date. It's tough, it's expensive. You have to do the lessons, of course. And then you have to wait six months after you get your provisional license. Then you can apply and then you could get a date four months out and then it can slip to five or six months. Anyway, for young people, I think, particularly, there's an awful lot of stress just getting to that test. And I think, Yunan, for your young lad, it's even more, it's been even more stressful for him. I think you probably recognise that story, do you, about trying to get them on the road safely? It takes a long time and it's not cheap, Yunan? Yeah, it takes a while, all right, Greg. You know, it's a normal procedure for a young fella to, you know, be heading towards his test or a young girl. And, you know, it's a big deal. An exam of only sorts is a big deal, especially when you're trying to get out on the road. And my young fella's 20 years of age, like, and he's a working young fella, and transport from would be great, you know, and he can't really do that till he gets his self a licence. So, I mean, would you outline there about the, you know, the procedure up to the point of actually taking the test? It's a big deal and there's a lot happening and some people are waiting online or whatever. But, Nial's protector situation, he was, when he started the test, he found that the examiner was there and plus there was examiner sitting in the back examining the examiner. So, I mean, immediately... Right, sorry, just to be clear to paint the picture here, are you saying there was four people in the car? Well, I'm not, I've said that now and I'm not exactly sure how many he told me. I know there was two other examiners. Yeah, on the car. So, I think, yeah, there was four people in the car, including Nial. But at least there was definitely one in the back, whether there was another one just assessing the convoy. 100%. Definitely one in the back. Wow, OK. Definitely one in the back. So, I mean, I left Nial off and that morning I was saying, you know, take it like, you know, whatever part of life. I mean, Nial would have been in the box on his day, whatever, and his time, you know. And I said, look, take it like a fight, you know, the nerves would be there, adrenaline would be thrown, just keep cool, you know, and do what you need to do, just to get over the line, you know. So, he proceeded with that kind of attitude and, you know, obviously a bit nervous, you know. So, I think, you know, when he realized that those people, other people there, when he was driving the car, that was, you know, it really impacts it even more, you know. So, I don't know, from myself, even as a person that I've been driving for many, many years now, I would find that daunting, to be honest with you, Craig, you know. And listening in his boxing, he never got in the ring against two or three opponents. No, not that I know of, anyway, but, you know. But, you know. And, you know, he didn't flunk it either, did he? He kind of just missed out with a few minor infractions. Yes, it was pretty simple, I think, to be honest with you, the margins were fine, but I was, and we were talking, and he didn't tell me this till the conversation went on, you know, that a nail would be a very plasti-dome for that, and he wouldn't, if they asked him, is it OK? He would say, I know, bother, because, you know, he's not going to say, no, because, you know, if you're kind of putting yourself in a bad position, he would say, no, you know, but I'm not even sure if they asked him, I didn't even ask him if they asked him, you know. But do you know the thing is, you know, and I'm not sure if you thought about it, as you should see, the tester might be nervous, because they've got someone testing them, so are they, you know, is it possible that they could, you know, be overly fussy? Absolutely. Because they're afraid the tester testing them is saying, hold on, you can't be putting people like that on the road. Do you know what I mean? Like, almost, you wonder, unless he was perfect, was he doomed to fail from the beginning? Well, I'm not saying, now, water wouldn't pass the test, you know, was it a bully then, good driver, very calm, very unfulfilled. But if you take into consideration, Greg, that a few were sitting and you were scrutinising on a test of somebody doing a test, and there was a couple of boys sitting behind you, and you're thinking, you know, I have to mark this and I have to mark that, because when I go back to the, and these boys are going to spit it out to me saying, you know what, us two have marked out something that you didn't see. So he's going to be, he's going to be even more, he's going to be even more sharp. And like, the least we think is going to be up, it's going to be tight, you know, so, you know, and that's, for me, I can, and from that point of view, whether or not done enough himself as a driver to pass or not, you know, it's another thing, but it really, it really tightened the screw on it as far as trying to get over the line. On a normal day, he may have passed. Yeah, of course, and I think maybe even if they said a week in advance, if that was possible, look at, you know, we're hiring new testers or we're re-evaluating that, there might be another person in the car. Maybe even he could have says, you know what, I'm going to see if I can get a date two weeks later. You know, I just think it does feel a disadvantage, especially when it's so important now for getting about, it does, to deal with that flung on, yeah, does appear to me to be a little bit unfair, you know, and it would have been great to be passed and we'd never had this conversation, but you'd have to imagine it's going to be a factor in there for the reason you've been outlining. It's a bit of a shame for him now, but hopefully the wait isn't as long for the next test now, you know, hopefully there's only two people in the car. Well, I hope so too, but I mean, you know, you pay your money, you go out and do the best you can, and I mean, it's the same for every kid, it's not just for my child or whatever. I mean, everybody wants their child and you're waiting for that phone call after the test, you know, anticipating what may or may not happen, and I got the phone call and they got a fail, but just look now, let's reapply for today and get it done, you know, because that's the only way to move forward, the only way to move forward is to stay on the horse and keep on that horse till you get them broke, you know, and that's exactly what he done that evening, you know. And you know, too, another thing, for anyone who's a parent of someone under 18, don't for a second think it all stops at 18, it never stops. You're constantly, you're constantly looking after the lot and you're sure we wouldn't have it any other way. Listen, you don't, fingers crossed, you can't say. Just before you go, I'm going to say one thing, and I wanted to say this, and I want to say it to Henry, you know, I collect toys at Christmas and have done for many, many years now, and I just want to thank everybody who has donated to the toys this year, Greg, and you know, be it a voucher, be it whatever, it's been staggering, fantastic, and it's been unbelievable. And it restores your faith in the human kind, you know, to be honest with you, it really does. Every year, people are on rail. And I know the difference that's going to make to you. I've even had a, I even had a Barry McGuigan sent me a toy from England, you know, so it reaches out far, people do get connected, you know, so I mean, it was brilliant, you know. I just want to thank everybody. Best wishes to you. And Highland really as well. Oh, well, listen, we just mentioned, best wishes to Nile, as I say, hopefully it sits very, very soon and he'll get the green light next time, no doubt about it. All right, Union, have a lovely day. We're back with you tomorrow, Friday panel, that's entertainment, 500 euro hamper, another perfume or spray. It's all action tomorrow from nine. Don't go anywhere. Think outside.