 Yeah, it's normally it says it's going to rain at 11 and at 11 you start getting the drops. Do you know, otherwise, we know how we all got to cut grass and sometimes you hear lawnmowers and somebody's watching the mobile phone thing and there's the opportunity and then do you know if you leave it in there and it's raining and you're thinking that person wants to check their phone to get the grass cut. Sometimes you wait for the rain if you don't really want to do it, don't you? You know it's going to rain it too, but you'll say, you know what, I'll do the lawnmower too. But you can push that out a few times, but do you know when it's up to your knees, the grass, then you're thinking they should have cut the grass. But that's good now, in this day and age, it's good for the bees. I know biodiversity and all of that and white flowers and stuff. Yeah, great excuses. There's tons of excuses now if you don't want to mow the lawn. It's great. Fantastic. I need one of them excuses. All right. All right, look. Take care of yourself, Lee. It is the 9th Loon Show on the way. Let's get a news update first though and it is over now to Donna Marie Doherty. Thanks, Greg. Good morning. An initial on councillor is calling for an end to the stalemate in relation to the acquisition of 58 social housing units in Cairn Donna. Councillor Albert Doherty said he received calls from many housing applicants after seeing the houses online with the open to expression of interest forms to the general public. He is asking for all stakeholders to remain in negotiations and conclude the deal. Councillor Doherty added that there is a risk that Cairn Donna is being abandoned. I am unsure because I haven't had clarity, but what I am sure of is that there's a social housing need in an issue. There's a social housing need in the Cairn Donna area. We have been badly served by the provision of social housing and programs. We have been dependent on turnkey developments and spending on housing is an investment in a community. Not spending or abandoning a development is also abandoning a community. And this community needs social housing and we need them immediately. The Executive Board of RTE is being stood down from today. The new director general confirmed the news in an email to staff this morning. Stephanie Rohan reports. In his email, Kevin Backhurst says he understands the staff of RTE are deeply upset and angry. He says he plans to be a visible and available director general and change will be essential to rebuild trust in public service broadcasting. He says the Executive Board is being stood down today and will be replaced with a temporary interim leadership team. A new permanent leadership team will be announced in due course, which Kevin Backhurst says will be open, transparent and accountable. Their salaries will also be published every year along with those of the top 10 presenters. The NUJ has welcomed the developments, saying it hopes this marks the beginning of a new beginning at RTE. Well, media minister Catherine Martin says it's time for a reset at the state broadcaster. A man was assaulted in a house in Derry last night during what is reported to have been an aggravated burglary. The house is located in Grafton Street with the incident occurring at around 11pm. It is believed two men forced their way onto the proper day. One was armed with a golf club. The 34-year-old victim was taken to hospital following head injuries sustained. And looking now to the weather, largely dry at first with some sunny spells early on. By afternoon cloud will increase bringing scattered outbreaks of rain or showers for the rest of the day. Some heavy or thundery downpours are possible with the risk of spot flooding, highest temperatures of 17 to 21 degrees and a light to moderate southerly or variable breezes. That's all for now. We'll be back again with the next news update at 10 o'clock. Till then, good morning. Welcome to the North West News. I'm Aaron Marathon. Search Irish Life's summer running series to sign off at Better Life with Irish Life. The county's number one talk show. The 9 to noon show on Highland Radio. And now it's time for the talk of the Northwest. The 9 to noon show with Greg Hughes on Highland Radio. Hello and a very good morning to you. It's five minutes past nine and this Monday, the 10th of July, we're going to do another edition and another week of the 9 to noon show. I hope you had a lovely weekend, whatever you were doing, if you were able to get out and enjoy the various events that have started to fill our weekends here now across the Northwest. Let us know what you're up to anyway, and I'll give you the telephone line and the text line and you can use that for your calls and comments as well. 08 660 25000. That's the WhatsApp and text line from outside the Republic 08 660 25000. You can give us a call 07 491 25000 or again from outside the Republic 0035 37491 25000 and feel free to email from anywhere in the world. Comments at highlandradio.com. It's another busy Monday morning. Lots to get through today. So let's run through what's on the front of the newspapers this morning and inside some of them because there's one story again dominating most of the front pages but we'll start with the locals. The Dairy People Donegal News. Thousands of people took part and viewed what was the largest ever orange parade in Rosnalla on Saturday known as the Donegal 12. According to Donegal Grandmaster David Mahan there were 53 bands and 70 judges from all across the country which took part in the glorious sunshine. Apart from those taking part in the March and proudly displaying their sashes, thousands turned out to view and enjoy the spectacle as participants made their way from St John's Parish Church to the beach a route of around a mile speaking to the Donegal News yesterday. Mr Mahan said the day had been a huge success which everyone seemed to enjoy. The Dairy News this morning tells us that the decision by the Department for Communities to reappoint Capita to carry out assessments for child disability living alone allowance has been slammed by local anti-poverty campaigner Sinead Quinn. Capita will also carry out assessment for personal independent payment, employment and support allowances and universal credit. Ms Quinn who is herself chronically ill and disabled said it was absolutely despicable. Capita had been awarded a further social security contract in the north. You can read more from her in that interview in the paper today. On to the Irish Times and this is the story leading all of the papers. Widespread changes in the management of RTE will be unveiled this morning as the new director general Kevin Backhurst promised action after weeks of controversy. Yesterday the director of strategy Rory Coveney resigned from his role in order to make way for a fresh lead team within the organisation. Mr Coveney who is the brother of Finnegell Minister Simon Coveney and who was part of RTE's executive management came under pressure during Oroch's hearings last week over RTE's decision to run the toys show the musical project. He defended the project despite the fact it lost 2.2 million in its first year. Staff will receive an email from Mr Backhurst this morning which they have received outlining his plans to restore trust in the organisation after it emerged that RTE under-reported the salary paid to star presenter Ryan Toberty. He is before Oroch does committees tomorrow from half 11 a read elsewhere that pubs are going to be showing it such as the level of interest. But Mr Backhurst announced a number of changes which are going to help study the ship a new executive more transparency on wages and he's made other commitments as well. So maybe it is at the point now maybe depending on how tomorrow goes, how this week goes that that is behind them to some extent. The rebuilding process beginning perhaps? I don't know. But what do you all think 08 660, 25000? There was on savoury scenes to say the very least in County Jerome at the weekend. I can't, I really genuinely find it hard to believe that in 2023 we have adults behaving like this regardless of what anyone's views or differences are. It just is something I can't get my head around or get any sense of understanding of. T. Shockley of Radcar does not believe the image of his poster being burned on a loyalist bonfire accurately reflected the opinion of the majority of unionists all Northern Ireland residents towards the Republic and its leaders. The police service of Northern Ireland is investigating the incident in Taron on Saturday evening as a potential hate crime. Photographs, videos and social media posts about the construction of the giant bonfire as well as the it being Satellite are being studied by police. A large poster of the T. Shock was erected on top of an old boat bedecked with two tricolours and placards criticising the Good Friday agreement it was then Satellite. Now as I say I don't care who's doing it about who but burning people's images and people's flags. I don't know, I just don't, I can't get my head around it. But a large crowd seemed to enjoy it. They attended the bonfire burning and cheered as it vanished in flames. Speaking in court yesterday Mr Varadkar said he was aware of the incident but did not believe it reflected the opinion of the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland. Well does it or doesn't it? 00353866025000 What is the logic or what's the significance of it? What does it mean to be putting people's images up? I mean if you wanted the Good Friday agreement if you were against that and you wanted to say I'm sick shipping, ship sinking and burn the boat but people's images, people's flags as I say I just don't understand. Here's another thing we're going to be talking about this a little later on as well. A ban on phone and smart devices at schools thanks to parent power should be rolled out across the country it was demanded last night. Parents and principals of eight schools in Greystones County Wicklow banned smartphones, tablets and other devices among children until they hit secondary school age and their successful no smart device voluntary code should be ruled rolled out nationwide according to Senator Mary Ciri Kearney who'll join us later as I mentioned the code so parents agreed to ban smartphones smart pads and access to age inappropriate apps such as Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok and Discord. Many parents said the senator have a lot of concerns about their child's well-being and safety when they allow them to use smart devices she added so would it be easier because it's difficult as a parent you would know wouldn't you because they say please please please please please please such and such has one such and such has one such and it gets difficult you know it's and life is tough very tough at times and you know you try and work through everything and you go right okay you know but you can't do this and you can't do that it would help I think it would help us look to abandon schools no one can take it school that's just the way it is it might make it easier for parents are you for or against such an idea as I say we'll be talking about it in a little bit more detail later but maybe you want to get your opinion in right now 086625000 in the Irish Sun we read that most 13 year olds are healthy have made the move to secondary school well and feel supported this according to new research and seems like good news on the face of it this is despite those children being born in 2008 and growing up during their formative years in a recession the Department of Children's growing up in Ireland report added their middle childhood would have seen major social changes in Ireland such as the marriage equality referendum and they've grown up in a time of significant technological changes more than 6000 children aged 13 and their caregivers were interviewed for the government study the survey examined how their life has changed since being they were being interviewed at the age 9 on the topic of education the department said the vast majority of the 13 year olds had made the transition to secondary school and 97% agreed they had made new friends which is positive doesn't it seems positive the RT have their issues BBC also are at the currently currently are in the throes of a controversy the BBC has suspended the high profile presenter accused of paying a teenager £35,000 sterling for sexual images and has reported the allegations to the police this is in the Irish Daily Star and it's all over British media primarily on the BBC the alleged victim now 20 was reported the 17 when they first started receiving payments for sending the pictures the scandal is rumoured to involve one of the BBC's most senior highly paid stars who was a household name Gary Linnaker and Ryland Clark are among the BBC presenters who publicly stated they were not the star in question which Linnaker tweeted hate to disappoint the haters but it's not me and this is the kind of problem not the kind of problem a real problem with social media particularly Elon Musk's incarnation of it in that and the mainstream media too it's not innocent in this is that as soon as the person was anonymised everyone was speculating as to who was or who they hoped it might be the person seems to have pretty much been named now on social media though not publicly and it is a shocker there's just no doubt about it but as I say Ryland Clark also declared not sure why my name's floating about but read that story that ain't me babe he said following the suspension of the start the centre of the scandal questions still remain over why it had taken so long for any action by the BBC to take place after the complaint was made seven weeks ago on May 19th but as I say it's a huge scandal across the water and the person who is accused is entitled to their privacy but that just means that the speculation continues as to who it might be which is kind of unfair on everybody else isn't it so how they're going to square that circle there and lastly in the Irish Daily Mirror the justice system is being forced to compensate criminals for not protecting them while they serve their jail sentences it's been revealed that the prison services facing a bill of up to wait for it 56 million euro when compensation claims from prisoners and others the Rockers Public Accounts Committee has been told that 1,007 claims have been made each worth more than 50,000 euro the Dublin's Mountjoy prison has by far the highest potential liability with 389 claims outstanding which could cost the taxpayer over 14 million euro I mean this is really in a way a bigger controversy than the other one next highest is Port Leish prison where there have been 102 claims which if successful could hit the state for nearly 13 million but I suppose the key piece of information there is if successful 56 million in compensation for prisoners we're all doing it wrong really we should not pay our TV licence go to prison and sue and come out much better off all round perhaps that's a joke by the way I'm not for a moment suggesting that perhaps you should be alright okay let's take a break we'll be back with more on the 9th or noon show very shortly the 9th or noon show is brought to you by letter Kenny credit union offering low rate car loans with fast approval apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today it's the 50% off mega summer sale at right price tiles and wood flooring up to 50% off all tiles wood flooring, outdoor porcelain tiles, cladding and bathware everything in store has been slashed in price the right price tiles and wood flooring 50% off mega summer sale stores nationwide sale now on in the next 15 seconds you're going to find out where is the best place in the north west to buy a bed or mattress it's rest text beds and furniture mountaintop letter Kenny where comfort meets style want to live a more sustainable lifestyle but not too sure how to start join me Donemary Dordy every Tuesday at half past 12 for it's ours to protect to learn all the tips and tricks ours to protect is funded by commission with a television license fee between highland radio and the independent broadcasters of Ireland check out ours to protect.ie for more info Highland Radio 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 at 17 minutes past now more than 1000 people were treated at the country's six sexual assault treatment units last year the latest annual report of the HSC funded units also reveal a growing trend of the use of extreme violence in assaults the centres are located in letter Kenny of course Dublin Cork Wardford Mullingar and Galway we're joined on the programme now by Nolan Blackwell of the rape crisis centres good morning to you CEO of the Dublin HSC thanks for joining us this morning good morning Greg looking at the figures what's your initial reaction it's important we get that information out there so people know what's going on 1072 people were treated at the country's six sexual assault treatment units last year that's a significant increase on 2021 but what about say 2019 perhaps maybe there was a figure that might be a figure that gives us a better idea of what's happening yeah actually it is really I think it is there was a bit of a dip during covid for a number of reasons probably hospitals are harder to access people weren't going out as much and there was a certain element whereby people were a bit reluctant sometimes to look for help if they'd been out socialising where perhaps it wasn't socially acceptable or even legal at the time so 2019 isn't really it probably is a better indicator but even from that the figures are up 10% on what they were in 2019 and I think Greg it might be we're just saying what the sexual assault treatment units are because of the 1000 plus who were seen in 2022 over about 11% of them so over 100 people were seen in letter Kenny and these are specialised units attached to six of the country's hospitals where people can go after a rape or other sexual assault and get medical help you know just check out check for possible socially sexually transmitted disease look for emergency contraception if they need it look for other medical help and it's also a place where these specialised units know how to collect evidence for forensic purposes so if there was to be evidence needed for a court case later they would pick that up so they're highly specialised units and they're a great thing to have and in all of the various centres including in letter Kenny there's support available from the rape crisis centre so Donegal rape crisis centre supports people who go to that if they want it at the time and afterwards and they are there specifically to give that help but they also give us this really valuable information about the numbers of people who contact them and also too and we've said it before worth reiterating that it's obviously best to go to one of these centres as soon as you can but it doesn't necessarily trigger a train of events i.e. court cases and all that type of stuff in the first instance you know it's about the treatment and care and the gathering of information or evidence if required and they can store that evidence some people will be absolutely clear they have come to the centre through the Gardie and they want the evidence collected for the Gardie but some people will not be so sure and all the units can store the evidence normally for up to a year it's a bit longer if necessary but often people look for that evidence maybe 2, 3, 6 months later or they will tell the guards to go ahead so it's really useful you don't have to make these big decisions on the night you just have to look out for yourself but just so it's clear for everyone because the location or how you access the location would be made aware once you begin to engage it might not be very clear to people generally it's only maybe one of these crisis that you might need to know so if someone is the victim of this type of a crime and in the first instance they're not ready to speak to the guards or they don't fancy turning up to the ED how are you referred to or what is the pathway to actually getting to one of these crisis centres and so there's a number of pathways so a lot of people come through the Gardie so they report the assault including the rape the Gardie and the Gardie will direct them this is really only useful to be honest if it's within a short enough time of the rape so if it's the longest time that they seem to have recorded last year was a month they like to see people as quickly as possible preferably certainly within a week because evidence deteriorates over time so a lot are referred by the Gardie some are referred by local rape crisis centres or by the National 24 hour line so a small percentage are referred that way a lot of people find it themselves it is possible to go to these centres yourself and just turn up and they will they will deal with you as well it's any assault is worrying any increases particularly worrying but this increase in violence in sexual assaults I mean can we learn to anything do we know why this might be happening why we are seeing this trend because it's something we can't ignore nor should we ever we can't ignore it it is increasing it is consistent with what those who deal with sexual assault victims in therapies, circumstances and in the Guards it's consistent with what they are seeing and hearing as well is that extreme violence on gratuitous violence restraints are increasing in the number of assaults that are presenting and the Saturday these units are very good at collecting it so there's probably a number of reasons there are people who are abusive and malicious so in the context of domestic violence we know physical violence is a part of it and domestic violence can often be sexual violence there is also a worrying increase in the number of people who are getting most of their information about what's normal in a sexual relationship through pornography and alas most pornography that people are accessing is abusive and so that is leading to violence that the people involved in the relationship think this kind of violence is normal or necessary in a relationship rather than recognizing it as abusive in advance yeah and before we talk about maybe what needs to be done from a government perspective in terms of how quickly people are seen and what have you I don't know I've never really sat down and really really really thought about it but you would imagine with all the conversations we have with all the awareness that in 2023 we'd be seeing a retraction in things you know what I mean that things wouldn't be getting worse and it's primarily still overwhelmingly in terms of who presents at these clinics it's women so women are more likely now to be the victims of sexual abuse and not only that there's a growing trend that there's a violent nature to that sexual abuse like we aren't making improvements we're going backwards I wonder because part of it could be that there's an increase in sexual violence it could be also that people are more ready to come forward but more people are reporting to the guards it's inevitable that more people will be going to Sattles there is a huge under-reporting in this area so it's probably a good thing that people are reporting are getting the help they need and people really a great way of working out whether you need it is to go to the guards or to go to your rape crisis centre donigallrapecrisis.ie or the national helpline are great resources I have to leave it there okay thank you very much indeed I know you've got another appointment to do I appreciate your time that is Nolene Blackwell who is the CEO of the Dublin rape crisis centre and that organisation are calling on the government to do a number of things in relation to victims of sexual assault Sattles across Ireland have failed to reach their targets I've seen victims within three hours of requesting an examination Miss Blackwell said in her press statement that usual situations with so many health services at the moment as on social night time mayors make it difficult to staff the treatment units Nolene has said the long wait time can be incredibly hard for victims because of course they're already upset by rape or sexual assault and while they're waiting for their treatment they can't go home and change or what have you so they're looking for government support to assist in that regard 08 660 25000 this is a show you'll never forget come and join the party it's just Peggy Superb call the ticket hotline on 02871 26445 or visit milleniumforum.co.uk did you know Kool Kid Sligo have the biggest range of baby equipment in the north west with 25 years of baby expertise Kool Kid Sligo take deposits on your baby bundle visit us in store at Kool Kid Sligo or shop online at babyaccessories.ie for free nationwide delivery make Kool Kid Sligo your number one destination for all things baby need help designing or understanding plumbing requirements for your new bathroom is not a problem our experienced staff are equipped to handle any type of bathroom installation from a simple tap replacement to a complete bathroom overhaul call in and see us and view our checklist to make sure you have everything in order it could save you money and a huge amount of hassle McDays, Bathroom, Plumbing Tiles, Bunkrana making things simpler for you the Lennon Festival Remelton comes to a close tonight Monday but before that there's lots of family fun throughout the afternoon including pet show and fancy dress then later at it it's the closing ceremony and fireworks display with live music from Paul McCall and guests what's happening today Monday at the Lennon Festival Remelton Caller says shocking to CRT run an item on the news last night telling us that pubs are showing Ryan Toberty's evidence they're trying to justify the spending of the TV licence fee and this is what we get encouraging the public to rush to the pub shocking stuff I think really it's more reactionary that some pub owners are seeing it as a way to attract in clients they're reporting on it as such I'm not sure they'd be encouraging it and thank you for it Caller says not sure what Mr McMahon considers a successful parade I believe the displaying of Union Jacks at the parade was nothing short of a disgrace we've tolerated the sectarian group marching in our country I think it's now time to stop this march I'm not sure there's a massive appetite for it to stop but anyway I believe I can say good morning now to Senator Lisa Chambers are you there Lisa? Good morning Greg how are you doing? Great to have you on board thanks for joining us on the programme a couple of times just going around the north west it just does not seem to be as busy as it was and talked to some people in the tourism industry they suggest that there is an issue with people visiting A there is a sense that maybe some sectors are pricing themselves out of it but B a lot of accommodation is being tied up tourist accommodation is being tied up to house refugees this is something that you want worked on too late perhaps and certainly as we look forward to 2024 Yeah definitely I do think it's an issue particularly for our part of the country the west and the north west and actually down as far as Kerry as well in Clare and Galway all on the western seaboard really there's a lot of hotel accommodation predominantly the budget hotels the two and three star hotels the guest houses they have been a lot of that accommodation has been taken up to house refugees it was I suppose the option because the numbers coming in were just extraordinary much more than we've ever experienced ever really in the history of the state we're probably upwards now including Ukrainian refugees probably around the 100,000 mark with everybody so look we had to house people somewhere and hotels were particularly towards the end of last year because you know Johnny Gall's like oh my oh our tourism season doesn't really kick in until kind of Easter and it kind of you know closes up usually around the October time we had a lot of vacancy in this region around that time and so it was the it was the easy option now every part of the country or you know every county is housing refugees but for our part of the country Johnny Gall for example I think it's about 50% of Fallshire Ireland registered accommodation is now occupied with refugees in Mayo I think we're at about 35% Longford is 70% so it varies some counties are this was about higher occupancy than others but then some counties would have had more bed nights or more rooms so Longford would have been coming from a quite a low base wouldn't have had that many rooms anyways but just to give a comparison of where we're at now I've raised this I actually scheduled a debate in the Shannet in May of this year so two months ago with the tourism minister Catherine Martin specifically to raise this issue with her so I said look you know I understand and I think people understand we had to do what we had to do to help people that were fleeing war and hotel accommodation was the obvious place to house people but we need a plan now for next year I think this tourism season is already impacted and it's not the hotels that are housing refugees are doing very well they're getting paid very very well but it's the ancillary businesses the related businesses so your pubs your coffee shops your restaurants that rely on those hotels and guest houses having tourists they're the ones that are now feeling the pinch because they don't have the same numbers of tourists in the area simply because there is no work for people to stay and you mentioned Greg about the cost of what's what is available and it's connected because the fact that there's less accommodation available the demand is still there and so the price goes up so there are some hotels across the country that are absolutely price gouging and charging astronomical rates I don't know who's paying it but they seem to be getting it that's part of the problem because there isn't enough accommodation to serve the demand that's there not just for Irish holiday makers to be occasionally around the country but for tourists coming in from you know from India, America, Europe mainland Europe that want to come and visit and we would get a lot of tourists in the west in northwestern Germany from France that like to kind of like the wild aspect of Ireland it's kind of difficult to see that you know we could have been critical of sort of the cities or particularly Dublin as the gateway to the rest of the country often that you know maybe when people land and they see the prices there they don't really get that if you travel a wee bit into the west into Mayo but we're missing a trick on that now because obviously there's so much accommodation that's not there and what is there is really quite expensive though there are some deals to be had but if this continues there's a reputation that we could get that would be hard to shift you know that's why really we don't need it running into another year or a year after that because we could lose a reputation it's a place where you can afford to go yeah absolutely and it's interesting Greg if you actually you know take away the nights where you might have a big concert on in Dublin or a big sporting event in Dublin you'd probably get a cheaper hotel in Dublin than you will in Killarney or Westport for example you know like the cost of hotels now in some of the big tourist destinations in Donegal and Mayo and Kerry are very expensive so it's just not affordable for most families that might be visiting from other parts of Ireland so I do think it's an issue the minister is aware of it I had a conversation with her after we'd finished the statements you know just one-to-one to say look what's the plan here she has assured me she is engaging with Rodericka Gorman because obviously it's his department that have a policy of using hotels but Catherine Martin is the minister of responsible tourism so the two departments need to work together and obviously all of government as well and I think there is people have been very welcoming and very good natured and they understand the pressures and the need to house people and the reality sector are looking for now and I've engaged a lot with Fault Ireland on this just to get the statistics, the numbers, the data to back up the points that I've been raising and they too in fairness to Fault Ireland they have raised this directly with government they've published a report on it and they are highlighting it as well so there is an expectation from the sector that we would certainly have a plan in place for 2024 and beyond we can't allow this policy to bed in and become the norm and look at you know some of these if you don't mind just to cut across you, I mean listen most people feel we had to do what we had to do but to some extent we've created the problem ourselves as well because as you would know I'm sure around your area I would know from around here is a lot of these hotels people have been staying in them for quite some time there's no alternative accommodation particularly in the tourist areas around you know people have bedded into the communities you know some children their second year of education in the local school it's going to be very difficult to sort this out now for those reasons because we've seen what's happened on the one or two few occasions where we try and move people from one area to the next it simply doesn't happen for many reasons they don't like it and locals who cherish them in their communities now don't like it let's say the children being in school and I'm thinking of three or four examples where would that accommodation actually be locally I just think this is going to be a really difficult problem to fix as I said I like to be optimistic but I just can see the problems here no it is there's no point in saying otherwise Greg it's going to be a challenge to fix it the plan was or I think it still is it's to provide a modular accommodation in those communities because we don't want people to leave our communities you're right you know for we've had thousands of Ukrainian refugees come into Donegal in my own county of Mayo as well you know they're part of our community they're working here locally their kids are in school and you see the pushback from local people when there has been attempts to move people you know it must be absolutely terrifying to leave your home country to try and resettle into a new community to be asked to do that a second time or a third time and move around just isn't we can't do that to children that are fleeing war we have to look after people but at the same time we shouldn't create a second problem in terms of damaging our hospitality in the tourism industry because all along the western region it's a big big employer for us in the part of the country where we live you take away some of the multinationals that we have the factories we might have in different parts outside of that hospitality and tourism are major major employers and they're paying the bills in many households we have to protect that industry that we've spent decades building up and that's why well in advance I was saying this back in May next year we need to see some sort of plan to try and get at least some of that accommodation back into the system and I can see in my own part of the country you know there are certain individuals in a small number that are speculating on accommodation that ordinarily would become tourist accommodation and would add to our bedstock but now they're going straight for working with iPass and working with the Department of Integration because it's so lucrative it's very hard to compete if you're weighing up your options and you have an accommodation you know if you're housing refugees straight away you've got full capacity 24-7 you can plan your staff you can plan your food orders it's a much easier business model than trying to deal with the seasonal tourism that we usually cater for and I think it's very useful Lisa you speaking out in this because it's a difficult one finally I won't hold you much longer it's a difficult one to speak about because you know say for instance a local business owner they probably know the person that's running the hotel or they don't want to be seen to be anti-refugee so they're probably struggling in silence to some extent you know at least public silence so I think it's useful for the likes of yourself to to give them a voice because I can imagine it's a difficult one you know yourself you can imagine the small area and if you start talking about it you know it could very easily be turned against you and you could be cancelled or something along those lines you know where you're from we're in a world now where you could say something it can be taken up wrong or misinterpreted but I suppose you know I'm in elected politics more than a decade now people know me pretty well I think I try and be balanced and reasonable and I think people will know from my commentary in the last year I'm clearly not anti-refugee and I absolutely am very proud of our country for what we've done to help people and we need to continue to do that and these issues that are affecting ordinary people on the ground in the communities that we represent that we don't leave that to the hard left or the hard right that the middle ground you know the middle ground politicians need to also address these issues otherwise we will create problems so at least you know I'm engaging with hotels and restaurants in my own area spoken to one hotelier he just said to me look at there's bus tours that aren't coming into the region this summer because the hotel accommodation isn't there people might say what's the big deal about a bus tour but every single bus that might have 50 people on it they might spend 50 euros each in the local area the tourism you know the souvenir shop or the coffee shop collectively that's a lot of money indeed I think it's one year of spending hotels three in the community I can't remember I think that's what I read okay senator thanks for your time this morning we'll see how things progress I appreciate it thanks Greg bye bye take care that's a beautiful senator Lisa chambers there maybe you are in business you are feeling what miss chambers senator chambers is talking about let us know 08 660 25000 08 660 25000 or call us 07491 25000 the caller says Greg please warn people to double and triple check the scam messages of hey mom I lost my phone I'm using your friends can you transfer me money I was almost caught sending my son a thousand euro this week because we panic don't we okay son what can I do so just have some sort of system in place where you can double check with a young person those texts they send millions of them at the only need three or four people to fall for it so please be really careful according to that listener Greg mentioned about new town conningham main street and that it has many cars needed maintaining and it's it's a shame and disgrace and the council should be ashamed of themselves okay what is that is the main street new town conningham in a bad situation is that what the listener is saying well done to the car and Donna traders on a visit to car and on a festival from Thursday to last night from car and Donna okay there's a cow out in the road between Cranford and Carragor by the way so be careful if you're in that if you're in that area alright okay we are going to take a quick break as we are lining up our next guest stay right where you are we're going to be talking about whether or not we should ban phones in the classrooms the nine tone in show with letter Kenny credit union simplify your debts with a debt consolidation loan from letter Kenny credit union call us on zero seven four nine one zero two one two six reply online via our upper in office today do you suffer from high cholesterol men of all symptoms digestive issues anxiety aches and pains or a lack of energy the highly trained team at the natural way letter Kenny can provide advice on natural remedies for a number of individual health issues the natural way also has its own brand of herbal treatments to help fight fatigue relief digestive discomfort maintain a healthy immune system and alleviate common menopause symptoms the natural way letter Kenny shopping center your one stop health shop Charlie McClaffordy funeral directors serving letter Kenny and the surrounding areas for over 100 years Charlie McClaffordy funeral directors and our family take care of your family and guide you through a difficult time join me Marty Freel every Friday night from eight for rockin' hits on highland radio in association with arena seven where you can enjoy dinner and drinks in woodbury grill bar and restaurant before bowling in arena seven state of the art liens see arena seven.ie experience comfort like never before at half the price in our massive hotel quality mattress sale now on at better value furnishings mobile due to overstocking we must clear hundreds of mattresses at half price get your quality mattress at half price and sleep like a king better value furnishings see our facebook for more details okay so a ban on phones and smart devices at school thanks to parent power should be rolled out across the country it was called for last night you may have heard in the news of the weekend senator Mary Cere Kearney of Finnegale who's a spokesperson on children senator good morning to you thank you very much for your time hello good morning now I'm sure you've pulled people around you you know we've seen the success in other areas and you know before you you you you you float ideas like this you do your research and you chat to people and there's a very little pushback to this because this in a way makes a caregiver's lives a little bit easier doesn't it you know when something is mandated it means that we it's not our fault I mean it just makes it slightly easier so talk to me a little bit about you as to as to why you've you've proposed this well I indeed I did pull and to be sure of this sort of buy-in because to successfully implement a ban on mobile phones for all primary school children you need the buy-in of parents teachers but you also need buy-in at state level to support that impact because it's much easier to say but sure I can't you're not old enough love is not an easier way to say it but it's really important that we get that collaboration and it's really important for children and I suppose here is why but children buried in a mobile phone are missing developmental stages they're missing that interaction with other children the play of their imagination that even the hustle and bustle of the of the schoolyard are out playing that though that's lost when children have that have a head buried into a mobile phone so it's not good for themselves then on top of that we obviously have the exposure of bullying and the potential bullying that has had fatal consequences in many instances and near mere misses in others and so it it strips away the childhood of children and so I believe this is part of bringing back childhood bringing back that protected time of innocence and that we need to say you know what it's not appropriate for children under the age of 13 you know going into secondary school anyone prior to that in primary school they shouldn't have mobile phones yeah I think that push for one starts at Holy Communion yeah for sure and we'll talk to that little bit because you know also the adults it's all right going saying we need to do something or this isn't right or there's pressure on children or that but we actually have to we have to take responsible and say all right well what can we as a collective group of adults do to help help our children and I think this is sort of one of those things so what what has happened where this has been done on a voluntary basis elsewhere in Ireland of course there are other countries too that have introduced something on a national level so what are the models out there and what would you like to see employed here well from a perspective at home we've seen in Greystones and in Dingle we've seen schools implemented with the code of conduct and in agreement almost a parents charter that says no one is going to have a mobile phone in the school that way is very successful because no child has or hasn't there's no in group and out group everybody is exactly the same they might have it outside school but they certainly don't have it in the school where the most peer pressure maybe is happens and occurs in Netherlands last week we saw that they brought in from a state perspective they brought in that the use of smart devices was not other than those that are mandated in the classroom that they were not permissible now because they feel that they are a distraction to undermine concentration and focus on children in secondary school and young people in secondary school so where it happens and you have that collaborative buy-in it's very successful and implemented it doesn't stop outside of school so in a way we need probably to have a national conversation you know my daughter goes swimming on a Friday evening and often times the parents along the swimming bank all have their heads in a mobile phone and it may be for good reasons I know sometimes in my husband he's catching up in his emails but there is something of we're losing that connection of watching this stage of development engaging with our children so maybe we need to start modelling it ourselves exactly practice what we preach our own screen time so this seems like there should be a broad buy-in you've reached out to a few people is this a complicated thing too like is this a legislative situation is there a sort of a national guideline that the schools can say to parents look at these national guidelines because you I want to talk a little bit about the parents that won't like this as well but so how would we in this country were to do this on a national basis how what what would it look like in terms of would it be a recommendation would it be a mandate is it something legislative I don't know I will I think there are a few elements to that first from a school perspective it would be much easier for schools and parents if there was a circular from the Department of Education so I think we need to get around to table and have a discussion about that and making sure that that that's the right thing that it's it's all right in my view it is the right thing for us to do and we need to just go for it and I maybe I've rebelled over you know I remember my first mobile phone it came free with my a membership so that's how long ago that was and but as you've gone our our culture has changed how we can be our convenience everything about how we interact in the world has changed and it's led by social media companies it's led by you know private mobile phone companies selling us all these devices rather than actually as a society is saying is this okay are we are we doing are we doing this right you know I have that band at the bottom of my email that says if you're opening this outside of a time we're not working that's okay I am I'm doing sending it because it's the time that I'm working so there are a number of societal things that we need to challenge and we need to to talk about I think it's easier if it's led by government it's easier if it comes from in schools if it comes from the Department of Education in form of a circular then in a way for the parents who don't want to buy in and it's it's mandated by the department and for those who do and they have that I suppose license to say well this is right I believe in this and actual fact it's been being supported by by the government I think we can often use mobile phones as pacifiers you know you'll see young children at the table at restaurants and coffee shops and they have a they have a mobile phone and that's the only way you can get into the coffee that's the probably the only way you can get into the coffee shop is to give them the bloody phone indeed but there maybe was a time when we'd give them when we give them we stayed at home we stayed at home I do take your point I do indeed and I don't think they've got a voice yet but invariably the world there's going to be parents and guardians that's going to be a pushback on this for there'll be very good reasons as to why you know maybe it's a it could be I don't know shared guardianship or something do you know what to mean making I heard that such and such what if the boss doesn't pick them up and do you know that like I mean we will hear that but there comes a point whereby we can't please everyone all of the time that you have to sort of say well what is just the best thing because we we scrutinise and analyse and argue everything down to the point sometimes where nothing happens at all we need to start making I think you know what are on the face of it broadly welcome logical decisions that we need to have the courage to actually start making those decisions both as you know as citizens and as legislators yes I and in a way if we think about some of the arguments some of the arguments are that supervision access to children but actually are we disempowering their own sense of responsibility and ability to get buses that we have to what micromanage them know where they are at all times in to that extent and you know if they if they're familiar with bus routes if they're cycling and you know if something happens there's always an adult with it with a phone nearby who would always oblige you know that things like that don't happen that people don't say no in a case of an emergency and so I think there are accessibility if a child a message has to be gotten to a child through school there's the there's the staff office so I think there there are ways we we buy into convenience and the easiest way of living our lives and that's that's a symptom of maybe just we also need maybe not to be so fearful we're we're turning into a and it's a wider conversation which I won't bore you with cause but you know just about our resilience and not only our resilience but our children's resilience and our fear and the comfort it gets from that they are my umbilical cord extending as far as the national school do you know what I mean sometimes that needs to be I trained as a counselling psychologist and have read a lot of books so particularly when I became a parent myself oh god you know I don't want to mess this up that sometimes there oh you might get hurt you might get hurt is about the parents anxiety of course not about and and and actually the message we need to give to children is things like this happen you have the we will get through this and we will overcome it and so there is something in that in the in the manner in which we just allow mobile phones we don't we don't think about it because what there's tracking on us there we can contact them all the time they can contact us all the time they might need to they might actually we need to challenge that culture what we're doing and your party you're absolutely right Greg you know and children only contact you when they need something anyway they don't just randomly mess it up yeah are you getting on alright you know as soon as it beats of course as soon as it beats the ATM machine and taxi can you send me ten euro sod off uh okay he's only three now I'm only joking um all right senator thanks for your time we'll see how this progresses all right take care of yourself senator Mary Kearney there of finnegale spokesperson on children as I say on the face of it it seems like a a really logical thing to do a great equalizer but as I say there are people that are probably going to come up with really decent arguments as to why it's not a good move I don't know right to some of your comments as we head towards news at ten having worked for one of the world's biggest hotel brands says this says this listener I'm aware that hotel pricing rates increase as the potential to the percentage occupancy increases so the more rooms are booked the higher the price of the remaining room so essentially our hotel prices are being inflated by the permanent residency of refugees in our hotels this false inflation of pricing is destroying our tourism industry and all of the ancillary businesses it supports hotels have become secondary direct provision centres and other quarter says morning Greg to hear Lisa chambers say that there's almost 100,000 extra people in Ireland is almost unbelievable yes it's affecting tourism but on a much wider scale and more alarming is there isn't one extra school place or extra hospital bed or GP this really can't go on or can it not sure about what the impact on schools are I think quite a few rural schools have appreciated the boost in numbers as it relates to access to GPs and hospital cares anecdotally you hear that there are pressures there of course as well though most of the people here are young and healthy can it go on have to increase increase resources I suppose continuing these parades is only continuing the conflict for generations to come by celebrating violence and war says the listener and other Lisa is exactly right but as usual they're far too late they spent millions on wild Atlantic way and it was actually working they've undone all that in the last year or two far too much money in housing Ukrainians some people making all the money from this to the detriment of the tourism industry but again if you're in the tourism industry either inside or outside the hotel element of it have you noticed thing maybe it's it's it's busier than ever this year or maybe your business is not quite as busy as it was previously you don't have to say specifically where you are we're not looking to cause any angst or amongst businesses in local communities but it would be really interesting to get that insight I was in Donegal on Saturday while a band came in while en route to Rosnela there was a lot of singing of loyalist songs and effing the IRA no one managed to approach them to ask them to stop many people eating and drinking including ourselves left as the felt uncomfortable how is this showing respect I don't know I mean that happens I'm not defending it but just on the flip side I was in a pub a couple of weeks ago and there was a chance of Sinn Fein and IRA you know the song by the way I'm not saying it was Sinn Fein support or so I'm not getting into any of that but you know there's a song Fields of Attenborough I believe it is and if there was anyone of a different religious background in that place they probably would have felt uncomfortable too good old bigotry and ex-sectarianism is still alive in the north of Ireland one section of the community have moved on while the other half is stagnated in 1690 Bola hats sashes flutes and drums their cohorts want to trample on the Catholic people of Garvey Road they say great to see Donagall shown respect to the orange order parade in Rossnall the same wasn't returned to our tea shop in northern Ireland says a listener is it acceptable that a sitting government minister has a brother sitting on the board of an independent national broadcaster surely the public should be made aware of these appointments I also think that Dee Forbes should not be CEO of GEA Go while she's DGA for business that buys services from the GEA for instance she can decide to make a very good match paper view knowing it will generate more money for the GEA is it not a conflict of interest well she's no longer a director of GEA Go but of course you know riding two horses not ideal we're a small enough country suppose if you've got people that get to the top say two brothers or brothers and sisters or two sisters there's always potential for a conflict isn't there a conflict of interest I see exactly where you're coming from I don't know what the solution is alright stay where you are we will be back with more after the news and obituary notices a number of individual health issues the Natural Way also has its own brand of herbal treatments to help fight fatigue relieve digestive discomfort maintain a healthy immune system and alleviate common menopause symptoms the Natural Way electric henna shop in center your one stop health shop clothing.com it's the return of the Big Band Nights at Loaks of Cranford this Tuesday with David James and Band that's the Big Band Nights kicking off this Tuesday with David James at Loaks of Cranford where you will also find music in the wee bar on Saturdays and old time dancing on Sundays so join us from July 10th to the 17th and we'll greet you open armed to the Seat open event your local Seat dealer is DMG Motors Cla Road, Donegal Town live on air online and on the Highland Radio app this is your local Seat dealer and we'll see you next time live on air online and on the Highland Radio app this is your local Seat dealer and we'll see you next time live on air online and on the Highland Radio app this is Highland Radio news good morning it's Donna Marie Doherty with the news in full at 10 o'clock the executive board of RTE is being stood down from today the new director general confirmed the news in an email to his staff this morning Stephanie Rohan reports in his email Kevin Backhurst says he understands the staff of RTE are deeply upset and angry he says he plans to be a visible director general and change will be essential to rebuild trust in public service broadcasting he says the executive board is being stood down today and will be replaced with a temporary interim leadership team a new permanent leadership team will be announced in due course which Kevin Backhurst says will be open transparent and accountable their salaries will also be published every year along with those of the top 10 presenters the NUJ has welcomed the developments saying it hopes this marks the beginning of a RTE well media minister Catherine Martin says it's time for a reset at the state broadcaster a man was assaulted in a house in Derry last night during what is reported to have been an aggravated burglary the house is located in Grafton street with the incident occurring at around 11 p.m. it is believed two men forced their way into the property one was armed with a golf club the 34 year old victim was taken to hospital following head injuries he sustained a body has been recovered in County Mayo following a search for a missing Mexican tourist the 18 year old was reported missing on Friday evening after going for a walk on Acolyland it's reported Sebastian Pamas Sigmund had been holidaying here with his family Irish town journalist Ellen Donahoe says the body was recovered following a major search operation over the weekend which included assistance from the Mallonhead Coast Guard started about 5 p.m. on Friday evening when Sebastian Pamas Sigmund went for a walk in the Dewock area of Acolyland while on holiday visiting family in Ireland it's believed and he wasn't seen after that and then shortly before 8 p.m. last night he already issued a statement stating that the body had been found an initial on councillor is calling for an end to the stalemate in relation to the acquisition of 58 social housing units in Cairndona councillor Albert Doherty said he received calls from many housing applicants after seeing the houses online open to expression of interest to the general public he is asking for all stakeholders to remain in negotiations and conclude the deal for the social houses councillor Doherty added that there is a risk that Cairndona is being abandoned I am unsure because I haven't had clarity but what I am sure of is that there's a social housing need in an issue on there's a social housing need in the Cairndona area that has been badly served by the provision of social housing and programs we have been dependent on turnkey developments and spending on housing as an investment in a community not spending or abandoning a development is also abandoning a community and this community needs social housing and we need them immediately some direct provision centres are so overcrowded that residents are forced to stand on beds to get dressed while children have no space to do homework that's according to the health watchdog HIKWA which is carrying out inspections of accommodation centres across the country so far it's examined three centres in Kerry and Cork on a pile of bases and found all three fell short in meeting national standards asking price inflation is slowing but the supply of homes remains a problem that's according to a new report my home for the second quarter of this year shows the annual asking price inflation is running at 2.2% the median asking price for a property in Donegal is now 200,000 euro homes now being sold for only 1% over the listed price versus 5-6% 12 months ago supply remains an issue with 6,000 fewer listings on the property website compared with pre-pandemic levels chief economist with Davey and Donald MacKillor says the number of homes being built needs to be wrapped up the house building market is held up better than people expected but still I think the real issue here is that we really should be building 40-50,000 houses so start making inroads that sort of pent up demand that's there 30,000 houses this year better than expected but certainly not a lot looking out to weather during the afternoon cloud will increase bringing scattered showers some heavy or thundery downpours are possible with a risk of spot flooding highest temperatures of 17-21 degrees in light to moderate southerly or variable breezes that's all for now I'll be back again with the news headlines at 11 o'clock until then good morning the obituary notices this Monday morning July 10th the death has taken place of Peter Sweeney letter Kenny and formerly of Dromkeen I propose at the funeral home Port Road letter Kenny today from 6.30pm until half past 8pm funeral tomorrow at 11am in St Patrick's Church Dromkeen with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery any inquiries to Con McDade funeral directors the death has taken place of Anna Ferguson our Cloughar Cairndona and formerly of Glasgow Anna's remains proposing at Liam Collins funeral premises Cairndona where you are welcome to pay your respects today from 11am until 1pm and from 6pm until 10pm Anna's funeral mass will take place tomorrow at 11am in the sacred heart church Cairndona followed by burial in the adjoining graveyard family flowers only or donations if desired in lieu to the Cairndona community hospital patients comfort fund care of any family member Anna's funeral can be viewed live on the Cairndona parish website the death has taken place of Liam Conwell 23 Baron Road Donna Manna remains proposing at his home funeral leaving his home tomorrow morning at 9.20am for Rayquia Mass in St Patrick's Church Killenay Donna Manna at 10 o'clock interment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery family time please from 11pm to 11am the Rayquia Mass can be viewed live via the Donna Heady parish YouTube channel the death has taken place of Deirdre Drum Pierce Swords Dublin and formerly of Straban proposing at the family home 18 Castle Town Road Straban funeral leaving the family home tomorrow at half past 9 for Rayquia Mass in St Mary's Church Melmont at 10am interment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery donations in lieu of flowers pleased to St Francis hospice care of Quigley funeral director Straban family time please from 10pm to 11am the Rayquia Mass can be viewed live via the parish webcam the death has occurred of Mary Boner Balna Curry Doohary and formerly of Drimna Ra Kreesla remains opposing at McLean's funeral directors at 11.15am going to St Bridget's Church Letter Mac Award for 12 o'clock Rayquia Mass interment afterwards in the new cemetery the death has taken place of Billy McGee Dromore Ruffo funeral from his sister Lorna's residence at riverview St Johnston at 1.15 this afternoon going to St Johnston's Presbyterian Church for service at 2 o'clock burial is afterwards in the churchyard house private this morning please family flowers only please donations in lieu of flowers if desired to the Donegal hospice care of any family member the death has taken place of Raymond Sweepman 12 Oakfield Court Boncranna formerly Finglas Dublin removal from his residence at 9.20am going to St Mary's oratory Boncranna for 10 o'clock Rayquia Mass burial is afterwards in Cockhill Cemetery family only on the morning of the funeral family flowers only donations in lieu to Cree heart and stroke charity and say aphasia care of any family member or McLaughlin and McLaughlin's funeral directors the death has taken place of Jimmy O'Donovan 27 Belly Duff Park Lifford and formerly of Athlone remains are opposing at his home funeral leaving his home this morning a quarter past 10 for Rayquia Mass in St Patrick's Church Murlock Lifford at 11am and term it afterwards in the adjoining cemetery the Rayquia Mass can be viewed live via the parish webcam for more details including any family health guidelines for weeks and funerals please go to highlandradio.com like lower prices on everyday essentials then make Aldi top of your shopping list we have lower prices on well the essentials including brandon 16 pack Irish sausages was 149 now only 135 savoury crackers was 129 now only 115 four seasons peach slices was 99 cent now only 85 cent and Alma's super concentrated laundry liquid 42 washes was 269 now only 239 you won't just like more value you'll love it alrighty welcome back to the programme right a caller says phones should be banned in classrooms and this should extend to the teachers two my 10 year old says his teacher gives them work to do and then sits on her phone for 10 minutes at a time yeah well it has to be across the board doesn't it is RTE just the tip of the iceberg of the government over 100 years of nepotism in government and its various national and local agencies sadly Ireland needs a routine branch ordered a review of RTE HSE justice social services competence and corruption that awaits us in this rotten can of worms our school got over 50 new students and they didn't get a single extra penny to support these students because they had moved from another county the allocation of support for them had already been given and we will receive no support until 2024 there is a huge language barrier and support is greatly needed we really cannot just be given 50 plus students with no supports this conversation previously a long time ago about how you integrate new students into the school how you help them by bringing their English on if that is an issue but also how you incorporate them without it damaging or impacting on other students education so I'm not sure if we've resolved that yet you hand your phone into the teacher in the Philippines schools you get it back in the evening when schools over and probably just the norm and no one thinks about it it's just what's done Hi Greg would have to agree with your last call of the price of hotels in Donegal was looking to take my wife away for two nights for our anniversary the last bank holiday past I rang three popular hotels in Donegal one was looking for 628 euro for two nights another 850 in the third 1,300 euro for two nights ended up going to Spain for the week for 800 euro all inclusive and that's what my friends are all doing now you couldn't holiday in Ireland with the price of hotels they believe do you have a flip side to that story though by the way have you had a recent staycation and people don't like that word it can be quite triggering but you know if you so far what were some of you will have already maybe taken a break away did you do it was it relatively cheap let us know 08 660 25000 just your recommendations to counter you know the claim that it's very expensive to holiday here I'm like I think what people do is I mean I wouldn't say I wouldn't like to stay in a hotel for very long to be honest with you especially with young children it's just not really I don't think it a very comfortable environment I think you know you can possibly go and stay in a house somewhere for a week for it can be quite expensive but maybe 8900 if it's two families doesn't become affordable or more affordable then as I say you'd have to be a lovely hotel to want to spend any more than a couple of nights there wouldn't it or would it maybe you go away and stay in hotels it's each to their own I suppose stand up people against the forced license for RT which hardly anyone watches people power got rid of water charges Greg I'm coming to the conclusion that legally right and morally right are so far apart it means that if it's legally okay can be it can override something that's morally wrong yeah I think that's kind of almost part of the course isn't Greg absolutely galling to watch Neve Smith and Moira Daugherty of the oversized oversight board it was like two girls that were old friends Tubs and NK shall be so well prepared and get an easy ride they may have done nothing wrong only arrogance should have paid the money straight back now never ever be a presenter anywhere that comes in from our sheen Ryan somebody might end up working successfully here or maybe there's options from abroad I think no matter how well prepared they are tomorrow there's a lot of questions and it was quite an interesting line of questioning I heard someone from RT questioning someone who will be questioning Ryan and it was they were almost given in the questions or given them the questions as to what they expect to be asked and there's no easy answers to some of these questions it's gonna be a tough show for them tomorrow would you be watching it I think even those that are I think they'll I think the news channel is gonna have record viewership figures tomorrow anyway drip pay the TV license one per year because they drip feed us information I wonder will they be an investigation into the squandering of public money during the COVID pandemic crazy amount gone where who benefited well that's another argument some would say lies were saved others would say life were cost and it might take some time separation between then and when there's some level of consensus there okay it's another week of bingo if you're playing good luck have your numbers out you have your pen out well here are the numbers for you good luck if you are playing today it's time for NCBI bingo on Highland Radio it's Monday July 10th you're playing on a green colored sheet the reference numbers s16 game number 28 the numbers are 34 62 the number 6 41 74 35 82 71 51 and 85 phone your claim to 9104833 before 8pm tonight leave on your name contact number and the name or just your book get all your NCBI radio bingo information at highlandvideo.com today on 07491 29562 and bring care home wedding suits packages are now 20% off just book your wedding suits before August 31st and get a whopping 20% off don't stand still evolve let a kenny retail park turns the conditions apply the 9th until noon show with letter Kenny credit union now offering mortgages from 40,000 to 600,000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges letter Kenny credit union 9102127 OK, our next conversation is not unrelated to a conversation we had in our first hour where we heard from a finnegales senator for a ban on mobile phones in national schools it's been trialed elsewhere it's been done voluntarily elsewhere and it's been mandated in other countries and it is one one by product of that would be hopefully to reduce bullying but not eliminate it because of course bullying comes in all different forms Bethany O'Reardon psychotherapist and founder of the calm parenting club and joins us now thank you so much for your time today that's all right thanks for having me hello yeah good to have you I mean this is not we're going to talk about why we invited you on but just a commentary from you I mean would you welcome the removal of mobile phones from national schools I mean it had to you'd imagine to have to have a positive impact on children's well-being yeah I think so I mean the minute screens are removed kids go back to playing and being creative and and having to communicate with each other and in sort of I was going to say old fashioned way but it's not really they just have to get back to getting on and talking with each other which is something very helpful yeah it's a natural way that's sort of pushing the natural way of us social creatures aren't we yeah I think so I mean I had I had kids at my house so I'm a mom of three and I had kids at my house for sleepover so there was three kids over and Saturday morning everyone got up they did their games they did the technology for a bit and then I took all the technology away and they all looked at me like what on earth are you doing my kids were mortified and then they just went and played they got out the board games they played twister they laughed they run around and it was amazing you know it was rather than sitting in silence or that all instantly came all instantly naturally came to them I mean I'm not saying they've never done it before but you know what I mean yeah absolutely okay so in terms of I've said this before in this program obviously we've covered bullying in the past and I've talked about bullying in schools before and then you get phone calls from people well advanced in their lives 40s 50s and 60s and still what happened to them as they were children has stayed with them but also affected their relationships and how they interacted with other people I mean we were talked to me a little bit about that about the impact bullying can have on people and its lasting impacts potentially oh I think it's huge but so like in the therapy world what we would say is it's not only the thing that happened to the child that really dictates so much of their future but it's if they're alone with it so so much of the time parents can and I get it I'm a parent can kind of go into a flap and a frenzy and feel really panic themselves because obviously there is nothing more hurtful to a parent than the thought of their child being hurt but the thing that really helps children the most is when children don't feel alone in their pain so they say that trauma is when a child feels alone with what's going on for them so even though there can be policies and strategies from schools it's for the parents to really connect with the children and help them through it and what children I work a lot with teenagers and they say the worst thing is when they see the panic on their parent's face now as I said I'm a parent it's not that we're not meant to feel panic you know we are but we're meant to know how to contain it and put it all into the lives of our children so children have more of an ability to overcome a bullying scenario with the right support and help from the adults around them yeah and as I say there's all different types of it I was speaking recently to a parent who's a young person there was no physical abuse there was no nicknames or nothing but they were actively being excluded from things so in and of itself that is a form of bullying bullying is kind of a catch all but things like that can be really difficult and then you can really struggle as a parent you can't go around to people and say play with my child do you know what I mean then you start questioning about your own child's socialising or whatever there's different forms and generally causes a great deal of stress I wonder how can I sort this out I don't want to see this extension of me in such a horrible vulnerable place yeah absolutely I mean to know as you were talking and it made me think there was a party in one of my kids classes recently and one of my children I won't obviously won't be naming names was one of three children who wasn't invited and it's like well I get it you can't invite 15 or 12 people to a party all the time maybe if we're a bunch of adults say there's 28 children in the classroom I know there's more and I know there's less but would I get on with 28 people and want to invite all of them to my birthday party I don't know so what is the line around inviting people not inviting people is it excluding or are we teaching children you know you don't have to get on with everybody you have to be nice to everybody you know you're allowed to have relationships with a few people without excluding others and I think this stuff I think it's all about the parents having a really open dialogue you know I think especially parties are really tricky and like you say you know there are excluding people I think is really awful and I also think though it's about supporting the child who is being excluded to create their own friends then well if that group don't want to play with you let's figure out why is there a reason or is there not a reason and let's focus on your other friends well I mean that's really constructive and a pathway out and I want to tease that out with you but it's about having though the open lines of communication with your child and how do you have those conversations because a child will same as an adult will bottle things up their behaviour might change they just seem different and they could be carrying this scenario with them but don't feel they can talk about it so and I suppose this is from any age really where that you can communicate with the child how do you best have those lines of communication open so that they feel they can come home and say such and such is happening because it's far better presumably to try and deal with these things or to help your child at the earliest possible juncture 100% I mean it's really important for kids to know that everyone might not like them and that's really hard you know even as an adult do I like that people don't like me well it's certainly difficult to swallow all the time isn't it so I think the thing that's really important is if say when a child comes home if the parents can be available right so that means you're off your phone I mean lots of us work from home so it's not be able to put your job and be available 24 7 but it's that you're available at the times that the child needs you to be available at so that you can see okay when they've come in the door play detective is their behaviour different is there something about them that I can't quite put my finger on and then what parents have to do and I think this is a bit where loads of parents get really scared and I always say yeah it's normal to be scared but you can also be proactive is try and try and kind of make a really good guess at what you think is going on you don't have to get it right and you're not putting thoughts in your child's head but what children do is children pick up on what's being unspoken anyway and it comes out through the behaviours so if you can say something like hey you know you know how you know where you left out in the playground today you know how is it that you didn't get invited to the party or you know we haven't had anyone over for a while you've not been invited anywhere for a while shall we do something if you can try and name the thing that's really hard then that helps to take the sting off it and it's almost like kind of releasing the pill on a ring can you know it kind of like it kind of releases the pressure around it or even maybe a sheet of paper with if they're able to read a sheet of paper with some of the things you suspect it might be and see if there's anything relevant that they can point to one or something might be a way of how important is our reaction because you know we always presume that everything's great with us right and we're perfectly equipped to deal with everything that's happened with our children but mums and dads and guardians and caregivers are stressed themselves maybe they're anxious maybe they'll go into panic mode or something wrong with my child at school and next thing they're actually more it's their reaction and not the helping of the child thing you know or they might take every word that comes out of the child's mouth as an absolute fact and going to school in a rage or something you know what I mean so how important is it that the big people process it properly take a few deep breaths and you know sort of say right calmly as much as it can be possible what's the best approach how do I deal with this yeah I mean it's huge so children learn about life about managing their emotions from the parents you know we say that the family is the training ground for life so I mean you know the overall arching about bullying is how to cope with a problem in life I guess and that's really simplifying it and kind of funneling it down to one sentence and we want children to know that yeah things are really hard but you can get through it and the role of a parent is to kind of almost in some way be quite impartial to what's going on and observe with the child oh so that's going on for you and of course we do that with loads of love and we do it with loads of care but we don't want to drop into the feeling of it with the child because emotional regulation is all about the child plugging into the parent and parents preparing themselves to support the child so the child needs our strength it needs our authority it needs our listening ears and it needs us to know that whatever the child needs us to know that whatever happens in life and that doesn't happen if you turn into a puddle on the floor in front of them okay that's what we're putting it all right now our conversation earlier about banning phones from national schools the reason that's even a topic now is because many of us and I'm a parent that is very typical right nothing's perfect okay but too many of us say no or don't say no sorry or find it difficult to say no or say no you're not taking that to school with you're leaving it in the bedroom and you can have an hour when you get home like we've had issues here not me issues here sorry I've been contacted personally by even parents of young teenagers that want teen discos banned because it's easier if they were banned than it would be for them to say no you're not going because you know the teen says well my friends are going and all this kind of stuff but anyway going back to the younger children we have a tough line to walk do we or have we figured it out in terms of our children having resilience and learning and knowing the realities of life and what is mistreatment or bullying or what is look at this is going to come at you hard when you're in secondary school or when you're an adult you know they have to learn the realities of life through we are not going to get every child through growing up perfectly protected from everything completely insulated and nor should we necessarily want to are we struggling to find that balance between giving our children having resilience ourselves and for our children but also protecting them from obvious wrongs convoluted question but hopefully you can make something from it yeah I mean I think life is really hard I was saying it to my mom I said mum do you know it's actually really hard to keep kids everything is so available now you know when I was younger if I missed an episode of Grange Hill I didn't get it wasn't on catch up I didn't get to record I had to ask my friend what happened in school the next day but now everything is so available to children you know everything is so instant do you now remember sitting beside my um I don't know what you call it now am I like ghetto blaster waiting to push the play and pause button to record a green day song when it came on or something now you just go to Spotify and then the DJ started talking out over the stars at the end of it too because they figured out what you were at yeah exactly and so I feel that for parents now to keep our kids feet on the ground is so important and I'm a mom I know it is easier sometimes to give my child a screen because they will be quiet for the hour the half hour however long it is but in parenting always the right thing to do is often the hardest thing to do and you mentioned resilience so resilience is the act of overcoming something so children need to hear the word no I mean no is the word that you will hear the most and like no you didn't get the job you didn't get the exam no you didn't win the lottery yeah yeah the saddest one of all you didn't win the lottery and in fact when your child is there and they're really upset and the parents say in the camp, parents and club they cried for over an hour they say well that's how upset they were but this is really good because they're doing it within the safety of the relationship with you and that is the thing that makes that feeling safe yeah okay and parents need to give themselves a break too it's there's no handbook there's no rule book we're not prepared for it there's no licenses there's no learner permits there's no testing you know you just do your best as you can and you make mistakes along the way and you don't beat yourself up for it but you try and learn from it yeah okay so taught um the calm parenting club is that people can people get more information on that or yeah go to my website and have a look so it's my online parenting community where there's myself and a play therapist and we're there to guide you through life as it unfolds it takes place in my app so you can ask me questions whenever you need to and I'm there to help you support you through the ups and downs and it's the parents and kids and teenagers of all abilities um and it's weightless free I really want parents to know that you don't have to wait to get support so all right thanks for your time today and your insights take care of yourself that is Bethany O'Rourden uh psychotherapist and founder of the calm parenting club 086 60 25000 what's apps and texts that number or give us a call to if you wish an 07491 25000 watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highlandradio.com the 9 till noon show is brought to you by letterkenny credit union offering low rate holiday loans with fast approval apply 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greg thanks for having me on is that framed collect i'm not sure if you wrote this yourself or someone wrote it on your behalf is that framed correctly for you that is exactly yeah that is exactly on the on the button so i look back my son now is for nearly 15 and that's the age i started drinking so i've been thinking about it a lot and i'm horrified i'd greg at how you know and also how lucky we were that we didn't i didn't get into any major scrapes i did end up in hospital getting my stomach pumped after stealing some whiskey from my parents and drinking a lot of it and i'm just hyper aware that today it's even a bit more riskier you know teenagers drinking with phones and then there's drugs i mean there were no drugs around when i was going back now i'm 46 anyway long story short i decided to offer him 2000 euro if he didn't touch alcohol until he was 18 and he agreed he was delighted now some would say brilliant if it works for you that's fantastic others would say it's a bit of a cop out isn't it Mary you know to me trying to bribe him but is it is it if we dig into it a bit more it's not simply about the money though i suppose it actually may be empowers him a little bit you know i think people might read this and go well this is about Mary and her peace of mind but to some extent i suppose it empowers the young person and gives them an alternative and an incentive is that the motivation behind it exactly Greg you know that that is what it is i remember when i was growing up you would hear these urban myths of people none of my direct friends but you'd hear a people who parents had offered them a car or money and and they kind of used it as a crutch it was an excuse you know so i want him to know a that we expect him not to drink like that's what we expect b i would love if he was able to be honest and i don't mind if he goes if his friends are going to bars if he goes to bars but he doesn't drink and he just tells me you know but also i just think yeah as you say it is an extra incentive for him a to get the money but b he's got kind of an alibi he's able to say well look i don't want to drink fellas because you know every incident that he might drink is a potential loss of two thousand euro it's never going to be worth it right like there's never going to be a night or a party that it's worth it yeah and it's not a collective period of time from 15 to 18 it's a series of individual events isn't it really potentially yeah that's it that's it and all the research Greg like there's so much research on this that shows the parents who are more open to giving their adolescent adolescence alcohol or letting them drink a certain amount like they're four times more likely to fall into kind of harmful patterns later on with their drinking so people think like i might do i don't want to insult anyone who's decided to do this and i do have friends and family who have done this but they think that if they last their 16 year old have a beer with them they kind of think oh this is the mature thing to do we're teaching them how to drink but like i would say why would you teach your child to use a drug like you wouldn't give them a cigarette after dinner you know so why would you like introduce them to the world of drinking before the right team and if this monetary incentive if it you know it is a lot of money and you know like there is a bribery element there but i feel that it's important that they don't drink and i'll do another thing to you yeah and like where's the trust here is this sort of a middle account that he has access to when he's 18 like are you good for it mary another lines broken down a little bit can you hear me now mary can you yeah i mean there is an element of trust there it's not an escrow account or anything i can hear you yeah i might have to move room i might have to wander into another room and can you hear me correct yeah yeah go ahead i know this is like delay so i was asking you that's about a trust situation here yeah no absolutely i mean there will be a trust and i just want to keep well i think he knows i mean you know you can tell when someone's been drinking right and he knows that we'll be able like it's also been involved in their lives where they are you know like not saying okay you can go off and do sleepover for two nights with so and so and i'm not going to be in touch with the with your friends parents i'm going to be in touch and i'm going to be not in a controlling way but just to be i think parents they actually have you know a quite a big role and sometimes parents can think oh well they've got to 16 17 like they don't need me breathing down their neck but you kind of do you know so there is a level of trust but he knows that he'll be caught if he does drink and to be honest he's mad into his kind of body like he just wants to bulk up and he's like well drinking is bad for my body i don't want to do it it's like they're the 14 year olds 15 year olds they're very different breeds you're i think you might be a bit younger than me but they're a different breed to what we were i i had no idea i was smoking age 15 drinking like they know now their body is our temple like they want protein smoothies not like bottles of Budweiser you know so i think there's there will be trust there and i think that that i am confident anyway i hope you know i mean you got this idea from friends what has been the reaction to you going public on this everyone's got an opinion nowadays and some people are gonna think it's a cop out or that you know this that and the other i mean i'm more of an each each to their own type person to be honest with you but what has been the feedback you've received so far some of it's been really good and actually a lot of parents have gone to us to say that they have done something similar they they've offered them holiday or a car or and it has worked and then there's people who have been quite hostile to it and i kind of feel maybe they're a bit defensive because they haven't decided to do this so they feel and there is always that risk with the opinion writing you are always potentially you're insulting a lot of people if you come out with an opinion saying i don't think it's right you know and by inference they feel well you're saying i'm not a good parent so i have got a quite a quite a few hostile hostile reactions as well with people saying i don't think you're right and i think you know my son can have a beer with me and he's not going to go mental but you know as you say everyone to their own but i mean the research say that and you can't really argue with the research and the health professionals it'd be very difficult to get a health professional to tell you that it's a you're teenage drinking like i've tried to do i tried to get the counter argument and i could not get it like nobody nobody will come out and say it in fact it astounded me how many health professionals didn't actually drink themselves you know so i kind of feel there is there's a kind of societal thing there that you know it's you know the parents are really they're very much against vaping and cannabis and cigarettes but alcohol is something that is accepted right yeah but it's a little bit it is a bit like banning the mobile phones you see it's a little bit like it it's because we do it ourselves you see so we're talking about stopping other people doing and then does that mean then eventually they're going to come from us and i think there's a subconscious sort of thing going on there but finally mary you know so he'll have 15 16 17 18 to see maybe friends of his that did have a few drinks and and you know felt bad the next day or or did something a bit silly do you think in a way that he might sort of turn 18 and not go to the bar and have you know three or four points and say that you know what actually i've done all right up until now not drinking maybe i'll just choose not to drink as a as an adult maybe i mean who knows i mean are you could go the other way and just not know how to handle his booze and i hope that doesn't happen like craig what i try and do is i try and role model so i remember interviewing a liver specialist a couple years ago for an article and he said the one thing the one advice he gives is to people is to make every drink count so if you meet a friend and you have a genitalic like that first one is really mean something you know you sit down you haven't seen each other for ages you have a good chat but the four or five after that mean nothing really you don't need them so what i try and do is i try and well a not to kind of look like i'm gasping for a drink but just to make every drink count like i'll enjoy it a drink but i maybe want to order another one i'll order like a mint tea or something so i would like my dream would be and like unfortunately now i do actually have four kids and the youngest one now on six grand which you believe it or not he's a very you've created a monster so he was saying i'm going to do it for a six man like so and i would just i would love if my kids could drink mindfully and i know that's mindfully his buzzword but it does mean something when it comes to alcohol it's to enjoy it in in very small doses because you know i think we've just become habituated to drinking large amounts and we think that's normal and actually it's harmful you know all right okay it's been interesting speaking to you thanks for your time today have a lovely day thank you greg thanks for having me out take care of yourself mary mccathley who's mary mccarthy who is a journalist she's paying her child or has agreed with her 14 15 year old that if he stays off alcohol till he's 18 he's going to be 2000 euro richer so say it's not for everyone an awful lot of people wouldn't have access to the two grand to be able to make that smarter but what do you think is to say i'm more genuinely to their own if it works for them if they've got the money and it's beneficial that's grand would i do it don't know i have to think about it maybe i'll think about it during this ad break but i can understand why someone might but then i can understand why others might say well it's just throwing your hands up and saying i can't do i can't uh influence them uh without sort of the financial incentive i don't know what do you think oh wait six sixty twenty five thousand the whatsapp or text number if you're outside the republic zero zero three five three eight six sixty twenty five thousand the night all new show is brought to you by letter kenny credit union offering low rate car loans with fast approval apply online at letterkennycu.ie or in office today summer reductions on your favorite brands at brian mccormick sports brooks and asyx with twenty percent off check in store and online brooks glycerin and adrenaline twenty two gts save twenty percent asyx kiano twenty nine asyx gt 2011 save twenty percent get ready for the summer and save twenty percent off your favorite kids asyx trainers look the part play the part in store and online click and collect on bmcsports.ie at heron auto opal full type of people which is how we come up with the opal 5050 finance offer choose from the opal crossland corsa or mocha select your flexible payment option pair it with three years free servicing and meet your new other half discover more about opals 5050 offer the opal open road event see her and opal delta e for details finance is provided by way of a consumer higher purchase agreement by bank of island finance lending criteria and condition supply over it's only ownership remains with bank of island finance is regulated by the central bank of island bingo every monday night at the halfway house burn foot doors open seven thirty with ice down at it thirty two thousand five hundred euro must go snow ball is now one thousand and fifty euro on forty five numbers or less if you're not in you can't win that's halfway house bingo tonight at it thirty for the biggest names into perfume and aftershaves visit niggie's chemist letter Kenny Dolce and gabbana pakaroban Carolina Herrera Calvin Klein Jimmy Chu and Burberry Ariana Grande Jean-Paul Gautier Vera one and many more from timeless classics to celebrity favorites there's a perfume or aftershave for everyone at the keys chemist letter Kenny and online at the keys dot i e okay patrick is gonna join us a little later on we're gonna say good morning now to Kevin Kevin how are you getting on not so bad great thanks for joining us Kevin now you have noticed something at the goal self-service fuel stations these are the ones where you insert your card you prepay then you fill up you don't necessarily know exactly how much you're gonna fill up and then you drive off now if you put in eighty euro and you fill sixty five the idea being that you're charged sixty five euro not the eighty what's your experience been Kevin well twice there over the weekend Greg I had to go to one of the self-service stations there and I put in twenty euro each time but I just see my account this morning it's down to the tune of two hundred and fifty euro wow so how could it be so much well I spoke to both the bank and I spoke to the crowd that runs the service station and the bank saying it's a pre-authorization they haven't got you know they don't pre-authorize it they don't they just take the forty out the company saying that it's Visa and MasterCards that put the pre-authorization and it will drop off but it could take three or four working days forty drop off Greg you'll get the money back okay that's how you do but if you had somebody there that had about ten euro that's tethered easel into their car next thing they have a direct debit coming out this morning for rent or something or a phone bill or something like that and they find out they're down 125 euro for a ten euro purchase that sounds wee but strange so Kevin when you pulled in when you pulled in to get fueled do you know how you put the card in and then it tells you how much you're going to pump what button did you press did you press the twenty you don't get that option on the station you put the card in you put your pun on and then it tells you to start fueling the car you fuel the car whatever and then you press for receipt you see that's what they understand the filler system that you're talking about where you put in your card and up it comes you want tethered easel most of you want twenty euro and you press go and then it tells you if your car is declined or not right so with this company then you check for 125 euro then obviously they automatically withdraw that out of your account now where is Sutton this is the one I don't know where that's actually 105 euro Sutton that's not both the bank and that's not both the company so they're saying these are our mastercard it's a pending payment pending payment yes so there are two of them at the weekend there's nothing to say there used to be a penny and neither the two of them have dropped off so this morning Sutton we 210 euro out of my account so it's gone which would be enough to bounce a direct debit potentially depending on not in your situation and even though that money is returned then it could be Monday afternoon Tuesday Wednesday Thursday you know we've already encountered the problems I wonder is it a particular thing for the weekends you know because you know the way the it doesn't matter Greg when it's for really it doesn't matter because I'm Sutton at 10 or 11 o'clock this morning still hasn't been been returned so I see a something that people need to be aware of that they need to be aware of that's a funny one I wouldn't mind even one but there's something we do more and something that people would just need to be very aware of when they're using certain service stations now the ones that bring you up the transaction and petrol or diesel and you put your mind on that they're all on the percent because you're immediately your card either declines or is accepted so your purchase is the same as tapping it or using your card in the machine but that's what this way here I personally will not be using the corrector station ever again until that system changes and I've been a fairly good customer up there I think it's useful for you back I don't think it's a problem for the company I think it's useful feedback they can say oh right this is an issue because before they would just check it's a real card and as you say you know a nominal fee just to make sure right this is an active card but they're seemingly at least at one of the stations they're pre-authorising 125 euro which is a pending payment it's not taken from you but it's a pending payment which has that effect on your bottom line that's actually taken from me that's taken from your money and your bank that's actually taken from me and then returned that's taken away so for 10 euro of capital maybe some person looking just take a lot of capital over the weekend they could potentially be down 125 euro alright listen Kevin thanks for your time I appreciate it take care of yourself now we spoke to the company and the bank did it were you that spoke to them Caroline that we spoke to the company the bank says it's different rules for different companies and in terms of pre-authorisation some drop it right away some takes a few working days so as I say just to be careful if you are operating the money is there's no money taken from you that shouldn't be as such it's a pre-authorisation but for some people in some cards in a particular couple of stations you can find yourself down that 125 per transaction now for many people you might put 100 euro of diesel in and I don't know but you could find yourself without access to that money for a day or two till it's refunded to you ok just worth keeping an eye on there just as it relates to the banning of smartphones a caller says it's too late as virtual reality and screen time is now replacing natural human interaction communication can go into any home TV, phone, video games or the way of life now go to a pub younger generation texting and on social media in groups together but apart intervention is needed and yes let's start in schools plus educating parents of dangers of too much screen time and the benefits of real play and engagement it's hard to know where we are going because we have billionaires you know who are see a different world for us you know be it Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk they are the main players particularly Zuckerberg he is incredibly influential they see metaverses you know blended reality as the future and they've got billions upon billions upon billions of euro to make us believe that way Elon Musk he's got his own ethos he can throw 44 billion euro at twitter and no great shakes he can afford to take that risk but he also has a plan and both of them are seen as heroes by those that support them but really they're doing their own thing to their own ends you know is it really about the user quite interesting that new if you're interested in your social media threads the new app from meta it's connected to instagram it's not available in the EU at the moment you can easily download it if you want to it's not hard to do with a VPN which a lot of people use a VPN anyway you just say you're in London download it and that's it and it's quite interesting it's not a toxic place it's much more and people might not like it there's obviously more censorship but there's not as much sort of toxicity or the stuff you see on twitter anymore and I think that's going to work very much in its favour they've already had brilliant caroline saying we're discussing it tomorrow they've already had in excess of 100 million downloads of the app which is remarkable in four days but as I say it is if you want social media where it is just sort of cats and people saying nice things and a bit of commentary on sports and stuff it's nice for that you open twitter and everyone's saying names of who's the BBC personality and this person over here I don't agree with them and I hate you and you know just everything that's kind of negative is all there on the twitter timeline and they've got this other thread space where it's kind of back to the way twitter used to be where it's all rosy in the garden that's not for everyone but I think I think it's going to do really well it already has it is a proper rival to twitter now others have tried blue sky and master dom and others but they never had the critical mass access that meta have and they have created something that is genuinely going to be a rival to twitter so it will be interesting to see how all that plays out if you're in any way interested in social media well then I've just been talking extra nonsense for the last two or three minutes Paula says imagine the party when you turn 18 and have 2000 euro to spend it's very difficult for parents teaching them to drink has to be a big no no thank god to be old and have 40 something children ok you don't have to worry about it ok I totally agree with Mary I never agreed with this policy of introducing drink to under 18s and I know many parents do this not judging but it never felt right to me I gave my daughter an incentive to stay off alcohol until she was 18 and thankfully it worked highly recommend all sports to make the more aware of their health and fitness so it's not like someone from the suburbs or something with this notion that no one else has ever done we've been listening here who incentivised her child her daughter or his daughter not to drink till they're 18 and it worked for them as well is it something you might try Greg I was in a pub recently and I noticed a lot of people including some young drinking Guinness zero and other beers this was good to see because some young people may never want to drink but it's not cool to ask for a cocoa 7-up if your friends are on pint so your pint of Guinness zero looks and almost tastes as good indeed I I I don't think alcohol is particularly nice tastes particularly nice really I don't know I like it's good to see and I think I think the sales of zero zero's have quadrupled so it is something that people are adapting to but I would prefer if I wasn't drinking a bottle of coke full of ice and a slice of lemon or something but each to their own Ryan Taubry paid his agent Noel Kelly to do a job to get the best deal for Ryan what RTE did then to make up the pay check is up to RTE now Ryan and Noel and the baddies in all of this for Noel doing his job RTE have answers why they went around the bush in making up the payments to Ryan indeed that is a point of view Greg I was in Gold fuels on Saturday got 40 euro of diesel it was the same thing 125 euro payment taken it was returned this morning though but for some the direct debit could come out overnight and it could be a problem so hopefully it's something the company has a look at because those the great services but if people and it's handy for people and you can get your diesel or petrol whenever you like but especially at the moment that 125 could really genuinely be the difference between the payment going through or not the 90 noon show is brought to you by letter Kenny credit union with monster loans available up to 60,000 euro for all occasions visit letterkennycu.ie this is a show you'll never forget come and join the party it's just Peggy superb call the ticket hotline on 02871 26445 or visit millenniumforum.co.uk the one you've been waiting for the McElhenny's summer sale is now on with up to 40% off across almost all departments and massive savings across your favorite brands don't miss out on amazing offers shop and store at McElhenny's Ballet Buffet or online at McElhenny's.com the Lennon Festival Remelton comes to a close tonight Monday but before that there's lots of family fun throughout the afternoon including pet show and fancy dress then later at it it's the closing ceremony and fireworks display with live music from Paul McCall and guests all happening today at the Lennon Festival Remelton and you'll love in Sarah's Kitchen and there's free admission entertainment every weekend Brendan will be joining us in the next few minutes to preview the DL Debate and look back at the weekend's GAA action that and so much more besides in the next hour but it is 11 o'clock so that means it's time for a new update and it is good morning to Donna Marie Daherty thanks Greg good morning the Milford Draft Town Centre first has entered its second stage of public consultation drafted in line with new national policy and feedback from the first stage of public consultation earlier this year it hopes to strengthen the role, image, vibrancy vitality and resilience of Milford Town Centre full details on how you can submit feedback is available on our website highlandradio.com one of the young white-tailed eagles found dead in County Antrim two months ago had crossed South Donegal two weeks prior the two birds were poisoned after consuming P.S. and I are investigating the circumstances of how the illegal killing occurred a man in dairy sustained head injuries following an aggravated burglary the incident occurred in a house located on Grafton Street at around 11 p.m. it's believed two men forced their way onto the property one armed with a golf club a body has been recovered in County Mayo following the search for a missing Mexican tourist following a major search operation over the weekend which included the coast guard the 18-year-old was reported missing on Friday evening after going for a walk on Ackle Island it's reported Sebastian Palma's segment had been holidaying there with his family some direct provision centres are so overcrowded that residents are forced to stand on beds to get dressed while children have no space to do homework that's according to the health watchdog Hickwa which is carrying out inspections of accommodation centres across the country so far it's examined three centres in Kerry and Cork on a pilot basis and found all three fell short of meeting national standards and finally asking price inflation is slowing but the supply of homes remain a problem that's according to a new report my home.ie's property price report for the second quarter of this year shows the annual asking price inflation is running at 2.2% the median asking price for a property in Donegal is now 200,000 euro that's all for now we'll be back with more at 12 o'clock until then good morning thank you so much indeed okay you're very welcome back to the 9 till noon show thanks for all your calls and comments coming in by the way 08 6 60 25,000 whatsapps and texts keep them coming or call us an 07 4 9 1 25,000 right 7 o'clock this evening the DL debate DL debate is available for you to listen to schedule just after 7 on the radio and available for you to cast or download and listen at your leisure maybe you're out for a walk tomorrow morning you want to save it up for that the presenter of the DL debate hi Brent how are you Greg? very good yeah I was on a boat you love it out there don't you I get the fishing rod soon we had to sleep in there nobody almost me it was good fun I was saying earlier on if you'd looked at the weather forecast it would have been a good weekend wouldn't you and then it turned out it was beautiful I saw a one shower and sat in something lovely calm see conditions as well listen I just think with the weather just roll with it see if it's raining there I go down hop off the pier and I go down my hargail it's just a wee bit of a thing with the kids keeping them entertained you know when it goes past a certain phasing on the device it beats yesterday so feeling fresh today you know ready for the week ready for the DL debate right okay big games look forward to it is the all island ladies quarter final we talked about it last week Donagall v Dublin listen I would looking at her career what a player she is she is an absolute star and you know you talk about being ballers she is one of the best out there the way she plays her intelligence on the ball and how she contributes even to scoring she is in the phenomenal season she is captain she is obviously an ex soccer star she has played in Ireland as well and been across the water she has come through injuries she is an absolute leader we want to talk about Dublin and about this season what a story she has we love it to have a proper talk about her career I didn't think it was possible I interviewed Maxie current manager six weeks ago after a heavy defeat up in Lifford and the whole season was about to go down to Swansea and have completely turned around how do we set our expectations going into this game we want to enjoy it is a huge game against Dublin deep into the biggest competition so you want to get up for it and get excited about that kind of stuff but as you say we kind of find ourselves in a position that you would never have dreamt you might have been in a few short months ago it is probably very important because with the experienced players coming back in the young players have found their feet in the league and even though there are a couple of tough defeats in that they have come into the championship and it hasn't bothered them and now when the numbers have come back don't they all now are a force again but how long is this the last hurrah for the young players so it might be a very important time now obviously the young girls coming through are full of talent but it might take a while for them to adjust so it is probably a very important championship in terms of this could be the last one for a few of them because we are surprised even if a few came back so I know there is a bit of an injury worrying Jarlene McLaughlin so hopefully she makes it as well it has been fantastic advances in women's sport there is a generation of ladies footballers that blazed a trail but they may be coming towards the end of the career and I noticed this in boxing as well particularly with the Katie Taylor and there is a whole group of about 12 or 14 other women that are all now in the mid to late 30s and it is just on the boxing side of things you don't see where the next crop are coming through so what you are seeing matches where someone has had two fights since it is a world title I am just wondering in terms of the massive acceleration in women's football is there a cliff edge here or are the players coming through to maintain the expectations and the standards that we have come to take for granted a little bit the players are definitely coming through Greg you just have when you have a team like Donegal that is as good as being at the top knocking on the door of an All-Ireland continually there is obviously going to be a bit of a change and we have seen it with every team that has been very talented it is how you manage that and how you take it through and then different stars but to have Neve in there of course she mentioned the acceleration of the ladies game she is obviously a GPA rep as well in terms of all that is happening there at the minute with the girls looking for proper expenses and parity with the men in terms of how they are looked after which is very important but we have got to pull up the ladies game as much as we can so if these girls are given as much as the men then they have to get the same expenses and same help with pitches same support and respect I would like to stand to respect going to be a really interesting conversation too you are joined by Gary McDade and Michael Hegerty reflecting on the Donegal GEA 2023 men in their county team I presume will take up quite a bit of that but not exclusively that is going to be an interesting conversation some talking points there there would not be a year ever with as many talking points as last year having Matt Gary knows the Donegal football and of course Michael Hegerty I just think with Michael sometimes with such a big county there tends to be sometimes a different mindset maybe from the north to the south and you would see that a lot so having Michael on is a thing of balance because there was a lot of talk of different things happening particularly when the projected management saga came in and there were reasons for that very important and we are going to highlight them tonight how this all fit into place how it came about the party and in the background what happened in the Rory Kavana Karelesi Jim McGinnis situation I want to spell that out to people because sometimes those wires with rumours all got crossed so there was a certain way that all happened and then they obviously backed off and then in the end the players asked Paddy Carr to step down so it was important we talk about that just to see what happened in terms of the last process because we are going to do a new one now and it is very important Were you surprised or any reaction to Michael Murphy saying the jobs too soon for him ruining himself out early which I think is helpful if he is not interested in it I think he has a lot going on obviously and a bit of media work as well Michael Murphy, he is always good luck it is more what he is turning down I would imagine everybody I don't bother him now Greg because a very odd time in my text we are ringing him for a word but he is doing really well so he has got the business he is volviating you this is no doubt that man is going to at some stage take down he all but I think for him yet they jump in now I think he needs to that shows good sense too I think so because the easy thing to do would take the jobs straight away I think himself he probably wants to look about maybe get involved with somebody else for a while he is obviously getting so much experience he will have his own way of doing it I think obviously as coach a long one will be very important but I am sure from that 2012 team we are just meeting Carlisle and Roy Kavanaugh if you are them all involved you can imagine how the young Donny Gall squad a lot of people seem to without necessarily saying it directly and it normally goes around to talented people who are working with other counties and all there seems to be a sense of what people want for next year the candidates are all really from that 2012 team if you look at it and I know the last team was approached from Derry as well he has relations and balance there so the nominations are to come in you have then a process where the county board can also want to approach people so last year Paddy Carr was nominated by a fan of it and SB Byrd was nominated by Milford so whenever it came then Paddy Carr Donny Gall went out looking for a coach because he was a manager so they were put together so of course in the end that didn't work out so it just remains to be seen to the clubs put up anybody or do the county board obviously out this Maliki Aroga course was met a couple of times not as an official interview but he was met, he was the number one target but he ruled himself out as well the county there's only so many people can travel a certain distance and do you think with the albeit disappointing end to the season but the uptick the attitude and commitment to some of the senior players you know the more experienced players the young talent that's there and maybe with a little bit more overview or oversight of how the G.E.A. is running this county this sort of ongoing from have we got to a point now where people will look at this job favorably rather than there was a period of time where you would sort of say well you wouldn't touch that with the barge pole right have we moved through that a little bit or are we moving through that a little bit to make it more, actually you know what it's a big county, brilliant support base decent crop of players I can go in there and do something that's an important point the players didn't you'd have to say for the Arogan party as well in that group phase but you've seen enough of a young talent even with all the players not available people stepped away, retired but all injuries we had and injuries to some of your key men and we still managed to be competitive so you know it did the hard good to see all these young boys coming through and start to become a team again and particularly the performance against Manon was phenomenal and Manon getting ready for an iron semi-final we completely turned them over the job much more attractive you know and the academy's up and running I mean under 15s and 16s played at the weekend there played Dublin and Monaghan and that I think there's about 10 or 11 coaches back at the minute now from that review the review that happened there's a committee set up to get the coaches all back in so hopefully the academy gets fully up and running and coached again the way it was but you're right there's an enormous amount of talent out there now which wouldn't have been seen only for maybe all the turmoil so if you're a new manager coming in all the players back and get the players fit we certainly have a very talented squad going on the next season and coming in do you want a 3-5 year deal would you or 3? you talking to me now? no no no I'm sure you could form we could talk you know what we'll do too stick in defence so you can be the defensive coach right I was great at tackling me listen but you want someone to come in with a sort of 3-3 years here 3 would be certainly and listen you could review it after 3 with a plus or 5 I think because of the age range of that team so young now that you're going to build it up if you have a good coaching management then it's going to keep going up and up so I think it's important that would require managed expectations and patience for fans as well we all want everything instantly so the deal, debates, a cracker need McLaughlin in and of course himself and also you can listen to it live just after the 7pm news today it's also a podcast then to listen at your leisure on HighlandRadio.com and it's brought to you in association with Sarah's Kitchen at sister Sarah's letter Kenny Brendan I'll let you get on with it thanks so much for your time all right back with more after these Call us on 074 910 2126 or apply online via our app or in office today Hi folks, Paul McDevitt here inviting to join myself and Jimmy Stafford this Monday night for another edition of the Monday Night Sessions on the show this week we're delighted to welcome local up and coming rock band The Afades we'll also be playing you brand new music from around the north west and the rest of the country and keeping you up to date all things that are happening musically in the north west this Monday night between 8pm and 10pm right here on Highland Radio Do you need a little extra help staying in your home? 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I'm feeling after a wet really run up for a moment here about my appointment I'm very pleased I'm very excited about it and how important is it that you're the first female dean for this diocese Is that in terms of significance was that ranked quite low down? It wouldn't even occur to me I was appointed because I was female in every walk of life we should be appointed to a position because we're the right person right time, right place and I feel that's my circumstance I kind of suspected that hence how I phrased the question Talk to me about your early life do you always an interest in religion or? I would have been brought up in a church family like every one of my age group we all went to church, we went to mass we were brought up by our parents and our grandparents to be church goers My father was brought up in the rectory in Coal Island so my grandfather was a rector my great-grandfather and his uncle so that side of church life was very normal to us it wasn't something set aside as something different was very normal whenever I was growing up there were no new females ordained and I felt my vocation was in the health care services so I spent 30 plus years as a physiotherapist and is that where you felt you had to go or like did you consider you would like to do that but there's no other females that have done that no it never ever occurred to me as far as I was concerned my vocation was in the caring professions nursing, fabulous career physiotherapy socials work for the three things I was interested in and I would have ended up in children's work anyway I worked as a pediatric physio for 25 years which is quite different because you're not making aches and pains I was listening to your last person who was promoting the sports and looking at sports things but pediatric physio was very different because you're caring for the children yes but the family you're working with schools with health care services so I enjoyed all of that very very much and then the interaction with the people obviously you're there to try to make people better you try to make people better or very much so because whenever you have a child or a young person with a long term problem you work with the family it's very pastoral as well it's very practical so really it's no great surprise that I slowly drifted into church work more and more and more in the church of Ireland we have positions called parish readers who assist in morning worship diocesan readers who are lay who are licensed to preach not ordained sacraments so I did those two roles and then how long alongside you're already very busy life so how like your 30 year career in health service at what point were you doing both or was it for the whole time well if you think that's busy I'm also a merchant navy wife so we will soon be married 40 years we've lived together for about 15 of them it's a recipe to success it's a recipe to success so yes, what did you ask me so did you have a family as well I have one child we have my husband gets so annoyed he's not mine he's ours I have one baby baby is 31 years old so all through then so you've got your career in the health service you're a mom because of your husband's career you spend quite a bit of time on your own really really busy but it flies doesn't it it flies it was organised I mean obviously at the very beginning I was very keen on nursing and somebody somewhere guided me it was God guided me into physiotherapy it was amazing because I could not have coped without that 9 to 5 Monday to Friday routine that falls into school work and all the rest I was a foster mom for four years as well and again my Monday to Friday work my boys I just I just loved it I loved it all it's life's experiences which I would hopefully bring into my ministry life and you talked about the guidance can I just move this slightly if you don't mind you talked about an old kind of block sauce but you talked about no that's terrible I want to be able to see you you talk about being guided by God are you aware of that through your career or is that on reflection I would say both there would be times when I would have stopped and I would have paused and I would have waited for just encouragement within me some of the cases I would have worked with would have been very emotionally draining and I feel that I would have had God's support to get myself going and to continue in my work but he's always been there he's always there for all of us if we would just stop, pause, reflect and he is there and again I was listening to your previous person who was out on a boat at the weekend in Ghidor I'm heading to Lakharn for a fortnight and we need peace we need quiet, we need space so we can find ourselves and find God in our lives I think some people fear that though they fear what might fill the vacuum I suppose you know if you have a faith it's going to be that but others try and keep themselves busy you know we have this notion that we have to be busy to be happy almost or we have to always be on the go I feel we're too busy I think we're too busy my favourite spots would be on the water beside the sea and up the hillside and there's so many of my girlfriends they're only happy if they're out busy lunching and that's very important as well lunching and shopping and all the rest but we need quiet we need peace we're not wasting our time by doing nothing we're actually helping to restore ourselves not as much now as perhaps it should be but if you go back a couple of hundred years you know what you talk of the fields, the hills the landscape were more intertwined with religion weren't they yes they possibly were but we need to move with the times and where people are and what people are doing faith isn't a static thing faith moves with our life experiences I think which is probably why I was in my fifties when I was ordained because our faith experiences and how we want to express and how we want to use it changes and just by coincidence last week we were speaking to Father Sean Daherty who at the age of 42-43 left just says right I'm leaving here and his pathway to his ordination was six years of study some time a reflection then over to Rome and now he's an ordained priest and it's funny in that a lot of what he did in his life as he was saying himself you know we present the show like this listening to people and all that type of stuff to him a better priest because he's more mature and as like that type of stuff that's his pathway what is yours how did it work for you in terms of how your career versus up until you become Reverend Liz Fitzgerald what has to happen or what happened for you I'm going to almost repeat Father Sean's journey I was in my forties and I went to college part-time church of Ireland we studied three years postgraduate and I was able to do it six years part-time so like Father Sean I did six years and I was ordained at the age of 56 as a deacon I spent two years in Donna Manor and then I was priesthood and I went to beautiful Ghidor and yes it's interesting when you actually finally stop your daytime job to move elsewhere and you do as Father Sean said you do bring a different experience with you whenever I worked as a physiotherapist I would have had student physios out with me I loved that and they just qualified they had young ideas they had a good brain for interpreting information and papers and I had the experience and I feel here too I enjoy working with people of all age groups and all experiences because we all have something special to offer but like Father Sean I feel I have a different starting point because I have had those 30 years I've also had 30 years as a wife and a mother and running a busy household so you do have a different reflection on life and life experiences and also too you've got your husband and your son presumably to say look this is what I'm going to do did any of that come as a surprise to them well my son just says oh mom's a holy roller we just get on with it my husband has always been very supportive his father his late father was one of six and is in every good Cork family there was a priest a teacher a nun and a secretary business one you know so faith ran and religious I was going to say religious orders wouldn't have been unusual in Sean's family he's now retired he retired a year ago he had a very very busy year in Rotary Ireland you know of Rotary there's a very strong club in letter Kenny here and so he's now finished that so I have space how does your workload change do you know from your previous career to now I mean from physio to now or from cure to where I'm going no from from your 30 years in healthcare and all those different guys and forms compared to now I mean you know this is you're not there's a lot of work for you to do there is it's very different because in the healthcare services everything is so contradictions everything is so time orientated this is your time with this patient you write up the notes you file them you put them away you don't finish with your parishioners you carry them with you the joy and the strength and the encouragement from some of them the sorrows and the needs from others you carry with you all the time I don't find a burden some by any any means I find it a privilege that people do bring them bring me into their confidence do you know it's funny you should say that too because I can't remember it was on the radio I can't remember it was off the radio or a conversation it might have been on the radio but it it's a great honour if you're able for it you know it is to be able to be offer comfort to people at the time of need to offer counsel just to be there to be their friend I mean it's a great like it is a great gift to have if you can deal with everything else that goes along with it you know I mean it's incredible burden some two times but you're well conditioned to perhaps deal with that well this this this sounds strange I've always kept dogs and you say burden some so I mean people can certainly say whatever they wish I take my dogs up the hillside to the sea and the coming coming to Lockhart with us for a week we need some way of of chilling and it's actually Biblical because Jesus went up the hillside to pray and I think more fascinating to go up the hillside even just sit and empty all our woes and our troubles either literally or much of our I suppose preferably literally if you can both very very much so our where would you be based what is your role now I will be rector of three parishes as the parishes of Clon Lee, Ray Moche and Rafoe and usually the rector of a cathedral would carry the the title and the honour of Dean the Dean bit I hadn't actually expected it's it's it does happen occasionally that somebody from within the diocese holds that but normally it is the Dean I'm up for it, I'm ready to go the I won't actually probably move into that position until I was hoping end of September but it could be October and what do you I mean can you set yourself goals or what you want to do or achieve or what would you like your hopefully many many years to come that you're to have done for the church or for the parish or you know what would you like to make inroads in or is it simply to be there for people which is incredibly important first and foremost it is to be there there is a huge ministry of presence I want young people to understand that going to church and expressing your face is not funny it is very very important I mean young people go out they love they love one another they support one another and that again is Biblical that is church and so come and reinforce your face with one another and I would love to see more young people expressing themselves through their face which is in there it's in each and every one of us we bit of God is in each and every one of us and if they could find it and share it that would be a wonderful wonderful thing and that would show true independence and you know thinking for oneself it's good if people try and do that people claim to do it but they don't necessarily actually really do it I think it's good if people assert themselves think for themselves you know stand by their principles and morals their religion whatever it might be and I think it has to be we faith is very much a collective thing it's not people say they're spiritual but really they need to be collective to share that spiritual and that little bit of spirit is the Holy Spirit within each and every one of us is the collective we need to it's like if you have one burning cold sitting on the fireplace it'll die if you put many colds in on top of it that glow will spread and that's how the love of God will spread through people being together worshiping together living together talking together having coffee together it's the togetherness that I believe is so important well what do you think are the greatest challenges facing the church at the moment is it engagement with with younger people a new generation of church goers is that the greatest challenge or maybe it's not even a challenge I don't know what's not the greatest challenge one of the challenges is there are a large number of young people who've never been to church they don't understand church and I would love them to have the confidence just to saunter in the back for 10 minutes and see whether they can engage with the liturgy and engage with the whole ethos and the feeling that God is here with us that's a challenge there are also people of my age and older that have fallen away and I often wonder just come back you don't have to go back to your own church you could go to a mass where nobody will know you and you can go and just experience that and it's not always maybe a loss of faith or anything I would know people who went to mass every single week and then Covid happened and then they stopped going and then they didn't go back it was no particular reason it wasn't that they pray any less or they're any less but they it wasn't out of the habit of it it wasn't the thing anymore sometimes it's not a big massive crisis it's just simply someone's out of the habit of doing something it's a very wise bishop once said to me it's easy to fall into bad habits but you have to work at getting into good habits and that's where we need our encouragers to help us to get back into good habits loads of kind wishes and messages coming in for you best wishes and every blessing to Reverend Liz in her new role as Dean thank you for your kindness and ministry that's from Father John Joe Duffy Oh Father John Joe thank you very much so I thought I'd pick that one out thank you and we wish you the best of everything and I think you're going to make a great Reverend it's clear with the way you come across and what you want to do and achieve to you thank you very much and thank you very much for your time this morning no it's our pleasure and hopefully we shall talk again in the not too distant future that is Reverend Liz Fitzgerald back with more shortly PDO thread lifts the ultimate non-surgical lift for the skin improving facial contours lifting and tightening jaws the neck cheeks and eyebrows are available at Genesis aesthetics and skincare clinic adore for help choosing the right aesthetic treatment for you contact Mary fairy your aesthetic practitioner also offering fat dissolving treatments dermal fillers and laser treatments for all skin conditions hair and makeup packages also available Genesis aesthetics and skincare clinic adore 07495 32575 a public interest message from dunny gall county council become a museum detective at dunny gall county museum search for clues and discover more about the history of dunny gall with the museum detectives backpack the backpack is free to borrow when you visit the museum and contains a series of activities for children of all ages to do there are artifacts to find stories to create and puzzles to solve dunny gall county museum is located on the high road in letter kenny and admission is free telephone 0749124613 email museum at dunnygallcoco.ie or find us on facebook dunny gall county council supporting our communities and protecting our heritage to knee pain can be debilitating that's why at kingsbridge private hospital or orthopedic surgeons offer a range of hip and knee surgeries and are ready to help get you back to doing what you love fast why wait find out more about our health insurance partners and cross-border health care options at kingsbridgeprivatehospital.com today the 9 till noon show with letter kenny credit union now offering mortgages from 40,000 to 600,000 euro with no hidden fees or transaction charges letter kenny credit union 9102127 beat your personal best with top brands and premium running footwear from michael murphy sports in letter kenny there's new arrivals from asex new balance, brooks, adidas and under armor in a range of structured and neutral styles there's also free next day delivery on orders over 85 euro at michael murphy sports.ie while on his lunch break at work shawn switched to 48 mobile he got all data calls and texts for the limited time offer of 650 that made him feel like he scored a goal so he celebrated by pulling his shirt up over his head and knee sliding across his boss's desk good call shawn 48 mobile good call subject to fair usage 12.99 a month after the first three months 650 one-time activation fee c48.ie charlie boil is a customer experience consultant you're great to see you good morning greg how are you I've been reading your words on and around well not specifically but specifically to some extent about what's going on in rte in the great challenge that's facing the incoming director general before we dig into that with such a huge organization almost 2000 staff in the position that it's in and the conversation about license fee and how it's funding in people's wages is it a ship that can be turned around in your experience you know given the scale of it and the attention that's on it at the moment I'll look at everything can be turned around and it's probably in the national interest that it is you know I think this last three weeks has been good probably in highlight and what's gone wrong but there's still a lot of questions to be asked as to how it got so wrong you know and the standing down of the board today is probably good news to most people but a lot of questions have to be asked as to why why this wasn't called a lot sooner than it was because I think we all were aware that rte was seen you know there was ad hoc sort of information 10 15 years ago that the culture the internal satisfaction the employee experience was not good inside and the politicians that are sitting on the public accounts committee in the last couple of weeks are seasoned politicians they also would have known that but what I think is incredulous is that there was no measurement of that internal experience so there is no employee experience measurement at rte and we're you know we're living in 2023 where the employee experience in any organization and a state or a state body is no different must be and should be measured and that would have highlighted so many of the issues that you know we're hearing in the last few days it becomes nearly entertainment Greg that you know it's about flip-flops or a borrowed Renault car for five years and I think it does the whole organization a disservice that that's the highlight because it's not the highlight the highlight is much deeper than that yeah and I think it's interesting how you're extending out the levels of accountability and I agree with you no more so than the executive saying that we were told everything was okay and then the board saying the executive totals everything is okay and that's we scrutinized that but who's scrutinizing the members of the eructus committees who were saying well use came in here and told us everything was okay these conversations were happening in the public all the time every time the wages were published it was going on you know we knew there was disquiet amongst the lower paid workers who were still whether or not they took a pay cut there was a tier of people earning hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands so these questions should have been teased at long before now by those that oversee all of it do you believe that's the case yeah of course the question should have been asked but the evidence should have been there to back that up so the basis of anything is chosen in terms of customer experience where that is in the last 10 years research would support very very strongly that the experience of the end user in our case the license holder you and I are license holders and you know we're the end user and all of us as are all the people who are viewers to RTA and that's only a replication of how things are deep down in the organization that organization of 2000 people and again I'll go back to the point there hasn't been a measurement of the employee satisfaction the employee experience and if there was a simple measurement the simple measurement could be something like a net promoter score question which asks on a scale of 1 to 10 how satisfied are you working what the organization you give the score the second part of that question is why did you give that score so it's both quantitative you've got a number and it's qualitative you've got loads and loads of comments that's the information that should have been presented a bit last by the artist committee members not how are things going because you know that just allows somebody to again add love how they feel things are going or look at other key performance indicators like viewership or compliance or you know legalities compliance legality is not always a best measurement you know decency and ethics and professionalism and looking after your team are other measurements that weren't taken into place on this occasion yeah and I think it's interesting that the incoming director general one of the things that is going to put in place is is that all members of the executive are involved in all major decisions and that minutes effectively of those conversations are kept I mean that's a solution to a problem but that was the most basic of things that should have been in there in the first place and should have been scrutinized to ensure that they're in there with what you're referencing just now but I'll get to that in a moment but the big solution is I think what we had a fair expectation already existed yeah yeah I think some of the stuff that that has been heard in the last you know week or so was a lot of it is is unbelievable but the fact that it's got to the stage where it is unbelievable makes us probably look at people what was happening in the last five or ten years why was this not looked at you know more closely than it has been and why is this information only come up now when it had to come up when they were you know really really forced their hand and even when that opportunity was given two weeks ago the full of the patient wasn't coming out you know it was as if there was a culture of again I'll tell you on a need to know basis rather than you know for the greater good of the state yeah and one of the missions is to come in and change the culture in this company so when we say that because we sort of repeated and I wonder do we really think what that actually means we just say there's a culture of this that and the other so what culture do you believe exist there and and will the type of measures that you are proposing address that yeah it's a really good question because we can't with any accuracy say what the culture is because there's no measurement of the culture you know we go back to the Peter Drucker statement in the mid 50s which is really really relevant culture each strategy for breakfast and it's not the strategy or the policies and the procedures of any organization that will one of the day it's the culture and part of that culture is how they treat each other internally so what is what are the internal workings of that so there is the reality is there is there is no measurement of that and that may be for good reason because it may not have suited everybody that there was a spotlight shown on the organization and a lot of the time the reason that employee experience or employee engagement is not measured is that it's perhaps the decision of senior management or some senior management not to measure it but what's becoming more and more evident through lots of really rich research is that the companies that are successful the good and the great and that's not always the amazons and the link downs and you know the ones that we hear great stories about but it might be a small medium enterprise with 20 or 30 people and their success is based on how they are internally and that probably is the big shift in the last 10 years but RT for some reason just didn't follow that they didn't create any measurements of their culture and you can measure culture you can measure employee experience you can measure employee engagement and some of the statistics coming out from the states for example would suggest that 60% of people working in organizations are disengaged they are not engaged so you take the loss of that if that was the case with the 2000 employees at RTE if there was a level of disengagement simply because their voice wasn't heard what's been the financial loss there so it's no point rolling out flip-flops or borrowed rental car when perhaps the losses are many more millions or billions because of the failure to measure the culture internally so you know it's great to hear the director Kevin Backhurstman this morning saying there's a wish now to change the culture reality is there's no base measurement of what that culture is there's only the ad hoc information sometimes I wonder you don't ask a question because you don't want to have to deal with the answer and there were an awful lot of individuals doing really very well be it in the executive or some of the more high profile presenter staff do you want to ask the people lower deck how things are going when they will tell you things aren't really going great here we've taken a pay cut we don't have the right equipment we're recording voiceovers in toilets you know when we don't feel we're getting the support for it I just wonder was there the culture being that the people at the top probably didn't want to because the thing about media it's a funny old thing you can a lot of people a lot of people would almost do it for free you know what I mean for whatever reason or another and I think sometimes that can be a little bit exploited and I just wonder if they were afraid to ask that question the biggest cultural problem is is that a certain group of individuals were doing really really well and as long as the you know the deck hands kept quiet or weren't asked we can keep this gravy train running yeah and I think you're right you know we asked the question do you want to at senior management level obviously they didn't want to but should they have had to yes they should have had to and that's where the accountability and the management and the governance comes into play but that governance is not only the board of governors who are there it's the politicians that we elect and we represent to you know to watch our interests so again who's asking the questions of the public accounts committee you know who's asking them the questions yeah but that's that was actually going to be my next question so I'll phrase it if you don't want to and I don't mean like heads to roll let's clear it I don't mean it like that but what level of responsibility in all of this do you think has to be directed towards the minister with responsibility and also the public accounts committee who we kind of expect are going to be scrutinising on our behalf you know we can't have a situation where the politicians stand beside us and go yeah that's terrible we need to do something about that you know they're very well rewarded for us to have an expectation that they're on top of things like this so is there any how much of the responsibility falls to definitely the PAC and to an equal extent the minister for communications I think I think quite a bit of it to be very honest you know because again the the responsibility of checking out what was the state of play with an RTA I don't know if you know how you felt about it but for many many years you always heard this sort of rumbling of discontent coming out of RTA it's our state broadcaster this is not news the last few weeks has not been used you know I would know I would know of people who have worked there and you touched on it earlier on they are so dedicated that they would work 16 hours a day and get paid it because they just love what they do but you know was their voice heard throughout this process no it wasn't did the politicians and did those who had ministerial responsibility know that there was rumbling of course they did you know this is not a surprise to them in recent weeks so I think everybody must take responsibility and say listen we were caught we were caught on the hop here we were caught off guard we were caught off watch and you know measurements need to be put in place if you're going to change the culture will start measuring for the first place because you're not going to be able to manage it unless you measure it there needs to be a number there needs to be a figure every government agency should have you know as one of their key performance indicators the staff satisfaction rating every year not how they're performing in terms of the financial contribution but what is the employee experience number is it 50% this is 40% is it 80% why is it 80% so that number needs to come into play so we can you know you talk about transparency and the new director spoke this morning about transparency well you and I and every other license holder wants to see what that transparency looks like in its most simple form so give us a number give us a percentage and then give us the comments of those who are keeping the wheels running you know the people that run RTA and that is you know those people who are putting in that extra effort and working the extra hours with no return and think about how they feel today and in the last three weeks here in some of the stories that are emerging yeah and I suppose that the same advice that you're giving RTA now you could apply to any company a small company with six staff medium-sized whatever it might be this is this is good practice in every company absolutely and again that's that's where the research is I suppose that you know the work that we're in it's not about customer service training at the front end only that's helpful but it's about the culture it's about the what's now called the internal customer experience you know what's happening inside and if you work on that the inevitable outcome is you know a better service to the end user and growth for that organization okay I think this is the next couple of weeks are perhaps the most important part to you as to where they go next I think the public appetite for extra revelations is gone to be honest with you I think you know there's unless it was something huge it would take an awful lot to bother people now and I think there would be more than happy maybe I don't know I'm just guessing more than happy to see this story move on now so I think the next week or two is critical in that there's no that the information keeps coming in terms of the positive I agree I think that I think the circus is over now you know it's maybe maybe there'll be a wee bit of a news from tomorrow for Ryan Tuberty and his agent coming into play but I think that I think that again to say does it the service to the to the bigger picture the things that need to be looked at you know getting the governance right and getting the management right and you know letting you know making sure the director when he does come in is not stonewalled by you know a culture that's impossible in the first few months to to permeate and to get through and to start changing that the inner workings there that's a really interesting ever thought about the resistance that might be there from within even with the best of intentions oh yeah that's another one we could have done another half hour on okay Charlie thank you so much for your time have a lovely day Charlie Boyle there who's a customer experience consultant what's he views and what he had to say there 08 660 25000 we'll give us a call on 07 491 25000 by the way if you're listening to the podcast of the program or if you're listening to the replay overnight you can text in at any stage you don't only text in when we're live and we can pick up your texts the following morning or as they come in regarding the issue of sexual violence and the influence of pornography particularly on young people this could be addressed in a similar way to how the US banned access to betting sites a ban on porn websites could be implemented by the state if the political will was there alternatively similar to betting sites in Ireland an identification process could be introduced to require proof of age via official ID these may not block all access to the material but would significantly reduce access yeah I'm not really sure in this day and age out bands on how you access stuff on the internet there's so many different sources from it telegram for example you know Twitter there's more pornography on Twitter than there is on the internet almost and other places I know exactly where you're coming from I just don't see especially with virtual private networks and how young people could circumnavigate that and it could even become more attractive if it's harder to get at definitely something we need to perhaps explore how it might work not 100% sure the number of Ukrainian pupils enrolled in schools in Donegal is increased by 21% is it accounting for 58% of the national increase the number of students in post primary schools remain the same while primary school figures moved from 859 in June to 868 at the end of the academic year nationally there were total of 15,625 Ukrainian children enrolled across Ireland a rise of 36 children Greg there's no apparent real change being announced today with the most highly paid RTE presenters being put on RTE books as actual RTE employees which means them and us culture of corruption will continue so all these changes are effectively token window dressing the problem is that the big name presenters will continue to view themselves as talent and everyone else will still not considered to have talent of any sort but mere peasants in the RTE caste system well I suppose if you do bring them on the books it does change the level of oversight and the control you have on their external activities if that is the plan Greg there's no point in blaming our young people for the drinking culture what example are they exposed to all their lives everything every event begins and ends with alcohol people can't do alcohol in moderation it is one of the most destructive things in society today and causes many other problems indeed and just to note as well which I tend to do that the majority of young people don't actually drink or even drink to excess either so it's not all of them and you know as I was saying if some of them do I'm not judging them either because I don't know everyone's situations parents have been doing that for years this is paying or offering financial incentives for people not to drink until they're 18 parents have been doing that for years I think it's a good plan it's a minefield out there for our young people indeed hi Greg just checked my bank there it also took 125 euro out of my account and I only put 40 in probably the same particular station it will be refunded it's just an inconvenience following that interview with the guy who was overcharged for getting diesel I got diesel to go filling station yesterday I think you should mention the name and location I've just checked my bank app and I was charged 125 euro even though I only got 40 euro of fuel only that you mentioned it I wouldn't have known thanks for the info I won't use that station again well we don't want you to discourage using it either by the way it's something maybe the company needs to look at loads of you texting in that have checked their accounts and all of you down 125 euro and didn't realize it ok we'll get on to the company and see what they plan to do into the future so say I'm sure it is something they'd want to work on